K1200LT Who actually replaces the shocks and springs on these bikes? Too Expensive

I am a long time owner of a K1200LT which has always had the dead shock bottom out problem since I bought it 10 years ago. Its been reliable and if it wasn't so stupidly expensive, I would replace the shocks and or springs. But the parts cost almost as much as the bike is worth... I love them but I see people getting rid of them for 2500.00. I can't sell mine for 3500 or 3000 so I wonder who if anyone actually buys these 900 Ohlin Shocks, the expensive HYPER pro springs and then pays 500 to 800 to have them installed? It would be nice to be able to replace a part without exceeding the cost of what still is, a pretty reliable bike.

Is there an alternative? Bottom out, part it out or give it away? I don't see how they can sell enough of those expensive parts to even make any sense of them making them, much less me buying them...

what say ye?

Paul

mslacool said:

I am a long time owner of a K1200LT which has always had the dead shock bottom out problem since I bought it 10 years ago. Its been reliable and if it wasn't so stupidly expensive, I would replace the shocks and or springs. But the parts cost almost as much as the bike is worth... I love them but I see people getting rid of them for 2500.00. I can't sell mine for 3500 or 3000 so I wonder who if anyone actually buys these 900 Ohlin Shocks, the expensive HYPER pro springs and then pays 500 to 800 to have them installed? It would be nice to be able to replace a part without exceeding the cost of what still is, a pretty reliable bike.

Is there an alternative? Bottom out, part it out or give it away? I don't see how they can sell enough of those expensive parts to even make any sense of them making them, much less me buying them...

what say ye?

Paul

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Contact Ted Porter at the Beemershop. He can provide you the best least cost solution once you and he understand your needs.

Paul,

The people who spend the money are the people who enjoy riding a well handling bike.

If your riding enjoyment isn't worth the cost of basic maintenance, I don't think we can help you here.

There are many shocks that don't cost as much as Ohlins (that would be almost ALL of them) but, if over 10 years, you haven't been willing to spend the time to investigate them, I don't think you will find anything that will satisfy your non-willingness to invest time, labor or money to fix your bike. I recommend that you sell your bike for whatever you can get for it and buy something that requires no investment of thought, effort, or money to remain reliable forever. I have no idea what that might be.

Good luck.

98lee said:

Paul,

The people who spend the money are the people who enjoy riding a well handling bike.

If your riding enjoyment isn't worth the cost of basic maintenance, I don't think we can help you here.

There are many shocks that don't cost as much as Ohlins (that would be almost ALL of them) but, if over 10 years, you haven't been willing to spend the time to investigate them, I don't think you will find anything that will satisfy your non-willingness to invest time, labor or money to fix your bike. I recommend that you sell your bike for whatever you can get for it and buy something that requires no investment of thought, effort, or money to remain reliable forever. I have no idea what that might be.

Good luck.

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What a helpful reply. And from a moderator to boot. No wonder people leave.

basic maintenance costs will exceed the value of almost any old car or bike. that is the wrong question to ask. the right question is if your tolerance for maint costs exceed the cost of replacing the bike with a new or newer one. the real answer is that it is cheaper to fix an old vehicle than buy a new one.

you should have replaced the dead shock as soon as you bought the bike. you would have had 10 years of much nicer riding. you can still do it and have 10 better years in the future. as 98lee said...there are other options than ohlin/wilber.

yes, i am one of those that replaces broken parts. as soon as i sensed the ESA shocks on my 09 K13 going bad, i ditched the ESA and replaced with high end Wilbers. they cost almost half the sale value of the K13. they were worth it. will i get that investment back if i sell the bike? hell no, but i could care less...it is about the ride. nothing about MC's makes financial sense.

mikegalbicka said:

What a helpful reply. And from a moderator to boot. No wonder people leave.

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Mike,


Do you REALLY think he wanted help? Seems he had already made up his mind that if it cost more than the difference of what he could sell the bike now for and what he could sell it for after he put the new shocks on, it wasn't worth it.

I doubt I could change his mind after 10 years, so I agreed with him.

mslacool said:

I am a long time owner of a K1200LT which has always had the dead shock bottom out problem since I bought it 10 years ago. Its been reliable and if it wasn't so stupidly expensive, I would replace the shocks and or springs. But the parts cost almost as much as the bike is worth... I love them but I see people getting rid of them for 2500.00. I can't sell mine for 3500 or 3000 so I wonder who if anyone actually buys these 900 Ohlin Shocks, the expensive HYPER pro springs and then pays 500 to 800 to have them installed? It would be nice to be able to replace a part without exceeding the cost of what still is, a pretty reliable bike.

