1150GSA Suspension 1k(ish) to spend.

[Gab]

Hello everybody,

I'm new on the forum and I've posted a thread in the 'new member' section.

I'm thinking to get a kit for my 1150 GS Adventure (m.y. 2005) and at the moment the choice could be Ohlins, Nitron or TFX.

Does anyone have personal experience with those products? What's the best one in terms of value for money?

Thanks

 

[PhaedrusMC]

New Wilbers should set you back between €1000.00 and € 1200.00

I bought the basic Wilbers 630/640 for my R1200RT from http://www.gs-parts.de

Cost was €840 inc VAT and shipping

I thought the Wilbers 530/540 (Blackline, €780/pair of basic spec from Wunderlich) shocks were the basic ones, and 630/640 (Blueline, €1000/pair of basic spec from Wunderlich) are higher-end? I had been looking at Wunderlich's site, but gsparts is cheaper (they seem to have the Blackline shocks named Ecoline - I pezoom they're one and the same?). I hadn't heard of them before.

http://www.wunderlich.de/shop/en/wunderlich/suspension/view/sku/530-0019-02/

http://www.wunderlich.de/shop/en/wunderlich/suspension/view/sku/540-0186-01/

http://www.wunderlich.de/shop/en/wunderlich/suspension/view/sku/630-0012-00/

http://www.wunderlich.de/shop/en/wunderlich/suspension/view/sku/640-0012-00/

Or do you mean you got the basic spec of the higher-end 630/640 Blueline shocks?

 

[Gab]

What I meant with high-end is that the top range products from Wilbers (630 and 640) seem to be a bit less high-end than the top range from Ohlins / Nitron. It looks like that in terms of materials Ohlins and Nitron use better ones.

In the end of the day it is always up to the type of riding. I won't be taking my GS on some super tough terrains in South America or Siberia and that's why I'm wondering whether I should spend a loads of money to get myself a kit from Ohlins or perhaps save some bucks and get Wilbers, which will still be way better than only changing the springs (Hyperpro kit) and get my original shocks serviced.

Advice welcome!

 

[PhaedrusMC]

Gotcha.

No intention of hijacking OP's thread, but this all seems relevant and on-topic...

I'm curious about budget / economy shocks like Wilbers Blackline/Ecoline 530/540. At their price, I wouldn't expect them to be on par with Ohlins etc, but can anyone who's used such shocks comment on whether they're up to the job of commuting, fun spins, and pillionless touring (including occasional light off-road use)? Unless they're fibbing (marketing folk fib? Surely not...), the specs are at least reasonable, if not impressive, given the proce, no?

• Stepless adjustable spring preload
• "Radial-piston and progressive shim-package"
• Maintenance-free spherical plain bearings
• 5 year warranty.

I'm asking in the context of running a late 1100 / early 1150, as that's the end of the GS ownership spectrum I'll be entering. I'm guessing bikes of that vintage will either have had shocks (among other stuff) replaced / rebuilt (in which case suspension concerns will be eliminated), or they'll be in a sorry state, in which case any info or comments from those in the know would be apreciated.

 

[Gab]

Thanks for your reply Phaedrus. You've summarised very well what I'm asking for.

At the end of the day it's all about value for money right?

Thanks for sending the link to the Wunderlich website as the same products there are much cheaper. It must be because price is in euro. Do yo happen to know where to get the P/A? I'd definitely need to purchase that with the 640 rear shock.

 

[King Rat]

Can people actually tell the difference between these shocks when they are riding on ordinary roads? I struggle to tell when I have a flat tyre, until I come to push it around by hand. The steering starts to feel a bit a bit heavy and makes me have a gander - then I notice the tyre is a bit squashed towards the bottom! Fuel consumption goes up too, another valuable indicator, when I fail to get to 280 miles before the fuel light goes on....my trouble is I only do about 15,000 - 20,000 a year on the bikes and I am not a polished enough rider to tell the difference. What exactly do you 'feel' for?

 

[PhaedrusMC]

I hope I don't come across like I consider myself knowledgeable - I certainly don't consider myself so. I'm still very much in "asking-questions" territory rather than "offering-knowledge"...

