Thoughts on ESA

[snerkler]

The cogs started turning in my head after reading the various threads on ESA, and the 'arguements' as to whether or not people can feel a difference. I know I for one can feel a great difference between the different settings such as comfort, normal and sport, yet some say they can't feel any change (some have been rather aggressive about it). After I replied on another thread about the difference in ESA and ESA II it got me wondering whether the people who can't tell the difference have ESA, and those who can tell a difference have ESA II? It would make sense that people can't notice such a change with ESA as it doesn't change the spring rate.
Any thoughts on this?

 

[Wapping]

I think...... You should let those that can't tell the difference alone. They are happy. Why upset their equilibrium, confusing them with spring rates, compression, damping, rebound, ESA and ESA II and all that malarky? Many can't even decide what colour is best, after all.

 

[harry]

You forget also that the pampered ass, Sheep-skin, Gel pad, Air cushion etc, clad, is utterly divorced from what is going on underneath him

 

[Giles]

......... and that some peepes are petrolheady techy analysts with an interest in bike performance, set up, and handling... whilst others aren't really fussed about it at all, stick their bike on one up normal, and never touch it again..

 

[Deleted account 230818001]

Dunno 'bout anyone else, and don't want to be picked on about it, but my K1200S had ESA and not ESA II and I could still definitely spot a difference between the settings.

The sports setting for two up really seemed to load the front end and give a more rigid feel when entering corners, a positive advantage when some people considered that the front gave no feed back and had to be ridden on trust!

I haven't had enough experience on the GS to be able to say if there's a noticeable difference yet though.

 

[Pukmeister]

Mines a 2008 GSA with ESA.

If you ride it hard enough on any road surface you'll notice the difference between settings.

If you ride slowly on smooth roads only, you might not.

 

[guess_work]

No difference, you must be kidding!

1200GS with ESA.
If you do 2-up, you need ESA, unless you fancy fiddling with the pre-compression mano every time your pillion gets on-off the bike
As has already been mentioned, if you like to kick the horses from time to time, the ESA sport setting makes a significant difference: the bikes does not lift and dive so much under hard accele-deceleration, giving you more control and confidence, especially in fast bends. Otherwise the comfort setting is fine for cruising

 

[Rasher]

......... and that some peepes are petrolheady techy analysts with an interest in bike performance, set up, and handling... whilst others aren't really fussed about it at all, stick their bike on one up normal, and never touch it again..

Spot on, but I do wonder why the latter pay an extra £1500 for something they will never use

I found the differences very noticeable, comfort wallowed badly, normal wallowed a bit and sport did not wallow at all, if I had an ESA model it would stay on sport all the time, but the ability to press the two-up button would have been used.

Still reckon the much finer tunability of Wilburs / Ohlins makes them better for the techie types and compulsive fiddlers and I porbably fall into both camps.

The ride quality of the 2010 ESA is not a patch on my Wilburs setup, but I do have to turn the pre-load knob a dozen turns and add 2-3 clicks of compression damping for a passenger and that takes almost 30 seconds.

The real benefit of ESA is simplicity, the downfall is no fine tuning, I can notice the difference a single click makes on my Wilburs and can get a half sporty - half comfy setup if I want (which is what I run most of the time, this is definately less choppy than ESA in comfort, and as good on handling as ESA in Sport)

The rear Wilburs has over 160,000 possible damping combinations (4 damping adjusters with over 20 clicks on each) - ESA has 6 (if you count one and two-up modes) and for those who just want to hop-on and ride having 3 settings is a big advantage, for me the better quality kit and ability to fine tune is essential.

 

[phooey]

Does anyone on here stop and recalibrate their suspension every time the road surface changes ? I mean it must really put you off your stroke if its 2 clicks of rebound off perfect

The GS is a road bike. It wasn't built to go racing.

 

[TeaPig]

Having come off several non ESA GS's I was utterly underwhelmed when my next GS was bought on a deal that included ESAII. I thought it was just a gimmick as after all it only takes a whirl of a screwdriver and a few skinned knuckles to normally adjust the suspension, not that I ever bothered that is.

But I was wrong. I now regularly adjust the preload depending what's on the back rolleyes and also regularly adjust the damping/preload during a trip. The biggest revelation is full preload on comfort damping for twisty but fast welsh mountain roads as it soaks up enourmous bumps and humps that previously would have bottomed out the bike and given the rest of my decrepit bod' a hammering. It's great

It does therefore make a difference, but for me mostly because I can now be arsed to mess with the suspension when the road changes significantly in nature and I can feel a tangible improvemet in comfort and/or handling, which is surely the point? I'd not now like to go back to a bike without it.

If anything though I'd like a wider range of adjustment. If you've ever ridden a multistrada with it's version of ESA you'll understand..

 

[phooey]

Having come off several non ESA GS's I was utterly underwhelmed when my next GS was bought on a deal that included ESAII. I thought it was just a gimmick as after all it only takes a whirl of a screwdriver and a few skinned knuckles to normally adjust the suspension, not that I ever bothered that is.

