The gold
 

I'm curious, does anyone know how much a new set of Ohlins forks costs?

I can get a set for my Buell for 2800 bucks.

Their top-of-the-line forks retail for $13,700, the Rt series (heavier, less adjustment and valved differently) are $2900 or so. You can buy Ohlins cartidge kits for about $480, and valve kits for about $300 or there abouts.

I'm definitely not looking for top-o'-the-line race forks. I might be replacing the Showa's that got damaged when my bike was shipped out here. I'm assuming a touch over $2000 for the fgr800 then?

If you read Japanese, these guys in Japan are a distributor for ohlins.

Damaged as in bent or just leaking? If just leaking. Rebuild! If you think the are bent. make sure its not just a bent bar from shipping or even pulled out of align. Ive crashed a few bikes and thought fork damage at first. After closer inspection. I found the front was just out of alignment. :luck:

Just after I bought the bike I took the Showa's apart because of blown fork seals and noticed that there's a "spot" about 2" diameter on the inside of both outer tubes. Looks to me like the inner tube rubbed at some point in time (possibly during the wheelies that blew out the fork seals).

But now the front end is making a noise I've never heard before. Hold the front brake and work the suspension and it makes a squeaking/groaning noise. I know that when it was shipped, the front end was severely compressed for about 6 weeks :(

Does it have to be ohlins? If no, I got a place I can recommend for a fraction of the price.

Doesn't need to be O. I may just pull 'em and ship 'em to Dan Kyle when I buy the rear link, have him work his magic on 'em.

Suspension being compressed for prolonged periods of time is the worst drawback for transporting a bike.

You will probably need to replace the inner tubes at minimum if there is any visible oddities.

I dont know your riding ability or tuning skills. Personally, I know just enough about it to get myself in trouble. IMHO I would not spend the money on the top of the line goodies unless you can pull lap times with Ben Spies. Just get some good springs and valves. Have somebody that knows how to set you up help with the initial tuning. Keep in mind that there are way to many variables on normal road surfaces to tune a street bike. You have to start with the sag and find that happy medium. Every track requires different tunning too depending on track temp, surface and tires being used. :luck: