Wilbers suspension - not good!

Tsiklonaut

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Well,

In less than 10 000 miles in South-America my brand new Wilbers rear suspension has had 3 rebuilds already!!! :mad: Starting to leak after short use, especially when doing some offroad. Waiting for seals for 4 days in Brazil in some farming city was my highlight how bad the crappy suspension can make your travelling mood.

The recent guy who rebuilt it was a very experienced specialist and said not very good materials and components used inside Wilbers. The aluminium mixture on both ends is rather crappy for example. Also the uneffective spring preload adjustment system, that can twist and crack the glue attaching pressurized canister to the top (it happened on mine - so it leaked from 2 completely different spots together with the seal!). Also once it leaked from the inner shaft seal (causing a bizarre leak from dampening adjustment knob). Basically it has pissed the nitrogen gas and oil out from the every possible hole on mine! Can this be a coincidence for a product that is considered a "high quality"?!

My stock Showa was fine over 50 000 miles and 10 years old - not a single leak or a problem after all the abuse it got from potholed and gravel roads and offroad in Eastern Europe. The only weakness it got was the spring got tired in time for 2up full gear riding. So I decided to put on the Wilbers for our RTW trip with stronger spring hoping it'd last.

...wrong answer.

The (stoopid) reason I bought it apparently there's lot of good reviews about Wilbers but mostly you see good reviews from guys who ride smooth roads in Europe and USA with very little offroad. But once you take it into third world it can get you into real trouble.

Other problem with Wilbers - very poor dealer network to get help or order parts when it decides to blow up when you love to travel in Third-World. Only one dealer per vast South-America for example.

And looks like I'm not the only one with blown up Wilbers. This guy in Buenos Aires has rebuilt already 2 of them in recent time. And Googling it I've found couple having similar problems in Third-World piss-poor road riding conditions where they tend to blow up outrageously frequenly.

Anyways, I've ordered a new rear Öhlins (a way too much stress+£££ spent Wilbers repairs and hassle already) making Öhlins look like a cheap and effective solution to my endless problems with the Wilbers rear shock. True, Googling it in the same way there have been problems reported with Öhlins too, but those guys sell 'em loads more than some small Wilbers as a producer, and Öhlins dealer network is vastly more advanced than Wilbers (i.e. Öhlins has dealers in 5 countries vs. 1 country for Wilbers there - 5X better chance to get help when in need), which means statistically a lot less problems with Öhlins IMO at least. Also the materials and components used are better from what I've got info listening the guys who've worked on various shocks.

Anyways, I'm personally highly dissapointed with Wilbers quality being stuck almost 1/4 of my travelling time in the middle of nowhere waiting for parts and waiting it to be repaired again and again. Think before you buy one.

Ride safe, Margus (stuck for anther week...)
 
Wilbers

Hmmm. Just got mine for HP2 Wish i had read this first, but then i'm in Surrey, not S. America!:confused:
 
Hmmm. Just got mine for HP2 Wish i had read this first, but then i'm in Surrey, not S. America!:confused:

Somehow I doubt you will find the kind of conditions Margus is having to deal with anywhere in the UK and will probably have to look hard to find similar conditions anywhere in Western Europe. On top of that - there is a whole world of difference between a fully loaded 1100 and a HP2. I wouldn't worry about it.

I'm wondering if Margus ordered the correct grade of shocks from Wilbers - or received what he asked for? Or indeed are Wilbers R&D actually set up to test their product adequately - in extremis. They are after all as he rightly points out a small company with limited distribution and back-up.

But lets face it - Charlie and Ewan didn't have much luck with Ohlins either - did they?
 
Sh1t Margus, what a pain :( I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that the Ohlins work out a lot better :thumb2

Coincidentaly I've just fitted Wilbers to my GS and will be taking it down western Africa next year. I had actualy wondered about putting the original shock back on for that as the Wilbers is set up very much for quick road use - having read your post I'm starting to think it may well be a very good idea :nenau

Andres
 
Öhlins dealer network is vastly more advanced than Wilbers

My reasoning for going with Öhlins, buying another set for my CBX this winter, the ones with the external/remote reservoirs...:spank
 
Well that's interesting I was going to fit a Wilburs rear shock to my bike for Mongolia etc. as opposed to an Ohlins.

Now I'm not so sure, although I've heard pf plenty of Ohlins giving out on long trips:confused::confused::confused:

Perhaps WP is the way to go or ...."if it ain't broke don't fix it"!!
 
From Margus' experience it seems OE is vastly superior at holding together against the Wilbers, even though the Wilbers might be better on tarmac when it comes to the extremes he needs reliability to keep going not super-smooth and low reliability.

I'd be sending the Wilbers back to the manufacturer for a grumble at them rather than cut all my losses
 
Hola mates,

Somehow I doubt you will find the kind of conditions Margus is having to deal with anywhere in the UK and will probably have to look hard to find similar conditions anywhere in Western Europe. On top of that - there is a whole world of difference between a fully loaded 1100 and a HP2. I wouldn't worry about it.

