Springs and shocks on 1200 with ESA?

[MerrickCampbell]

My R1200RT has done 44K miles and it seems the previous owner had slapped a bit of white paint on the rear spring in preperation for sale. Its now flaking off and looking manky!

Can the Rear spring be removed so i can get it cleaned up and powder coated before reassembly? and does the fact its an ESA model cause a problem?

If its being refurbished like that is it worth having the front and rear units serviced (new oil in the dampers) based on its mileage?

The BM Dealers would only fit a complete new unit with ESA at about £1000. And they imply they are only complete units and cannot be taken apart??..

Heaven knows I'd love it to fail so it could be changed under my extended warranty!

 

[1964Hall]

There was a problem in sourcing the White Power componants to service the OE shocks a while back. Not sure if that's changed recently.

I replaced mine with Wilbers at around 30k.
Bikes now on 54k and they are still working fine.

BTW, extended warranty only run to 35k miles IIRC. Well the BMW one did. I changed mine because although they seemed OK, they did get a little loose when hot and being ridden hard, even on Sport setting.

There are a few companies, that mate the electronics of the ESA to there dampers.

I'm not sure if Wilbers have the RT version sorted yet (they have the GS).

Hyperpro in the USA, and another who's name escapes me also do this.

Some times I miss the ESA option on mine (I still have the shocks and may one day get them refurbed with Wilbers, HyperPro etc) Depends how much longer my Wilbers last before a refurb is required.
I've actually got a spare Wilbers rear shock for the RT thats' only done a couple of thousand miles. C spanner adjustable preload. I must get round to sticking that on ebay.

\v/

 

[ducatiparts.110mb]

If you phone around a few of the suspension specialists then I'm sure they could fit a spring of an aftermarket manufacturer.

The shocks can be dismantled and springs are sold in standard sizes, so a spring by ohlins, hyperpro, eibach etc in the same size and rating would fit and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference from oe.