"Bomb" proof reliable suspension, which?

[Margus]

Can anyone comment the reliability in third-world road condition / high mile riding / trustworthness between:

- Öhlins
- WP (not Works Performance)
- Wilbers

For R1100GS. Also real-life maintenance intervals/costs and how they hold up pushed to extremes under two up full of luggage stress (i.e. fast ride through Africa)?

So far the WP seems to have superior off-road suspension experiences through racing to others, while Öhlins is more known on road racing side. Haven't heard much about Wilbers though, but their shock maintenance section seems to be the best of these three looking at the manufacturer's webs. Also Öhlins and Wilbers both offer stronger versions of springs, haven't seen them for WPs, or is there?

Thanks in advance, Margus

[Stephano]

Read Ralf & Eva’s (http://www.motorradnomaden.de) comments on their Öhlins shocks here:
http://motorradnomaden.reiseblogger....x.php?m=200601

In Sharjah, the Öhlins representative, Jan Lindstrom, rebuilt both bikes’ rear shocks for free.

[jenna]

I had Öhlins all round on my KXF Tecate Raid-quad and they were fantastic, never had a single problem and and advice or backup needed from Öhlins was given to me free and withouit having to hassle them for it... I have also used Öhlins on two other MX'ers and some rally cars and again no problems!

[davidmc]

I can't speak for the BMW GS, but I have a custom built Wilbers shock on my Transalp. I am travelling two-up with luggage, and I had the shock built for a load of 180kg. The spring is certainly bigger than any spring for solo use.

The Wilbers has been completely reliable in 32,000+ km of riding, some of it on very rough Central Asian dirt/gravel roads. I believe it has a 5 year warranty and is rebuildable, of course. It has totally transformed the bike and given me superb control on the rough stuff.

Make sure whatever shock you get, you get it custom built for YOUR loads and riding conditions.

Wilbers is probably the most economical among your options too? I paid around $700usd for mine with a remote hydraulic pre-load adjuster.

Anyway, I can highly recommend Wilbers.

[desert dweller]

doesn't feature on your list but as i am here researching a replacement shock thought i owuld put my two cents' worth in.

i have a fox twin clicker on my r11gs. we travel two up with enough gear to camp but not excessive by a long way.

the fox shock just doesn't hack it and had had to b e rebuilt several times on this short south america journey, and several times before that too. everyone that pulls it apart says it is a great shock but hell it's giving me the poops. or something.

cheers,
andy

[Warthog]

I don't know how they would fare on a big trip with variable terrain, but another company which is very reputable but, as with Wlibers, does not have Ohlins' marketing clout, is Technoflex suspension technology - Road News

[Margus]

It's an old thread revived if you look at the posting date.

Andy: good info there. Did you had the correct spring for your weight? I guess every shock will give up if it bottoms out excessivly(?)

Nick: Aren't the Wilbers actually are made from Technoflex parts? I've heard at least springs the Wilbers uses are from Technoflex. I may stand corrected here. Why I chose Wilbers was the best maitenance package: overhaul is needed after 50Kkm or after 2-3 years. Overhaul was the cheapest of the bunch too.

Mollydog: Wow, de-facto statements from you again, but I haven't seen any record where is scientifically proven and written that jap stuff isn't beatable? As you probably already know I'm not particulary a believer of the "jap superior reliability" myth myself. From my bad experience with the much hyped jap equipment, personally I'd look away from jap products for the third world usage. I prefer older more robust European stuff that for me has had better reliability record than the jap stuff I've had myself and seen from others

Öhlins isn't owned by Yamaha anymore. It's now back in the hands of natives - Kenth Öhlins himself said he regained the 95% of the shares of the company now. They've long been wanting to buy the Jap investors out since Jap way of "corporate ruling" isn't a very healthy thing for a such company.


Keep the thread going guys. There isn't much suspension talk going on here.

Cheers, Margus

[Warthog]

Originally Posted by Margus

Nick: Aren't the Wilbers actually are made from Technoflex parts? I've heard at least springs the Wilbers uses are from Technoflex. I may stand corrected here. Why I chose Wilbers was the best maitenance package: overhaul is needed after 50Kkm or after 2-3 years. Overhaul was the cheapest of the bunch too.

Margus.

In short, I don't know if they are from the same suppliers. However, if they are, I expect the Technoflex to be cheaper, for similar quality, if Wilbers need to buy from Technoflex and then still make a profit...

So do you have Wilbers then, or are you looking to change?

I certainly would not buy Ohlins. Although I feel a certain movie star's recent trip through Africa had lost the spirit of an earlier trip through Asia, a lot of miles were covered on crappy surfaces, and the Ohlins that were used did not do well at all!! (then again the BMW originals did not do much better either!)

[Margus]

Originally Posted by Warthog

Margus.

In short, I don't know if they are from the same suppliers. However, if they are, I expect the Technoflex to be cheaper, for similar quality, if Wilbers need to buy from Technoflex and then still make a profit...

So do you have Wilbers then, or are you looking to change?

Yes, I have Wilbers. It turned out the most attractive while the cheapest of the Wilbers/WP/Öhlins bunch that I had my eye on that time. And I've just refreshed my memory, and I guess it was Hyperpro, not Technoflex behind the (at least some of the) Wilbers'es parts.

But as said, Wilbers offers a very competitive maitenance interval package - 30-50,000km or 2-3 years. And most of all - rebuild is also possible in South-America (in BA)

Cheers, Margus