Front Suspension Adjustment

[lazygoodan]

My '95 R1100RS seems a bit soft in the front. During braking my headlight dives and during acceleration it points to the sky. I had noticed this myself, but this is my first BMW, and I didn't think too much of it. However, the instructor at the MSF class mentioned it to me as well, and it got me thinking. I've found a C-shaped wrench (me thinks it's called a spanner wrench? Never sed one before) in the bike's toolkit. I know that I need to adjust the shock, but there is no instruction for this in the owner's manual or in my Hayne's manual. Any tips?

Also, are there any other shop manuals out there that are better than the Hayne's? I always use factory manuals with my cars because they are the best you can get.

Thanks
Jim

 

[saab93driver]

If the shock is stock on the front I don't believe there are any adjustments possible for the 95 model. Later models you could adjust rebound damping. The spanner tool is for adjusting preload on the rear shock.

It sounds like your shock is worn out. Check for leakage. If you get another one aftermarket is probably your best bet. Ohlins, Works and Wilbers seem to be the shocks of choice. I put Works on my 98 R1100RS and liked them very much.

 

[MCMXCIVRS]

The original front shock has no adjustments on it, the spanner is for setting the rear preload. The best solution is to replace the original (proably worn out) shocks with a set of aftermarket ones. Ohlins seem to be the top choice, but there are several worthy contenders. I am currently waiting for my new set of Ohlins to arrive for my 94 R1100RS.

There are some other threads on this forum dealing with shocks. Also check out the R11xxRS forum for more info.

 

[lazygoodan]

Thanks for the info. I'll look into the Ohlins shock. My bike has 36K miles on it, so I suspect it may be time to change the shock.

 

[bikerfish1100]

if you've got 36K on the original shock, that means it passed it's useful life about 33K ago. bid it adieu, & lay it to rest.