Wilber Failures?

[twowheelnut]

After reading these posts about Wilber shocks and the failure issues, I would never have these installed on my FJR. Shop around is a fitting solution I believe.

Send skooter a PM. He just had his Wilbers rebuilt at Aftershocks. Good comments about the quality of materials and build from the suspension guru there.

 

[RenoJohn]

Apparently this is the new west coast importer for Wilbers (Ted Porter BMW(click)

Maybe this will be a partnership made in heaven?

Good to know that these beemer guys will tow your bike and give you Wi-Fi while you wait ..LOL, BMW botiques, gotta love 'em

 

[bvail]

After reading these posts about Wilber shocks and the failure issues, I would never have these installed on my FJR. Shop around is a fitting solution I believe.

Send skooter a PM. He just had his Wilbers rebuilt at Aftershocks. Good comments about the quality of materials and build from the suspension guru there.

The reason I chose to send my leaky shock back to Wilbers is the warranty and the fact that, unlike Scooter, I don't put that many miles on my FJR these days (not that I ever did, but I did put 28k up to last year). Although the work is 'free' I did have to pay shipping both ways to get it fixed <_< .

I sent the shock in April 6th and it's 'in the mail' back to me. Maybe today I'll see it.

Klaus seems to be a nice guy, but it appears that Wilbers (NJ) is pretty much a one man band.

 

[Feejer/Weejer man]

AfterShocks is in Palo Alto, Ca. Phil replaced the rear under sprung spring with the correct one and fixed Wilber's progressive front springs to match up with the stiffness of the rear. He knows his suspensions and not only motorcycle suspension. The best the FJR's suspension has ever felt. Even with the fuel cell and all the crap on the bike, it now rides closer to a sport bike or can be leveled out to cruise the highways.

*******.

First it's the forum name change , and now you're trying to cost me some serious coin. You just won't quit will you? :lol:

So how did he fix the Wilbers progressive front springs?

Hey sorry I missed your post. There are two main schools of thought on front springs by suspension pros, straight rate springs and progressive rate springs. For the way most of you guys ride the overwhelming recommendation would be straight rate springs. The progressives are too soft and take a while to get down to business, more for touring.

Phil cut the Wilber's progressive springs downinstead of buying new straight rate springs to save money w/o compromising the desired results and probably used a spacer to get the desired match to the rear so the bike's front and rear suspension work together. If you preload the progressives you loose working travel and response.

 

[wallypiper]

If you preload the progressives you loose working travel and response.

Only if the suspension is topped out to begin with and that should never be the case.

If you have any sag at all after adding preload, then the preload has no effect on the amount of spring compression. Once your suspension tops out (zero sag), then you could begin to add compression when you add preload. But that's not a normal situation. Normally, the only thing compressing the springs is the weight that is on them. Preload just changes the distance from the top of the spring to whatever part of the frame is resting on it. If your spring rate is so high, progressive springs or not, that you have no sag, its too high so the effect of preload in that situation isn't really relevant. You need a different spring.

And puhleeeeze, preload does not affect "stiffness" of the suspension. The stiffness is a function of the spring rate at the axle (equal to the spring rate alone for forks, spring rate x ratio of spring compression to axle movement for the rear.) Preload does not change that.

 

[Feejer/Weejer man]

If you preload the progressives you loose working travel and response.

Only if the suspension is topped out to begin with and that should never be the case.

If you have any sag at all after adding preload, then the preload has no effect on the amount of spring compression. Once your suspension tops out (zero sag), then you could begin to add compression when you add preload. But that's not a normal situation. Normally, the only thing compressing the springs is the weight that is on them. Preload just changes the distance from the top of the spring to whatever part of the frame is resting on it. If your spring rate is so high, progressive springs or not, that you have no sag, its too high so the effect of preload in that situation isn't really relevant. You need a different spring.

And puhleeeeze, preload does not affect "stiffness" of the suspension. The stiffness is a function of the spring rate at the axle (equal to the spring rate alone for forks, spring rate x ratio of spring compression to axle movement for the rear.) Preload does not change that.

And puhleeeeze, if your fronts springs are preloaded to the max you have no room for the springs to work. This is why I disregard what most have to say and leave it to the pros that do it for a living. Phil at AfterShocks has been doing this most of his life and was a great off road racer. He know more about suspension than what I have read on this site from most of the wantabee gurus. Plus what most of us say is not conveyed that well in communication so sometimes we get to the same end but don't quite get all the terms right.