Has anyone just changed the front shocker.

[bumpy]

That depends on your weight and what you're using the bike for. There isn't a 'definative' value.


Some 18st bloke with a wife who will use the bike for touring in Africa is going to want a very different spring compared to someone like me who is 10 st and only really uses the bike for 'light' travelling alone on UK roads. BMW guessed and its a horrible compromise.....

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I meant, what are the spring ratings of the standard BMW 2007 GS, so I have something to compare against.

 

[Peak Rider]

Bumpy, I found what the rates were for my bike by calling Hyperpro direct (they're in the Netherlands). A guy there named Peter was absolutely encyclopaedic with technical data. Having ridden my '05 back to back with an '07 model I suspect there is very little, if any, difference in the spring rates despite the different brands of suspension units. The kit numbers for the White Power and Showas are different but it's probably because of something basic like overall spring length or diameter. I'm sure if you sent them an email they'd reply with the appropriate data.

You might also make note of Andres' good point earlier in this thread regarding tyres. Your tyres are a big part of the equation in having a good feel with the road. The Avons seem to have a very compliant belt construction and really inspire confidence, particularly on roll-in and roll-out. Traditional blocky dual-sport tyres feel a trifle wooden after these.

 

[Peak Rider]

One more thing I should have added in the previous post was that it was the tech guy at Hyperpro in the Netherlands who convinced me I didn't need an expensive shock replacement. Hyperpro make and sell beautiful high-end units for racing and such but he said that if your stock GS damper isn't leaking or lost its damping there is no need to buy an expensive replacement shock. Since he's in the business of making and selling such items I thought this was about as honest advice as one could get.

 

[bumpy]

Bumpy, it's possible that for your (rider) weight you don't have enough preload and damping at the rear. Given the info you've provided the front suspension may be not behaving quite right because of a rearward weight bias (not enough rear preload) and then pitching to the front (not enough rear rebound damping). In fact without enough rear preload your bike may not be steering as precisely as it can either.

Excellent call this. I had the rear damper set at this to save my bum with the low seat option.

A little while ago I switched to a normal seat, and just left the setting where it was.

Today I played with preload and damping. With preload about 50% and damping in 1.5 turns the front suspension has settled down. At least now it doesn't shake out my fillings.

Well done

 

[Womble]

A tip I found out recently: I had my suspension professionally setup (new rear Ohlins yummm ), and the chap who did it put a cable tie round the shock tube and sent me out for a ride. Using this we were able to see how much suspension travel I was using while riding because that's where the cable tie would be pushed to.

For the settings that we finally arrived at, the difference in the front preload setting was massive compared to what BMW recommend in the manual. I can't remember the final setting, but it was about 7/10 on the front preload, instead of 2/10 as per BMW's recommendations for my sylph-like 14 stone. Not only that, but dropping the preload to about 6/10 meant that I was using up almost all of the travel (an increase of 1.5 cm, all due to one small step on the spring collar). So, if on 6 clicks I was uncomfortably close to using all the suspension travel, no wonder it feels better now - it must have been constantly bottoming out when it was set on the second step

 

[bumpy]

A tip I found out recently: I had my suspension professionally setup (new rear Ohlins yummm ), and the chap who did it put a cable tie round the shock tube and sent me out for a ride. Using this we were able to see how much suspension travel I was using while riding because that's where the cable tie would be pushed to.

I have had a front fork oil leak for many months and this leaves a nice ring on the shiny fork tube showing me just how much travel there has been. I have yet to see it cover more than 30% of the travel even on the softest preload.

 

[DJB46]

OE SHOCK REBUILD

My understanding is that original showa (japanese) shock is rebuildable on the rear of bm's and its a lot cheaper, i think about £100 ive not had a gs done but i had a fireblade shock done a few years ago.