Just reading in MCN about this rear shock which is only out for the ZX 10 at the mo EICMA 2011: The first aftermarket EC shock absorber for Hypersport - Öhlins they say it's great on the road and even better on track but costs £1357 worth it or just another gimmick ?
Not far from the cost of a normal Ohlins shock for the blade, but I still think the less there is to go wrong the better !
Was tested and ruled out years ago on track with GPS data and god knows what to change settings per turn much like in F1 (R7?), don't forget its all very well but you need the ECU and Dash to control it and IMO its all gimmick at the mo as only servos that move comp and reb any how (plus preload), it may make sense on the Multistrada but on a superbike? Better off with R&T Ohlins and a good setup! A new era in susspention is just round the corner with these new/old magnetically adjustable viscosity oils that can adjust the characteristics of the suspension by changing the viscosity of the oil in a microsecond! Now thats all new! This is something like the magnetic fluids that in time will be in electronic suss
as always Arthur a joy to read your reply. I'm taking a keen interest in the new magnetically adjustable shocks I hear about on cars mainly
Cheers mate, they have been working on the fluids for some time I think, I don't know much about the car side of things but I think some cars already use the tech now? You can bet it wont be much longer before they are on bikes.. I was told a little about the tech and I think the suss uses far less parts and had an infinite amount of adjustment.. Fascinating stuff!
The problem that you will encounter with electronic suspension equipment for road bikes is that they are only as good as the ECU that controls them. Racing bikes on the other hand are a different kettle of fish due to the complexity of the ecu design. Any electronic controlled item on a bike/car is often a comprimise of the related unit used in either Racing/Aircraft/Military use and the reason is because of cost! Sure we would all like to think electronic suspension is going to be great and it will be but early units will be in their nature crude and will not be as good in years to come. Yes i think it would be nice to have something like this in the future but not yet until somebody proves that it is worth the cost. Going back to the early dampers that contained magnetic particles which were excited by electro magnitism they were flawed in so many ways, partly due to the nature of the oil which contained metal fragments which acted like sandpaper on the piston damper and valving and bushes, clearly someone forgot that perhaps they should have put in some stronger internals that resist wear from the oil.
That's just what's changed mate, the video I posted is only an example of how the fluid reacts I will try and find the new tech that's now being used in magnetic tech suspension also people need to understand that all the electronic suspension hats loaded onto the likes of the 1199 is not automatic in anyway it does not self adjust or does it change as you ride like reactive suspension technology you have a number os customisable settings like sports, touring, urban and so on one you select one it adjusts preload, comp and reb the same as you could be hand that's all it does twiddled the dials for you all of which is selected through the dash of the bike and program's are stored in the ecu, hence why I say aftermarket electronic suspension would have to have a means of control on a bike with none. Will have to see if I can find the article but it's not ferofluid as in ferrous particles like iron in oil.
