Top Box Tyre Pressure & ESA Settings

[scotia_steve]

Just wondering if anyone knows what settings to use if you are only riding with a Vario top-box.

Does tyre pressure need increased?

Do you need to select luggage with ESA?

Just wondering as technically it's not a pannier, obviously with those attached I would adjust the above

Any ideas?

 

[wilbjr21]

You use whatever setting restores the ride height - so it's weight dependant. I wouldn't have thought a top box would take you away from your basic setting (unless you overload it of course).

 

[WiiMW]

There's probably more difference in just the rider ... 50Kg Jockey / 150Kg pie eater ...

I won't say what end of the scale I'm on

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Is it April 1st

 

[scotia_steve]

The top box is quite heavy and as it sits quite far back I thought it would have had a reasonable impact on settings. The drawback with ESA is you can't just adjust the preload a little bit manually!

 

[IanNicky]

Im new to the GS and am still playing with the settings on the ESA, but i was out the weekend with panniers on but nothing really heavy in them, just the wifes hand bag and of course the wife was on the back, i had the ESA on the 2 helmet setting and all was good, but last night went out on my own, still had the panniers on but with nothing in them. After about 30 miles i thought the bike seems to be handling a lot better tonight, then i realized that it was still on the 2 helmet setting Im 17 stone i always ride with the top box on with a few kilo's in there, so i dont think i will be riding solo with the ESA on solo setting again

 

[scotia_steve]

Im new to the GS and am still playing with the settings on the ESA, but i was out the weekend with panniers on but nothing really heavy in them, just the wifes hand bag and of course the wife was on the back, i had the ESA on the 2 helmet setting and all was good, but last night went out on my own, still had the panniers on but with nothing in them. After about 30 miles i thought the bike seems to be handling a lot better tonight, then i realized that it was still on the 2 helmet setting Im 17 stone i always ride with the top box on with a few kilo's in there, so i dont think i will be riding solo with the ESA on solo setting again

I wondered about the 2 helmet setting. Maybe I will give that a go with a few PSI more....

 

[WindyChuffer]

this thread has to be a joke, right?

 

[scotia_steve]

this thread has to be a joke, right?

No, serious question. With ESA you can't just dial in a little extra preload, so hence the question.

Loaded top box adds a reasonable amount of weight slung way out back, so wondered if it should be treated as luggage on the ESA or not.

 

[MattW]

Good question.

Thinking along these lines, if I have a really big meal (you know, proper Sunday roast - the full three courses possibly with coffee and mints) should I increase the pre-load and up the tyre pressures on my 1100? (no ESA of course so I'll have to do it manually)

 

[John Armstrong]

Good question.

Thinking along these lines, if I have a really big meal (you know, proper Sunday roast - the full three courses possibly with coffee and mints) should I increase the pre-load and up the tyre pressures on my 1100? (no ESA of course so I'll have to do it manually)

And if you have a big dump during the day, don't forget to reduce the spring pre-load, to match the pre-load on the sphincter

Thought about saying ar5e, but now we can have Egypt comments as well

 

[nedflanders]

um tricky one this, if indeed you are adjusting your preload after a large dump how do you calculate a large dump, size or density?, I think the only way is to pre-weigh yourself before and after said dump then adjust accordingly, the only problem is if said dump is a McDump how do you ask the spotty teenager serving fries to use his scales

 

[Mr Pastry]

What sort of air are you using?

Natural or the fully synth stuff like 100% nitrogen?

P

 

[scotia_steve]

Scottish air

 

[Glyno]

Good question.

Thinking along these lines, if I have a really big meal (you know, proper Sunday roast - the full three courses possibly with coffee and mints) should I increase the pre-load and up the tyre pressures on my 1100? (no ESA of course so I'll have to do it manually)

Nah, just leave it in the garage and have a nice kip

 

[WindyChuffer]

No, serious question. With ESA you can't just dial in a little extra preload, so hence the question.

Loaded top box adds a reasonable amount of weight slung way out back, so wondered if it should be treated as luggage on the ESA or not.

Mate - I think you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference between top box attached or not. I can't, and thats with the heavier BMW Ali box on my GSA. Suspect things are getting a bit anal or perhaps you are on the wrong bike. Just ride the fekker.

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Mate - I think you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference between top box attached or not. I can't, and thats with the heavier BMW Ali box on my GSA. Suspect things are getting a bit anal or perhaps you are on the wrong bike. Just ride the fekker.

+1 It's a big heavy bike that rides more or less the same no matter what settings you have. No ESA or stuff like that on mine and all I do is wind the preload up a couple of notches on the back when her indoors deems it's warm enough to go on the back or I'm carrying all my camping gear but it rides the same.

All this ESA is is to make you all worry about stuff that doesn't matter a jot unless you are some kind of riding god where a little suspension alteration alters your lap time by 2 tenths.

Get out a ride it

 

[GSmonkey]

If you have a heavily loaded topbox on the 12GS I've noticed it can induce a bit of a high speed weave - it's been covered a few times on the forum. Solution with manual suspension is add preload to back and/or take off at front. Quite what that translates to with the ESA setup I have no idea?

 

[Schtum]

Experiment and use whichever setting feels right for you at the time. At c 13 stone and one-up, I always use the luggage setting on the ESA, regardless of whether or not I've got the Varios attached. A bit more ride height at the rear sharpens up the steering and puts some more weight over the front. It's not quite as effective as running full rear preload was on my previous non-ESA bikes but it helps a bit.

Sook it an' see.....

 

[Yonkyo]

For my general everyday 60 mile commute; which includes a bit of M/way and lots of twisties ridden with gusto. I have my ESA set to Solo + Luggage on Comfort setting, with tyres at 36f/42r.

I’m 19st (correct weight for 6’9” tall bloke) and I just have the vario panniers fitted which contain my lunch (lots of pies).

I don’t usually bother with the top box – unless I’m doing a 12hr shift, when I then need extra pies.

Just experiment with your settings, to see what suits your riding style. However, I wouldn’t recommend using the ESA off-road settings on tarmac, as it transforms your GS into a bouncy castle.