Ever since 1976, when the company was founded, racing has been an important part of the Öhlins Racing corporate philosophy. Almost all new technologies and patents are born on the race track together with some of the most prestigious racing teams in the world.
Together with our customers, we develop and test the entire suspension concept for road racing. This means that we think holistically – the motorcycles design, chassis and other features should function together with the suspension and the rider’s riding style. This results in the whole being greater than anything the individual parts could offer separately.
Öhlins has a special racing department with more than 30 employees that are devoted to deliver first class suspension and racing support 365 days a year to our paying customers. The most prestigious racing teams actually have exclusive, dedicated service technicians from Öhlins that travels along during the entire season to guarantee optimal performance and function on every single race and test.
Racing involves comprehensive testing operations. Everything must be at its best in order to be able to keep up with the competition in racing: planning, technical know-how, rider capacity, the track, the tyres, the motorcycle, the suspension… This is why in principle all of our development and competition operations are based on testing. We firmly believe that it is only testing that enables us to see how a shock really works under different conditions.
We usually base our work on a certain motorcycle model for which we specially build the shocks. Using computers we then make a basic setting in our laboratory. However, even though the laboratory tests give us a good picture of how the shocks should be adjusted, they are nonetheless simply a basic model to work on. The final adjustments have to be made under real conditions on the track. And if it is to be done properly, it takes time. We spend around 20 track days per year with our largest customers.