chrish4ku Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Hi - I need to replace my rear shock and of course my favorite dealer wants my left arm and part of my right leg. Aside from the Ohlins, I would love some suggestions of alternatives, sources, etc. Don't really want to fork out the $800-900 for the Ohlins now. With the wealth of information on this forum, I suspect a deal can be had somewhere.. Cheers! Chris H Link to comment
Bob Atkinson Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Try calling a few dealers and ask if they have any NEW take offs. Try Beemer Bone yard. Post a wanted to buy in the Classified section of this board. You should be able to buy a New or Used shock for next to nothing. Link to comment
Linz Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Wilburs. You *say* that you don't want to shell out for an aftermarket shock, but you'd give it willingly and your first born if you knew just how it transforms your whale into a dolphin. Linz Link to comment
Starfighter Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Works Performance built a pair for me for my '83 RT Also built a front shock for my '03 LT in both cases, under $400, built for my needs and I was happy... (that being said, I'm not a real agressive rider) Link to comment
AndyS Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Hi - I need to replace my rear shock and of course my favorite dealer wants my left arm and part of my right leg. Aside from the Ohlins, I would love some suggestions of alternatives, sources, etc. Don't really want to fork out the $800-900 for the Ohlins now. With the wealth of information on this forum, I suspect a deal can be had somewhere.. Cheers! Chris H You 'might' not need to replace your standard item yet. Many shock absorbers are rejected becuase they feel tired. Often all that has happened is that the preload adjuster has lost some of its fluid (you never see it go!), and so you can't actually dial in the correct amount of pre-load, so the shock is not working correctly. Here following is an excerpt I found within these hallowed pages: Maybe it will help. Andy Servicing your R11XXRT or K1200LT Rear Shock Preload Adjuster. My riding buddy Roger told me he was considering a new rear shock on his LT. It seems his preload adjustment wasn't working like it used to. I brought him to my house and we refilled his preload circuit in about 15 minutes the other day. Now he has the full range of preload just like when his bike was new. The hydraulic preload adjuster on your LT or RT 'can' cause a problem with ride height. I've found several RT rear shocks that have lost their original range of adjustment. What happens is the hydraulic jack oil in the preload circuit seems to evaporate just a little over time. I've refilled 3 of them and restored the full range of adjustment in each case. The easiest way to test for this is to back off the adjuster knob till you feel the resistance go away. That is the point where the hydraulic adjuster ceases to adjust anything. If the point of no resistance isn't up near the top (soft) end of the adjustment knob, turn the adjuster FULLY counter clockwise and remove the adjuster from it's mounting bracket. Unclip the hose retainers. While holding the adjuster upside down, remove the banjo fitting at the adjuster and keep the hose end vertical so no oil seeps out. Ensure the adjuster is Fully counter clockwise all the way and stick a nylon rod or something similar in the hole where the banjo fitting attaches and push the piston all the way back. Keep the adjuster upside down during this entire process. Next you add jack oil to the adjuster piston until it runs out. Re-install the banjo fitting (with new crush rings if you can find them but I've never had one leak) and before you tighten the banjo fitting, twist the adjuster knob clockwise about a quarter turn to eliminate any air bubbles. Check the adjustment range. If you were low on jack oil, it WILL be much better. This may save some folks the price of a new rear shock. I found hydraulic jack oil at my local auto parts store years ago for refilling my floor jacks. This oil is totally separate from the shock absorber function. Link to comment
Nevets Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 I got lucky recently and found a new rear BMW shock for my 2003 RT-P on ebay for $170, including shipping. I like the idea of checking a few dealers for take-offs. I'll check a few to try to find an equally inexpensive front shock. Link to comment
NCEngineer Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 You 'might' not need to replace your standard item yet. Many shock absorbers are rejected becuase they feel tired. Often all that has happened is that the preload adjuster has lost some of its fluid (you never see it go!), and so you can't actually dial in the correct amount of pre-load, so the shock is not working correctly. Here following is an excerpt I found within these hallowed pages: Maybe it will help. Andy I think this is why my 04 is bottoming out when I take my daughter our for a ride Does anyone have any illustrations of this for the reading impaired? Link to comment
Officer_Impersonator Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 I put a Hyper-Pro 461 rear shock on my RTP and was amazed at the difference. Where the stock shock would occasionally allow the rear tire to hop a bit on big potholes and expansion joints, the rear wheel now stays planted firmly on the ground in all situations. Sure, it cost a lot of money, but it's re-build-able should it fail, unlike the stock BMW shock made by Showa. Suspension, brakes and tires are all intimately related to handling and safety, and as such I am willing to spend a bit more money to obtain a quality product. Link to comment
