Shock Experience

[Rob L]

My shocks (ESA) for my 2006RT have been visiting New Jersey since being shipped there Feb. 16th. 6 weeks ago snow was a foot deep and it seemed OK. They are being converted to Hyperpro ESA shocks. 6 weeks later still no shocks! Klaus informed me that he needed to order another part last week and he would be out of the country until April 7th. That will be 7-1/2 weeks since I placed the order on February 13th. I was told 3-4 weeks to turn the shocks around and a few days to allow for shipping. I am VERY disappointed by the excess time involved. The weather is good and I want to ride! I hope that these shocks are worth the wait!

 

I have purchased 2 shocks on Ebay over the last 2 weeks. The front is an exact replacement for my bike. I could not find a rear anywhere so I took a chance on buying a stock R1200GS shock. Last night I installed the shocks. The GS shock is about 3/4" longer than the original. The lower mount is slightly wider. I ground a bit of metal from the lower bushing to install the shock. Nothing can be done about the extra length. Today I rode to work. The bike sits noticeably higher in the rear! About 2" is my guess. I lowered the seat and can reach the ground, but getting on and off is harder. The centerstand works, but both wheels touch the ground while on the stand. The sidestand allows a bit more lean to the bike, but not too bad. The headlight points very low, I will adjust it tonight. So how does it work? The steering is quick! Less trail/steeper fork angle contribute, but still not too bad! I might get used to this! Still stable at 80mph. I guess that it will have to do until I get the Hyperpros. Not much choice anyway?

 

BTW, I will have a rear GS shock with 2k miles on it for sale in a couple of weeks. I think I'll keep the front one. Maybe I can find a rear eventually so I'll have a spare set.

 

 

[Dave_C]

thanks for the report. I have a 2006 rt w/ESA. I want new shocks(55k miles). Has anyone had a good experience with replacements that are electronically adjustable?

[Stephen H]

I understand your question BUT ... take it from me (I am about to take delivery of my 4th new R12RT having done 40k miles on each of the first three) just buy some decent aftermarket shocks and forget the ESA .. you won't need it

For what its worth, I transfer my Olins each time

[Indy Dave]

thanks for the report. I have a 2006 rt w/ESA. I want new shocks(55k miles). Has anyone had a good experience with replacements that are electronically adjustable?

 

here's a thread that deals with Works ESA.

 

ESA link

[Paul In Australia]

There are lots of people who love the ESA. Matter of fact I think you might find it is a majority ( at least in Ozz). The system is very reliable and very effective.

regards

paul

[Rob L]

I agree, I like the ESA cause the wife and I ride together a lot. I like to switch back for my solo rides to work etc. The jury is still out on how well the Hyperpros will work until Klaus returns and finishes assembling my shocks.

 

I do wonder why a company as big as EPM Performance has no parts on the shelf? They seem to order exactly what is needed for each shock that they build and this adds to their lead time. When they run into a problem (as with my shocks), they must reorder parts and wait even longer. A quicker turnaround would probably contribute to more buisiness.

[RideOregon]

can the stock ESA shocks be rebuilt? How does the cost of stock ESA shocks compare to the cost of a set of Ohlins?

 

[moshe_levy]

Rob-

 

What do you mean a company as big as EPM? It's just Klaus and a few girls who do minor or clerical work. Can you imagine the cost of carrying inventory for all the combinations of ESA shock rebuilds? Might mean quicker lead time for customers, but it would also put him out of business. As with all motorcycle businesses, the best way to get something quickly is to ship it so it's worked on in the beginning to dead of winter.

 

-MKL

[Rob L]

I don't think that carrying some parts would put him out of buisiness. Doubling the time advertised time to build a set of shocks might! I can't imagine that there are THAT many combinations that keeping an inventory would be that expensive. Each shock costs the consumer less than $600. Most of these components are probably common to many different configurations.

 

Either way, I am dissatisfied with the service. Don't promise what you cannot deliver!

[John Bentall]

I can't find in your original post any mention of how many times Klaus has converted Hyperpro shocks to ESA operation before your job.

[Rob L]

How would I know how many shocks he has converted? I talked to Klaus about this conversion at the MOA Rally in Gillette and again last year in Johnson City. He has been doing this conversion for at least a year!

[John Bentall]

If he has done lots previously, then he should not have mislead you about the wait time.

[malcolmblalock]

I think I was the first or among the very first to use Hyperpro/ESA on a RT. At least I was told that I was the first. The rear ESA was stuck on 2 Up, on my 05 RT with 72K miles, making the bike a bit tall.

