Hi, here's
my lengthy analysis of ESA.
Let's start by saying I've noticed several riders not knowing that the standard BMW suspension needs tweaking, if you want to get the best out of it. Several riders I know never touch the suspension preload and damping knobs, missing out on a better ride experience.
Those who don't want to to seak out the suspension/damping setting on a conventional suspension (BMW or aftermarket) may be better off with push button settings, and then ESA can be the right choice. On condition that they accept the limits that come with ESA.
If you're unfamiliar with the R12GS's 'Enduro ESA', here's what I found on
http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/bmw/2008-bmw-r1200gs-review-78529.html
"Called Enduro ESA, the push-button suspension has settings for pavement, and are displayed in the same manner as the street-oriented ESA. Load options are solo rider, rider with luggage, and passenger with three damper modes (Sport, Normal, and Comfort). Note that in all its street settings the front spring preload is always at the minimum. And like on the street bikes, there are little helmets and suitcases on the LCD portion of the dash to indicate your selections. Where the Enduro ESA takes one step further is with settings specifically for rugged terrain.
The Enduro portion of ESA has what are called Medium Reserves and Maximum Reserves - a small "mountain range" symbol in the LCD indicates the former, a larger symbol for the later. After choosing between Reserves, your next job is to select from Soft, Norm and Hard. In the Medium setting, front and rear preload will be increased to 50% of its adjustment. In the Maximum setting front and rear preload is 100%. Ground clearance in Maximum mode is approximately 20mm higher than in the solo rider on-road mode. When it's all said and done, a total of 15 suspension settings are possible with Enduro ESA."
And now my 2 cents worth :
1) ESA suspension settings is actually 9 on road, and 6 off road. It's not like you have 15 settings on road. Since the weight setting (solo, +luggage, +passenger) is a given, in each preload setting you actually only have a
free choice of 3 damping settings.
2) the preload settings (solo, solo+luggage, passenger) have been pre-defined; BMW has estimated and decided how much their average rider weighs, and has the preload setting on ESA installed accordingly. A rider whose weight differs significantly from the BMW estimate will never have a good pre-load setting when choosing 'solo'. The same can be said for the weight of the luggage and passenger; it is hardly likely that BMW will have chosen the right weight for your duo, and luggage.
This explains why there are aftermarket systems available to tweak these 'BMW ESA settings' to fit your specific weight(s), indicating a flaw in the ESA logic.
3) The damping settings have once again been pre-set. The range is between comfort-normal-sport on road, and soft-norm-hard off road. I've ridden a normal ESA on an R12RT, and found the 'sport' setting to be too hard for normal road use. That means I can't use this specific setting, leaving only 2 settings. I found comfort too 'wallowing' which meant the testride was in 'normal' mode most of the time. In short, I found the difference between the 3 damping choices too big.
4) It's nice to be able to set the suspension at the push of a button. But the push button adjustability says nothing about the quality of the hardware, the suspension/damper itself.
5) It's an expensive option.
6) The electronics that aren't there can't break down.
Taking this into consideration, and after having tested ESA on the R12RT, I bought my second R12GS, and had Wilbers installed after 32000kms/20000mls on standard BMW suspension.
To me the advantages of an aftermarket conventional suspension system are :
- pre-load can be changed in small steps, according to actual (not predefined) charge on bike. And I can change front or rear spring preload independent from eachother, independent of the road I'm on. It's true that this means searching for the right setup at the beginning, but after a short while you'll know exactly how much you have to adapt the preload for each charge : solo, solo topcase, solo all cases, solo passenger, solo passenger cases, etc. With Wilbers there's the added advantage that the 'solo' setting is preset for your weight at the factory. After fiddling about I found they got it right, so my adjustments are only necessary for when the bike is charged.
Now, being able to set preload exactly according to charge is better than 3 (perhaps badly) predefined settings, but once again, the charge on the bike is a given.
- it's actually when considering damping that a conventional suspension is brilliant : damping can be changed in small steps, not just 3 settings, but with Wilbers (hold your breath) 22 steps. Now, TBH, I don't use all of these 22 steps; my range is usually between 11 and 16 clicks from completely open. But, and this is where the advantage lies : for you it could be between 8 and 18. Individuality rules !
- as far as cost is concerned : some aftermarket suspensions have good resale value, which means your cost is not what you paid for them.
To end : I appreciate that the ease of setting of ESA will appeal to many riders. I preferred a conventional high end aftermarket suspension that I can set up to my liking.
The Wilbers suspension is BTW without any doubt the best investment on my bike.
Actually, any high quality aftermarket suspension outperforms BMW standard suspension in a way you cannot imagine. Confirmed by 22000km of riding through Europe.
I hope this opinion may help you in your choice !
Others will come along with different views, I'm sure.
Can't comment yet on the ESA as I've only done about 100 miles on it so far.
