St1200rs Ride Quality Fix (at Least For Me)

Like others, I found my new to me 22 ST1200RS' (my first Triumph) Ohlins front forks to be very harsh. I set about fixing that at least for my bike on US roads.

Cutting to the chase, the fix was adding a single $1 16mm x .15mm shim between the second and third large diameter shims at the bottom of the stack (closest to the valve) and changing the fluid. If I had to guess, I'd say the shim was 65% of the improvement and the fluid the remainder (significantly reduced stiction). I'll not get into the fluid here as that is a touchy subject, especially on the net. That said, the shim worked for me. Start to finish if you have the right tools and have watched the videos online is about three hours.

Supporting information
The Ohlins fork build number can be found on the inside flat portion of the caliper hanger. I've included a pic of my Doc forks (next on my list). My ST's build was FL 9510. You may wish to contact your Ohlins representative and ask them to send you the build sheet.




Hit YouTube for videos on servicing manual adjustable (for ST1200RS) Ohlins forks or electrically adjustable (like the RR or my Duc). Both are simple to service and straight forward with a very small difference being the top cap and low speed adjuster rods. There is also a good write up in the ST service manual.

You will need (or at least should have) the correct socket for removing the top cap. The two fork types (manual and electric) use different sockets. The electric ones use 3mm pins if you end up using a pin spanner.
I'll plug GB Motorcycle Products here as they have nice cost effective solutions.

The manual adjustment forks have a 17mm lock nut for the top cap. You will need a special wrench that can reach deep past the spring perch to properly hold the nut. Please do not try with a normal open end wrench (do not ask me why . GB Motorcycle Products is also good for this tool.

The electrically adjustable forks use a 19mm jam nut for the top cap to cartridge rod securing. Being larger, it is easier to get to the nut past the spring perch without hurting anything so a normal open end spanner will work.

You will need a very deep wall castle head socket that goes around the cartridge (GB again) to unscrew it at the base so you can remove it and gain access to the shim stack.

PM on the fluid if curious and I'll explain what I'm doing.

Results are simply sublime. My ST went from being the harshist POS in the garage to the absolute best apart from high speed compression. It's still firm on HS comp and I may reduce some top stack shim thickeness' in the future but, for now, it's nearly perfect. Love the bike!!!