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AK-20 Axxion or Ohlins 30mm Cartridge Kit

17K views 24 replies 15 participants last post by  Agg2001 
#1 ·
Looking at buy one of these two products. I Race CMRI and SMRI and most of the guys i'm running against are running the AK-20's. I have always heard Ohlins are the best if you can afford them but the price difference is only $300.00...

From talking with the other guys in my class there is a local suspension guy that is setting up there bikes with AK-20's giving track side support at the races. One of the racers even said that " the texas tracks are so uneven the Ohlins is hard to tune for" These guys are all running the Penske 8987 rear shock.

TWS 1:50
ECR 1:55

I'm looking to upgrade but wanted to know if these were quality products that other racers were having good luck with or should i just buy Ohlins?
 
#6 ·
Jim Cambora , is the local suspension support that has been helping out the guys im racing against in the CMRA events. The guys were telling me the AK stuff is amazing and that Cambora knows his stuff about setting them up.

I race in SMRI and CMRA, just started this season, 3rd race and 8 time on a track so far.
 
#7 ·
I have heard from many a person that the new 30mm OHLINS are not quite up to par yet. They are very difficult to get dialed in for an individual. Once they are in the zone then they are great. The Axxion AK-20 series is very nice. Another option that is very close to the older model of OHLINS is the GP Suspension cartridges. A little less expensive and still winning races. I'm sure that the OHLINS is the best in the long run but getting the new 30mm model is just a bit more work to get it dialed in.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Why dont you get the 25mm KIT? I have had the AK-20 on a GSXR and all I can say is that they were amazing. I now have the 25mm in the R6 but still havent rode it. I will be using them this weekend and give some feedback if you like. If ur racing and $300 is no biggie I would go ohlins all the way, heard too many good things about them and never a complain.
For the shock, im rocking a penske triple clicker. I had an ohlins before and its true what they say, its hard to adjust and what I have found personally is that they are stiffer no matter what you adjust, maybe its just me and im wrong, but I like penske more. I find the penske more user friendly.

As far a customer service I would say that Ohlins and Traxxion are on par. Penske im not to crazy about them, they are not bad but just treat you like a generic customer. When I call them and ask for any info it seems like they have the same baseline for every bike, you dont get answers like "yeah the R6 likes to ride high/low in the front" you rather get and answer like "sag in the front is 25-30 and rear is 30-35 for race". What im trying to say is that you get answers that are found online easily. While Traxxion or Ohlins is kinda more specific to your bike and riding style, it kinda gives you the feeling that they know what they are talking about and its from personal experience, it doesnt feel corporate, THATS THE WORD
 
#9 ·
Reviews from eslick said the 30mm is as good out of the box as the 25mm tuned was. Then again having a dedicated suspension guy is going to make a difference, if you can afford the 30mm and have a local guy who can set the bike up for you i would pull the trigger on the 30mm.

You might have to adjust the rebound here or compression there, but it should only be a click or two at most. The tuner should be able to get it in the general area and you will just have to make tweaks to your liking. If you do any street riding i would just stick with the 20mm. If its a dedicated race bike then go with the 30mm.

I would go penske or ohlins shock, from hear say around the paddock the ohlins is harder to tune but better once you have it dialed in. I had a penske two way and never had a complaint performed very well, easy to adjust and dial in. One click of rebound or compression and you felt the difference, with club racing i would say either penske or ohlins will treat you right.
 
#11 ·
Personally, I'm partial to Ohlins hardware, and currently have the 30mm system, but the rule of thumb is, go with the product that you can get the most service and support for, be it trackside or at the shop.

Jim Cambora is a great suspension tuner, and he's also one of Traxxion's authorized dealers, so he knows the product well, but there's no reason why he couldn't set-up an Ohlins cartridge system just as well.

Whatever you do, don't base your decision on your skill level. Get what you can afford, and if you can afford the best, buy the best. I see far too many trackday pilots shrug off high-end hardware under the guise that it far exceeeds their skill level.

The irony in that is the fact that most trackday pilots would be extremely hard-pressed to outride a well-sorted set of OEM forks.
 
