I have had a few weeks with my new suspension now and I am very happy.
I purchased the Wilburs shocks from MCT and had them fitted and setup in their (immaculate) workshops.
I went for the top of the range stuff, there are a myriad of options with the Wilburs kit and each shock is built to the riders specifications, in my case to accomodate one-up, two-up and two-up loaded use based on our weights.
Fitting is typically straight forward, but the front shock mount on my 2008 bike seized solid on the way out, it came out about 3/4 of the way and then stopped, Darren had to wrestle with it for about an hour, and fit a replacement as it was knackered when it came out.
I doubt I would have got this out with my home toolkit, so worth going for the ride-in / ride-out service for this alone.
I have to admit the stock suspension is not as bad as many bikes I have owned, but I did find it very clunky and jarring over bumps (especially the front) and I needed the damping adjuster almost fully in solo and two-up the bike was a bit vague and wallowy regardless of the settings, adding luggage made it even worse - not likely to be much fun on Alpine roads two-up with cases.
I had avoided ESA bikes as I knew the OE suspesnion would be of relatively low quality and would rather put the money towards quaility gear as opposed to having buttons to adjust low quality gear. Also the OE units have no damping adjustment up front and only one-way damping adjustment at the rear - what was most surprising with ESA for me was how different the settings felt considering the limited adjustment on the OE shocks.
The front shock is a simple Emulsion type with just a single damping adjuster and pre-load adjustent, however this is still a lot more than the pre-load only adjustment of the OE unit.
Getting this setup was quick and easy, the standard setting was mega soft, Darren adjusted this a fair bit before even riding the bike, after his initial setup ride it was 9 clicks out (compared to 14 as per Wilburs standard setting) althought I had requested a "sporty" setup.
It was immediately better on handling and awesome on smooth roads, bit still quite harsh, I have found 10-11 clicks out provides amazing handling without comprimising hadnling much - even at 10 clicks it soaks up bumps far better than the standard unit whilst also feeling far more accurate and giving better feedback, if spending a day on B-Roads I would probably back it off the 11, overall a good improvement.
The rear was harder to get to grips with, remote pre-load plus 3-way damping adjustment to contend with. Darren went with the stock -14 -14 -16 (HS comp / LS comp / Rebound) and this was a great compromise for all riding, being a shade soft two-up and a shade hard one-up. after much fiddling I have backed HS compression of 2 more clicks and the low speed 1 click for solo use, it now feels far more compliant than the standard unit and follows the road very well and rides bumps better, I also run 6 turns of pre-load to give a faster turn-in and nicer "sporty" feel, this possibly makes it a bit harsher over the bumps, but for me is worth it for the overall handling improvement.
Two up requires a bit more low speed compression and rebound damping on the rear and about 10 turns extra on the pre-load, with a an extra click and few turns required for a full luggage load.
Overall the bike is now excellent, providing considerably better comfort and improved handling, at speed where the bike tended to feel vague it is now more planted, when fully cranked there is more feedback and where the bike used to feel quite "wobbly" on fast direction changes (as if it had a hinge in the middle) it now feels taught.
The biggest gain is two-up, with such a huge range of adjustment compared to the standard unit you can get a good setup in any conditions and with any load, my rear spring is a shade stiffer than stock at 150nm compared to the std 140nm spring, combined with much better damping control and more adjustment the bike handles brilliantly even two-up with luggage.
I highly recommend both Wilburs suspension and MCT for the work, the effort MCT put in to ensuring you are completely happy whilst you there and before you leave and post-sales support is second to none.
You get to sit on a comfy sofa, drinking tea and watch them work on your bike, no round the back and out of site bodging going on here! They also have a wealth of experience on setting up suspension for all types of bikes and riders and my next bike will also be going there as soon as I get it. I could have hung around all day riding it with and without pillion / luggage etc and had help setting it up, but I am happy to fiddle and also it takes me a few miles to really evaluate any changes so I said I was good to go, especially as if I do have any questions or issues I know I can call MCT at any time for advice.
The Wilburs kit is gonna cost around £900 - £1200 fitted depending on spec, but IMHO is worth the money, skip the ESA on your new steed and your half-way to the top kit!
