Have you got a 1100gs with standard rear shock, if so...

mspenz

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Can you give the rear a bounce and let me know if the shock stops with a clunk on the rebound :blast
Just had it serviced by ABE and had to return it straight away as they had stuck on a bicycle air valve for re-gas which protruded over 20mm!
Got it back and rode 50 miles but felt a 'knock' when going over sharp bumps on the road, when I stopped to check I bounced the rear by hand and it gives a pronounced clunk at the end of rebound, there's no sign of it contacting anything so it has to be the shock. Adjusting the damping fully either way makes no difference.
I called them and was told that the rear standard shock on an 1100gs is pretty useless anyway with little or no damping but if I'm not sure just return it..again.

Took 6 weeks to get the unit serviced (re-chromed rod), then another 2 weeks for the proper valve to get fitted.

:mad:
 
I have a standard rear shock on my 1100GS and definitely no clunk. 45k plus on it.


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Yeah, as expected but I wanted to check all the same. My 1150gsa doesn't make any noise and neither does my CCM but I was really just hoping that I didn't have to return it again.

Thanks for checking :thumb2
 
^ yep, Wilbers
Sounds pretty much the same as my experience here in Aus.
Wilbers, had them for 10 years now, set up for two up riding.
 
mike i have a working factory rear shock sitting in the garage doing nowt. if you want to borrow it while yours is off getting fixed let me know.
 
They did a set of 1150GS shocks for me back in 2009 and they made an excellent job of them , they do have to fit a valve to regas the shocks as technically they cannot be rebuilt without modifying them.

Sounds like they have messed something up on yours as it shouldn't be able to reach full extent of compression or rebound on the bike.

Must be something up with ABE nowadays as they did mine on a 4 day turnaround
 
mike i have a working factory rear shock sitting in the garage doing nowt. if you want to borrow it while yours is off getting fixed let me know.

Hi Gordon, that's a kind offer and if I was closer I'd maybe take you up on that.
Unfortunately though all the carriage charges add up and this will be the 3rd time I've had to post it but I'll be asking for a full carriage refund regardless now.

Mike.
 
They did a set of 1150GS shocks for me back in 2009 and they made an excellent job of them , they do have to fit a valve to regas the shocks as technically they cannot be rebuilt without modifying them.

Sounds like they have messed something up on yours as it shouldn't be able to reach full extent of compression or rebound on the bike.

Must be something up with ABE nowadays as they did mine on a 4 day turnaround

They have done stuff for me before without any issues but there's definitely something up this time as they returned it initially (after 6 weeks) with a long Shrader valve which wouldn't fit up inside the cup.

This was cheap bike which I have tidied up to use through the winter so I can't spend any more than I already have but if they can just get the shock right I'll be happy :rolleyes:
 
Someone posted something about them either last year or earlier this year saying that they'd messed up a shock and it took 2 or 3 goes to get it right. Anyone else or was it just my imagination?
 
Someone posted something about them either last year or earlier this year saying that they'd messed up a shock and it took 2 or 3 goes to get it right. Anyone else or was it just my imagination?

I've taken the shock off now and if I shake it I can hear something clunking around inside and it's not just oil moving around :blast
 
Someone posted something about them either last year or earlier this year saying that they'd messed up a shock and it took 2 or 3 goes to get it right. Anyone else or was it just my imagination?

Tufts - It was me with the shock that was messed up by ABE. I didn’t post about it at the time but I told you the saga when I called round to pick up your s/h shocks to save a trip I had planned.

My shock was original to the bike and worked without fault, but having done 50000 miles I decided to treat it to a refurb at ABE, based on the recommendations I had read on here.

It arrived after about a week. However, they too had fitted a valve that was far too long, but in my case it wouldn’t even allow the shock to fit back on the bike after the refurb. I called them and the guy told me it must be my bike that was at fault as they had done hundreds of them before. They told me my sub frame must have been made wrong or had been bent in a crash. However, they offered to fit a “custom made” short valve so I sent it back.

