Wilbers On A 4th Gen

[Guest RVFR2]

Looking good :thumbsup:

Am I seeing correctly that you used rivets? (we call them popnagels; pop nails...)

Where did you rivet them onto? The subframe by drilling holes into the frame?

I've relocated mine to the same position as jstanwood for now.

The hose on the Wilbers may be just a tad too short too fit in the space behind the grab bar if I remember correctly. But will see tomorrow.

Nope, those are screws with a wide head with a machine sheet metal type of thread

[jstanwood]

Update:

I got an email from Klaus at Wilbers USA this week. He let me know he sent a bracket to mount the remote res. That was very cool of him--I didn't even ask! It just arrived today. :thumbsup:

If I get time this weekend, I'll pull the bike out so I can tinker. I'll take pictures, of course. After a peek, it looks like it will mount on the right, between the subframe and the passenger foot peg hanger. A tube sticks out back for the res. to strap to. I still don't think the Corbin bags will fit, but it's not the end of the world if I have to sell them.

[Dutchy]

Update:

I got an email from Klaus at Wilbers USA this week. He let me know he sent a bracket to mount the remote res. That was very cool of him--I didn't even ask!

This is one example why I like the USA, customer service.

Wilbers Germany told me I could order one for te equivalent of $40 plus shipping................ well euh thanks but no thanks..

With a little luck the rains will stop on Sunday so I can start tinkering with the spare footpeg hanger....

[jstanwood]

Update:

I got an email from Klaus at Wilbers USA this week. He let me know he sent a bracket to mount the remote res. That was very cool of him--I didn't even ask!

This is one example why I like the USA, customer service.

Wilbers Germany told me I could order one for te equivalent of $40 plus shipping................ well euh thanks but no thanks..

With a little luck the rains will stop on Sunday so I can start tinkering with the spare footpeg hanger....

I think you can bargain with them. If you had a 5th gen, they would have shipped you a bracket. So, you know there is room in the profit margin for it.

I'm waiting for it to warm up a little bit, too. I don't want the brittle plastics cracking in the cold garage. :goofy:

[Dutchy]

Today the rains had indeed stopped so I could use my garage garden

So I could chop the footpeg hanger

and then mount the remote reservoir

(I used some tiewraps later to bring the line towards the subframe)

(I see now that I'll need to rotate that left rubber)

I didnot chop the entire hanger, first see how this works. Otherwise there is no way back....

This is the full look

I may chop the peg more and bring the reservoir under the subframe.

[jstanwood]

I finally had time to get the space heater in the garage (laugh, you Southerners!) and spend a half-day of quality time working on relocating the shock reservoir.

I'm getting much quicker at the disassembly and assembly process on the old girl. This time the fuel petcock even worked! I did lose a knuckle somewhere early in the process, though. It was still cold in the garage at the time, so I didn't notice until there was extra red everywhere that didn't match the paint. Nothing a shop towel and electrical tape couldn't fix, though. (We're out of Band-Aids )

Reservoir mounting bracket Here is the bracket that Klaus from Wilbers USA sent. The only modification I had to make was to make the slots a little taller to fit the bolts from the footpeg mounting bracket. A drill bit and a file made quick work of it.

Dutchy,

You now have a picture of what Klaus sent me, so you can pressure Wilbers or Thurn to cough it up. You essentially paid for it. It's included with the shock for other bikes.

Hose routing With some careful twisting, I got the hoses to leave the shock at a better angle. They easily reach the reservoir and preload adjuster on the bracket. The reservoir hose may still be a little close to the headers, but I'll have to try it out and keep an eye on it. I used some creative zip tie routing to pull them away as much as possible.

Reservoir mount Klaus from Wilbers USA recently sent a bracket for mounting the remote reservoir. I had to make the holes a little larger to get the bolts for the footpeg bracket to line up. Also, note the heatsink from my old Pentium Pro CPU (remember them? :lol: )

Final 1 This looks and works much better. I can reach the adjustments easily, and things are out of the way.

[Brown81]

Cool!

Can't wait to hear a detailed road report!

[Dutchy]

jstanwood,

looking good my friend! :thumbsup:

I've just fired off one last ditch attempt mail to Wilbers to send me the bracket. We'll see if Kundenbetreuung = customer service....

I've chopped the peghanger some more, but before I could get it to fit properly, the rains came and I had to (run for) cover...

