Finally TTX
- From: TRS Media | Published: January 23rd, 2007 - 6:06 pm
The good news is that Ohlins has finally released the new TTX36 shock. The bad news is you don’t have one yet. We have them available for purchase in the store but they are still trickling into the country and we are filling our customer orders on a first come first serve basis. For now the TTX shocks are only available for the 2007- Honda CBR 600/1000 RR, Kawasaki ZX6/10, Suzuki GSX-R 600/750/1000 and the Yamaha YZF R6/R1. Whether there will be any retro fit set-ups is yet to be determined.
So what’s so great about the TTX anyhow?
For starters you can pretty much take whatever you know about conventional damping and throw it out the window. TTX still has oil, valves, gas and a spring but internally the shock is completely different. It still performs the same basic duties, traction, handling and ride quality but better…a lot better. TTX is not actually brand new; MotoGP and some World Superbike teams have had it for a couple years. It’s new to the US though and so far practice times indicate it really is ‘all that’.
We’ll be doing some tech talk on them down the road, but for now let me give you the highlights: TTX is a twin tube design, with a solid 36mm piston, a solid 14mm shaft and a 52-57mm spring. Aside from being more rigid, that means it’s smaller and lighter. It has a wide range of external adjustment, which makes it ‘more powerful’. Compression and rebound adjusters are completely separate (that is to say that adjusting one no longer affects the other). This makes it easier to understand the working properties. The pressure balance is correct. In other words the damping at the top of the stroke is the same as at the bottom. The bottom line is more tire feedback and more traction under acceleration, and that’s no joke!
