My Suspension is getting wonkey

[Randyjaco]

My 17 RT with 23K miles is just not cornering well as it used to. I do the majority of my riding on country roads. Lately I have been noticing a lack of stability on the twisties at high speed, particularly if the turn is a little bumpy. I am not noticing any leakage or damage around the shocks or suspension components. Any thoughts on fixing this problem?

Tires are Road 6 GTs   At factory pressure settings.

Suspension mode is usually Normal Dynamic

No damage to wheels

[Oldrider51]

Sounds like the rear shock damping is gone unless the roads have changed. Talk to Ted Porter at beemershop.com.

[Skywagon]

Try changing the setting to normal with 1 luggage.  It changed the preload on mine and I ride it that way all the time now.

[realshelby]

Before I would do ANYTHING else, have your suspension recalibrated. Done with a GS 911 or by a BMW shop. You might find it helps more than you think......

Not likely anything worn out. Besides tires...which can have plenty of life but not work with the suspension like they used to. 

[alegerlotz]

Did you change suspension modes recently?  I typically ride in HARD, but sometimes NORMAL.  On my 2016, the ride mode is associated with the throttle mode, so switching to ROAD puts changes the suspension to NORM whether you intend for it to do that or not.  DYNA automatically defaults to HARD on the suspension.

 

I find that if NORM suspension mode I get a little of what you're describing.  I also agree with Terry to recalibrate your suspension if you haven't done so in a while, it could solve the issue for you.

 

Good Luck!

[Etienne Lau]

19 hours ago, Oldrider51 said:

Sounds like the rear shock damping is gone unless the roads have changed. Talk to Ted Porter at beemershop.com.

What he said, talk to Ted Porter. My 2010 had original ESA II with 100,000 miles. Handled horribly. Last year got the new ones installed, WOW, WOW and WOW. Handles great, and I like the fact that I an actually flat foot it now!

[The Fabricator]

Front tire condition is #1.  This is what I notice.  Rear tire not so much. 

The front tire profile starts out round[ish] and wears off on the sides, particularly if a high percentage of riding is curvy roads.

I ride a 2000 1150GS with all damping and spring preload setting are manual.

I am not sure if you are able to adjust your settings manually.  Probably not.  Regardless, if you can stiffen up the damping and ride your 'test roads', this  can eliminate the shocks.  If the  wobbling persists, look at the tires.

[dirtrider]

22 hours ago, Randyjaco said:

My 17 RT with 23K miles is just not cornering well as it used to. I do the majority of my riding on country roads. Lately I have been noticing a lack of stability on the twisties at high speed, particularly if the turn is a little bumpy. I am not noticing any leakage or damage around the shocks or suspension components. Any thoughts on fixing this problem?

Tires are Road 6 GTs   At factory pressure settings.

Suspension mode is usually Normal Dynamic

No damage to wheels

Evening Randyjaco

 

The tries are definitely a good place to start looking. 

 

Also, get the rear wheel off the ground then grab the rear wheel at 3:00 & 9:00 o'clock then 12:00 & 6:00 o'clock & give it a good push/pull. A loose rear wheel crown bearing can make them pretty darn unpredictable through rough curves & lean-in. 

[Randyjaco]

Thanks for the replies. It looks like I will be getting busy tomorrow. The tires look ok? The front has @3k miles and the rear @5k. I did change the ride mode several times yesterday, with not much affect. I normally ride with baggage mode on. I will be breaking out the GS911. That is an easy one, as is the crown bearing check. I will give Ted a call when I get the preliminaries worked out. Thanks again. 

[Bernie]

I do have a set of new Tractive shocks on the shelf, if any one needs them. 

The are made for a 2014-2023 R1200/1250RT.

[waltroman]

I run a min of 38 and mostly 40 PSI in my Pilot 6 GT front tires. If I run 36 the bike has a vague feeling. Also recommend suspension recalibration before replacement.

[Randyjaco]

Well, I took the bike for a ride today and found that my problem had corrected itself. I took your suggestions and decided to do the cheap ones first. I checked the crown bearing. No problem there. I got the GS911 out and recalibrated the shocks and bumped the front tire pressure up to 40 psi.  So one or more of those things solved the problem. I suspect it was the tire pressure bump. Thanks again for your help.

[MikeB60]

I suspect it was the calibration as that's a known fix for your initial problem. I experienced the same issue with my 2016 GS. Glad it's sorted.