Brown,

I had my bike out last week for about 2 hours of twisties and secondary roads and motorway.

First off it took me a little while to get used to the firmer ride; this to be expected since the front springs were using the "old" settings and the Wilbers came with everything set "average".

Right off the mark though, I found cornering much tighter/stable. Near my home are a few fast sweepers (quick mirror check for possible LEO trailing, looking ahead for lurkers by the roadside), again I perceived that the slight wallow had gone. Am I railing now? :unsure: ? :P

so next was fully turning in the front fork adjustors, counting the turns. Mhhhhhh one leg was "in" more a full turn.... Set both back equal turns and started riding the same twisty bit over and over again, trying out various adjustments. Did so in concert with the rear low/high speed clicker.

Next time we have a nice weekend day, I'll read&print HS's write-up on setting sag to see if what I "feel" equals the theoretical correct sag.

Be it 15% real improvement and 85% imagination (or visa versa :P ), I feel more confident riding the bike faster.

[jstanwood]

I updated Klaus on my progress this morning, and he has more suggestions that we will work through. One may involve changing the banjo bolt for the reservoir hose so it leaves the shock differently. A 45-degree angled banjo bolt would help. I'm afraid to melt the hose with it so close to the exhaust, so it doesn't bother me that we have crappy weather right now.

While the heat reduction and extra adjustments on the model 641 night be nice, finding a place to mount the res. has been a pain. Once Klaus and I find a good solution, though, he'll apply it to future jobs.

Dave,

I've managed to sneak maybe 50 miles since I originally mounted the shock, and the difference was amazing. But, like Dutchy said, it could be my imagination. The bike does seem a lot lighter on it's feet, and it turns much easier. I can feel the bumps in the road surface, but the shock soaks them up and maintains control. It's still less jarring then the stocker. I have yet to do my normal 3-hour loop. Testing on frost-heaved pavement has been good, though.

Dutchy, maybe you should have ordered yours from the US! :unsure: My shock preload was just about perfect out of the box. I still have to install the new fork springs, but I thought one change at a time would be good. I'm glad you got to test ride yours, though.

[Brown81]

Dave,

I've managed to sneak maybe 50 miles since I originally mounted the shock, and the difference was amazing. But, like Dutchy said, it could be my imagination. The bike does seem a lot lighter on it's feet, and it turns much easier. I can feel the bumps in the road surface, but the shock soaks them up and maintains control. It's still less jarring then the stocker. I have yet to do my normal 3-hour loop. Testing on frost-heaved pavement has been good, though.

Cool, sounds like both of you and Dutchy are liking the shock so far!

Sheesh, after reading this thread, I am thinking I'll just get the cheapo shock without the remotes! Then, I'll just take it to Evolution or some place like that and have them help me set it up. I don't take pillions very often if I can avoid it, and rarely any luggage.

[jstanwood]

Cool, sounds like both of you and Dutchy are liking the shock so far!

Sheesh, after reading this thread, I am thinking I'll just get the cheapo shock without the remotes! Then, I'll just take it to Evolution or some place like that and have them help me set it up. I don't take pillions very often if I can avoid it, and rarely any luggage.

Dave,

As long as you're honest about your riding style and weight, the 640 (no remote res.) is probably a great shock, too. You will be sure it's sprung for your weight, and the valving will be set up for the spring rate and your riding style. That may be all we were missing all this time, plus the fact that our shocks were probably sacked out. For all I know, I may not have to mess with the compression settings. If you skip the remote preload, the install should not be that hard. I think the toughest part for me was dealing with the hoses and the damn things hanging from them. With the "practice" I have now, I think it would be a 2-hour job to install the 640. You may still lose a knuckle or two, though.

[Beck]

I finally had time to get the space heater in the garage (laugh, you Southerners!) and spend a half-day of quality time working on relocating the shock reservoir.

I'm getting much quicker at the disassembly and assembly process on the old girl. This time the fuel petcock even worked! I did lose a knuckle somewhere early in the process, though. It was still cold in the garage at the time, so I didn't notice until there was extra red everywhere that didn't match the paint. Nothing a shop towel and electrical tape couldn't fix, though. (We're out of Band-Aids )

Reservoir mounting bracket Here is the bracket that Klaus from Wilbers USA sent. The only modification I had to make was to make the slots a little taller to fit the bolts from the footpeg mounting bracket. A drill bit and a file made quick work of it.

