Happy bunny refreshing my 2019 R1250GS with Tractive at T-Tech Suspension

[Eunuch]

Thanks for your very detailed and helpful post. I am a bit dim, so please forgive me but does 'Tractive ride in/out mean he supplies and fits fits them for the ballpark price you mention? Thank you.

That's right.

Costs were as follows:

Rear ex-change pro £1,019
Front ex-perience £958
Labour £245

Plus VAT.

Ride in day 1 and drop off. Changed into civies & left my bike gear there. 10 minute walk to the train station.
Came back the following week to pick it up as they need time to remove, do the swap (see below), refit and test.
He sent back to me FOC my working front shock which I will recoup some £ selling it.

I spoke with Luke about the getting the full rear option with the Tractive automatic preload adjuster which is an additional £500, but his view was if the OE BMW unit is working fine continue to use it (that's why this is an exchange option as it reuses it) and if that unit fails at some point in the future I'll go back and get the Tractive preload adjuster (EP2) retrospectively added when it replaces the BMW unit. The ride is the same either way and in his mind it wasn't worth doing it now as those units don't fail like clockwork at specific milage.

Also for reference as great questions are being asked and my intent was to make this as informative as possible for others that find themselves in the position I was in .... I spoke to Tractive directly to get their view on what spring rates I might want. They advised one spring rate for a touring bike that is slightly softer accommodating 2-up/luggage and one up for a more sportier solo ride based on my 71Kg plus gear baseline. I had the same discussion with Luke and based on my needs things were set up for a sportier ride.

 

[the woodster]

That's right.

Costs were as follows:

Rear ex-change pro £1,019
Front ex-perience £958
Labour £245

Plus VAT.

Ride in day 1 and drop off. Changed into civies & left my bike gear there. 10 minute walk to the train station.
Came back the following week to pick it up as they need time to remove, do the swap (see below), refit and test.
He sent back to me FOC my working front shock which I will recoup some £ selling it.

I spoke with Luke about the getting the full rear option with the Tractive automatic preload adjuster which is an additional £500, but his view was if the OE BMW unit is working fine continue to use it (that's why this is an exchange option as it reuses it) and if that unit fails at some point in the future I'll go back and get the Tractive preload adjuster (EP2) retrospectively added when it replaces the BMW unit. The ride is the same either way and in his mind it wasn't worth doing it now as those units don't fail like clockwork at specific milage.

Also for reference as great questions are being asked and my intent was to make this as informative as possible for others that find themselves in the position I was in .... I spoke to Tractive directly to get their view on what spring rates I might want. They advised one spring rate for a touring bike that is slightly softer accommodating 2-up/luggage and one up for a more sportier solo ride based on my 71Kg plus gear baseline. I had the same discussion with Luke and based on my needs things were set up for a sportier ride.

Thanks once again. Info like this is invaluable. I could change them myself but those labour costs are very reasonable, even if they've gone up since then!

 

[the woodster]

Well done with the alloys finding a straight front is nigh on impossible, I’ll buy your gold wires if your after selling as im after changing the black wires on my rallye

Hi, if you're interested in selling your rear spoked wheel in satin black, drop me a PM. I am struggling to find a used one that is any better condition than mine.

 

[Dezi58]

Hi, if you're interested in selling your rear spoked wheel in satin black, drop me a PM. I am struggling to find a used one that is any better condition than mine.

Once i find a pair of wheels in gold then I’ll be selling the oem black wires I have but not before

 

[siddo]

What I'm not understanding is, you had your suspension set up after the rebuild/replacement. Why did you need to get it done again?

Does the ride in service bloke not know how to do it and excludes it from his cost?

If I rode in for suspension rebuild, I'd expect it to have been set up specifically for my weight and riding style before leaving the shop.

 

[Eunuch]

What I'm not understanding is, you had your suspension set up after the rebuild/replacement. Why did you need to get it done again?

Does the ride in service bloke not know how to do it and excludes it from his cost?

If I rode in for suspension rebuild, I'd expect it to have been set up specifically for my weight and riding style before leaving the shop.

He does set it up. But I'm a fiddler. And though I baselined his initial settings I realised there is enough adjustment to play around and get something that still pretty reasonable but quite different from what he'd set up.

I'd had my Street Triple recently service by the other suspension guy and had discussed setting up the GS with him before it was installed, so I guess I like my guy. He's an Ohlins installation/service specialist and I decided against the non plug-and-play Ohlins option he was trying to sell me, but he is amazing on set up.