#12 ·
Have to agree with most of this. At the end of a season you'll find yourself making less internal adjustment to the Ohlins than almost anything else. In the long run a good track rider will get their money's worth out of them.
 
#13 ·
I have no experience with the Penske 8987, but have many friends who say the Ohlins TTX is a better rear shock than the Penske. Personally I did go with the Ohlins TTX over the Penski based on several peoples recommendations, but if you are hearing Penske's are good rear shocks I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
 
#14 ·
Suspension is like girls, everyone has their own preference. I've raced on Ohlins TTX shocks, Ohlins non TTX shocks, Penske triple clickers, AK-20s, Ohlins 25mm kits, Ohlins SBK kitted forks, and AK-Gas. Suspension is only as good as the guy/gal turning the clickers/knobs. I'm running the CMRA series as well with competitive expert times, and will say Jim Cambora is very good at what he does. I'm currently running a 8970 Penske shock and AK gas forks. They have been really awesome. Feedback and confidence are everything!
 
#17 ·
^Ouch. I'm in the same boat as Agg, and currently just don't wanna throw down the dough for cartridges and a new shock. I think I'll probably respring the forks and shock to at least fit my weight (I'm WAY too light for the rear, apparently) and probably look at some new valving.
 
#19 ·
Wow... I just had this conversation on the phone with a racer from the R1 Forum.

Bottom line: YOU dictate what is best for you. Not a Forum, a Vendor, a Tuner, or anyone else.

That being said, lets take this to the oil. The oil is EVERYTHING in your suspension, and needs to be changed more frequently than most people do. Changing the oil is going to involve basically pulling apart all the things that would be involved in changing the cartridges or the valves.

Next thing to bring up is valve size: Bigger can be better if the valve and shim stack are controlling the flow of oil, and not the needles in the adjusters. Kind of oxymoronic, but the needles and screws can only do so much, and they have a slightly odd curve. As you close the needles off (the last few clicks in) the valves do less. So one of the advantages of the bigger valves and capacity is that we can keep us from running into this limitation.

Then we should consider the actual range of adjustment offered by the parts we can get, and what will be used. I'm not an AMA superstar or anything like that, but I get out and ride track and street and I've been known to go a little quick at times. I do this on various tracks, country roads, and mountain roads. Looking at my notes and various suspension settings, I run through a range of about 6 clicks on my forks (Race Tech equipped) and 8 to 10 clicks on my Ohlins shocks. The Ohlins have about 40 clicks and the stock adjusters in my forks have about 20. Seems like a lot, but once you get outside a given range within the valving, it really isn't working at it's best. This is because a shim stack is built to function on a curve, and at some point this curve should correspond with your springs. Outside that range no matter what the name is, it's pretty much junk if it doesn't do what you need. An Ohlins shock that has been valved for a 7.0 kg/mm spring will possibly function decent with a 10.0 kg/mm spring at some point in it's travel range, but probably not everywhere.

Well, as you can see there are many considerations and points where adjustability would be nice. When you think about the choices out there it sometimes the way to go is to spend more money and be done with. But maybe not always. Now I am in no means trying to stop anyone from paying top dollar for their parts; but if we are talking about parts that are hardly serviced or tuned, do we really need to spend a ton of cash on them because of appearance or features we won't use?

The best part for YOU is the part that you are satisfied with. If your satisfaction comes from accurate adjustability, then consider valves and springs. If you are satisfied with a great degree of adjustment etc, Consider cartridges. They offer ease of install as well. Installing valves (actually getting the valves out) can be a lot of work). If you need really great looking components with tons of features that can be tuned, look at full forks. But realize at some point that someone will need to tune or service them internally.

My opinion is that good, tunable valving and accurate springs will carry most people through what they do with their machines, and what they will service. A $10,000 set of forks will only perform as they are good or as they are serviced. If you are looking for the "set it and forget it" option when it comes to suspensions, give up. As you progress you should improve. Sooner or later you may exceed the capacity of the component. And very likely prior to that it will require service. When we accept those ideals as a norm, we'll get closer to having "the best" suspension for what we intend to do.
 
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