Dutchy,

You now have a picture of what Klaus sent me, so you can pressure Wilbers or Thurn to cough it up. You essentially paid for it. It's included with the shock for other bikes.

Hose routing With some careful twisting, I got the hoses to leave the shock at a better angle. They easily reach the reservoir and preload adjuster on the bracket. The reservoir hose may still be a little close to the headers, but I'll have to try it out and keep an eye on it. I used some creative zip tie routing to pull them away as much as possible.

Reservoir mount Klaus from Wilbers USA recently sent a bracket for mounting the remote reservoir. I had to make the holes a little larger to get the bolts for the footpeg bracket to line up. Also, note the heatsink from my old Pentium Pro CPU (remember them? :lol: )

Final 1 This looks and works much better. I can reach the adjustments easily, and things are out of the way.

That looks better, but it's still kinda messy in there with all the hoses, clamps and suff around the reservoir, going in all directions. That will also not work with high mount pipes that a lot of us have. Makes you think whether it might have been better if they figured out some sort of piggyback arrangement to the main shock unit instead. I wonder if that all fits in the well where the tool bag sits in under the seat. The tools can always go sowhere else like the tank bag or any cavity left in behind the tail side farings........maybe??

Beck

95 VFR.

Edited March 20, 2007 by Beck

[jstanwood]

That looks better, but it's still kinda messy in there with all the hoses, clamps and suff around the reservoir, going in all directions. That will also not work with high mount pipes that a lot of us have. Makes you think whether it might have been better if they figured out some sort of piggyback arrangement to the main shock unit instead. I wonder if that all fits in the well where the tool bag sits in under the seat. The tools can always go sowhere else like the tank bag or any cavity left in behind the tail side farings........maybe??

Beck

95 VFR.

You might have to work on a left-side mount with a high-mount pipe. Klaus said they could rework the bracket if necessary, but I don't see how one would fit under the left footpeg mount, because the fuel pump gets in the way. I thought about the piggyback res., too, but the res. is larger than it looks. It's definitely bigger than the manual preload adjuster from the stock shock, so I am not sure it could actually fit there. I also thought about putting the res. under the seat, but that would defeat the cooling purpose. It was already a tight squeeze with the hugger I have, and my luggage won't fit anymore. But, I use the shock with every ride, and I've used the luggage twice.

I just finished a crappy sketch of how the hoses should leave the shock, and I need to scan it and send it to Klaus. (Architects like you, Brown81, and my wife would scoff at it, but it's been a long time since I was a draftsman, and I don't have all my drawing tools handy.) He said they could replace banjo bolts of necessary to get the right alignment. I just have a feeling I'm going to be redoing this again in the near future, anyway. I'm probably going to twist the hose on the res side so it's hidden better. I just have to be careful, because there's 125 psi of nitrogen trying to force the oil out if I break the seal from the crush washers.

Too bad Martina can't drop her bike off at their shop for them to find a good solution. It's in NJ, not that far from NYC!

[Brown81]

Dave,

As long as you're honest about your riding style and weight, the 640 (no remote res.) is probably a great shock, too. You will be sure it's sprung for your weight, and the valving will be set up for the spring rate and your riding style. That may be all we were missing all this time, plus the fact that our shocks were probably sacked out. For all I know, I may not have to mess with the compression settings. If you skip the remote preload, the install should not be that hard. I think the toughest part for me was dealing with the hoses and the damn things hanging from them. With the "practice" I have now, I think it would be a 2-hour job to install the 640. You may still lose a knuckle or two, though.

:thumbsup:

I think I will end up trying the 640.

[jstanwood]

And here's the crappy sketch:

Hose routing guess Knowing what I know now, if the hydraulic hose could exit the shock at these angles, there should be good clearance between the hose and the headers.

[Dutchy]

One *could* potentially fit a piggybag style shock.

Hey, Wilbers makes those:

But you'd have to ditch/relocate the battery and some of the electric stuff that it attached to the battery box....... :P

Nah, I'm hoping to share my footpeg mod (left side) can be finished soon. Will keep yous posted.

[Dutchy]

Today I moved the reservoir "up" and "in" a bit more. In the position it was, my heel did touch the clicker with my boot tip-toe on the peg. Granted, not the way to ride most of the time, but sometimmes one does.

