R1200GSA upgrade to Ohlins or Wlbers ESA

[NomadLad]

Am I right in saying the most common fault on the LCs is shock failure... ie dumping all the fluid. And that would be covered up to 30k?

I'm in Northern Ireland but moving to France in 3 weeks so will have to see what they cover over there!

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[CPJS]

Well this is only my opinion, the sachs shocks are set for 80kg that is rider and gear on, so being lowered would certainly affect that ratio, having less travel, surely less travel means it can bottom out easier, and just maybe this is why they fail, heavy load and not enough travel, I reckon the should upgrade the springs to at least 100kg on the lowered chassis bikes, I am thinking of doing the spring change.

http://catalog.touratech.com/english2019/epaper/Touratech_Catalog_19-20.pdf

I spoke to Touratech yesterday and that is pretty much what they say.
The TT shock can still be adjusted to set your own base settings then let the ESA do its thing from there.
As an incorrigible fiddler this does appeal to me.

£1776.00 is a lot of money to get signed off by the boss, at least the shock can be transfrered to the next bike or sold.
The boss and I together weigh 130kg plus kit, that with an empty topbox nearly maxes out the rear preload, fully loaded the spring cannot cope and ride height/handling suffers.
As my riding is fairly mixed and unpredictable as to whether it is solo or two-up, loaded up or not I would like the ease of pressing a button to set the suspension.

 

[Warlord]

If I was going off-road, or heavy luggage touring I would have picked the Touratech Extreme ESA kit. It's a lot of money but appears well made so worth it.

I pick Ohlins TTX manual shocks only because I rarely do heavy touring and never off-road. So Ohlins are perfect for my low weight touring plans.

My Africa Twin however will need some decent off-road kit, so I'll most likely go with Touratech Extreme for that.... the ONLY hesitation on Africa Twin is Touratech only do a cartridge upgrade up front and not a full front fork replacement. Ohlins do a full front fork replacement.

So may need to also pay for forks to be recoated to prevent this stiction issue???

 

[CPJS]

Apart from the cost you can't go wrong with ohlins.
I had it on the rear of a vfr800 , really was a magic carpet ride.

 

[Warlord]

Apart from the cost you can't go wrong with ohlins.
I had it on the rear of a vfr800 , really was a magic carpet ride.

Sort of yes and no.

Ohlins really are great for on road and track use.

What I liked about the Touratech Extreme (made by Tractive) is they seem to have focused on Heavy Adventure bike for Off-Road use. So have full adjustability, customized spring rates... but where they are different to Ohlins is they have ex-BMW and ex-WP staff who can integrate with the BMW electronic ESA setup.... and they have an anti bottom-out feature for heavy landings and hard hits. Which would be perfect for off-road long haul trips with a very heavy bike.

I honestly don't know if Ohlins kit could handle that extreme battering, as good as they are for on-road use.

 

[Deleted account 191119001]

I spoke to Touratech yesterday and that is pretty much what they say.
The TT shock can still be adjusted to set your own base settings then let the ESA do its thing from there.
As an incorrigible fiddler this does appeal to me.

£1776.00 is a lot of money to get signed off by the boss, at least the shock can be transfrered to the next bike or sold.
The boss and I together weigh 130kg plus kit, that with an empty topbox nearly maxes out the rear preload, fully loaded the spring cannot cope and ride height/handling suffers.
As my riding is fairly mixed and unpredictable as to whether it is solo or two-up, loaded up or not I would like the ease of pressing a button to set the suspension.

Ta for that info, I must admit these TT shocks are appealing more and more to me, and good thing is TT is only 2 hours or so away so I could ride in and out shocks fitted if needed, I must wait for one of those TT days, when they have deals on, as for me shocks, brakes and tyres, I do not hesitate to get it right....., it is all we have in safety terms, however I am wondering is it only the rear shock that would benefit being changed ?????? not sure about the front, any ideas or help appreciated.

 

[Warlord]

Ta for that info, I must admit these TT shocks are appealing more and more to me, and good thing is TT is only 2 hours or so away so I could ride in and out shocks fitted if needed, I must wait for one of those TT days, when they have deals on, as for me shocks, brakes and tyres, I do not hesitate to get it right....., it is all we have in safety terms, however I am wondering is it only the rear shock that would benefit being changed ?????? not sure about the front, any ideas or help appreciated.

