Help: xCountry shock in South America
 

Currently two weeks into a South America trip on a BMW xConutry.

The shock that had made up in the UK is rubbish and just can't cope. At the moment I'm in Iguazu, heading to Salta then into Bolivia.

What are the chances of getting a replacement shock, or finding someone who's soon to be visiting Argentina, Chile, Peru Bolivia, and bring one over?

If anyone has any useful info I'm all ears.

Thanks

Memory a bit dim on this but I do recall someone with a bike problem (suspension also, IIRC) found help in Salta, Argentina. Pretty big town, so maybe you'll have luck there either sourcing new shock or rebuilding your current one.

What shock is on there now? I believe BMW use a low budget WP shock on your bike as the standard item? Correct?

Haven't heard of suspension help in Bolivia, but who knows. A BMW dealer is gonna bone you on price for a new WP replacement and probably take over a month to get hold of.

There may be tutorials on line. With a few tools and some instruction you could probably crack open your shock and fix it .... BUT ... will need NEW seals and bushings that fit. Maybe the guys who built your shock in UK can mail a "kit" over to you? This would help any mechanic who tries to rebuild current blown shock.

Also, be sure to recharge the nitrogen, and do it correctly. You can blow out seals if too much pressure is used.

:oops2:
Just thought of something!
Does your bike use one of those silly Air Bladder jobs like on the standard
X Challenge? Jeeez, hope not. Those are a disaster. Maybe that's why you have another shock on there. Well, hopefully it can be rebuilt ... maybe made better than new??

Good luck! maybe someone will remember the shop in Salta.
(I could be dreaming! :innocent:)

bier

Mine is a Sachs unit.

It was bottoming out a bit in Morroco so I had it serviced, refurbished, and resprung in the UK before this trip. I never go to put to much weight on it before I left though.

It's just inadequately sprung, or not preloaded properly or something, as I asked for a spring that would carry an 80kg rider, 60kg pillions (inc gear) plus around 35kg of luggage.

What I seem to have is something from delivery has slow rebound, massive static sag, and that bottoms out over even small bumps. It was actually better before I sent it away.

I've messaged the shop (so I won't bad mouth them - yet), but there is little they can do from where they are.

I'd actually take an air bladder right now, they are meant to be very good with heavy loads.

Will have to have a nose around Salta as you suggest and see if I can find a suspension specialist.

Interesting!
If I'm getting this right ... I'd say you are basically OK. The good news is it doesn't appear to be "Blown" and has not spit out it's oil. A good thing. So, I'm "Assuming" internal seals are OK.

I'm thinking you've got a "progressive" spring. And that is why you have so much static sag. Sounds like they ignored your request on the spring. You will need a MUCH heavier spring to handle the Kgs. you quote.

A 175 kgs. load will need an 8.0 to 8.5 kg. spring (more or less). A straight rate spring will be better for your situation, load and terrain.

Slow Rebound? Usually that is a GOOD THING. The more common problem is having little or NO rebound. Common with worn out or Blown shocks.

Question: Is your Sachs shock adjustable for either Rebound or Compression?
Do you know where those adjusters are? If you know, back off the rebound setting a few clicks. May help.

But for bottoming ... best solution is a heavier spring. But for NOW I would crank up PRE LOAD ALL the way UP. Hopefully it's not yet maxed out and you still have preload to add?

Upping preload won't solve the problem but WILL help with bottoming and may get you down the road for a while. Will make the bike a bit taller but should improve handling as now I'm guessing your bike is "LOW" in the rear? Low in the rear is BAD, slow steering, weaving, poor in sand and off road. Better to have the rear end UP!

Also, check your nitrogen charge. Most good car mechanics can help with this or guide you where to go to have your shock recharged. Although, from the sound, your nitrogen is OK as it helps with rebound ... but also works with compression.

If you have compression adjustment .... max it out! (all the way clockwise)

All this in lieu of a new, heavier spring, which is really "the fix" for your bike.