I purchased the Wilburs shocks from MCT and had them fitted and setup in their (immaculate) workshops.
I went for the top of the range stuff, there are a myriad of options with the Wilburs kit and each shock is built to the riders specifications, in my case to accomodate one-up, two-up and two-up loaded use based on our weights.
Fitting is typically straight forward, but the front shock mount on my 2008 bike seized solid on the way out, it came out about 3/4 of the way and then stopped, Darren had to wrestle with it for about an hour, and fit a replacement as it was knackered when it came out.
I doubt I would have got this out with my home toolkit, so worth going for the ride-in / ride-out service for this alone.
I have to admit the stock suspension is not as bad as many bikes I have owned, but I did find it very clunky and jarring over bumps (especially the front) and I needed the damping adjuster almost fully in solo and two-up the bike was a bit vague and wallowy regardless of the settings, adding luggage made it even worse - not likely to be much fun on Alpine roads two-up with cases.
I had avoided ESA bikes as I knew the OE suspesnion would be of relatively low quality and would rather put the money towards quaility gear as opposed to having buttons to adjust low quality gear. Also the OE units have no damping adjustment up front and only one-way damping adjustment at the rear - what was most surprising with ESA for me was how different the settings felt considering the limited adjustment on the OE shocks.
The front shock is a simple Emulsion type with just a single damping adjuster and pre-load adjustent, however this is still a lot more than the pre-load only adjustment of the OE unit.
Getting this setup was quick and easy, the standard setting was mega soft, Darren adjusted this a fair bit before even riding the bike, after his initial setup ride it was 9 clicks out (compared to 14 as per Wilburs standard setting) althought I had requested a "sporty" setup.
It was immediately better on handling and awesome on smooth roads, bit still quite harsh, I have found 10-11 clicks out provides amazing handling without comprimising hadnling much - even at 10 clicks it soaks up bumps far better than the standard unit whilst also feeling far more accurate and giving better feedback, if spending a day on B-Roads I would probably back it off the 11, overall a good improvement.
The rear was harder to get to grips with, remote pre-load plus 3-way damping adjustment to contend with. Darren went with the stock -14 -14 -16 (HS comp / LS comp / Rebound) and this was a great compromise for all riding, being a shade soft two-up and a shade hard one-up. after much fiddling I have backed HS compression of 2 more clicks and the low speed 1 click for solo use, it now feels far more compliant than the standard unit and follows the road very well and rides bumps better, I also run 6 turns of pre-load to give a faster turn-in and nicer "sporty" feel, this possibly makes it a bit harsher over the bumps, but for me is worth it for the overall handling improvement.
Two up requires a bit more low speed compression and rebound damping on the rear and about 10 turns extra on the pre-load, with a an extra click and few turns required for a full luggage load.
Overall the bike is now excellent, providing considerably better comfort and improved handling, at speed where the bike tended to feel vague it is now more planted, when fully cranked there is more feedback and where the bike used to feel quite "wobbly" on fast direction changes (as if it had a hinge in the middle) it now feels taught.
The biggest gain is two-up, with such a huge range of adjustment compared to the standard unit you can get a good setup in any conditions and with any load, my rear spring is a shade stiffer than stock at 150nm compared to the std 140nm spring, combined with much better damping control and more adjustment the bike handles brilliantly even two-up with luggage.
I highly recommend both Wilburs suspension and MCT for the work, the effort MCT put in to ensuring you are completely happy whilst you there and before you leave and post-sales support is second to none.
You get to sit on a comfy sofa, drinking tea and watch them work on your bike, no round the back and out of site bodging going on here! They also have a wealth of experience on setting up suspension for all types of bikes and riders and my next bike will also be going there as soon as I get it. I could have hung around all day riding it with and without pillion / luggage etc and had help setting it up, but I am happy to fiddle and also it takes me a few miles to really evaluate any changes so I said I was good to go, especially as if I do have any questions or issues I know I can call MCT at any time for advice.
The Wilburs kit is gonna cost around £900 - £1200 fitted depending on spec, but IMHO is worth the money, skip the ESA on your new steed and your half-way to the top kit!
