R1200gs Rear shock leaking. Which replacement??

[IanC]

Updates?

My OEM rear's just blown @ 73,000 miles, some of them hard!

I've ruled out Ohlins on account of the price, and Hagon sadly I've not heard good about. Seems to be a toss-up between Wilbers £437 (without hydraulic preload adjustment) or Hyperpro £451 (emulsion type but with up-rated valving). Wilbers seems better in that it has 5 year warranty and serviceable in UK for £69 whereas Hyperpro has to go to Holland.

Sgt Bilco: Did you have the emulsion type or the expensive one. And still good I hope?

I do give mine more hammering than average, current one's been Somerset to Cape Town and length of the Americas fully loaded. And most years does a HUMM competition!

 

[cookie]

i wouldn't buy one without remote adjustment.

 

[ianm00]

My OEM rear's just blown @ 73,000 miles, some of them hard!

I've ruled out Ohlins on account of the price, and Hagon sadly I've not heard good about. Seems to be a toss-up between Wilbers £437 (without hydraulic preload adjustment) or Hyperpro £451 (emulsion type but with up-rated valving). Wilbers seems better in that it has 5 year warranty and serviceable in UK for £69 whereas Hyperpro has to go to Holland.

Sgt Bilco: Did you have the emulsion type or the expensive one. And still good I hope?

I do give mine more hammering than average, current one's been Somerset to Cape Town and length of the Americas fully loaded. And most years does a HUMM competition!

I ended up gettuing the Ohlins from motorworks. Now done about another 25K on this new shock. To be honest I didn't really notice any difference from the standard original shock apart from the bike height increasing slightly (maybe the old shock had sagged a bit!)

Ian

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Sgt Bilco: Did you have the emulsion type or the expensive one. And still good I hope?

I used emulsion shocks on my 1100 with no problem and Emulsion springs on the 1200 which did the job nicely.

Now however, with the shocks at 70,000 miles and feeling a little weary despite the springs, I've gone and ordered some Ohlins I wasn't going to have the hydrualic adjuster because I set the thing up and leave it be but decided to go for it as there wasn't that much price difference in the end. All shocks will manually adjust with a spanner if you want to delete the hydraulic adjuster.

I investigated most of the competition and settled on Ohlins because of the back up I can expect.

 

[TONE.C]

My rear shock started weeing oil everywhere after 25000mls,, so as suggested here I stuck it in the post to firefox racing. Theyve had it nearly 3 weeks now,,, So I gave them a call today and they said its been on the bench and tested fine and thatll be £109 please. Should get it back wednesday. That was for a strip down,,, new fluid and seals. Cheaper than a so called ebay bargain.

 

[IanC]

Thanks guys! Anyone have experience of Wilbers? I'm leaning that way as I've heard good about them (didn't Wunderlich at least used to market them?), but also the £69 full service here in UK and 5-year warranty sounds good!

I'm not one to keep fiddling with settings, there always seem far too many combinations! Don't think my OEM one's been adjusted at all for about 60k, so not bothered about remote adjustment.

 

[Paul S]

Thanks guys! Anyone have experience of Wilbers? I'm leaning that way as I've heard good about them (didn't Wunderlich at least used to market them?), but also the £69 full service here in UK and 5-year warranty sounds good!

I'm not one to keep fiddling with settings, there always seem far too many combinations! Don't think my OEM one's been adjusted at all for about 60k, so not bothered about remote adjustment.

Do a search on Wilbers - lots of good reports on here. Very good in my experience and great service from Revs Racing

 

[IanC]

Yeah the guy at Revs Racing actually was another factor

 

[logman203]

Plus 1 for Revs Racing. Excellent customer service and the shock set up for your weight, riding, luggage. Since having mine fitted last year, I've found the bike a lot more controlled and less susceptible to side winds. Touring two-up with luggage, the bike was a lot easier to handle, especially on the twistier parts of the journey.

 

[IanC]

After reading a lot of threads, just ordered my Wilbers with remote hydraulic preload adjuster, from Revs @ £612 ETA 14 days.

John very helpful. They do deal with the lot - Ohlins, Hyperpro, Wilbers, and another I'd not heard of (not Hagon), and he advised Wilbers, not least cos of 5 year warranty.