Is there an alternative? Bottom out, part it out or give it away? I don't see how they can sell enough of those expensive parts to even make any sense of them making them, much less me buying them...

what say ye?

Paul

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A few years ago I put Ohlins on my '98 R1100RT and a Wilbers shock on my '87 K100RT. Recently put new GS 1200 injectors into the R1100. These additions have improved the responsiveness of the bikes. I have done other additions to both bikes, both very old, each with high mileage. Economically worthwhile? Certainly not if I were to take into account the value of each machine.

The front Ohlins was brand new bought off the Forum Market place for about half price. The rear was bought at the 2013 RA Rally and I believe both were installed for free, as part of the purchase price. I was hoping to buy a pair used, but by being patient, I was able to greatly reduce the total cost of these shocks. A rider at the RA Rally questioned why I'd put that kind of money out for an old bike. My answer to him (and you) was the shocks greatly improves the riding of the old machine and are less costly than replacing either bike.

Be patient and lurk on the used forums/marketplaces. You may find a deal.

Does it really cost 500 to 800 dollars in labor to install shocks on a K1200LT? I think I could install the shocks on my R1150RT in less than an hour just by not stopping for several breaks like I usually do.

Some purchase the “high end” shocks used and have them rebuilt to their specific needs.
OM

I've never used this company, but they do rebuild stock shocks. Price? You'll have to contact them to get that answer.

http://www.acceltechracing.com/index.htm

Back your preload adjuster out counter clockwise all the way with the LT on the centerstand. Turn it clockwise if you don't feel tension within 1/2 turn you need to fill the adjuster with hydraulic fluid. If you need to fill it PM me with a phone number & I'll talk you through it.

kioolt said:

Does it really cost 500 to 800 dollars in labor to install shocks on a K1200LT? I think I could install the shocks on my R1150RT in less than an hour just by not stopping for several breaks like I usually do.

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It was not hard to change the shock on our K1200RSs but the LT would take more time because it does not have quick release panniers.
I never changed our front shock on the K1200RS, it looked like it would be more time consuming.

mslacool said:

I am a long time owner of a K1200LT which has always had the dead shock bottom out problem since I bought it 10 years ago. Its been reliable and if it wasn't so stupidly expensive, I would replace the shocks and or springs. But the parts cost almost as much as the bike is worth... I love them but I see people getting rid of them for 2500.00. I can't sell mine for 3500 or 3000 so I wonder who if anyone actually buys these 900 Ohlin Shocks, the expensive HYPER pro springs and then pays 500 to 800 to have them installed? It would be nice to be able to replace a part without exceeding the cost of what still is, a pretty reliable bike.

Is there an alternative? Bottom out, part it out or give it away? I don't see how they can sell enough of those expensive parts to even make any sense of them making them, much less me buying them...

what say ye?

Paul

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Bottom line is how much do you like the bike? Seems like you've already made up your mind to move to something newer, which is fine. Just need to justify it to yourself. Are these suspension upgrades worth it? Sometimes. I've noticed a world of difference between the stock and aftermarket suspension. Enough of a difference to me to keep an older bike for a lot longer. Is the labor cost realistic for what is being done? Again sometimes. Shops make their profit here. And no profit, no shop. No shop, bad for us. And sometimes its just worth it to have someone else go through all the work of taking off and replacing the plastic, draining fluids, disposing of fluids, etc.

Lee said:

It was not hard to change the shock on our K1200RSs but the LT would take more time because it does not have quick release panniers.
I never changed our front shock on the K1200RS, it looked like it would be more time consuming.

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I have changed the shocks out on two K1200RSs and will probably pull the Ohlins off our current K1200RS to have them rebuilt. The rears are relatively easy.

The fronts are a bit more work as everything has to come off the front so the telelever will go down far enough for the old to come out and the new to slide in.

Here is what I wrote up several years back (sorry the pictures don't seem to be with me anymore):

Last month I changed out the rear shock on my ‘98 K1200RS. This month I swapped out the front shock. Just getting to the front shock is the name of the game here. And once to it, getting it out of the front fork trailing arm is a tight squeeze.
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First, remove the belly pan and both side fairings. Next remove the gas tank. I installed trick gas line fittings that make the gas tank removal much easier. Then remove the left air duct. Picture 1 indicates the screws that hold the left air duct on. I mounted dual horns behind the air ducts that I also removed to allow clear access to the shock.
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Removing the front wheel, which requires unbolting the front brake calipers, and the front fender finishes off the body parts removal. You will need a small jack or lift to hold the front of the bike up.
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Per the shop manual for the K1200RS the upper radiator hose should be removed. I was able to get around this by unbolting the front brake lines clamps. There are two clamps located on the back side of each of the front fork tubes and one on the upper frame. See Picture 2 and 3. By loosing these clamps the front forks will drop low enough for the shock to pull out without removing the radiator hose. It helps to hang the brake calipers from the bike using bungee cords.
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Unbolt the bottom shock bolt first. The front trailing arm will want to drop down out of the way. Then remove the top shock nut. The shock has to come down far enough to clear the top radiator hose. With the brake lines unclamped the front trailing arm should go down far enough to allow the shock to pull out.
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Reassemble in the reverse order with the new shock. Be sure to tighten the three brake line clamps—one on each front fork leg and one on the frame.
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The job of removing and installing the front shock took about twice as long as replacing the rear shock just because of all the body work and other parts that needed to be moved out of the way.