NCEngineer Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 OK so I did this last night and WOW what a difference!!! When I got the bike I thought it was a little "Squishy" but when I would ride my kids (daughter being the heaviest) I would wallow a little. And on one curve turning onto a side road from an off-camber curve onto another off camber curve (very unique situation) I bottomed the centerstand and it caught me off guard. THAT’S when I popped off the side panel looking for the preload and noticed it was adjusted all the way to hard. I thought, SURELY this cannot be all she's got (c'mon Scottie) I started by turning the knob all the way counter clockwise. The first few twists were tight, and then it got real easy, and spun without any resistance. I then removed the allen bolt, and then wrestled with the banjo bolt. (It helps if you UN-snug the banjo bolt from the adjuster before you remove the adjuster from the bike) I pulled the line up high and simply placed the end of the banjo bolt in the hole of the fairing cover. This location made for perfect elevated support of the hose. After that I took the adjuster over to the bench and pushed the plunger back down, then filled the adjuster with fluid. Mine took quite a bit more hydraulic fluid than I would have imagined. Once it overflowed I wiped up the excess and walked it back over to the bike….and inserted the banjo bolt. Went in with ease and I snugged it up, and then remounted the adjuster. Then tightened the Banjo bolt once mounted. I started then cranking down on the preload. This time..it felt like there was a purpose, and resistance. I cranked it almost all the way down (as my wife and I were headed to Lexington, NC for the BEST barbeque in the world) and we headed on our way. On a silky smooth ride with NO bottoming out Thanks so much for this tip! It was awesome! Link to comment
Richard_D Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 This is a must do ! I did mine last night and it's like having new shocks. Thanks for the great tip ! Link to comment
Unhofliche_Gesundheit Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 great! i missed this thread in January. recently my bike was feeling really unsettled on the bad broken pavement up in cottage country where i go to find some nice twisty roads. the original shocks have 82000 km with a lot of two up riding with trailer by PO - gotta be worn out right? so i decided in the interest of safety that had better take the plunge and get new shocks - committed $1650 (hard earned highly taxed maple syrup republic dollar variant) to new Hyperpros 360 & 460 w. preload adjuster. The very next day (june 7) the tread resurfaced telling me I could save big bucks and just top up the oil in my old shocks! while waiting for the new shocks to be built and shipped i will fight off the 'cognitive dissonance' with thoughts that a) they really are likely worn out anyway - not just low on fluid b) many say upgraded shocks are the best money spent EVER on oilhead improvement. just for fun / in the interest of science (in my spare time ) i may try topping up the oil to the rear in the week remaining before new shocks show up . the point? no point... do we need to make points when we post? Link to comment
mrduck Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Just went out and checked mine, yup same thing. What kinda oil are you guys using? I'll try (almost) anything once! Don J Link to comment
NCEngineer Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 hydraulic jack fluid. Head to Advance auto, Auto Zone...whatever your flavor, and look on the bottom shelf near the jack stands and bottle jacks. Link to comment
Linz Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 Power steering fluid will also do a great job. Linz Link to comment
Selden Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 It seems like this procedure should work for an Ohlins. Does anyone have first-hand experience for confirmation? Link to comment
SAAB93driver Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 I don't know about Ohlins but it works on a HyperPro hyd. preload adjuster. I used power steering fluid which I had on hand. Link to comment
RiceToy Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 AndyS, Caster and Linz... great information!!! Wife and I drag the center stand occasionally, so I checked mine... the knob has no resistance all the way down. Looks like I have a project for tomorrow evening, and I'm really looking forward to getting the rear suspension back. So what is the torque on the banjo bolt? Also, should I back the preload ALL the way before refilling? Link to comment
Selden Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Do it. Very easy and effective. Linky Link to comment
NumbHands Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 In my case, I don't know if it was the adjustment fluid or the shock itself but the oil was leaking enough to be burning on the exhaust system and coating everything on the swing arm plus leaving little drips on the pavement immediately after stopping. I bit the bullet, bought the Ohlins (front and rear). Wow. Different bike. Feels like it is running on rails in the twisties - no wallow, no drift. I was skeptical. After all, why would BMW go cheap on these important parts? Granted, I did not buy my ride new so don't know about the early years with Showas. The Ohlins aren't that much more than OEM replacements. Michael Link to comment
RiceToy Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Topping-off the rear shock pre-load oil made a huge improvement! Its like a new bike - even two-up. But everything is better about the rear suspension, I could tell the difference as soon as I sat on the bike. Best part is that it took only 5 minutes and didn't cost anything (maybe a half cup of power stearing fluid). Best improvement made to the bike second only to the HID headlight upgrade. Thanks guys! Link to comment
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