So I chopped the peg hanger some more:

Checked for clearance with the SSSA/hugger:

And this is the final look (jury still out on the Goodyear rubber..... :pissed: )

[Hobie1dog]

Looks great. OK whats with the pacifier on the keyring?

[Beck]

Love that keychain Dutchy!

Is that some sort of mouthguard, or does it pacify your hunger for riding your VFR when you're sitting at your desk at work? I should try that!

BTW, the reservoir mount is looking better and better. I think you're almost there with it.

Beck

95 VFR

[Dutchy]

That was the last pacifier my son used. Cars used to to have these small dashboard picture frames with inscription "donot forget us" for a photo of wife and child to prompt daddy to drive carefully to/from work. This is my gentle reminder that I have somethng to return home for.....

and it is a great discussion starter......

[Dutchy]

Beck was right, almost there....

Lost the rubber padding, just slid a few strips between the clicker and the hanger.

more tucked in, no more interference with the boot heel

[Dutchy]

Also, note the heatsink from my old Pentium Pro CPU (remember them? :lol: )

The old ones are the best :thumbsup:

[Parker]

Gents (especially jstanwood and dutchy) - thanks for the info you've put in on this thread :thumbsup: . After saving all my pennies I recently junked the OEM shock (rebuilt and regassed, which lasted all of 9000km till it started flopping about again) and got a Willbers (actually a TechnoFlex, which is a Willbers made under licence in the Netherlands) fitted. It's the model without the remote preload which was all the budget allowed for at the time, with the can mounted on the left rear footpeg hanger. Having looked at the work that's gone on above, I might see if I can mount it elsewhere.

I'd been told that if I fitted a decent rear shock it would make the front work a lot harder - given I had a set of 0.9 racetech front springs sitting in the shed, I got the team who fitted the rear to also fit the harder springs and fiddle with the damping/valving at the front to suit, so now at least the front doesn't bottle out when it's asked to do some work.

The chap who tweaked the rear shock settings and worked his magic on the front was James at Zenodamper, with much able assistance from someone quite well known on this site

It has since been, errr, extensively test-ridden :P Over four days and almost 3000km with the OzVFR mob, with loads of tight, bumpy 35/45km/h twisties, lots of 55/65 bends and miles of open 85/95km/h sweepers, the bike didn't put a wheel wrong. Where before it would have wallowed or juddered or just felt unsure and vague, this time it just felt utterly composed, no matter what I threw at it. The ride is certainly a lot stiffer than before, but a bit of tweaking will get me to a decent compromise. It might still be a little slow-steering in the really tight stuff, but the trade-off is absolute confidence in faster bends and in the sweepers. It might be just my imagination, but it felt like my corner entry speed was a good 10% up and I could get on the gas much earlier in a bend without worrying that the bike was going to go off somewhere I didn't want it to.

For now, I'm happy with the set-up I've got, it's made me much more aware of what a stonking road bike a VFR is, even a 12 year-old bike like mine. That's not to say I don't look at all the USD fork conversions around and dream, mind :idea3:

[Dutchy]

Parker,

Glad you took the step to bring back some suspension into your relationship!

Pictures (springs a purple right?) are in order!

and got a Willbers (actually a TechnoFlex, which is a Willbers made under licence in the Netherlands) fitted.

Well, there are a few stories going round on that one......... some claim that Wilbers "stole" the technology from Technoflex and set off by themselves...

With no way to verify any claim when I was looking for a replacement shock, I let myself be guided by the companies's websites. Technoflex looked like crap and contained (spelling) mistakes.... Clincher was a nice rebate on the Wilbers that Thurn had running at the time... The White Power (WP) unit was just to expensive. And yes there have been a few sables been rattled when Wilbers started using "WP" abbreviation as well....

Technoflex since moved under new management and my bike shop (that builds racing bikes as well) sell Technoflex. In my book that is a good endorsement!

John (the shop owner) will never sell crap!

[SAFE-T]

Reservoir mounting bracket Here is the bracket that Klaus from Wilbers USA sent. The only modification I had to make was to make the slots a little taller to fit the bolts from the footpeg mounting bracket. A drill bit and a file made quick work of it.

Can't you just get them to put a longer hose on the reservoir so you can mount it under the seat ? My Ohlins adjuster is zip-tied under my Corbin where it is A) easy to get at if I want to, B) out of sight and out of mind for others who might want to fiddle, and C) much cleaner esthetically.