What ESA settings do you use?

[paulhull]

I do not ride off road and almost always solo so those settings speak for themselves.
Most of my riding is on country roads in East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire coast, moors and Dales. I weigh 15st.
If I'm on main roads I generally leave the suspension on NORM, country roads (unless they are really rough) on SPORT. If I am on a motorway for a long stretch and I remember I change it to COMFORT but hardly notice the difference.
What do other riders do?

 

[Pablo1]

I do not ride off road and almost always solo so those settings speak for themselves.
Most of my riding is on country roads in East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire coast, moors and Dales. I weigh 15st.
If I'm on main roads I generally leave the suspension on NORM, country roads (unless they are really rough) on SPORT. If I am on a motorway for a long stretch and I remember I change it to COMFORT but hardly notice the difference.
What do other riders do?

comfort, 1 up , only change to normal or sport on twisties, stops the bouncing around feeling

 

[AberdeenAngus]

Make it stop

 

[Pablo1]

Make it stop

why

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Make it stop

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

I changed mine to Wilbers

 

[Yonkyo]

Depends on what engine oil i use.....

 

[Blobby]

Normal (80% of time), one up plus luggage setting and I weigh 110kg with all kit on plus two Ali panniers and say 5kg in them. Motorway switch to comfort. Twisties go to Sport. I also run 36:42 tyre pressures on TR91's but if they both drop 5psi, it's almost impossible to notice. The GS is a very forgiving bike and won't throw you off so just play with all the settings and decide what you feel the most comfortable with.

 

[Beemerman59]

It wasn't until I got my Wilburs WESA that I realised how minimal the damping adjustment is on the OEM shocks. I'm glad my OEM shocks were out of warranty when they failed - I would never have known how much better the Wilburs are and worth the money even if I had been offered an OEM set for free.

 

[cookie]

It wasn't until I got my Wilburs WESA that I realised how minimal the damping adjustment is on the OEM shocks. I'm glad my OEM shocks were out of warranty when they failed - I would never have known how much better the Wilburs are and worth the money even if I had been offered an OEM set for free.

and there you have it...


i wouldn't use any of the ESA settings as they are all rubbish.

 

[Greenman14]

Solo plus luggage for me, 95kg with kit on. Solo only and the bars shake a bit accelerating hard, if that's a valid word for GS acceleration, on bumpy roads.

Thanks for telling us all about our rubbish suspension. What with that and the FD, and never knowing what oil to use I don't know why we bother.

 

[Sooty09]

ESA came with the second hand bike. It helps sell a bike s/h and puts up the purchase price, otherwise what a waste of money.
I ride with mine set on solo + luggage, normal ( Im 16 st). On the occasion I set it to small mountain due to riding two up with luggage I think it was the major contributor to my bike rolling off its stand when parked with no luggage (forgot to swap it back to normal) This cause the bike to lean alarmingly onto its side stand.
Otherwise its a novel system which offers marginal improvements in ride and stability. Having tested the new LC but not delving fully into the many settings I have the same opinion. Too complicated and no real advantage, sales tag gimmickry.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

ESA came with the second hand bike. It helps sell a bike s/h and puts up the purchase price, otherwise what a waste of money.
I ride with mine set on solo + luggage, normal ( Im 16 st). On the occasion I set it to small mountain due to riding two up with luggage I think it was the major contributor to my bike rolling off its stand when parked with no luggage (forgot to swap it back to normal) This cause the bike to lean alarmingly onto its side stand.
Otherwise its a novel system which offers marginal improvements in ride and stability. Having tested the new LC but not delving fully into the many settings I have the same opinion. Too complicated and no real advantage, sales tag gimmickry.

You and Cookie are right, ESA is a load of rubbish, get some decent proper suspension instead

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

I've had ESA on both of my RTs.

I've never changed it from '1 with luggage, comfort'.

Mind I've never changed my riding style from 'bimble' either.

 

[Beemerman59]

I tend to seperate in my thinking, the ESA (Electronic Suspension Adjustment) and the shock absorber itself. The ESA itself is fine for what it does, in my view the limitation lies within the shock itself. The OEM shock is "average" at best whether its ESA or non-ESA as essentially they are the same units. The debate over OEM or aftermarket shocks is the same whether you're talking about ESA or non-ESA versions.

 

[APE]

You and Cookie are right, ESA is a load of rubbish, get some decent proper suspension instead

+1

A gimmick - the standard suspension is shite. The bike shakes its head under hard acceleration on a 1200 with the standard set up. It doesn't do that with Ohlins.

Easy adjustment is all very well but you're flogging a dead horse

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

+1

A gimmick - the standard suspension is shite. The bike shakes its head under hard acceleration on a 1200 with the standard set up. It doesn't do that with Ohlins.

Easy adjustment is all very well but you're flogging a dead horse

As Steptoe says ............when the horse is dead, get off the horse

 

[rudiemoto]

I tend to seperate in my thinking, the ESA (Electronic Suspension Adjustment) and the shock absorber itself. The ESA itself is fine for what it does, in my view the limitation lies within the shock itself. The OEM shock is "average" at best whether its ESA or non-ESA as essentially they are the same units. The debate over OEM or aftermarket shocks is the same whether you're talking about ESA or non-ESA versions.

i agree 99.9% bmw riders dont need to change anything
but we do

every 1150 rider says it shit but there dont ride the 1200

yes some 1150 riders even like men


esa works for when you need it ,.have a fat mate on the back

but ohlins work all the time

 

[APE]

Seriously though how often do you really need to adjust the suspension ? Agreed its useful when carrying a passenger - but a few turns on a remote per load adjuster isn't that much work.

I've set mine up on the firm side for general use - why have it softer for motorway work - surface tends to be smooth. When it gets bumpy I also don't want it too soft.

Really can't see a lot of point other than something to play with.

 

[wildbeeste]

I had ESA on my 1200GSA and struggled to tell what setting it was on without looking at the display - apart from the fact it got harder to touch the ground on the "two fat bastards with handbags" setting.
But a set of Ohlins on my 1150GS did make a noticeable difference - probably because the originals were knackered.