The really really good news is that from what you say, the shock is not blown, not leaking and still has rebound. (with most, rebound is the first thing to disappear. So, the fact you have rebound (too much?) could be a GOOD THING.

Hope you can find a shock specialist. Sachs shocks are used on many Euro bikes. Hopefully you can source a heavier spring. Maybe the UK guys know what spring they put on there? What's the KG. rating. It might even (should) say the rating on spring coil. Wipe the shite off and look for it. If it's 7.5 kgs or below, you are for sure under sprung.

Meantime crank up that preload. (long screw driver and hammer, elevate rear wheel, all weight off rear of bike, hammer on adjuster ring ... go all the way.
(takes forever!)

Good luck!

Right i've made it to Salta.

This is the shock. It should have around 8.3" of travel and is adjustable for preload and rebound.

http://defylife.co.uk/assets/images/...66-867x720.jpg

The shock is not leaking or anything. The bike just sits too low and there's only around 2.5-3" of travel once the bike is loaded up.

So either it's undersprung, the preload doesn't work, or I'm carrying too much weight (don't we always).

It's the OEM Sachs unit with hydraulic preload, new spring (put on before leaving the UK), and YS Rod.

I would have thought that a faulty preload would be picked up when it was serviced, hence me thinking that it's undersprung.

I did ask Dakar Motors if they might know someone, but they don't think I'll get a heavier spring in South America at all. Unfortunately no-one seems to know of anyone that can work on suspension outside of BA.

I'm now wondering which country is the easiest to import a shock? I did read a post about someone blowing a F650 shock and buying one from Touratech Peru. That had to wait a month in Bolivia, but I think most of that time was customs in Bolivia, as oppose to Touratech waiting for it to arrive from Europe.

If it's easy to import into Peru I could just have one delivered to Cusco.

Any other adjustments on that shock?

I assume you've cranked the big black knob IN all the way? That's your preload adjustment. Sometimes they fail to act upon shock spring.

Back it all the way out, see if you can see what happens to spring. Now turn back in ... all the way in. Something should move. Any change you can see?

At the other end of the shock under spring is another black adjuster. I'm guessing it's either a ride height adjuster or your shock rebound adjuster. Have you played with this adjustment? Should be a 22 click adjuster (mas o menus)

Could be the UK guys broke or screwed up the preload adjuster when they worked on it. A shock specialist may be of help.

Look round on the HUBB forum, just saw posts about shops in Salta the other day. Did you miss that? Has name/addresses and positive reviews. No idea if they are still in business ... some posts on that thread are 7 years old. But worth a try. Must be something in Salta.

Shipping into Bolivia will be HELL. Peru' maybe just as bad? Ask your embassy for help on this. They may have a work around. I would FORGET Bolivia in this regard. Argentina is also tough unless you have connections!

Did you say your bike is a BMW F650 Dakar? Is that really the standard shock?
It looks quite small! Very short travel for a dual sport. Perhaps its the WRONG length spring? Looks too short to me. Fool around, you may find a random spring that will fit ... and be a bit longer and stronger.

I thought your bike had at least 7 or 8 inches of travel? My DR650 has 10 inches.

Sachs is GOOD! (usually) Much better than old days.
Good luck, hope you find some help!
bier

My bike is an xCountry, so that's 8.3" travel, same as the Sertao.

I will take the shock out tomorrow and have a good look.

The pre-load is wound all the way in. I will back it out and try again. It I raise the rear wheel by putting the bike on it's centre stand I can spin the preload knob very easily.

The knob at the bottom is the rebound. Previously this had around 20 something clicks. It came back with the ability to go to about 70 clicks. It does work, change is very gradual. All the way in and the bike doesn't rebound at all (as expected) all the way out and it rebounds although slower than before the service.

I've sent a few emails out, and try and make some contacts tomorrow.