 

[siddo]

He does set it up. But I'm a fiddler. And though I baselined his initial settings I realised there is enough adjustment to play around and get something that still pretty reasonable but quite different from what he'd set up.

I'd had my Street Triple recently service by the other suspension guy and had discussed setting up the GS with him before it was installed, so I guess I like my guy. He's an Ohlins installation/service specialist and I decided against the non plug-and-play Ohlins option he was trying to sell me, but he is amazing on set up.

Lol. So you messed it up and had to pay someone to put it right.
I admire your honesty.

 

[Dezi58]

I've owned my 1250 Rallye from new bought 2019 and despite initial wobbles requiring the gold Hayes front callipers needing swapping out twice because they were leaking, overall I've been very pleased with the bike. I rode the 1300 a couple of times and thought it was pretty much the next bike for me right up until my dealer wanted an additional £15K on top of to trade in.

That got me thinking about what I can do to freshen the bike up and led to for me 2 mods which significantly improved the bike and a 3rd that did also, but not to such a great extent

1 - in April 2025 I took it to Geoff to get it Hilltopped at 30K miles. I posted on this already, but in summary very pleased with the results. I still don't know why I waited that long to get it done as it's so much smoother to ride, more midrange and allows more of the rev range to be used without feeling like you're being mechanically unsympathetic. I'm taking slow hairpins/corners in 2nd or 3rd when previously I'd be in 1st or 2nd.

2 - last month I took the bike to T-Tech Suspension in Newhaven and Luke applied similar magic dust to the suspension replacing the front with Tractive eX-PERIENCE and the rear with Tractive eX-CHANGE PRO. A little work getting the spring rates right and Luke was very attentive getting the damping adjusted in line with my needs to the point he was rushing to get it re-done on a Saturday before he went on holiday because he wanted to know I got exactly what I wanted before he left. He's a great guy and really knows his stuff. After getting it done and using AI to lead me I played with high and low speed compression damping ending up with a ride that was certainly pointy in the corners but not as comfortable as I was used to. So I reverted to what I know, which was booking in with a suspension specialist which in my case was Mark Hammond. He set up 2nd hand Ohlins I fitted on an old 1200GS with amazing success and the result was no different this time. He could tell the front and rear weren't working together and after a couple of hundred miles I can confirm it's fecking fantastic.

3 - at the last tyre refresh but before getting the suspension upgraded I swapped out the fancy gold spoked wheels for a set of OE alloys which reduce unsprung weight. I think I can notice the turn-in is better, but because I researched the shizzle out of it beforehand I don;t know how much was in my head!

Couple of points:

- I'd been riding around on shagged rear suspension on the 1250 without knowing it. First thing Luke did when I turned up was to push down hard on the rear seat and let it rebound, or should I say pogo. It took 4-5 pulses of the rear before it settled when it should be doing it in 1-1.5. Felt stupid not to have noticed, but turns out the OE shock goes somewhere between 30,000-50,000 miles and I'd been riding around with it and accepted the poor handing. Doh. Going from failed crappy suspension to what Tractive can offer for a sporty ride is a real eye opener. I love it.

- When I mentioned damping gone in the shock to my dealer they told me the extended warranty doesn't cover suspension over 30,000 miles ... good job I didn't renew this year then.


I'm really enjoying the ride on the old girl and I'm pleased I went through giving it a makeover. The free revving engine with more midrange coupled with the new suspenders has really rekindled the relationship with the 1250. I'm very happy with it and pleased I wasn't tempted with anything else. Hopefully I'm riding it in this state for many years to come ...

Just a thought, I don’t see the point in spending any money at all on changing the suspension components, the standard bike is more then good enough for 95% of bike riders. The better option and this is true for new bikes as well as older ones, is to take the bike to a suspension set up expert to set the suspension to your weight and riding style, this will save a huge amount of money on up grading the suspension that the vast majority of riders don't need or rather can put to serious use. You may consider it necessary to have the ecu remapped to take advantage of the improved handling but spending thousands of pounds on suspension before you’ve maxed out the standard bikes set up seems a waste of money, in my opinion.

