ohlins shock update

[beemerfan]

just curious what the feedback is on the new shocks? I missed out on the group buy, but now I'm ready to purchase after 94K miles. Is there a noticeable difference from old to new? should I get front or rear first, then add on other? All my tupperware plus the tank is off, so accessibility is not a question.
Would it be better to go with hyperpro instead? Thanks upfront for the info!!

[motorman587]

I did not do the group buy either but bought some a couple of months. +1 on noticing a different. For me it does not sag no more and I do not scrape parts that much anymore. It makes the motorcycle feel like it is off the showroom floor. Nice and tight.

[DavidTaylor]

Ohlins is the way to go. It makes it feel like it should have felt when BMW built it, and a little bit better. I ran Ohlins on my last 2 LTs and loved every minute of it. If they make a set for the ESA equipped GT I'll be buying them, too (assuming they don't cost a billion dollars).

[Tallyho]

just curious what the feedback is on the new shocks? I missed out on the group buy, but now I'm ready to purchase after 94K miles. Is there a noticeable difference from old to new? should I get front or rear first, then add on other? All my tupperware plus the tank is off, so accessibility is not a question.
Would it be better to go with hyperpro instead? Thanks upfront for the info!!You have 94K miles on your originals? :eek2: That is "shocking!"

How do you stand it? You must not ride with a pillion. :rolleyes:

There will be an astronomically huge difference. I'm surprised you don't have tire wear or bottoming out problems.

I would look into Wilbers while you're at it. ;)

[beemerfan]

probably 92k of has been solo. as for tire wear, I average 15k-20k on both front and rear tires(Me 880's). who did you use for a supplier? I was hoping for something local, AZ, so I could have them on in the next 5-7 days.

[Shad4545]

I just put a set on my '99 and there is no comparison. Rides like a completely different bike. I purchased mine from Kyle and installed them myself. Kyle can probably get them to you in 4-5 days if they have your set up in stock. Mine came from Ohlins in North Carolina. They must not have had mine in stock. They arrived in 3 days and were set up perfect for me. All the measurements on the bike were within the charts range. I did both at one time. Most of the tupperware has to come off for either so went ahead and bit the bullet.

[macreal]

