How much to invest for decent suspension?

[CheckerdD]

If your so interested in performance off road, why not buy a dirt bike? G/S stands for Galenda Strasse which if spelled correctly means turf and street. The stock suspension is a good compromise. It improves with an Ohlin Shock for a thousand. Get's better still with new springs up front. Then some get steering dampers. I put 27k on mine before I felt any need to upgrade. Dave

[alexisan]

So the topic was apt how much needs to be spend on alternative suspension.
Which alternatives are out there? And who has got experiences?

[HappyHighwayman]

Got my forks done today with race tech suspension. Noticeable and reasonably priced improvement. If you can do the work yourself it's a bargain. No more diving when I brake and sharper turns, but I need more road time to find out because the ride back from the shop was 40 miles of boring freeway.

[MTrider16]

I shipped my forks to Ohlins USA shop to install front cartridge and spring kit. Puchased rear shock and spring unit.

IMHO Pretty much a waste of time and money for me. I can feel that its marginally better, but still seems pricey for what I got. You have to be used to adjusting suspension and living on the motorcycle for this upgrade to pay for itself.

David

[alexisan]

Originally Posted by HappyHighwayman

Got my forks done today with race tech suspension. Noticeable and reasonably priced improvement. If you can do the work yourself it's a bargain. No more diving when I brake and sharper turns, but I need more road time to find out because the ride back from the shop was 40 miles of boring freeway.

And how much did you pay? Details if yo can.
Looking forward the hear about riding experiences...

[alexisan]

Originally Posted by MTrider16

I shipped my forks to Ohlins USA shop to install front cartridge and spring kit. Puchased rear shock and spring unit.

IMHO Pretty much a waste of time and money for me. I can feel that its marginally better, but still seems pricey for what I got. You have to be used to adjusting suspension and living on the motorcycle for this upgrade to pay for itself.

David

Well that's...unbelievable..

[HappyHighwayman]

Originally Posted by alexisan

And how much did you pay? Details if yo can.
Looking forward the hear about riding experiences...

$200 in parts for the springs and guides and $200 in labor.

For that kind of money it's a worthy upgrade, but I can't see it worth spending the money on Ohlins stuff...if that's where you need to go you must really love the F800 because for that kind of cash you could have gotten a better bike.

[MTrider16]

Originally Posted by alexisan

Well that's...unbelievable..

{shrug} maybe your better at riding and adjusting suspension than I am. It was a $2100 bill for me with minimal improvement that I could use. Other people rave about this upgrade.

cost vs benefit

David

[HappyHighwayman]

I'd rather spent that money on other upgrades. I wonder what $2000 of engine work could do? :)-

[itsatdm]

It would buy you a freer flowing air filter, I hear the HP2 filter fits. A header and free flowing exhaust. You will need to augment the fuel ratio and a Power Commander will do that.

If that is a primary concern, you bought the wrong bike. It is designed with a flat power curve at low rpms for a reason. It works better in dirt.

Or maybe wait a year or so and hope the 900 Husky engine is used. It has been bored and stroked, can't beat cubic inches or centimeters. More torque and probably more HP if they spin it fast enough. A cross plane crankshaft at 315/405 degrees. Sound like a Vtwin and will hook up in the loose stuff better.

[Snowy]

Originally Posted by Maxacceleration

You guys are going the bucks up route for sure.
And doing the racer wannabe pace.
Slow the beemer down a bit for the touring loaded, tourist looky lou types and stock or closer to stock bike is more manageable.
You guys wanting to set-up and ride at Dakar or timed enduro speeds are missing what many want to do with their bmw.
Go ahead and run your race pace and get blown off by a stock KTM.

Yeah...and no.

I see what you're saying, and I've yet to go trail riding and get "blown off by a stock KTM".

Oh, there's guys out there that could do it easy. Guys in their 20s. But among the average trail riders. No. Most of us have common sense.

Plus, it's not like I'm trying to push race pace. I grew up racing 2-strokes, my race pace is a lot more energetic, but on a 170kg "trail" bike approaching my 50th year I don't even try to delude myself. On trails in a shared area that'd be such a KTM owner thing to do. I see guys up here that try it quite regularly. I've had to call the rescue helicopter a few times.

I want a BMW that will do 2 very different things. I understand that they just don't make them to do either one of those things well. But in trying to get it to do either, I can get it to do both very well if I do it right.

By the time I get the BMW to do what I want solo, it will do what I want for 2-up dirt touring exactly the way I want.

A win/win.

I can see that you don't want that from yours. That's cool. But there's no need to hang shit. Sit back and watch. You may learn something.



For the OP, what I'm saying with the videos etc is simply this, understand very clearly what your abilities are and what sort of riding you want to do before you commit to buying.

If your are a competent trail rider and you want to trail ride a standard BMW you will be disappointed in a lot of ways. If you fall for the advertising hype, buyers remorse will eat at you.

If you are a beginner, and you are learning both riding and dirt riding then the BMW will feel pretty good as is, straight off the showroom floor. You'll likely have years of fun and argue with everyone on ADVrider about the BMWs abilities.

If you know enough about dirt riding to know the BMW isn't a dirt bike, then the regular stiffer springs, change of damping oil will likely suffice. Because common sense prevails.

If you fall outside those rudimentary groups then you'll need to explore more expensive options. I.E, if you want to do "Enduro" type riding or dirt touring 2-up you're going to have to spend big bucks and explore other options. Because they simply don't build the bike to do either of these things.

[HappyHighwayman]

Originally Posted by itsatdm

It would buy you a freer flowing air filter, I hear the HP2 filter fits. A header and free flowing exhaust. You will need to augment the fuel ratio and a Power Commander will do that.

If that is a primary concern, you bought the wrong bike. It is designed with a flat power curve at low rpms for a reason. It works better in dirt.

Or maybe wait a year or so and hope the 900 Husky engine is used. It has been bored and stroked, can't beat cubic inches or centimeters. More torque and probably more HP if they spin it fast enough. A cross plane crankshaft at 315/405 degrees. Sound like a Vtwin and will hook up in the loose stuff better.

One could do all this but it's really not a sports bike. I had the opportunity to open it up on some clear roads and it's no speed demon but totally fast ENOUGH.

Also I think a power commander might void your warranty so I will wait till mine runs out

[Maxacceleration]

Originally Posted by Snowy

I can see that you don't want that from yours. That's cool. But there's no need to hang shit. Sit back and watch. You may learn something.

I like your style Snowy. I love the how great I am stories.
But the advice is ok.

[Snowy]

Originally Posted by Maxacceleration

I like your style Snowy. I love the how great I am stories.
But the advice is ok.

Now now...it's because when trying to explain things on forums like this, people who've:

a. never done it

b. have no clue

c. don't even own one

d. haven't even seen the item you're arguing about

e. couldn't find their way out of their own bedroom without a flashlight

jump in with expert opinion or criticism. Like parts of other threads when people who can't even fix a simple air leak in a carby want to argue the merits of carby mods they couldn't possibly comprehend, let alone undertake.

Unfortunately, you have to take into account the idiot factor when you try to explain something on here.

[alexisan]

and we are still not further guys. The thread titels "how much for decent suspension.."