1200GSA Front Shock Absorber leaking oil.

[Jetstar]

Hi, can anyone offer any advice/help please?? I have an 11 Reg. R1200GSA and recently noticed oil leaking from the front shock absorber. Was out on the bike yesterday and noticed is leaking a lot more now! It has ESA and only done 17,000 miles. Will I get any ESA warnings on the instrument display??
Has anyone else had any problems with this or know of any issues/recalls?
My concerns are how easy it is to remove the shock at the dealers and possible cost to fix!!!

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Jetstar

 

[kurienp]

Jetstar, put this query in the hexhead forum and you will receive appropriate responses. (you've posted it in Breakchat and Bollox ... and that is the kind of feedback you may receive here )

K

 

[Jetstar]

ok, thanks.

 

[Beemerman59]

No, you won't get any warnings on the dash. As you've only got 17K miles on it, its worth going to your local dealer to see if you can get a replacement from BMW under goodwill. Typically, once they're over 30K miles on them then you're on your own.

There are some places that will have a go at repairing them or if you want to upgrade to a better shock there are Wilburs and Ohlins versions which are compatible with ESA. These are not cheap but neither is an OEM replacement. You can also put a non-ESA shock on if you don't mind going to a manual. I have the Wilburs WESA which is very good and IMO better than the OEM by far.

 

[Bendy toy]

Those who have fitted Wilbers say its by far the best upgrade you can do for the bike. Ohlins is likely to be even better but should be for the huge price tags

 

[TLSgazza]

If you have taken out the extended warranty it's covered up to 30.000 miles, if not go whimpering to your dealer as said above to see if they may replace it.
Though wollastons seem to be getting a bit tight as of late

 

[Wierpig]

I've got a shock with ESA if you need to buy one.as new.very low mileage.

 

[Pukmeister]

First step should be a goodwill attempt by your dealership with BMW.

If that fails, the shock can be rebuilt by MCT in Stowmarket, or Firefox racing somewhere 'oop North.

 

[marcopol]

Shock

Firefoxracing.co.uk


They can repair it.

 

[Jetstar]

Thanks for all the advice. I will give my dealer a call! How easy is it to remove the front shock absorber from the bike??

 

[notadrop]

Not very easy I'm afraid.

 

[Pukmeister]

Thanks for all the advice. I will give my dealer a call! How easy is it to remove the front shock absorber from the bike??

Fuel tank has to come off, centre cross member for crash bars on the adventure get in the way and need removing, plastic alternator belt cover also comes off. Support front end with a jack under the bash plate then disconnect Esa connectors, unbolt top and bottom shock bolts and ease it out. Hardly rocket science.

 

[Bendy toy]

Mine has the Showa ESA.

The shock and ESA comes out as a unit. It's easy enough to do.
If the front is going the back is likely to be as well. Rears usually fail first.

Don't try to undo the ESA hydraulics. It's under pressure so leave it to those with expert tooling.

 

[Jetstar]

Mine has the Showa ESA.

The shock and ESA comes out as a unit. It's easy enough to do.
If the front is going the back is likely to be as well. Rears usually fail first.

Don't try to undo the ESA hydraulics. It's under pressure so leave it to those with expert tooling.

Can I really expect the rear to fail as well?!?

 

[TLSgazza]

My non esa rear started leaking at 29,600 miles covered by warranty to 30.000, just in time, my non esa front is still fine at 49.000 and nearly 9 years old.

 

[Bendy toy]

Mine has 50K on front but rear had a new one at 27K.
TBH we expect too much from our suspension. It gets hammered hot or cold with zero servicing then we moan when it fails.
e.g. Wilbers say service every 12K miles.

 

[Jetstar]

Mine has 50K on front but rear had a new one at 27K.
TBH we expect too much from our suspension. It gets hammered hot or cold with zero servicing then we moan when it fails.
e.g. Wilbers say service every 12K miles.

Round the World Adventure Bike?!?

 

[Rocketman]

+1 for oil under front shock ,first noticed it around September time just a drop though
Decided to keep bike for a couple more years so I've been doing a bit of farkling of an evening
And while fitting my dually LEDs I noticed shit loads of it ,on the crash bar even in the bmw imprint in the black cover .
Bikes just done 20k it's an 08
I'm thinking maybe me and the mrs have killed it as we are both good tosser
Sized folk , who like to camp
Anyway I think I'm gonna bite the bullet and go for wesa wilburs spoke to him
Today and I've got to do the weighing ourselves bit now ,omg
(I think the public weigh bridge is open at weekends) Gav

 

[peterc]

My rear ESA shock went at 25 k, replaced with a Wilber at approx £600. big improvement on the standard shite BM stuff and its under warrenty for 4 years. Front ok so far.

 

[MattW]

Round the World Adventure Bike?!?

Which is why BMW shocks generally last a lot longer than your average Jap sports bike unit which is shagged in a couple of years.
I replaced my 1100 shocks at 19 years old...