But I was wrong. I now regularly adjust the preload depending what's on the back rolleyes and also regularly adjust the damping/preload during a trip. The biggest revelation is full preload on comfort damping for twisty but fast welsh mountain roads as it soaks up enourmous bumps and humps that previously would have bottomed out the bike and given the rest of my decrepit bod' a hammering. It's great

It does therefore make a difference, but for me mostly because I can now be arsed to mess with the suspension when the road changes significantly in nature and I can feel a tangible improvemet in comfort and/or handling, which is surely the point? I'd not now like to go back to a bike without it.

If anything though I'd like a wider range of adjustment. If you've ever ridden a multistrada with it's version of ESA you'll understand..

No disagreement there ESA is very useful. My point is does anyone with micro adjustable suspension really need it on the road ? ESA doesn't have ultrafine adjustment for preload / damping but its steps are more than good enough for road riding.

 

[Toad]

I'm not going to claim to be an expert, but I can tell when it feels a bit wrong, and I know that with adjustment I can make it right

Works for me.............

 

[sanghelli]

Did a little over 700 miles over 2 days the weekend before last. A lot of it was on Irelands version of B roads and worse. I eventually put the ESA into the first off road mode and normal, I had the panniers full and 2 medium sized drybags on the back instead of the pillion seat. I found it made a huge difference especially when I went back to one up with luggage and norm - nearly put myself over the ditch at the next corner when the surface got "lunar". I have to say the difference isn't very noticeable on a good surface when your bimbling but it is marked when the surface is poor/speed gets higher.

My tuppence worth.

 

[TeaPig]

No disagreement there ESA is very useful. My point is does anyone with micro adjustable suspension really need it on the road ? ESA doesn't have ultrafine adjustment for preload / damping but its steps are more than good enough for road riding.

No, microfine adjustability is pointless on the road, but of course it does depend over what range the shock is adjustable. I suspect the suspension on most road bikes goes from a little bit more than factory to slightly less than factory with a typical rider able to detect the extremes and maybe a few steps inbetween. I guess a racing shock will have built in a much wider range of adjustment and hence need far more increments of adjustment in order to find the right set up. Is that microfine adjustability, or simply a lot more clicks to match the range?

 

[iandavid]

I regularily swap between solo and two up with SWMBO and the ESA makes it a doddle to adjust the pre-load each time.

 

[Rasher]

No disagreement there ESA is very useful. My point is does anyone with micro adjustable suspension really need it on the road ? ESA doesn't have ultrafine adjustment for preload / damping but its steps are more than good enough for road riding.

The mega fine adjustment is not so essential, but having more than 3 settings is handy, some people like well damped, others prefer a softer feel, with ESA sport is sport - as defined by BMW by their test rider, you get what he thinks is best, if his normal does not suit you then you can only go much harder, or much softer.

The other point of fitting better quality units is they work better over a wider range, as I have said before a good Wilburs setup rides bumps almost as well as the ESA does in comfort, whilst handling as well as the ESA in Sport, so there is less need to constantly change settings, and even when set really stiff it is still less clunky over small bumps than the stock suspension ever is.

Some people will prefer the ease of ESA and I do understand that, but so often people knock the cost / point of fitting quality suspension when they have never tried it.

What is clear is that everyone who has fitted Wilburs / Ohlins to the GS is amazed at the difference, I also know lots of sportsbikes owners who have had Ohlins shocks fitted and forks re-worked and they have also all been blown away by the difference.

Having ridden both I would go for Wilburs / Ohlins over ESA every time and out up with the 30 second adjustments, as in the real world it is very rare my "base setting" needs adjustment.

 

[karlp]

Spot on, but I do wonder why the latter pay an extra £1500 for something they will never use .......

..........
.

Not sure where you get £1500 from - last time i looked (5mins ago) it was £645 - this makes it a reasonably priced option for most people.

However with the majority of people the more options on suspension the more likely they are to mess it up

 

[MIKE R]

What is clear is that everyone who has fitted Wilburs / Ohlins to the GS is amazed at the difference, I also know lots of sportsbikes owners who have had Ohlins shocks fitted and forks re-worked and they have also all been blown away by the difference.

Having ridden both I would go for Wilburs / Ohlins over ESA every time and out up with the 30 second adjustments, as in the real world it is very rare my "base setting" needs adjustment.

Not forgetting that you can have Wilbers AND ESA if you have the dosh!

I've just come back from a MCI tour of Tuscany and the ESA was brilliant.

Many days we'd spend a little time on the motorway (COMFORT with baggage) and then drop off into the mountains without stopping. Quick press of button and away we go in SPORT.

Works for me

Mike

 

[Twins rule]

ESA settings - Huge difference.

There is a very noticable difference in the settings and its brilliant to be able to adjust it on the move for different road and load conditions. Also its very important to note that it speeds up turn in very significantly when in sport mode, so much so that most of the time I ride in sport mode. If anyone cant tell the difference then with respect , they need to seek medical advice!!

I will always choose ESA on any bike in the futer!