Wilbers Owners

[fritz]

I'm trying to research something.

If you have a Wilbers, and have ever taken it off please let me know If you managed it easily - or it was a real PITA?

I think Wilbers have used too tight a bearing in the bottom mount.

Just had my unit rebuilt and the bearing is simply too tight to mount - it won't come off if I do (see other thread)

I know some others have had this issue.

If you do few miles and haven't taken the shock off you won't know - shock has to come off for work on swing arm, paralever, gearbox, all those serviceable items if you pack the miles

Please respond here based on my second line, thanks

 

[andyfrizzle]

I'm afraid that my method, although it works, may be deemed a little primitive by some of the readers.

I have a Wilbers shock on the rear of my R100R (exactly the same swingarm and parts, only shock a little shorter in length).

Initially I also found it somewhat difficult to remove, but now I have done on a couple of occasions since.

1/ Make sure motorcycle is on centrestand and lock centrestand down by securely tying stand to forward point (crashbar) of motorcycle.

2/ Remove rear wheel.

3/ Take rubber mallet (with rubberised handle) and big hammer.

4/ Insert narrow end of mallet handle as far down shock absorber body towards the pivot point as you can, with the head of the mallet pointing towards where the wheel rim had been a few minutes earlier.

5/ Take big hammer. Strike head of mallet as hard as you can with the big hammer, bracing swing arm and bevel box with your legs and knees.

6/ Sound of lower mounting point of shock absorber breaking free.

It may sound excessively brutal to some, but it has worked for me.

 

[v4our]

Mine was tight, had to make a puller to draw the bearing from the stud. Changed the spherical bearing for a new one, from the bearing factors, they are PTFE lined if I remember correctly. This was also tight. Ended up polishing the outside diameter of the shock mounting stud with emery tape until it was a nice fit.

 

[Redboots]

Mine, on a '94 PD was a nice sliding fit. Never a problem geting it on or off.
The bike was sold to a mate and the Wilbers is is still in service... though I don't know when it was last dismounted....

John

 

[fritz]

no more Wilbers owners that have had their shock on and off

 

[fritz]

Sure that's it then or just lots of owners that have never removed the shock

 

[cristhemuso]

On my r100gspd shock slides off bottom stud easily. Just make sure you support the wheel so there is no load. Loosen the pannier frames by removing foot peg. I took my wilbers off because it was too harsh a ride. Oem Boge shock is more comfortable for me. Too much compression damping I think.
I suffer from back pain and wilbers makes it worse.
Nice build quality just not a plush ride. Maybe too much stiction too. Original has very little friction or stiction.
Cris

 

[Padmei]

On my r100gspd shock slides off bottom stud easily. Just make sure you support the wheel so there is no load. Loosen the pannier frames by removing foot peg. I took my wilbers off because it was too harsh a ride. Oem Boge shock is more comfortable for me. Too much compression damping I think.
I suffer from back pain and wilbers makes it worse.
Nice build quality just not a plush ride. Maybe too much stiction too. Original has very little friction or stiction.
Cris

Man I'm glad you said that, i thought I was the only one. When I rode my bike the first time with the new wilbers, after being used to the pogo stuffed stock one, it felt like i was getting kicked by a donkey going over every pot hole. I adjusted the hi speed compression but it is still a harsh ride.
It seems to work best on rough off road when I'm on the pegs.

 

[theschoning]

no probs here...

Sure that's it then or just lots of owners that have never removed the shock

Never been a problem so far - 2 years or so of having it installed and removing it every now and then for various reasons. Just unbolting it.....

 

[cookie]

Man I'm glad you said that, i thought I was the only one. When I rode my bike the first time with the new wilbers, after being used to the pogo stuffed stock one, it felt like i was getting kicked by a donkey going over every pot hole. I adjusted the hi speed compression but it is still a harsh ride.
It seems to work best on rough off road when I'm on the pegs.

they soften up after a while.

just had mine serviced and they came back almost unrideable. i rang revs racing, and they said lots of people say that, and to give it a couple of thousand miles.

they were right

 

[Padmei]

they soften up after a while.

just had mine serviced and they came back almost unrideable. i rang revs racing, and they said lots of people say that, and to give it a couple of thousand miles.

they were right

Thanks for that. Actually I was thinking the other day I have either got used to them or they must have softened up.


BTW when you rang revs racing did they reply remarkedly rapidly?



sorry just getting my coat....

 

[fayeslane]

BTW when you rang revs racing did they reply remarkedly rapidly?
QUOTE]

........rapturous reception & relevant response received really recently

 

[Padmei]

Not sure if it's relevant anymore but I just removed my one again this morning & it just dropped striaght out - faster than I would have liked to tell the truth

 

[fritz]

Just to close this out, now resolved.

BMW quality issue...surprise surprise the stud isn't always perfect.

Had a good conversation with John at Revs. I'd meassured my bearing, the spacers, the stud, the Ohlins equivalent etc etc.

As John pointed out all the Wilbers bearings are the same size so could only be the stud (And I sem to recall having a simliar issue on my other '89 bike in distant past - emery paper job).

For interest Ohlins use a 1mm wider bearing - but with top-hat spacers that go inside the bearing to take up slack. Maybe they appreciate manufacturing tollerance aren't so good with bike manufacturers? The Wilbers bearing sits straight on the stud with spacers either side.

Anyway, to his credit, John said try emery paper on the stud - if you're worried you're taking to much off - no worries, we'll turn down a bearing slightly and mount it in your shock (he did say he'd do that even if I didn't want to start with the emery).

With not too much effort I got enough off to make it an easy sliding fit.

Credit to Revs - they spent plenty of time talking to me and would have done whatever I wanted to make me happy with the shock

Never, ever, put something on tight a little bit off with emery paper won't effect the performance, but wil allow repairs in some god-foresaken spot

And, of course, the Ohlins isn't a sloppy fit following the 'adjustment'.

Hope this helps

 

[PW Cymru]

Sorry to hijack but what is the std length of a 100GSPD Wilbers.

I'm going to take mine off this weekend and measure from Mounting hole's centre to centre.

The PD feels too cramped and it's messing with my knees.

 

[(RIP) Arkwright]

Hi Paul

The WP on mine is 500mm centre to centre fully extended.

I understand your problem, I had the same problem with mine, partially solved by rotating the bars forward and modifying the screen mounting to more upright.
The next steps are lowering the foot pegs and re-sculpting the seat to sit further back. I've just done it to the mono, it's a great deal better.

 

[PW Cymru]

Thanks Duncan

 

[Rob Farmer]

Sorry to hijack but what is the std length of a 100GSPD Wilbers.

I'm going to take mine off this weekend and measure from Mounting hole's centre to centre.

The PD feels too cramped and it's messing with my knees.

Paul,

A longer shock won't make any difference to the footpeg/seat relationship. You need to lower the footpeg position.

 

[fritz]

Its surprising how much difference the lowerers make - seeing as it looks nowt