 

[siddo]

Just a thought, I don’t see the point in spending any money at all on changing the suspension components, the standard bike is more then good enough for 95% of bike riders. The better option and this is true for new bikes as well as older ones, is to take the bike to a suspension set up expert to set the suspension to your weight and riding style, this will save a huge amount of money on up grading the suspension that the vast majority of riders don't need or rather can put to serious use. You may consider it necessary to have the ecu remapped to take advantage of the improved handling but spending thousands of pounds on suspension before you’ve maxed out the standard bikes set up seems a waste of money, in my opinion.

Your missing the point.
As the bike ages and mileage increases, the suspension starts to fail.
Everyone knows this but when you decide to service and improve is down to you.

Most of the fat old farts on this forum wouldn't have a clue so it's up to you.

 

[Dezi58]

Your missing the point.
As the bike ages and mileage increases, the suspension starts to fail.
Everyone knows this but when you decide to service and improve is down to you.

Most of the fat old farts on this forum wouldn't have a clue so it's up to you.

Calm down cowboy, im not missing the point at all, i was just pointing out (and you’ve agreed re comments about old farts) re my comment about 95% of bikers not just Gs owners btw, that it’s totally unnecessary, road riding at average skill levels doesn’t need this level of financial outlay, its a waste of money.
A well set up bike suited to a riders weight etc is sufficient, I spent £60 for an hour with an ex IOM winning racer and he transformed the handling of a 15 yr old 1050 triumph tiger with 30k miles. But, if your a knee down, doughnut pulling, wheelie king then fair enough your obviously in the 5% or not an old fart!

 

[richardbd]

FWIW, I have the Tractive suspension on my KTM 690 - it’s bloody brilliant.

I had it on my 850 and still have it on my Turban. It's tip top...

 

[Mart75]

My suspension doesn't bounce its solid.
Dealer wants 2k, other quotes are around £1k

For that i have to take the suspension off the bike and refit it myself
They are just reconditioning my current suspension i remove.

TW Suspension offered this

TracTive specialise in Dynamic ESA replacements: the shock is almost plug-and-play with your ESA electronics, all we need is your original shock to transfer the ESA assembly onto the TracTive body. This does have an additional £100.00 inc Vat so all the modes and adjustment on the bars keep working exactly as before, but with a better shock underneath — built to order and sprung for your weight, at £774.78 Inc Vat:

• https://twsuspensiontech.co.uk/bmw-r-1200-gs-2013-2017-tractive-ex-change-shock-46bm13-p1129-tr

The step up is the eX-CHANGE PRO at £1,198.96 Inc Vat — same plug-and-play ESA compatibility with a higher damping specification, worth it if you tour heavily loaded or ride hard as it has more adjustment with high and low speed compression damping. Once again you would need to send us the original shock to transfer the ESA assembly onto the TracTive shock body which has an additional cost of £100.00 Inc Vat to transfer.

• https://twsuspensiontech.co.uk/bmw-...r-plug-play-performance-shock-46bm13-p4129-tr

The next option up from this is the complete TracTive shock with everything fitted and ready to fit straight in:

• https://twsuspensiontech.co.uk/bmw-r1200gs-rear-shock-ex-perience-epa2-2013-17-46bm13-p4829-tr

The TracTive shocks are ordered through the product page, where drop-down menus capture your weights and application, and that becomes the build specification.

Please allow around 4 to 5 weeks for the build.

Have you looked a T-Tech suspension https://ttechsuspension.com/bmw-r1250gs-r1250gsa-2018-2023/
I think there's a fair bit about them on the forum - Was really pleased with my rear shock that they serviced a couple of years ago

 

[siddo]

Have you looked a T-Tech suspension https://ttechsuspension.com/bmw-r1250gs-r1250gsa-2018-2023/
I think there's a fair bit about them on the forum - Was really pleased with my rear shock that they serviced a couple of years ago

Lol.
Better later to the party than never.
We thank you for your contribution.

 

[Barnoe]

Have you looked a T-Tech suspension https://ttechsuspension.com/bmw-r1250gs-r1250gsa-2018-2023/
I think there's a fair bit about them on the forum - Was really pleased with my rear shock that they serviced a couple of years ago

I think its likely them i use.
Ive seen a few refurbished on eBay for £200- 250 but honestly im not sure i trust them, ive been stung on eBay in the past.

Better to pay for an expert to do it and you know it will be right.

T Tech charger £250 for the Dynamic ESA service and £50 for the HPA service.
So will remove from bike this weekend and send it down.

PS
Sara at T Tech responds very quick to emails!