Who changes fork springs and the shock?

Fortunately for me, the previous owner of my 1994 K75 put on a YSS rear shock and installed Race Tech fork springs. It’s a tight ride, no wallowing or oozing down the road. I’m still getting to know this K. I need to get in a lot more miles.
The whole bike was set up really well. My negotiating consisted of showing up with the asking price in cash.

Bill

Paul_F said:

Economically worthwhile? Certainly not if I were to take into account the value of each machine....

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I see our bikes as having two values: the current market value, or the cost of a replacement bike should it be sold. If the replacement bike is a new unit, then that value could be significant.

But this thread has been interesting for me, as I had never considered the cost of maintenance as a proportion of current bike value.

Rinty said:

I see our bikes as having two values: the current market value, or the cost of a replacement bike should it be sold. If the replacement bike is a new unit, then that value could be significant.

But this thread has been interesting for me, as I had never considered the cost of maintenance as a proportion of current bike value.

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I agree with this line of thinking. I do all the work on all my vehicles, so the 'cost' of something that gets quoted is rarely my actual cost. To me these bikes seem like absurdly good values right now. I recently bought two of them. A 2002 and a 2005, and I have about $5K invested in both. Another $500 in parts and maintenance items and both are road worthy. While I didn't set out to buy two, it just sort of worked out that way. And having only $2K in a running bike that is in amazing condition...well I just can't bring myself to sell it.

So unless you are expecting to have some kind of ROI that is other than the enjoyment of riding it, I'm afraid you're in for a disappointment. In the end almost every vehicle has depreciation, it's just that these have depreciated all that they feasibly can have done now.

So buy some tools and learn to work on it yourself. It'll be worth it.

The typical used market price of a particular bike can't accurately reflect the real condition ESPECIALLY when it comes to an LT. You can buy a $2000 LT that needs $2000 worth of rear main seal and clutch work and $1000 more in suspension. That doesn't mean the bike wasn't worth $2000, it just means that the end product is worth more than $2000. But you'd have a hard time getting the $5000 at resale because every seller has to compete against the $2000 bikes.

I see this with older bikes like this a lot... it's very common to do work in my shop that costs roughly the street price of the bike. It's not that the work is unreasonably expensive, it's that the street price of the bike is inaccurate because it doesn't account for the variety of repairs that are needed (or the fact that none are actually needed). There's a hidden sliding scale of actual value that is hard to assess when buying a used bike.

In the OP's case, if his suspension has been dead for years and other things have been let go to a similar extent, it's likely to be technically worthless as a bike due to the deferred maintenance costs, but still worth close to that mythical street price in the used market. Buyer beware.

AntonLargiader said:

In the OP's case, if his suspension has been dead for years and other things have been let go to a similar extent, it's likely to be technically worthless as a bike due to the deferred maintenance costs, but still worth close to that mythical street price in the used market. Buyer beware.

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Anton,

That is exactly the case with our 2002 K1200RS. She was 10 years old with 62,000 miles on the odo and we were the sixth owner.

Everything was worn out and/or leaking. Most all the rubber bits were rotted.

Didn't matter...I wanted that particular bike. I did my own work, which may have cost me a bit more in the long run due to me damaging the rear fork (swing arm).

I've put 30,000 miles on her with Wanda on the back and I've started planning our next restoration around 100k or so. Time to do a clutch and spruce her up in the process.

Rotti is our third K1200RS and hopefully with the right maintenance and available parts I'll keep her on the road for years to come.

And...yup she isn't sellable for half of what I put into her. She gives us pleasure and that "pays" for the maintenance.

When my K12RS was nearing 40k miles, I figured I'd soon be needing new shocks. I found a similar bike for sale that needed some TLC, but had the electronic Ohlins on it. I swapped the Ohlins to my bike, and put mine on the other bike, did it's service work, and resold it.
Didn't make any money on reselling the other K, but I got myself a rare set of Ohlins for nothing but my labor.

Other than the ability to adjust damping on the fly, I'm hard pressed to find a lot of improvement. Could be my numb butt.