ESA - Suspension choppy solo, fine 2-up - any ideas???

[R12GSer]

I recently bought a low miles GS LC with ESA. It's bouncing me out of my seat on rough roads when solo but is absolutely fine 2-up, lovely and comfy.
The bike had the ESA reset/calibrated at a main dealer and they gave it a clean bill of health after a test ride but it feels just the same to me. My theory is the spring isn't working solo, maybe as if the preload is set too hard but that 2-up it's fine. I'd write it off as a characteristic of the bike if it was the same solo and 2-up but it definitely isn't. Has anyone else come across this or have any ideas, my dealer reckons they've done what they can...
I'm riding 1 helmet solo and 1 helmet+bag or 2 helmets 2-up. It seems just as choppy in soft, road or hard damping modes solo and the suspension does motor up and down when switching preload with the engine running.

 

[roamer]

It sounds like the passenger weight is masking a damping issue,
If it was from a bmw dealer go for a comparison ride on another bike,
A friend recently had a non esa shock lose damping at 7000 miles,
It took some convincing the dealer that there was an issue, ,
New shock fitted all ok,
Out of interest how many miles has the bike done,

 

[CPJS]

I have had two shocks fail on two different bikes, one at 6,000mls and the other 12,000mls.
Both times they recalibrated and said it was fine, it wasn't.
Get the dealer to ride the bike and see what they say.

 

[the woodster]

I have had the same 'choppy' experience on two ESA equipped GSs, including my current 2017 one.

I much prefer the two up or loaded with luggage riding experience. The suspension becomes smooth and compliant and that's when I get the magic carpet ride that I expected when solo. It reacts much better to different road surfaces and the high speed compression/rebound seems better.

I have yet to find a solution. It's not outrageous so I haven't expended too much time and effort to try and resolve it beyond mentioning it to the dealer at service time (No change).

I shall follow the post with interest.

 

[knutk]

If the bike bounces too much when rider rides solo and is fine when adding the weight of a passenger, the rider needs to gain weight. May I suggest a Banana Split diet ?

 

[R12GSer]

The bike has about 11500 miles on it and I've done about 800 or so. The dealer said they sent someone out on the bike and that they rode a similar age and mileage machine for comparison and it felt fine to them - but I'm not imagining it. BTW, My weight suited and booted is about 85KG so not exactly a lightweight. I'm showing my ignorance now but why would it be a damping issue and not preload?

 

[R12GSer]

If the bike bounces too much when rider rides solo and is fine when adding the weight of a passenger, the rider needs to gain weight. May I suggest a Banana Split diet ?

Now that's a plan I could get behind, not sure my wife or job would support it though!

 

[knutk]

Keep in mind that the preload only lifts the bike on the damper. On the Gen 2 ESA on the K models part of the spring got blocked of in sports mode, but I'm not sure if this is the case on the GS. Anyway, since the spring is the very same steel spring in all modes, the ride will be softer by increasing weight. If the OP finds the issue unbearable I would like to suggest to get in touch with Wilbers, as the customize the spring to the riders weight.

 

[Neil W]

Mine had 2 front shocks, one rear, numerous ECU updates (12 plus including one offs from the factory ) ,2 sets of left hand switchgear , was fitted with telemetrics for 2 months being ridden sending data back to the factory re the suspension and after 35 months and less than 14,000 miles it was never fixed and had all of your symptoms so (plus many more ) I got shot of it .

However, try it in enduro mode it gives a much more compliant ride on the roads , although cruise control is disabled .

Problem with ESA is that this type of fault does not show up on dealer diagnostics , some bikes have (numerous ) issues and they are never resolved others are fine .

There are numerous members on here who gave up on ESA bikes and either went down the Billy Basic route OR binned BMW altogether

 

[Matty589]

Yep, I’ve never got on with ESA on the GS. I sourced an RS specifically without ESA as I found the ESA suspension rendered it unrideable. Funnily enough the old style ESA on the large K bikes is far more plush and compliant - try a K1600 and compare, maybe?

 

[knutk]

I think part of the problem is that the steel springs are mounted on a bike that is designed to handle its double weight when loaded. Most of the blokes buying it are grown ups that, quite frankly, hardly ever missed a meal. The dampers may help a soft spring to be more firm in its action, but a firm spring can not be softened up by the damper. On the K BMW puts a softer progressive spring that is blocked off when you whant a firmer ride. Guess they skipped it on the GS since the bike is suposed to handle rougher surface.
Wilbers are offering softer springs for riders that have missed some of their meals, but then they have to realize that at full weight the handeling of the bike may be less than optimal.

