Spring maintenance 2018
There was no big spring maintenance to perform at the start of this season. But I did some small jobs to prepare my BMW ahead of a new season. I was not pleased with the original BMW shock absorbers and springs. As I had very good experience with upgrading to Wilbers shock absorbers and new Wilbers springs and oil in the fork of my Yamaha FZS 600 Fazer, I decided to contact Maarten Mager, who is representing Wilbers in Norway. He made me an offer that matched the Wilbers campaign in Germany and I ordered a rear shock with adjustable damping and remote preload adjustment and a shock absorber with adjustable damping at the front. Wilbers set up damping and suspension according to driving style, driver’s weight, passenger weight and luggage weight. For the Yamaha the setup was perfect and I therefore had great expectations to Wilbers setup for my BMW.
A lovely heavy package from Wilbers 🙂
It was a lovely heavy package I picked up at the postoffice in November. I could not wait until spring, so I heated the garage and spent a nice afternoon in the garage mounting the Wilbers shock absorbers. Mounting was simple, I removed the old shock absorbers, and followed the instruction manual as I mounted the new Shock absorbers and the remote preload control. The bike is standing a little higher, so I had to compensate for this my mounting a footplate (from Hornig) to the side stand.
This the only visible part revealing that my R 1100 RS has Wilbers shock absorbers.
The first trips of the season have been completed and Wilbers meets all expectations once again. The bike handles very good and the uneven roads caused by the winter frost is no match for the new shock absorbers. The stability in curves combined with uneven surface is amazing, and the extra ground clearance also contributes to a larger reserve in curves. The new shock absorbers have better load capacity as well and the ride with passenger and luggage is greatly improved. Thumbs up for Wilbers once more.
The next project was to switch from direct current to power management for the power to my Garmin Zümo. Previously I had the Garmin mounted to the tankbag, but now I have mounted it to the bike and I need some way to control the power supply I order to shut off the power when I am not using the Garmin. I considered several solutions and chose an AutoSwitch AS7 from Wunderlich. This switch is connected to the turn signal light off-switch and is controlled by holding the switch for a minimum of 3 seconds to turn the power on or off. Together with a power relay, I now have the option of turning the power on to the GPS without any additional switches. It was a bit difficult to get to the correct wires under the fuse box, but after a while I managed to get the correct wires and connect them to the wires on the AutoSwitch AS7. The AutoSwitch I mounted in the fuse box using Velcro straps. Currently, I have the pilot lamp mounted under the seat. When I see if it is necessary to have it more accessible I can move it to a more visible position but still not in the field of view when riding.
The AutoSwitch AS7 is placed in the fuse box and fastened with velcro.
The last of this spring’s projects is also small and affordable. I have some problem with the gearchange, which is not uncommon for R 1100. I have read that this can be fixed, or at least better, by switching to a high-grade gear oil. I have had a liter of Liqui Moly GL5 LS SA75W-140 standing on the shelf in the garage this winter. Now most of it is filled to the gearbox, so it remains to see if it has any effect. I will come back to this when I have done some more kilometers riding.
I have put Liqui Moly GL5 LS 75W-140 in the gearbox and hope it will make the gearchange smoother.