ESA Rear shock 2008 1200 GSA

[jbodin]

34500 miles, and rear shock leaking,quoted £1200 plus to replace.
BMW customer care not interested.
Bike never used off road, always serviced as required at BMW.Only road use, solo riding, thought.it should not have failed so soon, really very upset,I honestly thought I had bought into a quality brand.
BMW UK customer care really where quiet blunt, and couldn't give a toss.
Pretty well determined this is the last BMW bike,I also run BMW car due for replacement, can't believe there attitude.
Is there anyone who can service/repair this ESA unit. Just can't afford to get it replaced. Any oUsensible advice please. T it shouldhis really has come as a shock,!! Thanks .

 

[Beemerman59]

Get a Wilburs WESA shock - its light years better than the OEM, cheaper, and is rebuildable with a 5 year guarantee. Revs Racing are the guys to go to and do a search on this forum as there's lots of satisfied customers - including me My OEM shock lasted less than 30K on my '08 GSA.

 

[jbodin]

Thanks for the info

 

[freelancefoto]

Wilbers look like a great and really the only option.

Please post a review of the service you recieve. I'll be trending your footsteps on a couple of years.

 

[Yonkyo]

+1 for Wilbers WESA, had font and rear shocks replaced with WESA by Revs Racing.

Cost £1275 all in.

 

[Pukmeister]

I had standard Wilbers on my old GS. If and when my GSA with ESA needs replacing ill be going back to revs for another set.

 

[oldnfat]

Hi, an alternative is to get it rebuilt. The unit is sealed and many say that a rebuild is not an option but i had my non ESA unit rebuilt by www.firefoxracing.co.uk

It cost under £200 inc postage, took about 3 weeks and was MUCH better. Their view was that the internals were extremely low grade with poor valving.

Not sure if an ESA unit causes any more difficulties for them but worth a try.

 

[hodgkins]

ESA

34500 miles, and rear shock leaking,quoted £1200 plus to replace.
BMW customer care not interested.
Bike never used off road, always serviced as required at BMW.Only road use, solo riding, thought.it should not have failed so soon, really very upset,I honestly thought I had bought into a quality brand.
BMW UK customer care really where quiet blunt, and couldn't give a toss.
Pretty well determined this is the last BMW bike,I also run BMW car due for replacement, can't believe there attitude.
Is there anyone who can service/repair this ESA unit. Just can't afford to get it replaced. Any oUsensible advice please. T it shouldhis really has come as a shock,!! Thanks .

HI My 2011 gsa shock whent on front at 6000 miles not good left oil all over front tyre.

 

[Larton'GS'er]

Rear shock

Hi,
I had my standard rear shock rebuilt last yer by Firefox racing too. They did the rebuild for £100 which includes the full strip down , inspection, replacement of guide bush, seal, new oil and gas. Carriage was about £10 each way. If its any consolation, mine leaked at 15000 miles. No off reading or green lanes either. Had done a bit Italian Dolomites and passes but all on relatively good roads.
BMW are on another planet when it comes to servicing and repairs. They've just quoted me £480 for the 24000 miler. Needless to say, they won't be getting my money. Labour rate quoted as £94 hour. It's robbery!!!

 

[Pukmeister]

Having removed my ESA shocks to fit replacement springs, I can say the rear shock 'tube' looks the same as a standard one once you get the hydraulic preload head off it. Obviously it has an electrical connector on it for the damping servo motor inside, but if all it needs is a seal replacing then regas and oil surely it should be possible to have it done by a specialist?

 

[littleredrooster]

BMW are on another planet when it comes to servicing and repairs. They've just quoted me £480 for the 24000 miler. Needless to say, they won't be getting my money. Labour rate quoted as £94 hour. It's robbery!!!

So we've gone from front shocks to servicing costs in a flash. If you think that's expensive, you perhaps should have bought a Honda VFR and asked the dealer for a price for a 16000 mile service where the valves are done...or a Ducati belt change at 12000. That's expensive!

If ya can't afford to run it, don't buy the fekkin' thing in the first place!

 

[Delboy777]

So we've gone from front shocks to servicing costs in a flash. If you think that's expensive, you perhaps should have bought a Honda VFR and asked the dealer for a price for a 16000 mile service where the valves are done...or a Ducati belt change at 12000. That's expensive!