I'm wondering if Margus ordered the correct grade of shocks from Wilbers - or received what he asked for? Or indeed are Wilbers R&D actually set up to test their product adequately - in extremis. They are after all as he rightly points out a small company with limited distribution and back-up.

But lets face it - Charlie and Ewan didn't have much luck with Ohlins either - did they?

Coincidentaly I've just fitted Wilbers to my GS and will be taking it down western Africa next year. I had actualy wondered about putting the original shock back on for that as the Wilbers is set up very much for quick road use - having read your post I'm starting to think it may well be a very good idea :nenau

Looking what I've experienced, learned and listening others:

Stock OEM shock is ALWAYS better in terms of long-term reliability.

OEM shocks normally aren't rebuildable, so they're made better than the aftermarket rebuildable ones in terms not blowing up too quickly (because normally you can't fix 'em).

Aftermarket rebuildable usually means use of lighter materials - i.e. aluminium, titatiums etc mixtures to save weight and to say good words in their ads. Thus they're a better in terms of suspensioning characteristincs (slightly better dampening, better response due to lightweight stuff etc), but you will not notice it with fully loaded bike, you'll probably notice the big difference only riding solo hard offroad or fast on-road. For regular street riding or loaded travelling, the difference between brand new OEM or aftermarket shock becomes negligible (for many IMHO it's just a psychological effect: I just bought a 2000£ WP-setup on me bike - so it must be better! "I can feel this amount of money even with my arse!" - while the guy rides only on sundays and only to local cafe and back home... )

Now the payoffs of being rebuildable and lightweight: As I've heard from specialists some aluminiums can have vaporization from the surface, meaning it'll slowly leak gas anyways (probably this is why's Öhlins, Wilbers etc say the service overhaul must be done every 2 years at least even with zero mileage). While OEMs use steel hulls etc, that don't "brethe" at all (that's why you see even 10 years old shock still work, altought the oil is well used, but still no leaks).

Some experienced travellers replace OEM non-rebuildable shocks around every 100 000km (60 000 miles) when the oil and spring get's "tired" and don't bother with rebuilds. And say it's more reliable solution than a servicing rebuildable aftermarket one w/o knowing when it'll blow up next time. (I must note: actually a good suspension specialist CAN successfully repair or overhaul non-servicable shocks too)

Another factor is the cost. Wilbers is one of the cheapest rebuildable ones you can buy for your GS, IMHO actually meaning they probably must have some payoff whether from build labor quality or the cost/quality of the materials they use.

In terms of reliability-stability also huge factor is spring rating for your weight. Weak spring means more bottoming out, more hits to be taken on the components, more movement thus more stress for internal parts = more prone to blow up. IMO that's what Charley and Ewan team experienced with their overloaded bikes.

(Tho I had stronger spring on my Wilbers it didn't help :blast)

Another VERY important thing is dirt and mud protection from the moving parts. When dirt gets on moving parts it'll scratch the polished surfaces, thus wearing out the seals very quickly. I had my shock put into inner-tube, but I left the bottom open to get some air for cooling. Lot of people cap out both ends into tube or neoprane that NO dirt gets through, but this can affect the cooling. Overheating suspension when it does hard work means softened seals = leaking oil. So there's two sides on dirt-protection that need to be taken care of. While it needs dirt protection, "overkilling" with the protection can make it overheat.

And the last factor is the rider - how hard handed rider you are or how good "feeling" about technical aspects of your bike or how good you are on "saving" your bike - i.e. often n00bs ride slowly over corrugated gravel which can be worse for your bike (broken suspension, cracked frame) than going fast and "zeroing" them out. Or some "I don't care" or "I don't know anything about bikes" guys just ride through knee-deep killer potholes with fully loaded bikes w/o knowing how devastating they can be for your bike. Good rider avoids them when possible. So deffo also riding style plays a lot in the equation. (i.e. with the Charley-Ewan example already noted here - Charley boy had no problems with his Öhlins while others had ...and coincidetially Charely was the best (offroad) rider from the bunch by far!).

Like proffesional Dakar rally riders say, that while they need to ride their bikes outrageosly fast they also more or less have to save their bikes (normally wheels (often dented-bent) and suspension (also blown up)) to get to the finish. Fast, but careless rider will end up in the bush with a broken bike, especially on long distances.

So to sum up - if you take care of your suspension with a correct setup, a dirt protection and as a a bit more caring rider - you'll may be do OK with Wilbers.

(I tried it but didn't worked for me. Personally I'd swap to stock and put a stronger spring on it - as I said it's possible even to service and overhaul non-sericable shocks if you find a good suspension specialist)

Well that's interesting I was going to fit a Wilburs rear shock to my bike for Mongolia etc. as opposed to an Ohlins.

Now I'm not so sure, although I've heard pf plenty of Ohlins giving out on long trips:confused::confused::confused:

True. I did my homework on it. As I said, Öhlins sells 'em loads more too - so you must hear more about them. Good thing with Öhlins is at least you get OEM parts or specialist in a few thousand kilometer radius. Something that Wilbers lacks of...