 

I was told that if the ESA was working, Hyperpro could do a successful job of connecting the Hyperpro to ESA. They have been doing it for a couple of years on the GSs (I was told).

 

Long story made short, after receiving the shocks and ESA stuff off my bike, they learned that my front ESA mechanism was full of rusty water, and had not worked for some time. After some time, they got the rear ESA working. So the shocks and ESA were mated and returned.

 

When the ESA was installed on the bike and tried, the preload adjuster would not work. Talked to the local BMW shop and had them to test the system, it was learned that the ESA preload did work, but required much more amperage than the Canbus would allow. Each time the button is pushed, an error code is generated and nothing else happens. However, the damping works great.

 

So, getting back to the thread, I don't think they have a lot of experience with RTs and ESA. However, they have to start somewhere, and mine was among the first. The folks there are working with me to make things right, and I've decided to drop the ESA and go to Hyperpro's shocks in the normal mode.

 

I could be upset, but feel that it's a case of a steep learning curve for everyone. I was clearly told that if my ESA worked, they could mate the shocks successfully to my ESA. My ESA was shot, so they just couldn't make it work like I wanted.

 

Last point, Hyperpro is developing its own ESA for the bikes, but is about a year from having it developed. When that happens, I may consider sending the shocks back for rebuild and their ESA components.

 

More than I'm sure you wanted to read....

[Rob L]

Interesting reading actually. Your experience kind of worries me. I hope my shocks work as planned. I will test them and give a review of how well they work. My hope is that they will be SO GOOD that the wait will be worth it.......I really want to be able to recommend them to others. I will include fine print about possible extended turnaround time

[XTrooper]

forget the ESA .. you won't need it

 

Speak for yourself. The ESA shocks are one of the things I like best about my RT. When the time comes to replace them, they won't be replaced with anything but a new pair of ESA shocks, factory or aftermarket.

[Pictou]

Not meaning to hijak the thread but it looks like your transferred your Ohlilns to your 2010. I want to upgrade to a 2010 but wanted to make sure my ohlins will fit. So I gather you have done that and all is well?

 

I understand your question BUT ... take it from me (I am about to take delivery of my 4th new R12RT having done 40k miles on each of the first three) just buy some decent aftermarket shocks and forget the ESA .. you won't need it

For what its worth, I transfer my Olins each time

[Don_Eilenberger]

I don't think that carrying some parts would put him out of buisiness. Doubling the time advertised time to build a set of shocks might! I can't imagine that there are THAT many combinations that keeping an inventory would be that expensive. Each shock costs the consumer less than $600. Most of these components are probably common to many different configurations.

 

Actually - your conception of the parts needed to assemble ALL the different configurations of shocks available is unrealistic.

 

I have been to EPM, Klaus is a good and old friend. He does stock all the parts needed to repair HyperPro shocks. He stocks many of the parts needed to modify a HyperPro shock. The shock itself is built in the Netherlands - not in the US. There is some time lag involved between ordering a shock and having it custom made for you (and yes - every one is made on order and custom to the person ordering it.)

 

When Klaus and I modified the design of my HyperPro shocks (to provide full suspension travel with a lowered shock - the only ones doing that in the world as far as I know..) - one shock was modified with parts that were on hand. The other shock took some time to get the part needed from Europe.. luckily I'd kept my stock shocks so it wasn't a big deal, no downtime on riding..

 

Hyperpro, Wilbers (and Penske) are not off-the-shelf shocks. Some Ohlins may be, but if you want it to actually work correctly for you when it's installed on the bike - they are also custom made. Progressive generally is off-the-shelf, but the popularity of them (or lack of) among BMW riders is reflected in that. Works is a mix of off-the-shelf and custom. They offer a ESA conversion - dunno what the turnaround is, but since they're made here in the US, probably if speed was your primary concern, that's who you should have gone to.

 

Klaus does carry all the parts available for YSS shocks to custom build a shock here. Different price point, and different cost of the shock.

Either way, I am dissatisfied with the service. Don't promise what you cannot deliver!

That of course is an issue - and I have no idea what has held it up, but can guess promises were made in the Netherlands that for some reason weren't met.. and that impacts how quickly Klaus can do the work here.

[Smoky]

I ordered WP shocks, and when the new shocks are ready to be assembled, I send 'em my old ones. They remove the ESA components, and install them on the WP shocks. They only need a couple of days to do the build, and get'em back in the mail to me.

 

They advised that there is a 4 week wait to get to the top of the list. I'm riding the bike in the mean-time.

 

Travel time to and from CA, and over the international border is going to be the big delay.

 

Wilber doesn't currently offer ESA shocks for the RT models, but they are working on a design.