Suspension woes

[bonio]

Didn't want to keep you in suspense (hah - see what I did there) so here's the suspension update - and an ask for any advice.

So, I've a 2013 GS LC TE with ESA on a 53 plate. Happens to be factory lowered, but I don't think that's particularly important. It's done 27k miles and the suspension is a bit shot - it bottoms out at the rear and the forks wobble when pushed hard round a bumpy corner. It's fine when if you ride smoothly on smooth tarmac, but it needs fixing. The question is, how?

I went to see one suspension shop who said they could rebuild the rear shock, and they'd have a go at the front although they weren't sure it was possible. If it was, the two shocks rebuilt would be about 450 pounds.

I then phoned MCT (who are fully booked until September) and they said that although the shocks can be rebuilt it's not usually successful and the result is often a badly-performing shock. They recommended putting a new set of Wilbers on. This comes in at around 1200 or 1300 pounds fitted. Not great, but at least there'd be the promise of some decent, serviceable suspension.

Next I spoke to some Wilbers specialists who have been really helpful. In fact we've spoken a few times and they've been in touch with the Wilbers factory for me too. The upshot is that Wilbers can't fit their ESA compatible shocks because they aren't supplied with all the parts that need to be replaced on the LC - they can only be fitted to other ESA bikes. They won't fit manually adjusted shocks either, because right now they (Wilbers) don't know how to disable the ESA circuitry on the LC and they're not sure the bike will run right or even safely if the ESA sensors are just unplugged. In fact they're developing a part to do this, but it's not available yet. They're going to find out if there's a likely date for it to appear. (Again this is something they've previously developed for other ESA bikes.)

The one option open to me is replacement BMW shocks at 2400 pounds fitted - a real shock . Apart from the raw figure, it kind of sticks in the gullet to mortgage the wife and children for the sake of some average quality consumable that can't be serviced.

So, here's the question.

Have you had the suspension modified on an LC with ESA? With non-BMW parts? If so how did you do it? I'm running out of options here!

 

[roamer]

I recall Ohlins do the esa option , ftr and possibly others may offer more info,
I bought non esa ohlins from kgl racing in belgium at £ 600 less than uk supplier with ohlins warranty, better than oe,
I am surprized wilbers dont do the wc esa, they are good, they only did a budget front non esa thats why i went ohlins,
Hope this helps

 

[hoggey]

Have you tried revs racing West midlands. They told me they can rebuild lc shocks

 

[hoggey]

[email protected]
0121 501 3321

 

[bonio]

Have you tried revs racing West midlands. They told me they can rebuild lc shocks

Cheers. Yes - they've been really helpful, but they're the ones who told me the only option was BMW. They can only do LC without ESA. I didn't ask them directly about rebuilds but I will when I speak to them next week.

I recall Ohlins do the esa option , ftr and possibly others may offer more info,
I bought non esa ohlins from kgl racing in belgium at £ 600 less than uk supplier with ohlins warranty, better than oe,
I am surprized wilbers dont do the wc esa, they are good, they only did a budget front non esa thats why i went ohlins,
Hope this helps

Thanks! FTR thought they might be able to rebuild them, but they weren't sure. Is yous an LC with ESA? And you fitted Ohlins?

 

[roamer]

My gs is non esa , i factored in aftermarket shocks against esa, the mechanical components are built to a price,
I work on cars with similar tech, same issues , not saying its all bad,
Because you have a lowered bike , used shocks may not be an option as there are plenty around,
did ftr confirm ohlins availability .

 

[Neil W]

Strange, I E Mailed Wilbers last year and they said they could supply shocks for the LC ESA models BUT I would have to send them the original shocks so they can strip off some of the external linkage/operating parts , it would cost approx £1200

 

[roamer]

+1 for willbers, revs, they said the same when i was shopping for shocks,
Touratech do direct replacements , but quite pricey, claiming plug and go ?

 

[mrtee43]

Trade it in for another bike ?

