84 YZ250 - Ohlins, Stock with new spring, or Race Tech Gold Valve??

Dano762

Dano762

PR Addict
The stock shock spring on my 84 YZ250 is too soft for my weight. I need to fix that before next year and I know I won't lose enough weight to shrink into the shock.

Parma Dave serviced the shock so its not leaking and in decent shape.

Options:
Install a new spring matched to my weight.
Send to Race Tech for a new Gold Valve rebuild and new spring.
Buy a vintage Ohlins - there is a guy selling one on Mark's Vintage - pricey but is that much better?

Thanks for the input.

Dan
 
I run Race Tech in all my main "racing" bikes. At this point....let me count.....that would be 5 bikes I have full Race Tech plus just got the parts ordered for the 1998 RM.

That being said, the most important part is getting the correct spring. I'd put that on, and then see how it is. If you like it, great, if not, get gold valves put in.
 
Dano, when Coppersmith rebuilt my Ohlins rear shock for the 1989 CR250, he told me Ohlins does not offer springs anymore. So, if you go with an Ohlins, you may still need to source a spring from RT or Eibach etc. depending on the spring you get on the shock if you buy one off of Mark's page.
 
Dano - The guy selling the Ohlins on Marks is Steve Marpes - while not the cheapest guy around he did work for Ohlins and has spares of everything. He and Rhett Smith are the experts on the old stuff for them. He rebuilt mine for me. I just looked at it and I would do something about that spring anyway - I think he can clean/paint them. I think the rest of it could use a good cleaning. Maybe just email and tell him how thin you are and your ability and see what he says. PS - you have to stay on him a bit but he will come through. Maybe compare that to that to what RT says they can do and how much?
 
My '83 YZ 125 works well with the rebuilt stock shock and a heavy spring. The spring is one of three that came to me in the boxes of parts accompanying an '84 YZ 250 project years ago. I tried the largest spring first and stuck with it. It was a stock spring, I believe from a 490 and it dwarfs the original 125 spring.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I talked to Steve and would need to source a different spring for the Ohlins. It makes the most sense to get a stiffer spring and go from there.
 
The 84 YZ I built a few years ago, I bought a rebuilt Ohlins off ebay I thought it worked great. Mike Freas ended up buying it, pretty sure he thinks it worked pretty well also.
 
evomx244 said:
The 84 YZ I built a few years ago, I bought a rebuilt Ohlins off ebay I thought it worked great. Mike Freas ended up buying it, pretty sure he thinks it worked pretty well also.
Click to expand...

Yea... As good as my 03 YZ.
I don't have a lot of seat time on the bike, but remember it doing well. And watching the races video footage the shock was doing it's job pretty well.
 
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