Ride safe, Margus
 
There's an engineering firm near me (and frequented by St.Eptoe) who will refurbish pretty much all OE shocks, I've had them uprate springs, valves on many non-serviceable OE shocks, from Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki.

Steppers can confirm but I reckon they'd do the same with BMW OE shocks too.
 
There's an engineering firm near me (and frequented by St.Eptoe) who will refurbish pretty much all OE shocks, I've had them uprate springs, valves on many non-serviceable OE shocks, from Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki.

Steppers can confirm but I reckon they'd do the same with BMW OE shocks too.

"Hagon" do a similar service......
 
Margus, sad to hear your Wilbers have been a disappointment, but you must be giving them a hell of a workout.

I have had Wilbers on my 1200 for two years and only do occasional green laning/off-roading so they are set up for mostly fast tarmac use, and for me and my riding style they are perfect and a great improvement over the stock suspension which was too hard front/too soft rear.

Be sure that the new suspension you order is up to the job as even Ohlins sell different shocks for different tasks (even though they all look equally impressive in the box or when newly fitted).
 
Stock OEM shock is ALWAYS better in terms of long-term reliability.

I agree, there always plenty of OEM shocks on Ebay with low mileage.
In your situation I'd get one of these Fedexed out asap and be done with it.:thumb
 
I put Hyperpro shocks on my 1100 because the old ones were shot. The bike rode great but not really sure much better they were than rebuilt OEM shocks. The bike has a hard ride now but I like that.

Very impressed with the quality of Hyperpro though and the servce is excellent from Calsport in sunny brumijum;)

Good luck with it Margus.
 
"Hagon" do a similar service......

I had to send two replacement Hagon's (not free of charge from Hagon to be added) to friends of mine who went through Africa two years ago. Fitted the Hagon's with uprated springs for two up + luggage the works they still did not last.

Margus basically you are riding in 3rd world country with some realy bad roads, this is the factor never researched enough to realise that there is hardly any shocks/tyres/bikes etc that will cope with all 100% all the time. This is hard core travelling mate and part of your adventure so suck it up and don't let the little small set backs get in your way or your mind :D

I have a WP spring on my R80GS, been rebuild and checked, this still did not prevent it from starting to piss oil out after three day's on what I considered smooth gravel riding in Africa :blast Was considering the wilbers or Ohlins but think I might just go with bog standard OEM shock this time around :thumb

By the looks of it you should of rather bought 3 x OEM shocks = 150k miles which would of more than likely been better for your trip.
 
Wilbers Shocks

Hi,
We are the wilbers importers here in the UK and give the best possible service we can.
We have sold many many shocks and I can tell you hand on heart we have had less than 1% that have leaked.
Our suspension Technician John has been rebuilding suspension inc Ohlins, WP, Hagon, Hyperpro etc etc for over 40 years. He is the Suspension Technician for Ian Loughers TT Race Team so trust me he knows his onions!!!
The internals of the Wilbers units are top quality not 'crappy' parts a described earlier.
If you do have any problems with them we carry full spares and can usually turn them around in 24hrs.
There are lots of factors we are missing, eg Did he have the shocks made for the off road trip? did he order them with the correct weights?
I cannot speak for other countires agents but trust me you will get the best Suspension service/backup from us.
We have had many satisfied customers here on this forum and hundreds of others so unfortunately tsiklonaut has had a bad experience and we appologise on wilbers behalf for this.
If anybody else has any doubts please fell free to contact us on 0121 501 3321 and we'll happily answer any of your questions.
Cheers
Pete
 
Good to know that Pete, just fitted a shiny set of Wilbers to my 1200.
:thumb
 
Hi,
We are the wilbers importers here in the UK and give the best possible service we can.
We have sold many many shocks and I can tell you hand on heart we have had less than 1% that have leaked.
Our suspension Technician John has been rebuilding suspension inc Ohlins, WP, Hagon, Hyperpro etc etc for over 40 years. He is the Suspension Technician for Ian Loughers TT Race Team so trust me he knows his onions!!!
The internals of the Wilbers units are top quality not 'crappy' parts a described earlier.
If you do have any problems with them we carry full spares and can usually turn them around in 24hrs.
There are lots of factors we are missing, eg Did he have the shocks made for the off road trip? did he order them with the correct weights?
I cannot speak for other countires agents but trust me you will get the best Suspension service/backup from us.
We have had many satisfied customers here on this forum and hundreds of others so unfortunately tsiklonaut has had a bad experience and we appologise on wilbers behalf for this.
If anybody else has any doubts please fell free to contact us on 0121 501 3321 and we'll happily answer any of your questions.
Cheers
Pete

Perhaps Wilbers should Courier a brand new shock out to Tsiklonaut to his specification (foc). :augie
I spoke with you yesterday regarding a new shock for a long trip and would have proceeded with the order had this problem not been brought to my attention.
Like Tsiklonaut, I was basing my choice on positive feedback from the many customers who fit 'shiny' new shocks to there 1200s but as he says under more arduous conditions with a heavy bike perhaps there really is a problem.:nenau
 


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