Suspension advice

which first, front or rear?

Hi,

My 1150GS needs new shocks and I have decided to get Wilbers, front and rear. But unfortunately cannot afford both at once. Which do you reccommend to replace first, front or rear?

Thanks

Steve
 
thanks for that .... so how do i adjust it if needed ... oh i live in Australia now so cant pop in :thumb2
Hi, you need to adjusts the spring preload to get the sag measurements, these will be the collars on the spring or in some cases the hydraulic adjuster which will be some type of knob on the side of the shock.
 
Hi,

My 1150GS needs new shocks and I have decided to get Wilbers, front and rear. But unfortunately cannot afford both at once. Which do you reccommend to replace first, front or rear?

Thanks

Steve
Hi Steve I would recommend changing the rear first.

Regards
FTR Suspension
 
R1100GS - where to start

I've just bought a '99 R1100GS with 34k miles and standard suspension, though I have no history with the bike.

The rear seems hard to me, but I'm not sure where to start adjusting things.

Front appears to be on the lowest spring preload and seems OK.

Rear, no idea how many clicks or whether/how to adjust the rebound.

I'm a lightweight 90Kg :D, rarely carry pillion, but do stuff the bike with camping gear occasionally.

Help appreciated :)
 
Hi guys,
I have been trying to get a price to overhaul my F & R Ohlins on my 1150 GS from the sites listed on your website as service centers, but have only received one reply - the rest obviously do not need the work. Can you quote me for this work?
 
1150gs advice

Hi i have a gs1150. i want to know if i want to turn the shock absorber to hard do i turn the screw clockwise or anti clock wise. the screw appears to have "H" on the left and "S" on the right of a double sided arrow so without the book i dont know. Also if the suspension spring is set to high for travel with heavy panniers ect should the spring be hardened as well. Do they work together? basic questions I know but i havnt a manual and cant find it on google. cheers
 
Rebound damping can be adjusted. Soft setting is anti clockwise and hard setting is clockwise.

The spring preload can be increased by turning rotating the remote preload adjuster clockwise for a hard and high setting and anti clockwise for a low setting.
 
Hi, can you offer me any advice on whether I need to upgrade the rear suspension on an F800GS. I have measured the sag with rider and rider + luggage at both extremes of pre-load adjustment.

No preload rider 92mm
No preload rider+ luggage 120mm
Full preload rider 61mm
Full preload rider + luggage 86mm

My weight is 110kg and carry up to 34kg luggage which is used in the sag measurements.

I read somewhere that for a dual sport the sag should be no more than about 25% of the shock travel (215mm), so even with max pre-load I am not getting this with rider alone and certainly not with luggage. Does it matter?

I want the suspension to cope with off-road riding with luggage. My preference when riding off-road (no luggage) has been to have no pre-load and rebound at it softest setting as the factory setting seem too hard for absorbing the bumps. If I run on max preload can I have the rebound still set to soft (manual says it should be set to hard with increased preload).

Thanks
 
F800GS front end

Hi Guys, sorry if you have already answered this point.
What can be done on the F800GS (2012) to make the 'seesaw' affect go away without ruining the ride overall feel of the bike. Any improvements to be had in general?
 
How do you know if your suspension is losing performance? I have had the bike 8 years and it is now on 100,000 miles and still on the standard suspension which I have never touched from the day I picked it up. We just load up and go, whether that is solo or two-up. There is no sign of a leak or anything, so I wonder what people have to do to their bikes to break them in so few miles (I read one bike on 30,000 with the suspension knackered :eek:)
Our bike is an 1150 Adv 2-spark.
 
Saggy 1200 GS

I've just bought a 3,000 mile 1200 GS and am finding the suspension, particularly the rear very soft and bouncy, particularly two up . Out of the 38 (I think) clicks of pre load I have it up to 31 already with two turns of damping. My other bike, an 1150 has ohlins front and rear and that is nowhere near as soft.

Is it simply a matter of 'they're all like that' get used to it , or possibly the difference being exaggerated by coming off a bike with ohlins to one without ?

Would the ohlins shocks fit the 1200? That would be a result.
 
Preload wil only change the ride height. "two turns" fo damoing, I guess you mean 2 turns out on the rebound damper a the base of the shock? The standrad setting is bit firmer at 1.5 turns out, it gets a bit better about 1.25 turns out. Tur the adjust in ( clockwise) until it stops, do not try to froce it beyond the stop to test the point. Then unwind it a turn and a quarter.

The stock suspension is not as good as Ohlins, Hyperpro, Kugar, Wilbers, Tracive etc. It has a limited amount of adjustment that has to suit everyone. The upmarket units have springs fitted to suit your weight and a greater range of damping adjustements available.

A cheap upgrade is to get Hyperpro progressive springs. If you have the preload set almost at the max it suggest that the standard spring may not be suited to your total riding weight. IIRC they base the suspenio on a rider weighing about 85 Kilos.

Try setting the rebound and see how that feels, it wil only cost you a few minutes of time before shelling out a lot on new units.
 
Rear shocks

Hi, I have just purchased a 2009 Gs, 20000 on the clock FBMWSH.
I had a BMW health check carried out before purchase all good green ticks including suspension.
Bike was delivered by courier ( it was with him overnight) from Leeds to Canterbury, on arrival all appeared ok, took it for a short spin seemed ok but entirely happy with ride/ handling.
Yesterday took bike to Belgium with friends, in Ypres a leak was found from shock, got home rear suspension totally shot.
Total mileage since purchase 197, ridden carefully and I am about 14 stone.

Any ideas as to possible cause if any, I have been advised that the courier could be to blame ?.

Ta.
 
I have a K12000RS (20040 and about to replace both shocks with YSS, I understand how to set up sag, but how is rebound set ? I'm about 13.5 stone with bike gear on.
 
help with Urban GS sag

What a nice thread!
When I bought my Urban GS it had a Wilbers +70 kit, which lifts the bike front and rear. The rear wheel travel goes from standard 180mm to 230mm. The rear shock is a 640 rated 130-215.
First of all, I understand that the spring rate 130 N/m is OK for my weight (85kg).
However, if I target a rider sag of 69mm (30% of wheel travel), I end up with a very high seat height (930mm). This 69mm sag can be achieved by cranking the preload until I have 27mm of free thread above the locknut.
The riding position is not great, and I feel that the rear should be lower.
If I give it only say 15mm of preload, the bike feels much better, but the rider sag is 100mm! I'm still far from bottoming out, but I am aware that I am using the last bit of the stroke....
I have measured the sag at various preload settings and produced the graphs attached.
Would be nice if @ftrsuspension and other gurus could advice. Basically, do I need a stiffer spring, or a slightly shorter shock? Or am I OK just running with 100mm sag?
 

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replacement for 1200 GSA rear shock

Greetings one and all
Am in the market for replacement rear shock on my 2006 1200 GSA and wondering if anybody has something second hand worth considering before I go down the usual options of Wilbers/Ohlins/Tractive/Hyperpro.......
Any other options worth considering??
Not looking for anything very technical (ESA etc) as live by the KISS principle and dont push the bike to its limits.

background info - I am around 110kg & 6'6" and hopefully will be doing some longer distance riding, mainly road, but with relatively basic offroad thrown in when available/possible. Will be traveling single mostly with 20-30kg camping gear.
 


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