If ya can't afford to run it, don't buy the fekkin' thing in the first place!

Thats a bit unfair is it not ? You got fuckin shares in BMW ?

 

[APE]

34500 miles, and rear shock leaking,quoted £1200 plus to replace.
BMW customer care not interested.
Bike never used off road, always serviced as required at BMW.Only road use, solo riding, thought.it should not have failed so soon, really very upset,I honestly thought I had bought into a quality brand.
BMW UK customer care really where quiet blunt, and couldn't give a toss.
Pretty well determined this is the last BMW bike,I also run BMW car due for replacement, can't believe there attitude.
Is there anyone who can service/repair this ESA unit. Just can't afford to get it replaced. Any oUsensible advice please. T it shouldhis really has come as a shock,!! Thanks .

I thought the service life for a shock was 30-40k miles ? I get my Ohlins serviced every 2 years. It's a bummer when this happens but 35k is quite a high mileage for a motorcycle.

Shocks wear out - don't think it's reasonable to expect them to last the life of the bike regardless of mileage .

 

[jbodin]

I thought the service life for a shock was 30-40k miles ? I get my Ohlins serviced every 2 years. It's a bummer when this happens but 35k is quite a high mileage for a motorcycle.

Shocks wear out - don't think it's reasonable to expect them to last the life of the bike regardless of mileage .

Its a bike designed to do mileage,not sit in a garage all shiny.
Why is it people think this sort of mileage is excesive,these bikes cost similar to a car.
Whatever you say suspension failure at 35k is piss poor.
Thanks to all those guys who have given me some usefull information to pursue.

 

[Pukmeister]

Heres the Hyperpro Youtube video of how to remove the hydraulic ESA preload head fromthe shock tube:

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gCnIZj8QD3M?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Bendy toy]

Revs Racing are the UK suppliers for Wilbers, but they also rebuild shocks and as it's largely a labour cost I'm sure they would be happy to rebuild BMW shocks.

That said, Revs sell many WESA units to people with brand new bikes. For someone to chuck away a pair of new shocks and pay £1350 for the privilege the WESAs must be stunning.

In terms of service costs - when valve clearances are included, BMW boxers are a lot lower than Honda.

In terms of a 2008 bike with >30K miles (any brand) the rear shock will almost certainly be shot or close to.

 

[Beemerman59]

Revs Racing are the UK suppliers for Wilbers, but they also rebuild shocks and as it's largely a labour cost I'm sure they would be happy to rebuild BMW shocks.

That said, Revs sell many WESA units to people with brand new bikes. For someone to chuck away a pair of new shocks and pay £1350 for the privilege the WESAs must be stunning.

In terms of service costs - when valve clearances are included, BMW boxers are a lot lower than Honda.

In terms of a 2008 bike with >30K miles (any brand) the rear shock will almost certainly be shot or close to.

When I was having my WESA fitted I asked Revs if they would rebuild the OEM shocks - they said no.

 

[Pukmeister]

John Gaskell at Revs rebuilt my Thundercat rear shock years ago when everyone else said it wasn't possible. Sadly the rebuilt unit failed again within a year and was eventually replaced. Perhaps they can't guarantee repairing the BMW items for whatever reason, such as a lack of factory supplied spares from Showa or WP?

No doubt if you go WESA your old failed exchanged unit will get remanufactured in a workshop somewhere and resold as a WESA item.

 

[Beemerman59]

John Gaskell at Revs rebuilt my Thundercat rear shock years ago when everyone else said it wasn't possible. Sadly the rebuilt unit failed again within a year and was eventually replaced. Perhaps they can't guarantee repairing the BMW items for whatever reason, such as a lack of factory supplied spares from Showa or WP?

No doubt if you go WESA your old failed exchanged unit will get remanufactured in a workshop somewhere and resold as a WESA item.

I brought mine back with me - plan to get them rebuilt someday.

 

[Bendy toy]

When my rear shock(s) fails I plan to fit WESA. TBH the (standard BMW) difference between Sport/Normal/Comfort is minimal and the ride is about adequate.

Ive ridden an Aprilia Pegaso 650 with a Wilbers back shock and its amazingly smooth yet sure footed. Its not ESA of course, but all that is added equipment. The shock underneath is the same quality (tuned to suit the bike and rider of course).