My bad, I should have seen you're on an X-Country ... it's in your title! doh
Anyway, you're on the right track. You may be able to adjust the preload manually somehow if the preload knob is not working.

Also, you may also have a ride height adjustment on there too ... below your rebound adjuster. I see something that looks like the ride height adjustment on my Ohlins. This won't help spring stiffness but may raise up rear which could help balance the bike out a bit.

Fiddle around with it ... see what you can figure out.

Good luck in Salta!

A bit of running around and I've found a KTM mechanic that might have a spring that will go on, only might though, and he might not have time to do.

The alternative if he doesn't have a spring, is to add a spacer to give it more preload. The current preload circuit works fine (I checked this morning), but it only applies about an inch if that. Hopefully upping that would help a fair bit.

Bolivia
 

I don't know much about shocks, but I came to understand parts inventory in South America. Its hit or miss. Big adventure bikes are considered luxury items. When a special part is needed and its not in inventory, you order it and wait. Calling ahead could shave time of waiting for a replacement part to be ordered. Try contacting the dealers in Santa Cruz or La Paz. I visited the later. Nice people. Their garage was backed up with three travelers ahead of me, so I pressed on to Lima for non-urgent service.

Let me ask a question. Is you bike overloaded with stuff you really aren't using? Did you pac camping gear never somes out of your luggage? Most travelers taking way too much with them. I am guilty. If you can lighten your load you might not need a new shock. =)

The bike/luggage is the weight I specified to the suspension specialists in the UK. Most of the gear is camping stuff (which is important in the places I'm visiting) and spares (2 tubes, fork seals, etc.. stuff that would be hard to get here and important when going to isolated places) very little is clothes.

Calling is difficult without speaking the language. I thought maybe somewhere ever a car place could perhaps cut down a spring and put one on my shock.

I'm having a spacer made and went to pick it up today but you know how things are 'manana manana' so perhaps I'll find out tomorrow.

A spring spacer is a good temp solution :thumbup1: It does not have to be particularly precise, just enough to put more tension on spring and to raise the rear up a bit. What it should do is put you into the STIFF portion of your progressive spring SOONER and should reduce static sag.

Ride may be a bit harsh compared to before, but it should react better to sharp bumps and whoops which could cause bottoming.

Bottoming is bad. Stuff can BREAK. Stuff you may not be able to repair. So a good idea to do whatever it takes to prevent it.

Losing weight off the bike is always good if you can ... but if you need your camping gear, you need it. Tubes are a MUST have item as are fork seals.
I nearly always see things in a riders kit I think they should not be carrying ...
but I'm not them ... and everyone has their own favs.

Good luck fitting the spacer!

Yep. There is at least one report on ADVrider of an xCountry swingarm breaking from bottoming out.

I'm sure I can lose 2kg but anything more will be really really hard. Most of our stuff is ultralight technical gear, e.g. down sleeping bags, down jackets for the cold (and hiking).

The girlfriend is probably the heaviest thing on the back, but I might get a slap at the suggestion of leaving her behind. ;)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_...2/IMG_5492.jpg

This image is all over the net ... but the owner of the X Country in question claimed he was not riding hard when it happened. Hard to believe ... but there it is. I'm guessing a bad batch of parts, improper heat treatment.

The Woman who did Mongolia with Colebatch on her X Country did really well on her bike.

Success! Maybe.

I got the bike back and he didn't add a spacer in the end. The preload was working just fine, but the whole preload unit/collar was much higher up the shaft of the shock than it should be.

The mechanic somehow fixed this and the bike now feels about right. The rear is much much higher, as in now I can barely tip toe, and the massive amounts of static sag has gone.

Hopefully it holds up fine now. I'm yet to load the bike up with luggage though.

I perhaps owe the UK company an apology in terms of the spring, but they should have noticed the other problem with the shock since it was like that when I received it back from them.

Getting ready to start heading north tomorrow. Probably take it nice and easy, 3 days to Uyuni.