motorcycle parts_Electronic Suspension

Wilbers Shocks - Electronic Suspension

Background
BMW puts a lot of thought and effort into building bikes with a lot of active technology packed into them:  ABS (Anti-lock Braking System), ASC (Automatic Stability Control), ESA (Electronic Suspension Adjustment), RDC (tire pressure monitoring), to name a few.  While all these things can enhance your riding experience (and possibly save your life), they aren’t perfect.

The ESA system in particular is a point where improvements can be made.  Like any factory suspension effort, quality must be balanced against overall cost.  While the ESA system itself is high quality, the suspension bits it controls are typical middle-of-the-road OEM parts.  Not horrible, mind you, not on a motorcycle parts news,BMW, but they certainly leave room for improvement (as do all OEM suspension parts).

Unfortunately there has been a minor problem; the ESA system only works with the stock suspension parts...or does it?

Rick contacted me a few months ago about doing a review on a new system from Wilbers called WESA (Wilbers Electronic Suspension Adjustment).  I said sure and in the typical rapid fashion (rapid as compared to the age of the earth) emails started flying like mad between me and Herman of Wheels and Wings, LLC.

Herman is the local Wilbers dealer and one of only two (at the time this goes to press) people in the USA authorized to not only sell the WESA system but also install it.  More on Herman later though; for now let’s talk about the parts themselves.

The Wilbers Electronic Suspension Adjustment System
Within the BMW motorcycle riding community, Wilbers has made a name for itself by building some very high quality shocks and other suspension components.  Ask any BMW rider which suspension bits he or she wants on their bike and Wilbers will probably be the brand you hear most often.

It only makes sense then that Wilbers would be the manufacturer to overcome the ESA issue and build a suspension set-up for ESA-equipped BMWs that not only performs better than stock but is also fully compatible with the BMW ESA electronics.

Before we get into how the Wilbers WESA system works, let’s look at what electronic suspension is in general.  Using a button mounted on the left handlebar, the rider can change the suspension and damping characteristics of the front and rear shocks (struts is a more accurate term I guess).

There are three steps to this process (on the R 1200 GS): one step adjusts the dampening to suit the rider’s particular riding style (Sport, Normal, and Comfort).

The second step adjusts the actual suspension itself at the spring mount and base for pre-load for solo riding, two-up riding, solo with luggage, two-up with luggage.  On the GS, step three takes it one notch further and adjusts ride height based on the terrain you are traveling.

Add all those adjustments together and those of us that get excited pressing little buttons (it’s a disease, I know) can spend more time adjusting than riding.

While the system works very well to adjust or compensate for prevailing conditions, the suspension bits themselves are where the standard BMW comes-up short.  On the stock BMW system, there really isn’t that much difference between the Sport and Comfort settings.  This means that the "Normal" setting might as well take a long vacation.

Also, like all OEM suspension parts, the spring rates are set for the median size rider and passenger and not for the actual rider and passenger.  All the electronic adjustments in the world won’t make up for softer or harder than needed spring rates and under/over-damped shocks.

This is where Wilbers comes in.

 

motorcycle parts_Electronic Suspension