Get both done Shaun, you don't want a mixed bag. Dump the BMW crap, treat yourself and your Mrs

 

[Deleted account 191119001]

Get both done Shaun, you don't want a mixed bag. Dump the BMW crap, treat yourself and your Mrs

Yep I certainly am looking more at it, given that we are slightly only 1kg above the 80kg max for 1 rider it might explain why sometimes the front tyre loses contact in a bend going uphill only, maybe we are to loaded for the rear, and the front has lifted a little, if we could even this out with heavier duty shocks, it might solve a big headache as to why this happens, I thought it might be the tyre, but realised it is only happening in a certain situation, so has to be the shocks.... and not to skinny frame..........

 

[CPJS]

If your bike, when fully loaded, looks like a dog dragging its arse on the carpet then it would be transformed with a shock sprung to suit the load.
I have done a lot of two-up touring on bikes with replacement shocks and the difference is huge. You still have to compromise a bit, dont go too heavy on the spring as the solo ride will be too harsh.
Adding an extra 100+ kilos of pillion and fully loaded varios (18kg empty I think) to the back of a bike is a big ask for any spring.

 

[Morety]

The Touratech front/rear kit for post 2014 LC/LC adventure bikes is £2,800

 

[Warlord]

The Touratech front/rear kit for post 2014 LC/LC adventure bikes is £2,800

Plus fitting....

The Ohlins full fork and rear setup for the Africa Twin is £3,500 plus fitting....

That's why I'm sticking with Ohlins TTX Manual shocks on the R1200GSA at £2,000

That's why I'm looking at Touratech Extreme on Africa Twin with Fork Cartridges at around £2,000

Starts getting very expensive.

 

[Deleted account 191119001]

Plus fitting....

The Ohlins full fork and rear setup for the Africa Twin is £3,500 plus fitting....

That's why I'm sticking with Ohlins TTX Manual shocks on the R1200GSA at £2,000

That's why I'm looking at Touratech Extreme on Africa Twin with Fork Cartridges at around £2,000

Starts getting very expensive.

As I said being close to TT is a bonus, I might get free fitting and a discount hopefully..

 

[Deleted account 191119001]

If your bike, when fully loaded, looks like a dog dragging its arse on the carpet then it would be transformed with a shock sprung to suit the load.
I have done a lot of two-up touring on bikes with replacement shocks and the difference is huge. You still have to compromise a bit, dont go too heavy on the spring as the solo ride will be too harsh.
Adding an extra 100+ kilos of pillion and fully loaded varios (18kg empty I think) to the back of a bike is a big ask for any spring.

Apparently the TT shocks come out standard set for 100 kg , I wonder what rider and pillion weight combined of 180kgs should be set at to reach the compromise for solo riding.

 

[CPJS]

Speak to TT or send then an email with your payload solo, fully loaded etc and they should be able to tell you what you need.

 

[Deleted account 191119001]

Speak to TT or send then an email with your payload solo, fully loaded etc and they should be able to tell you what you need.

Might give them a bell in the morning, as TT seem to be the only one,s that are built from scratch, wilbers etc use parts from the old Sachs and I cannot see the benefit of that.

 

[Skid06]

Does anyone know if you can get a remote preload adjuster for the front TTX shock, once fitted its not possible to set the preload, well for me its not ..would be very handy ..just got back from 4 Day ride, Scotland, Kielder, Dales yesterday on the LC with the Ohlins TTX fitted, the ride is transformed, best upgrade you can do is fit quality Shocks

 

[Warlord]

Does anyone know if you can get a remote preload adjuster for the front TTX shock, once fitted its not possible to set the preload, well for me its not ..would be very handy ..just got back from 4 Day ride, Scotland, Kielder, Dales yesterday on the LC with the Ohlins TTX fitted, the ride is transformed, best upgrade you can do is fit quality Shocks

How do you set rider sag then ???

 

[Skid06]

getting the correct spring weight is the answer, i think it was around 40-45mm of static sag, with the shock removed i took up the slack of the spring then 2 full turns of preload as a starting point, it seemed ok but needed a little more, so i removed it and gave it another half turn, obviously if you had the remote adjuster you could do this quite easy, does your setup have it?

 

[Warlord]

getting the correct spring weight is the answer, i think it was around 40-45mm of static sag, with the shock removed i took up the slack of the spring then 2 full turns of preload as a starting point, it seemed ok but needed a little more, so i removed it and gave it another half turn, obviously if you had the remote adjuster you could do this quite easy, does your setup have it?

It hasn't arrived yet... but I don't think the fronts have it, only the rears

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

getting the correct spring weight is the answer

Yep, I run a 180nM rear spring on my Ohlins, revalved to suit

Stock from Ohlins was 140nM

Too soft even for solo use - let alone luggage and/or pillion and I am 100 kg

It means I can run zero preload for solo use and just add a bit for luggage

I am therefore able to adjust rebound to give the perfect ride