Light front end.

[Brian ROSEN]

Front shock absorber: rear shock adjuster knob

There are nine settings. 1 is the softest, 9 the hardest and BMW suggest 3 for road use, 5 for gravel tracks and 9 for off road; The rear shock absorber also has plenty of adjustment.- Turn the knob higher, clockwise, the heavier the load. BMW suggest fully anti-clockwise then TEN clicks for solo.
I suggest you start from there and methodically work through the settings.
Having said all that I recall fiddling around for ages and not finding much difference and thereafter left everything in the 'normal' mode and forgot about it; I decided I did not want/need ESA on my new bike last year!
Of course all this comes from the Haynes Manual - only £15 post paid from Nippy Norman.

 

[AdamA]

Having said all that I recall fiddling around for ages and not finding much difference and thereafter left everything in the 'normal' mode and forgot about it;

I'd suggest leaving the suspension set up advice to those that can feel a difference then.

 

[Fanum]

I'd also strongly suggest some road tyres instead of trail-types

Tourances are hardly 'trail type ' tyres

Given that you can get the pegs down on a GS with TKCs fitted, a bike with tourances shouldn't be feeling like this because of the tyre type

(If the problem had been with TKcs and the words 'wet roads' were included in the equation, I might agree with you, but not in this case I'm afraid)

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

Another vote for rear preload pretty much on max and front one click softer than standard (as a guide I weigh 80kgs and pretty much always ran with rear preload on max before replacing my shocks).

Also, try winding the rear damping up 1/8 - 1/4 of a turn, it won't make any difference to the front but will help sort the back for 'spirited' riding.

Also, be aware, that you will never get a telelever front end to give the sort of feedback you'll get from a decent set of teles. It will always feel a little vague in comparison, hower once you get used to it and learn to put your faith in it you'll be amazed how hard you can push the front on a GS

Andres

 

[Brian ROSEN]

Oh, sorry I spoke!

"....I'd suggest leaving the suspension set up advice to those that can feel a difference then...."
If you go back to the start of this you will see that it did not refer to suspension advice but to the character of the bike; I thought that I had made it clear that the 'advice' offered by me was simply quoting from the Haynes manual.
I am fortunate enough to be able ro ride the bike pretty well every day, wet or dry, summer or winter, mostly solo but sometimes with a pillion or heavily loaded (sometimes with bidons of wine.) I check the tyre pressures fairly regularly (and they vary very,very little.) Once the bike is set up 'correctly' I just cannot be bothered to fiddle around for normal day to day use - that is one of th advantages of this machine - it is 'polyvalent' and suitable for all sorts of roads and conditions. Perhaps my 'advice' not to keep fiddling about is not so useless?

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

-snip- one of th advantages of this machine - it is 'polyvalent' and suitable for all sorts of roads and conditions -snip-

What a wonderful word

Andres

 

[AdamA]

Once the bike is set up 'correctly'.... Perhaps my 'advice' not to keep fiddling about is not so useless?

Clearly, it isn't set up correctly.
Correctly being how the rider would like it to feel.
So not "fiddling" as you put it, at this time is not the best advice.
However like you say, once it is set up correctly then it will be fine, with just minor adjustments to the rear for extra load.

If you can't feel the difference between suspension settings I'm not surprised you can't feel the front being twitchy on standard settings btw.

 

[luckylucian]

+1 crank up the rear preload and it should feel more planted. Set it for your weight, not inside leg measurement (not a dig at you mate! but I've seen too many arse down GS's so the rider can flatfoot on the floor)

 

[Pukmeister]

My '04 bike was used with the rear preload wound right up and the front wound down to 2 notches of preload and it still felt wrong. In the end I went for aftermarket shocks and the bike is now perfect for me. The aftermarket front shock I have allows for fine control of the damping and stepless preload, unlike the standard which only has very coarse preload steps.

I believe the standard bikes suspension is a compromise in order to "suit most of the people most of the time", if you want it to perform better then you may need to change the suspension for aftermarket items.

 

[Brian ROSEN]

If you can't feel the difference between suspension settings I'm not surprised you can't feel the front being twitchy on standard settings btw
Good, I am glad that is settled; so long as it is me and not the bike I can cope.

 

[Bem]

Interesting thread and comments - as always!
We know not wither Format came, what bike perchance he had to compare?
Doubtless, if not experienced with the "hanging out in the wind" variety, the wide bars exagerate/egzagerate/oh bo*** AMPLIFY the steering inputs and can give the impression as he says of "the front can be very much "twitchy""- and he was only talking of 90 KPH plus, rather than MPH plus (or was that a clever device to put off pursuit?). I know for myself that jumping off a hypersports back on to the GS take a few seconds to re-adjust the brain. Equally the suspension needs to be adjusted, so on balance, I think EVERYBODY IS CORRECT!

 

[Format]

Thank you guys for your input, it really is appreciated.

Well today I tried winding the rear up and found it more planted on spirited corners however the front is still twitchy.

Gonna have to go to the stealers and get myself a C spanner and try that out.

Could I be wrong here and say that the front needs winding up? not down? It feels that way so will have to experiment a bit.

I have heard that near Bradford there is a suspension specialist that can re gas and fit better springs to suit the rider, maybe should try them next if the C spanner does not work.

Once again, thanks guys for all your info.

Format.

 

[AdamA]

Could I be wrong here and say that the front needs winding up? not down? It feels that way so will have to experiment a bit.

Yes you could. Try both by all means, but assuming the shock is healthy I can 99% guarantee you it needs less preload on the front.
You will find it gives more feel and more grip as well as stops it being twitchy.

 

[Tomcat]

Yes you could. Try both by all means, but assuming the shock is healthy I can 99% guarantee you it needs less preload on the front.
You will find it gives more feel and more grip as well as stops it being twitchy.

Yup, agree completely. On the standard 3 notches preload on the front my 04 GS would get a bit flighty and twitchy at the front at M-way speeds (90+). Backing off to 2 notches made all the difference (BTW, I weigh around 85kg in riding kit). I run the rear a turn or two out from the 'standard' position for solo riding, and increase it by 3 turns or so if I'm riding with full luggage.