A week or so later it arrived with a new shorter valve attached and this time it fitted easily. I rolled the bike out of the garage only to find it now had no damping at all! The suspension just compressed and returned to full extension immediately with a loud crash. Completely un-rideable. When I called back to complain they didn’t seem to believe me, telling me I had probably just adjusted wrong. I ended up sending them a video of what it was doing and they then admitted the cock up. I called them a few days later to check on progress and they said that they had tested the shock on arrival and found it to be OK but couldn’t explain how it had somehow fixed itself in the post. The phrase “just one of those things” was used.

When it came back for the third time all seemed well for a short while, but after about 300 miles I lost all damping again, luckily not too far from home. By this time I’d lost all faith in ABE. Couldn’t be arsed with the cost and hassle of sending it back yet again, so it now sits as scrap on my garage floor.

I’m currently running along nicely on Tuftys second hand shock but will treat myself to something new and shiny over the winter.

Just a record of what happened to me, but I know others have been very happy with ABE.
 
Tufts - It was me with the shock that was messed up by ABE. I didn’t post about it at the time but I told you the saga when I called round to pick up your s/h shocks to save a trip I had planned.

My shock was original to the bike and worked without fault, but having done 50000 miles I decided to treat it to a refurb at ABE, based on the recommendations I had read on here.

It arrived after about a week. However, they too had fitted a valve that was far too long, but in my case it wouldn’t even allow the shock to fit back on the bike after the refurb. I called them and the guy told me it must be my bike that was at fault as they had done hundreds of them before. They told me my sub frame must have been made wrong or had been bent in a crash. However, they offered to fit a “custom made” short valve so I sent it back.

A week or so later it arrived with a new shorter valve attached and this time it fitted easily. I rolled the bike out of the garage only to find it now had no damping at all! The suspension just compressed and returned to full extension immediately with a loud crash. Completely un-rideable. When I called back to complain they didn’t seem to believe me, telling me I had probably just adjusted wrong. I ended up sending them a video of what it was doing and they then admitted the cock up. I called them a few days later to check on progress and they said that they had tested the shock on arrival and found it to be OK but couldn’t explain how it had somehow fixed itself in the post. The phrase “just one of those things” was used.

When it came back for the third time all seemed well for a short while, but after about 300 miles I lost all damping again, luckily not too far from home. By this time I’d lost all faith in ABE. Couldn’t be arsed with the cost and hassle of sending it back yet again, so it now sits as scrap on my garage floor.

I’m currently running along nicely on Tuftys second hand shock but will treat myself to something new and shiny over the winter.

Just a record of what happened to me, but I know others have been very happy with ABE.

Fuck, that's exactly what's happened to mine so far except that it's taken me longer to get to this stage. I'm fortunate in that I have another bike to use but if I didn't I'd be totally pissed!

Shock is now in a box to be collected by Parcelfarce tomorrow morning..
 
Hope you have better luck. Here’s the video I sent them. https://youtu.be/qx_7GgF8HgI

That is exactly what my bike is doing, only wish that I had videod it before sending the shock back!
Received a voicemail from them today and the guy (Mollie or Moggi or something) said that ' This is a lovely condition BMW shock and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, there is no noise when I shake it either so please call me tomorrow so I can explain a few things to you and find out more about your bike ???).
Well, when I shook it front of my partner, (the shock that is :rolleyes:) someone who has zero mechanical knowledge, her reply was 'that doesn't sound very good'.

I have a feeling that this is going to get more annoying than it already is and I might use your youtube link as reference if you don't mind ?
Meantime, anyone have a usable rear shock for sale as this might drag on a bit :blast
 
That’s the same guy I dealt with. Feel free to use the video - he’s seen it before anyway. Sounds like yours had miraculously fixed itself in the post also. :confused:
 
Meantime, anyone have a usable rear shock for sale as this might drag on a bit :blast

My offer is still open Mike, and I can post it up North without much trouble.

Cugsy on here has a YSS rear for sale, though its set up for a 75kg rider so youd probably have to have been staying off the beer and pies ;)
 
My offer is still open Mike, and I can post it up North without much trouble.

Cugsy on here has a YSS rear for sale, though its set up for a 75kg rider so youd probably have to have been staying off the beer and pies ;)
I'm 76kg☺
I'll update when I finish work!
 


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