P/A? Not sure I know what this means?

They all (530/540 and 630/640) seem to be cheaper from gsparts, no?

http://shop.gs-parts.de/navi.php?a=735&lang=eng

http://shop.gs-parts.de/navi.php?a=734&lang=eng

http://shop.gs-parts.de/Type-630-Road-BMW-Telelever

http://shop.gs-parts.de/Type-640-Road-R-1100-GS

NOTE: I searched for 1100GS shocks.

 

[PhaedrusMC]

Can people actually tell the difference between these shocks when they are riding on ordinary roads? I struggle to tell when I have a flat tyre, until I come to push it around by hand. The steering starts to feel a bit a bit heavy and makes me have a gander - then I notice the tyre is a bit squashed towards the bottom! Fuel consumption goes up too, another valuable indicator, when I fail to get to 280 miles before the fuel light goes on....my trouble is I only do about 15,000 - 20,000 a year on the bikes and I am not a polished enough rider to tell the difference. What exactly do you 'feel' for?

Inneresting.

I had an FJ12 for five years. IIRC, I owned it from around 30,000 mils to nearly 70,000. I remember going into a dealer in Dublin and sitting on a 10,000-mile ThunderAce (I was considering moving on from the FJ), and I was blown away, even just sitting on the bike. By comparison to the 70,000-mile FJ, the 10,000-mile ThunderAce's suspension worked! That's the only way I could describe it. I guess suspension goes off slowly (unless it just suddenly fails), so over long-term ownership, we barely feel it going off. And it takes a new set of shocks (or a sit on a bike with properly-working suspension) to highlight the gulf in performance. That make sense?

IMO, budget shocks probably feel much the same as expensive shocks to the average rider. Where the average rider will notice any difference to the same level as an experienced one might be if the budget shock fails earlier than the expensive shock. Though in the case of the Wilbers' "budget" 530/540, I reckon a 5 year warranty says a lot...

 

[Gab]

King Rat
I agree with you. My point is that since I have to either service or replace my shocks I want to get it right. I don't want to spend a few hundred quids on something that doesn't turn out to be good.

Phaedrus
1100 or 1150 shouldn't make any difference as the shocks are the same - just checked on GS Parts website. And yes, they are even cheaper. Thanks for the link!
A P/A is a Preload Adjuster, which is something the GS Adventure (don't know about the standard GS) has as standard. That's why I'd like to get it.

 

[PhaedrusMC]

King Rat
I agree with you. My point is that since I have to either service or replace my shocks I want to get it right. I don't want to spend a few hundred quids on something that doesn't turn out to be good.

Phaedrus
1100 or 1150 shouldn't make any difference as the shocks are the same - just checked on GS Parts website. And yes, they are even cheaper. Thanks for the link!
A P/A is a Preload Adjuster, which is something the GS Adventure (don't know about the standard GS) has as standard. That's why I'd like to get it.

From the blurb for both 530 & 540 on Wunderlich's page:

"Stepless adjustable spring preload by using the included spanner tool".

Not as convenient as remote adjustment, but... that price...

 

[Gab]

Although I'd never go for the 530/540 series. If I decided to get a kit from Wilbers it would be the 630/640 one. And looking at the GS Parts website they have the HPA (Hydraulic Preload Springs) for € 180, which means an overall of 1078, just a bit more than £ 800. I think it's a good price for that kind of product. Especially if you consider the price you'd have to pay for Ohlins or Nitron. We're talking about £ 500 less than those.

Installation should be around £ 100/120. So with less than £ 1k you get yourself a very good kit.

 

[Gab]

Hi fellas,

Here it is the bottom line.

Wilbers 630 front, 640 rear + HPA
£ 805 plus delivery (10)

Nitron NTR+ front and rear with HPA
£ 900 plus delivery (12.50)

Does anyone have an in depth knowledge of the two products?

If I have to judge only looking at the photos Nitron do seem to be better built. Materials seem to be of a better quality and also the way they are put together. But this just my opinion. And I'm not even an expert in this field.

Any comments from expert members of the forum would be much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Flipfly]

Hi fellas,

Here it is the bottom line.