After reading till I was cross eyed all the information out there about changing to Ohlin’s I went on line and researched prices. I am not sure I found the best price but I will say that many of the sites have old prices and when you email them or try to buy on line they call you back with the correct price which is a couple of hundred dollars more than the online price. I found Kyle’s racing in California to have the best price Dan Kyle [dan@kyleusa.com] $1368 plus shipping of about $30 for the pair (my bike is an 02LT) but if you live in California you have to pay sales tax of 7.25 - 8.75
So the other choice is James Swanson Parts [Parts@bmwrides.com] of Tampa BMW he will match the price of Kyle Racing. Both companies are very good about responding fast. My local dealership wanted $500 to install them whether I purchased them from them or not. There price for the shocks was over $1700. I am not convinced that they truly set your shocks up for your weight etc. as they claim they do. That is an issue to take up with whom ever you purchase them from. I think mine were taken off the shelf as factory generically set shocks. By the way if you want any advice from Ohlin’s they are great to talk with 1 828 692 4525. A technician usually answers the phone. I decided to install these new shocks myself. So I read all the blogs on this site and used information from all of them. The first thing I did was take most of the plastic off not sure if I need to do as much as I did but it wasn't any easier leaving part of it on. that consisted of the plastic on the handle bars, ignition, both top and bottom halves (left side and right side) passenger right side foot rest and plastic behind that, radio consol boy do you have a lot of connectors to unplug. Also someone said use little baggies or containers and label them for all the areas of the screws so you get them back where they belong. Great advice. And I removed the gas tank. I followed the advice to remove the rear shock first and leave it out until you have the front shock replace. I used a bungee cord wrapped a few times around the center stand and affixed to the skid plate to ensue the stand did not collapse as someone suggested. Getting the front shock out was not as difficult as some have had to deal with. I did not remove the ball joint or the steering stabilizer. I jacked the bike up at the engine using a block of would and floor jack until the rear wheel was fully collapsed and the bike started to lift off the floor. I pushed the front shock up as far as I could and it was only about 1/8 of an inch from coming out so I use a small crow bar (nail removing type) a large screw driver would probably do the trick also to get the shock the rest of the way out. oh yes be sure when jacking the bike you also pull down on the front wheel the forks have quite a bit of travel to let you get this shock out easily. When installing it you will need your screw driver/crow bar to reinstall the new shock again it does not take much pressure to overcome that 1/8 on an inch. Tighten everything up here in the front. Now install the rear shock. The biggest challenge I had with this was the hose is a mile to long. The hose does go to the inside I called and asked them that question. That is an area they could improve on. I actually took out that frame bolt right next to where the hose lays and used a carpenter’s clamp to compress just enough to get the hose through there so as not to kink the hose. Then just use plastic ties to help lay the hose where it will not get kinked. Put all the plastic back together and take it for a ride. I made one mistake I think. When I got it all back together I now have a failed ABS light on and I think I left a connector off somewhere. Bummer. The brakes work just says one of the abs is not working. I will fix that also. So just be sure you count how many connectors you take apart and count how many you connect. Here is the good part. After reading all the stories about change out OEM shocks to OHLINS how terrific they are etc. I took mine for a ride and immediately I thought I really screwed up because the steering was weird. I drove it around a little and found I was over steering a bit. I called OHLINS and asked it seems like the geometry is changed on my steering. Did I do something wrong had I read too many blogs and now imagining that something is different? They said no, the geometry is way different the bike should feel more fluid and easier to ride. Those of you that have 05 and new bikes probably have not experienced the older bikes and how they are a bit of a challenge in slow speed to navigate. Well that went away with the new OHLIN shocks. I have to say slow speed or fast this bike handles way different and it’s a good thing. To me it was worth the investment. It will raise the bike up about 2 inches and it is not because the springs are stiffer. It is the geometry of the shock. The whole job takes about 5 hours. But if you have neighbors like I do that when the garage door is open they stop by and say what are you doing and you have to explain and they won’t leave and you do not want to hurt their feeling it takes a lot longer. Now if anyone has any ideas about my ABS I would appreciate it. I found a web site to down load the complete repair manual for this beast. http://pdftown.com/BMW-K1200LT-Service-Manual.html I have also ordered the GS911 software and tool for trouble shooting fault codes etc. I will let you know if that is any good.

[kk610lt]

My eyes!!........paragraphs please.

Thank you.

[CARNEYM]

I'm 6'-2, 238 lbs. Do most of my riding two up and often pull a trailer. I let Kyle talk me into the stiffest springs. Wish I had not, with any preload on the rear, the bike wants to jump up after hitting a bump, way to stiff.

But even with that, the bike is much better that it ever was. My plan is to let the springs weaken for a while (only have around 2000 miles so far) and if no better I will have the springs changed.

You will be pleased with the Ohlins, Just saying get the right springs!

[yechave]

We too went with the recommendation from Kyle, and Ohlin's backed that up when I called to question the hard ride. I ended up backing off my adjustments by 90%, and it is a VERY hard ride one up. I don't see how they could have been off so much on the estimate for our riding weight, but I was told the heavy spring they use is to keep the bike level with the weight you told them the bike would most be used at. Yep, it does not sag. But, again, riding solo is brutal for me.

Is has smoothed out a bit some 3500 miles since the install, and should get better as the miles go on the bike. Had I known, I would have reduced my estimated weight at least 75 lbs, maybe even a bit more.

[KMC1]

You might want to check out this thread. I highly recommend dealing with Klaus and the shocks have been great so far. Hyperpro Feedback thread (http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32856)