Major Update on fork length
05/30/06

Well... There have been quite a few heated arguements on the forums about the proper setting of the OHLINS R/T forks to achieve the same ride height as the stock forks. Some guys were claming that 5 lines needed to be visible & some guys claimed that only 5mm need to be visible etc... The truth is both were most likely right. The original Ohlins R/T forks for the 2004 CBR1000RR were 13mm longer (fork cap to center of axle) than the later revised forks. If you do the math you can easily see how close either suggested setting would be to the other one depending on which length forks you had.

To determine which forks you have look on the bottom of the fork leg for an engraved number.

If they read "4790-01" then you have the original forks at 730mm overall length (fork cap to center of axle)

If they read "4790-07" then you have the new forks at only 717mm overall length (fork cap to center of axle)

This is the way things should be...

The front it end works now! No compromises, no difficult set-up, no messy hands or fork oil all over the place. Just buy them, install them & enjoy. The front end is totally compliant & this bike just feels like home to me. I now have loads more front end feedback than I would have ever thought possible & simply could not realistically ask for a better handling litersized streetbike. However if you are into track riding moreso than street then you need to check out the SBK valving updates to these forks.

Furthermore, the Ohlins forks allow you to raise the front end of the bike up higher than stock & while this sounds bass-ackwards to what we normally have to do to make a sportbike handle this is exactly what the 1000RR needs to make it change direction quickly during highspeed left-right transitions using the current trend of taller race tires we are getting.

I was pretty content with the difference the fork oil & spring swap made to the OEM forks, but they just pale in comparison to these. Until you try the Ohlins forks you simply cannot understand just how crappy the stock forks actually are. Between the addition of the Ohlins forks & the HRC linkage I am now able to put this bike precisely where I want it to go & while it is still fighting me just a little on initial turn in (hope to iron this out with more set-up time) the bike is super stable, but still flickable as it changes directions very easy now, stays completely composed while doing it & no longer wants to run wide on exit! The weird thing I am experiencing though is that it doesn't seem to like light trailbreaking as it wants to stand up, but heavy trailbreaking seems like second nature to the bike as it just transitions perfectly from hard on the brakes to back on the gas without any real upset to the chassis (I've never experienced anything like this before so any ideas are welcome) & then you can just stay on the gas & accelerate through the rest of the turn. The rear end gives plenty of notice before spinning up the tire & my confidence level in the bike is on a very steep curve right now. I am doing things with this bike that I didn't think I would ever be able to do on it since my very first ride.

I guess the bottom line here is that this bike, very much like the RC51, responds incredibly well to common racer type mods. Shocks, Forks, linkage etc & you have an entirely different bike to ride. I rode faster today with less effort & more overall comfort, control & enjoyment out of this bike than any bike I have ever ridden. It was just easy...