The ESA part of the damper as such is not degraded due to the ESA functions, as the ride level is adjusted in the same way as non ESA, but the load lever is replaced by a motor. Furter, the motors that sets the softer or harder ride are merely small stepper motors that adjust the damper in the same way as you would do by a screwdriver on the non ESA. If the seals in the ESA and non ESA are built with the same level of quality is unknown to yours truly, but there should be no physical reason to why there should be a difference.

 

[Boxerlust]

What do you expect BMW to do ? Suspension straight from the factory can only be a compromise as the same suspension can't work perfectly for a small girl that weighs 85 lbs or a big guy weighing in at 250 lbs,or even 2-up with boxes full of gear.For what it is the ESA systems with it's 3 spring pre-load settings as also different rebound settings and automatic changes depending if roads are smooth or not and now even self-leveling does a great job.Even Ohlins TTX are in my opinion maybe 20% better as in comfortable & compliant and still firm with the main advantage that you can spec a weight proper rear-spring.
I myself always ran my ESA in 2-up and hard and still found it a little bit on the soft side riding hard...so all is relative !
For what it is the ESA system on the GS-LC is a pretty good system that leaves not much to be desired...except it's not rebuildable if you keep the bike longer.

 

[Morety]

I'm about the same weight as you R12GSer, and mine is spont on solo with ESA on normal or hard settings. It only gets bouncy on the soft setting. If it's a soft bouncy ride it sounds like it's under damped. If it's pitching you out of the seat due to being too hard, it sounds like its an over-damping issue. Either way, at the same weight I do get that magic carpet ride over uneven surfaces in ESA set to "normal" so I would say that the dealer is fobbing you off and that the damping calibration wants looking at. Don't take "no" for an answer...it's not right and could be considered a safety issue. Suspension has to be properly damped in order for the rear wheel to keep that little contact patch on the tarmac and you in the rider's seat! All suspension is a compromise depending on rider mass, road surface and speed since all of these things affect loading and damping rates but for say a fairly uneven surface at 40 to 60mph I'd expect for your mass the normal settings to be spot on.

 

[CPJS]

Ride one of their demo's and see how it compares, it is useful to have a reference point, do you know anyone with similar bike you can try.

 

[Weird Bob]

I’m *ahem* a little over 100kg and always set it to rider plus luggage at a minimum. If I had the cases with stuff in then I set to two up.
On solo rider I felt the bike sagged too much and a bit wallowy on comfort

 

[R12GSer]

Thanks all for the advice, I'll chat with the dealer again tomorrow - I'm experiencing the hard choppy ride solo, not soft wallowy so that's a good starting point and i'll see if they've got the demo available again but I think that's got ESA II and the earlier (2014) bike is ESA I?

 

[Matty589]

Having had both versions, the newer version is a touch better and tends to display a slightly seasick up and down motion in road mode - up to you whether this is better than the crashing over bumps under-damped feel of the earlier version. As has been said, it does depend on the rider. At a relatively svelte 70Kg I find the GS is better with luggage on than unladen. The RS (and the Non-ESA GS I had) is better over rough roads than the ESA GS. By comparison the K1300GT I very nearly bought was significantly more plush than any of the R1200’s I’ve owned. Maybe it’s something to do with the adventure class - the Tiger Explorer and Crosstourer were just as bad on bumpy roads.

 

[Sea Dog]

I don't think a GS with properly functioning ESA does this. I'm a similar weight to the OP and my late '16 Euro 4 does not have this characteristic. For me, this is a malfunction and not a design issue.

 

[spoonz]

I don't think a GS with properly functioning ESA does this. I'm a similar weight to the OP and my late '16 Euro 4 does not have this characteristic. For me, this is a malfunction and not a design issue.

Have to say i'm not recognising the description most are having with the ESA either. Maybe having just come from a Ducati, anything will seem like a sofa but my bike handles superb and no issues with having to be in luggage or 2 up mode etc.

 

[Weird Bob]

Having had both versions, the newer version is a touch better and tends to display a slightly seasick up and down motion in road mode

I thought it was just me that occasionally got the sea sick feeling from road mode on certain roads!