The facts.
| Brand | Öhlins |
|---|---|
| Part Number | 21040-26 |
| Spring Rate | 85 N/mm |
| Free Length | 160 mm |
| Inner Diameter | 51 mm |
| Stroke | 81 mm |
| Construction | Straight |
| Finish | Powder-coated yellow |
| Country of Origin | Sweden |
DescriptionThe whole story▼
Öhlins part number 21040-26 is a shock absorber spring rated at 85 N/mm, 160 mm long with a 51 mm inner diameter. Adding a pillion or luggage changes the load enough that the standard rate stops working.
Key Features
- Inner diameter 51 mm
- Powder-coated yellow
- 81 mm of usable stroke
- Free length 160 mm
- Straight-wound, constant rate
- Öhlins part number 21040-26
- Measured spring rate 85 N/mm
Manufacture and Tolerance
Machining, anodising, assembly and testing all happen in the same building rather than across a supply chain. The wire is progressively wound where the application calls for it and straight where it does not. Öhlins machines its own critical components instead of buying them in, and the tolerances are where the money goes.
Size and Rate
Öhlins holds the free length at 160 mm and the inner diameter at 51 mm across this rate range, so moving up or down a rate changes nothing about the installation.
Where This Rate Belongs
A firm rate holds the chassis attitude when the front or rear is loaded hard. This end of the range suits heavier riders, two-up use, or a machine ridden hard enough that fork dive becomes the limit. Firm rates trade some small-bump comfort for support — the right trade on a good surface at speed. Road surfaces are the hardest test of a spring rate, because the fork has to cope with both a smooth stretch and a broken one.
What the Rear Spring Decides
A shock absorber spring carries the whole rear of the machine through a linkage that multiplies its rate several times over — which is why the number on the spring looks so much larger than a fork rate. Rear spring rate sets ride height and static sag, and those two decide the chassis attitude before any damping click matters. The damper can only control the spring it is given; the wrong rate makes every setting a compromise.
Applications
A spring is one of the few suspension parts that is genuinely interchangeable: same bore, same free length, and it goes in. Rate is the variable that depends on the rider, not on the machine. Two people on the same bike may well want two different numbers. The safest way to choose is by static sag: set the target figure, and the rate follows from whether you can reach it with preload.
Installation
Set static sag after fitting; the rate is only right if the sag figure lands where Öhlins specifies. Fitting is a fork-oil job: the legs come apart, the springs go in, the oil level is set to specification. Any suspension workshop can fit these; the fork does not need to leave the bike for long.
Road Approval
Road approval: none is issued for springs as such — they replace an existing component of the same function. Any model-specific approval is listed under Applications.
Fitting and Setup Service
Fitting matters as much as the part. We are an authorised Öhlins service centre and carry out installation, servicing and setup ourselves — get in touch and we will arrange it alongside your order.
Specifications
- Brand: Öhlins
- Part Number: 21040-26
- Spring Rate: 85 N/mm
- Free Length: 160 mm
- Inner Diameter: 51 mm
- Stroke: 81 mm
- Construction: Straight
- Finish: Powder-coated yellow
- Country of Origin: Sweden
FitmentWhich bikes this fits▼
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