Firefight911 Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 Well, I got in my first decent ride so I could play with the new Wilbers. Took a ride to Yerington, NV (don't blink, you may miss it!) with the BMW club for an overnighter. Rode out from Sacramento to Yerington with a stop in Genoa, NV (home of Raquel Welch's bra in the oldest bar in NV) via 88, 395, and 208. Came back via 208, 395, 89, 88, Omo Ranch Road, and 49. Got in Monitor Pass and Carson pass. All said and done, we rode approximately 550 miles on the weekend. Well, with these roads I was sure to feel any difference and feel it I did! Important note: I was 2-up with my beautiful bride cheering everytime we got a car (I call them moving chicanes!!) in front of us. The difference between the stock and the Wilbers is unbelieveable! The bike just rails through turns like nothing it has ever done before! I even had one of the K1200S guys behind us commenting on how well he could see the change in how the bike was working from previous trips together. Unfortuantely, the ride was not completely without incident. At our first rest stop, I smelled smoke! Damn, it was my ST. As it turned out the preload adjuster banjo bolt had not been tightened properly at the factory so it was leaking a bit down onto the collector pipe behind the cat converter. Got out the crescent wrench and snugged all the bolts and nuts down and continued on without further shock event. The ride compliance is downright plush. The control is amazing and the feedback is wonderful. Something that really caught my attention (other than the smoke!) was that Wilbers had the damping and static adjustments pretty close to spot on!. We backed out one click of rebound the whole weekend. I added 2 rounds of preload for 2-up riding. That was it. I will be doing some solo riding here soon and will then really start digging into verifying the settings but so far so good. As a follow up to the oil leak, I emailed Klaus Huenecke with Wilbers on Sunday night after getting home. He emailed back within 1 hour and took full responsibility for the shock issue. Absolutley commited to making it right and getting the shock back to me ASAP once he got it to replace the oil and go through the shock to verify the assembly as correct. The amont of oil lost was enough to affect the static sag, requiring two additonal rounds of preload to be cranked in. Now, although the shock should not have had a leak in it, I am very impressed by Wilbers immediately taking ownership of the problem and working with me to resolve it in the most expeditious manner possible. The shock was sent back to Wilbers yeaterday and I should have it back within a week of Wilbers receiving it. Until then, the bike sits in the garage with her back end being suported by a jack. Why do that?, you ask. Because the rotors are now warped as well!! I had been feeling a light pulsation every once in a while after getting some heat into the brakes but now it is there all the time so new rotors and pads are on order (all under warranty!!!!!! ) through the dealer. Once they arrive and the shock is back in, the ST goes off for the ABS recall and new pads and rotors. How did they warp? Hmmmm, let's see . . . . all I did was apply the brakes when necessary! Oh, and for those that have seen the ST video by BMW, I typically choose the sport side of riding. And I will say that I probably need to modify my riding style when 2-up! More acceleration out of the corner and less speed into the corner! For those who missed the install write up, here you go: Wilbers Install Day For one additional side note, we averaged 53.04 mpg for the weekend!!!! Holy saving money while burning rubber!!! And I promise that there are no chicken stripes (courtesy stripes as my wife calls them) and the throttle would not twist any more on several occasions. The ST just keeps getting better and better! And, yes, I washed the bike Timmer!!! Link to comment
wilsons Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 Great feedback! Personally I feel the stock front suspension sucks, and I like the two options, the ohlins, or the wilbers! How's the wife like riding on that bike? Is it noisey at all? Comfy? Thanks! Link to comment
mountainred Posted August 10, 2006 Share Posted August 10, 2006 The factory shocks are OK, but I have ohlins on my st and I really like the way it handles. I rode to sandpoint ID a few weeks ago and I am going to ride to missoula MT the first week of sept. Link to comment
NakedRider Posted August 10, 2006 Share Posted August 10, 2006 Phil, Great write up. I've got the Wilbers too. Just took a week long trip down south. Fully loaded with all hardbags full plus two additional bags on the seat all I did was give one turn preload. I couldn't even tell the bags were there. Very plush yet controled ride from those Wilbers. You probably know of the horrible spots on 80 up by Eagle Lake going towards Reno. The ST with the Wilbers handles that stretch of road better than any other bike I've ever ridden up there. Interesting that you have warped rotors. I'm hoping I don't have the same thing happen. I ride fairly hard as well but I'm leaving the *really* hard riding to my R1200S now. Link to comment
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