 

[bonio]

Spoke to Touratech today. They do replacement shocks that cost an arm an a leg, but at least they can be serviced and they're a decent shock - at last, that's what I've read.

What I learned was that Touratech's shocks are a complete replacement for the BMW part. When you fit Wilbers to an LC with ESA, though, you have to cannibalise some bits from the BMW part and reuse them with the Wilbers shock. That's fine if you're after an upgrade, but in my case where suspension's worn out, these bits should replaced too, so Wilbers won't work.

 

[roamer]

The touratech shocks at £2 400 a set are bmw money, and at least the full thing,
they look a bit like white power, not sure who makes them,
not cheap but if you are running the bike for a year or two they could be swapped back for a trade in later and sold or fitted to the new bike,
it is likeley to improve ride quality significantly,,, and maintain esa,
Roamer,

 

[mrtee43]

The touratech shocks at £2 400 a set are bmw money, and the full thing,
not cheap but if you are running the bike for a year or two they could be swapped back for a trade in later and sold or fitted to the new bike, it is likeley to improve ride quality significantly,,
Roamer,

As I said earlier, don't spend 2400, trade the bike in. Dealers sells another bike, buyer who gets your bike complains about suspension so dealer invokes the warranty and gets paid to do the work. BMW then start to think about the high cost of warranty work and think about upping their quality control. Future customers get better bikes.

Win Win. You know it makes sense.

 

[bonio]

Trade in? I guess that's an option. But I like the bike a lot. Needs some thought.

 

[jags]

try firefox at keighley in yorkshire. they did my esa shock on an 09gs ( yes not an lc). a good job for just under 200 quid.

 

[rodsharp]

Reading this makes me glad I have standard non esa suspension which after I spent a little time experimenting with settings I find perfectly good enough for my needs . At least good enough that I would rather spend the money you guys are talking about on riding , hotels etc , but then I am no riding god so probably don't know what I am missing

 

[NZRalphy]

Touratech make a plug n play set of shocks. Nice shocks too, made by Tractive.

 

[Neil W]

My last GSA (tc) was a non ESA model and its handling was transformed with £1300 of Maxton fully rebuildable and custom made suspension ,would have gone that way with the LC but was informed by dealers at the time ( July 2014) that there were no non ESA LC model GSA's in the country and at that time BMW UK had no plans to bring any in

Reading this makes me glad I have standard non esa suspension which after I spent a little time experimenting with settings I find perfectly good enough for my needs . At least good enough that I would rather spend the money you guys are talking about on riding , hotels etc , but then I am no riding god so probably don't know what I am missing

 

[littleade]

Has your bike got a full dealer service history? If it has BMW may offer you a goodwill gesture.

 

[bonio]

Non ESA is the way to go if you can get it, for sure.

Reading around, the BMW shocks aren't expected to do more than 30k miles. They're a consumable in BMW's book. Crazy, but there you go. The other thing that comes across is that quality is very patchy. Some fail after 5k miles. Some go on for 40k.
So thinking about this, I reckon there are three different routes forward.
1. Trade the bike in now for a new GS. Repeat every 3 years or as necessary when the shocks need replacing.
2. Convince BMW to fix the suspension (perhaps...), trade the bike soon after (before the shocks wear out) for something completely different.
3. Replace the shocks with serviceable ones and keep riding it. Service the shocks every 20-30k miles.

There are a few other variations, but there are only three outcomes: I can end up with a completely different bike, keeping the current GS, or buying a new one every three years. Given these, I'd prefer to end up keeping this one. I can't see why I couldn't still be riding it in 8 or 10 years' time.

Seen from this perspective, a one-off hit of 2400 for new suspension seems, well less crazy It's not going to be any more expensive than trading the bike in at regular intervals.

 

[stevie Allen]

A bit weird as i have my 2014 GSA full size booked in with Revs 14 th of july to get the original wesa, esa shocks, Whatever they are called . and replaced by new wilbers lowered by 55m , and they are doing it for me,