Wilbers 630 front, 640 rear + HPA
£ 805 plus delivery (10)

Nitron NTR+ front and rear with HPA
£ 900 plus delivery (12.50)

Does anyone have an in depth knowledge of the two products?

If I have to judge only looking at the photos Nitron do seem to be better built. Materials seem to be of a better quality and also the way they are put together. But this just my opinion. And I'm not even an expert in this field.

Any comments from expert members of the forum would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Is the NTR+ the one with the separate gas charge?

I paid less for mine but mine are just the NTR with HPA. TBH the bike rides great with them. They need to bed in a little before they start working at their best but straight out of the box I found them to make the bike more precise on turn in and quicker to change direction. They now have 1000 miles or so on them and they are much plusher than before, the damping seems to be a lot smoother. Initially I had to wind it back from the factory, but I have now reset it to where they set it as they have bedded in.

I was really pleased with the quality of the shocks, they seem to be made of quality materials and the finish is very good.

 

[ahutcheon]

When I bought new suspension (Hyperpro, and I'm happy with it) I went for the relatively affordable version, but did pay for remote preload adjustment at the back. My reasoning was that I use the preload once in a while, but I didn't really need three sorts of damping adjustment ( one will do fine) on decent shocks where the manufacturer has chosen the setup sensibly. I may of course just be insensitive...

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

 

[Gab]

Thank you guys for your response.

Flipfly
No, it is not the one with the gas charger. It is the NTR+ front with ring height adjuster and NTR+ rear with P/A. How much did you pay for yours?
Have you ever had the chance to test or talk to someone who was mounting Wilbers shocks? I'm just curious to know which one is best in quality since the price is very similar.

ahutcheon
Which are the right shocks from Hyperpro for the 1150GA Adventure?

What I'm looking for is no gas charger but a full kit that includes front shocks with normal ring adjuster and rear shock with HPA. And I'm trying to understand which would be the best value for money option. I'm already sure I won't go for Ohlins but at the moment lots of competitors are on the list: Nitron, Wilbers, TFX, Hyperpro, etc.

 

[Streetbike]

Gab, give Ollie a ring at Nitron. He'll give you straight advice without a sales pitch.

 

[Gab]

If I give a ring to someone who works for Nitron they will tell me that their shocks are the best. Same thing would do someone from Wilbers and so on. That's why I'm trying to understand what could be the best kit for me asking people on this forum and not talking directly to the manufacturer.

 

[Flipfly]

Thank you guys for your response.

Flipfly
No, it is not the one with the gas charger. It is the NTR+ front with ring height adjuster and NTR+ rear with P/A. How much did you pay for yours?
Have you ever had the chance to test or talk to someone who was mounting Wilbers shocks? I'm just curious to know which one is best in quality since the price is very similar.

ahutcheon
Which are the right shocks from Hyperpro for the 1150GA Adventure?

What I'm looking for is no gas charger but a full kit that includes front shocks with normal ring adjuster and rear shock with HPA. And I'm trying to understand which would be the best value for money option. I'm already sure I won't go for Ohlins but at the moment lots of competitors are on the list: Nitron, Wilbers, TFX, Hyperpro, etc.

I think I paid £800 and something, wilbers were more expensive at the time. I was drawn by the thicker shock shaft as I do sometimes take the bike off road.

I also liked the finish and having spoken to the guys at Nitron they seemed to offer a more friendly experience. The UK Wilbers man is very good, but his communication was a bit lacking in my experience. The Nitron guys recognise the competition and know where they think their product is better, the Wilbers guy is Wilbers or Wilbers, everything else is poo. Others may have had a different experience, but I can only speak for my own. The service was quick and when the shocks arrived I was stunned by the finish of the shocks, truly beautiful.

 

[ahutcheon]

Dunno which shocks for a GSA, mine is a plain old GS. Sorry. I know I asked myself if I'd ever tune compression vs rebound vs fast vs slow damping, and decided that gave lots to get wrong but I would tweak preload and damping if I loaded up plenty.

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

 

[Gab]

That's the thing. Even looking at the photos on the websites Nitron seem to be so much better built in comparison to the competitors... Tough decision!