Wilbers Shock Quality

[HarryMcGuinness]

In August '09 I have fitted a Wilbers rear shock to my '03 1150GS after my original one was pretty much worn.
This transformed the bike quite a lot and just shown me how much the original Showa shock was already worn.
So far I am very happy with the performance of the shock and soon I will have to send it back to Wilbers for the first service. So far so good...

Anyway, after I have cleaned the bike recently (that's not very often I must admit) I have noticed that the shock spring has corroded a lot. Additionally the shock itself is leaking slightly. This is very disappointing as the Wilbers shock is not even 2 years old now. Yes, I ride the bike all year and the recent strong winters with lots of salt may not have improved the situation. However, the BMW front shock spring has not any signs of corrosion and its in service for the last 8 years! Also I have checked my old BMW rear shock, guess what, no corrosion on the spring either.
Frankly, the finish quality of the spring is disappointing!

With this in mind I do slightly regret that I have decided against Ohlins and gone with Wilbers instead 2 years ago.

Has anyone else similar issues with the Wilbers shocks?

 

[Sir James]

Nver riden mine in the winter so can't coment about corrosian ( Sorry ) still shiney as ...

However it seems to weave a bit :-(

 

[AdamA]

Fitted mine on the back of my 1200 same sort of time, and it looks brand new still, despite also riding all year round (getting on for 20K on it).

It seems maintenance is a dirty word in your case...

 

[motobiker]

Mine are a little over 3 years old and on a bike that is used all year round and lives outside. they still look 'as new'. not even a speck of corrosion.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Neligent lack of cleaning

Front shock isn't adjacent to the rear wheel

 

[DrFarkoff]

Neligent lack of cleaning

Front shock isn't adjacent to the rear wheel

Plus 1

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

Front and back, 30,000 miles old, been serviced, used all year round - both still look like new.

Re the leak, it's a mechanical thing and mechanical things sometimes fail unfortunatly. If a seal goes it's not really a reflection on the quality of the shock.

Andres

 

[john_aero]

2years? well ifs it a wilbers fult, take them off, send them to wilbers and will be fixed for you free of chanrge as have a whopping 5 years warranty

i had my shock dump all its oil out after laying up, but turn outs even though good guys in revs racing did it for free under warranty the fault was my own, over tightened the bottom bolt, it locked up so shock couldnt pivot so shaftwould rock and oil leaked out gao

this was easy spot from wear on the shock mounting where i had not removed enough material from the new links i had made up and had tightened the bolt up too much so sanwiched the shock

looks dirty as not cleaned,

put a crap catcher in between the wheel and shock, or a shock sock. shock springs corrode easily on any bike. look at mx and enduro jobs always happens if not cleaned.

 

[AdamA]

Re the leak, it's a mechanical thing and mechanical things sometimes fail unfortunatly. If a seal goes it's not really a reflection on the quality of the shock.

Andres

It's generally a reflection of the amount of salt and grit that has been allowed to hit and stay on the shaft and work it's way into the seals trashing them as it goes....
I'm sure that's not the case here tho as it's clearly been well looked after...

 

[Rasher]

Talk to Wilburs about it, it seems this is unusual and you may find they sort it out with no hassle.

By the way I have seen shabby looking Ohlins kit as well, generally all of these items are far better quality than the OEM stuff, perhaps you just got a duff spring

 

[motobiker]

After a momentary lapse into paranoia....Just given them a wash.. as it was.. ahem, rather dirty. And beneath the grime was thus:

Not bad after 3 winters and when parked up - outside under a cover that is by no stretch of the imagination - completely waterproof. (its more like a tent fly-sheet)

I don't bother to ACF the thing.. what I do is chuck a few buckets of cold water at and over it after riding through salt.

So.. I don't know how anyone can describe the quality as anything less than 'excellent'.

 

[bowser]

2years? well ifs it a wilbers fult, take them off, send them to wilbers and will be fixed for you free of chanrge as have a whopping 5 years warranty

i had my shock dump all its oil out after laying up, but turn outs even though good guys in revs racing did it for free under warranty the fault was my own, over tightened the bottom bolt, it locked up so shock couldnt pivot so shaftwould rock and oil leaked out gao

this was easy spot from wear on the shock mounting where i had not removed enough material from the new links i had made up and had tightened the bolt up too much so sanwiched the shock

looks dirty as not cleaned,

put a crap catcher in between the wheel and shock, or a shock sock. shock springs corrode easily on any bike. look at mx and enduro jobs always happens if not cleaned.

a couple of points you only get the 5 year warranty if you send them in to be serviced at two years old.
mine are 2 months off two years old and I had to get the rear repaired as an oil seal had gone on the preload adjuster, have to say I ride my bike all year round, and went rallying in both December and January, and my shock looked nearly new when I took it off, nothing like the one in the picture, I have been very pleased with the quality and performance.

Only thing that pissed me a bit is after sending it in for repair as it broke, which cost £25 I got charged carriage to send it back and vat on the carriage, which has to be honest really pissed me off.
Not with the shock but with where I bought them from.

 

[Timolgra]

Wilbers, shock and quality aren't 3 words I'd use in the same sentence.
Front and rear from the same bike

 

[HarryMcGuinness]

When I look at Tim's photos of the rear shock, there is some more evidence that some springs have issues with corrosion!
Not to mention the oil leak...

Lack of cleaning is not really an excuse in my case (photo taken before it got cleaned).
I admit, the bike gets not cleaned very often but every 2 to 3 months should be sufficient I would believe for a all season bike...
(At least I thought this before I faced this surprise.)

Seen, that so many have no problems (Many thanks for all the responses by the way!) I can only imagine that my spring was already corroded before the painting was done at the parts suppliers...
This would explain why the corrosion came so suddenly through the paintwork...

I will contact Wilbers anyway prior I have to send it for servicing and see what there response will be (if any?).

Do you send the shock to the UK agent or straight to Wilbers HQ?

Again, my original BMW shock did not have any signs of corrosion after 6 years(!) and faced the same treatment! Just better quality!
This time I have attached photos of my old rear shock for better comparison....

 

[john_aero]

send it to the uk dealer,

but i do believe that i got charged for return ost and that annoyed me when i had mine sent over.

 

[MattW]

Lack of cleaning is not really an excuse in my case (photo taken before it got cleaned).
I admit, the bike gets not cleaned very often but every 2 to 3 months should be sufficient I would believe for a all season bike...
(At least I thought this before I faced this surprise.)

Be thankful (for many reasons) that you've not got a Triumph - apparently it's a condition of their warranty that you have to clean the bike after every ride

Hope you get it sorted.

 

[ktmman]

fooked

I have just removed an identical shock from my 1150gs. I believe(could be wrong)that these were originally technoflex ,mine looks exactly the same, never been happy with it , first prob was spring corrosion , second was the collar at the bottom of the spring cracking in 3 places, repaired then 10k later I noticed a hairline crack in the bottom eye where the bolt goes thru , on removal the crack opened up and is now a bin job. Never had any leaking etc but certainly not impressed with the quality for £320.