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Ohlins TTX 44 Shock

11K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  tiger094 
#1 ·
KTMs have always been looked at as bikes with great motors and mediocre suspension. My 2006 525 EXC is no exception. The PDS was nice at slow speeds but let you know the limits real quick when turning things up. I had thought about buying a Hi/Lo compression adjuster and doing a revalve but the price of the two made me hesitant. An Ohlins TTX 44 entered the picture and I opted to go that route. The stock spring was swapped for the heaviest one Ohlins makes. Im 225 without gear on. I believe the spring is an 8.5 KG. The one I had on my WP was a 9-11KG progressive spring FYI. Right away I noticed the TTX44 had a much livelier action when compared to the WP. The TTX44 is very sensitive to adjustments too. Set the spring sag up first, this alone was a little tricky due to the sensitivity of the shock. At first it was a little frustrating but once you spend some time with the shock, you will realize that you can set the shock up for any condition and rider by just turning knobs and making adjustments. By far the most versatile shock I have ever experienced. The CSC adjuster is your low speed compression/rebound all in one, while the top adjusters are separate high speed compression and rebound. The top adjusters will have an effect on the CSC as well. Ya, I was scratchin my head on some of this too. I opted for one complete turn out on the CSC, this gave a firm initial feel. The top rebound and compression are around the middle. You can feel the difference one click makes in the top adjusters for overall shock feel, not so much when the CSC is adjusted a click. The CSC was hard to set up for me but once I got the spring sag dialed, everything fell in place. The shock action is unreal. It floats over deep whoops and those deep nasty square edged holes once feared are eaten for breakfast. This shock blows the WP away. I go alot faster and am holding back the urge to step up another gear over foot and 1/2 deep whoop sections. The bike takes hits in stride and doesnt do anything funny like the stocker would. The stock shock would buck on square edged hits and was decent in whoops. The Ohlins was the best thing to happen for PDS. Now I have to revalve the forks to hopefully match the shock.
 
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#2 ·
Thanks for the writeup! :)

Yea, the PDS system was developed by Öhlins and the WP components are knock-off's of the Öhlins. However, WP didn't do any considerable development on the original design until 2007 and even then, it was crap compared to the final PDS system in 2011. KTM also had their own concept on how PDS should work and they messed up the angle of the system, which wasn't fixed until 2011 and ONLY on the MX bikes.

So yea, the 2006 actually has a shock designed in 2000. If you had swapped the shock with a 2010 unit and thrown in the updated valves, you would have been impressed. A proper working updated WP unit, does work very well if you pop the piston and throw in a bladder.

Nothing is anywhere near the quality of the Öhlins unit, thats for fact. But after the update in 2011, most people found the shock adequate, unlike the forks which to this day still suck.
 
#3 ·
Ohlins TTX 44

I did install a Race tech bladder, the difference was noticeable but nothing great. there is a company that will revalve the stock WP for around $400. http://motocrossactionmag.com/KTM/News/MXA-PRODUCT-TEST-MXTech-KTM-450SXF-WP-Shock-Mod-6417.aspx

The revalved shock is comparable to the Ohlins. I didnt have a hi/low compression adjuster on my EXC shock and didnt want to spend the $$ on one.

The EXC has open chamber forks. So far I have put 48 kg springs in to hold the bike up more. It seems that the forks have a linear stroke instead of progressive. They have that same dead/stiff feel to them that the shock had.
Any one suggest the best valving for the fork? Im looking at a gold valve at the moment. The gold valve appears very adjustable and affordable. Dicks racing offers a killer set up with a price to go with it, so thats not going to work for me.
 
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