Splashed out on a Wilbers Rear Shocker

caddyman

caddyman

Joined
Oct 6, 2014
Messages
110
Location
WIGAN, UK
Bike
ST1100, 1998 non abs
Hi Folks

The stock rear shock on my ST has been a bit on the spongy side for a while so I had to stump up some of my hard earned to buy a shiny new Wilbers 640 unit, it cost me ?325 posted direct from Germany................this was over ?100 cheaper than buying in the UK!!, so happy with that.

Anyway after a few weeks the unit has arrived, I believe there made to order, and im very impressed at the quality of the shocker, I picked the blue spring to match the ST, even though I will be covering it due to the usual crap weather in good old Britain.

So I will fit tomorrow and cant wait to test it out.

Cheers
Chris


 
Congrats!
Off the shelf or customized to your weight/payload range and riding style?
Still leaves quite a dent in the valet though...
Any plans to upgrade the front as well?
(got me the bells & whistle type with piggyback and hydraulic pre-load adjuster in '04...)
 
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The shocker was made to my specs, I will be looking at the front springs in a few months time, I need a new front tyre and the insurance is due in October so another few hundred quid, never ends does it:confused:.

The spring kit is ?120 in the UK so not to it will be to bad, after that it will be the timing belt, the bike has just passed 60k.

Chris
 
Nice bit of kit! Are the preload adjusting spanners included and more importantly can you access the collars with them when the shock's installed?
 
Hi folks
So fitted the shocker today, started at 7am and just as well, it was all going great, I made a brew and stripped the plastic off, now from previous time spent on the bike I new the lower shock bolt would not come out, tried heat gun with no joy, penetrating oils no joy, so finally I gave up and welded a nut over the knackered stock bolt.


Still needed a fair bit of leverage to crack the bolt.


Got the bolt/pin halfway out then had to use a long punch and big hammer to get the pin out fully. Cleaned up, and then realised that the thread part of the final drive had stripped:mad: so the bolt/pin would not tighten up................so took the bolt and reworked it on the lathe, handy thing a lathe!!, basically removed the threaded portion, drilled out to 6.8mm and tapped M8,so I could put a locking bolt in from the other side(where the damaged thread is on the f/drive).


Bit long winded but all went back together ok and didn't fall off on the way home!!:04biker:


You can see I put a lock nut on for a bit more security, I will probably order a new oe bolt and rework it the same, there isn't enough material to re tap the final drive to M10 so this will have to do for now.

And finally I put a load of copper slip anti seize on the shock bolt so I don't have this problem again. The rear end is nice and firm and the handling has improved round the twisty bits so happy days all round!:)

Chris
 
caddyman said:
So fitted the shocker today...
Click to expand...
OK, but... why is it upside down?

And the mounting bolts are a regular to be serviced item... copper slip serves excellent protecting the threads, but I use some Moly on the shafts/bushings of the shock mounts.
Sorry about the f/drive housing... :-( That damage could have been avoided...
 
Seems the mounts (bushings) are mixed up.
In that position you've no chance to adjust the pre-load, nor the shock valve...
When installed correctly that red collar (rebound adjust) can be reached through the hole on the RH side cover (I use the tool-kit screwdriver to give it the 5~6 clicks required)

Enclosed a (crappy) pic of my version:

MBR_Wilbers.jpg
 
I see what you mean, if you look at the first pic on the thread the mount holes are different sizes, so it will only fit one way, bit strange, I cant imagine that Wilbers mixed up the ends, will have a look at some google pics and see if that shines a light on it.
Chris
 
Hi
So ive looked on google and all the Wilbers units ive seen are fitted the same way as mine, also looked on another site and read a thread where a Progressive shock was used and was fitted the same way as mine.

Maybe its a difference in models, mines a 99.

I know it cant fit the shock the opposite way, im happy with the ride as it is so wont be adjusting the spring yet, it was set for solo rider with luggage.

Any comments welcome on this one.
 
The setting is fine for me and can always be changed at a later date, just need to drop off the side panel to get at the c spanner in, not going to worry about it really.
Cheers
Chris
 
ST Gui said:
And tell them they made the shock "wrong".
Click to expand...
hmm... I did so... twice...

At first they had arranged the handle for the hydraulic pre-load adjuster up/inward, so it was rubbing on the tire...
So back it went to Germany for rework...
Then the adjuster came installed facing downward, but outboard so it interfered with the RHS pannier... ooch...
So I went to a local Wilbers mech who then finally rebuild my shock to perfect fit...

And I still wonder why they never cared to take that design on in their official product range... beats me... :shrug2:
 
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