Hi everyone! I am needing opinions on rear and front suspension brands other than ohlins. I recently totalled my beautiful 2019 rninet standard. The suspension on that bike was absolutely perfect for my weight (175lbs). I have since purchased a 2017 pure model and the suspension is good awful compared to the standard bike. It's way to soft and not very confidence inspiring. The front wheel seems a bike bumpy at higher speeds. I have been told that I need to do is upgrade the rear suspension and that the front isn't the issue. Is there anyone out there with my weight that did an upgrade and has pictures/opinions on the matter? I also prefer to not do ohlins, as I do not like the yellow/gold shock look with my grey pure model. It just doesn't fit well with the color scheme
Logan@2
BMW seem to have had various front and rear spring rates on the various models and years.
My urban had a harder front spring and softer rear spring than was ideal for my weight.
Most suspension experts suggest you measure your springs 'rider on sag' both front and rear to give you an idea if your bike is oversprung or undersprung. This is fairly easy to do.
At the front use a tape measure down the slider to two points. Measure on a stand unloaded and then you measure with you mounted in riding position feet up bike on ground. The difference needs to be around 40mm.
Rear suspension, do the same from the axle to seat and this needs to be around/under 40mm. Just check what spring preload is on the rear shock, ie how far the spring threaded collars at the top are wound in. Should be about 10mm preload from factory to give you 35 mm ish rider on sag.
If your front sag is more than 40mm you need stronger springs or try an increase preload with a spacer in fork.
Same at rear, if you have to wind the preload to 0mm to get 35mm sag you need a softer spring. More than 20mm rear shock preload and you need a stiffer spring.
Replacement springs are fairly cheap either end.
The Rninet conventional front suspension damper rod forks usually have way too much high speed compression damping that causes harshness.
You can only fix that with new internals somehow. Racetech 36mm Cartridge emulators are simple and cheaper than replacement inserts from ohlins, ktech or andreani which are available for £500 and above.
You can also adjust fork oil level to increase/decrease fork dive when braking hard. My Urban had way too much fork oil level from the factory.
Finally the standard rear shock is also rubbish for high speed damping, but this can only be cured by an ohlins, wilbers, Racetech, ktech, nitron, mshock, YSS, Matris replacement.... Id solve the other issues above first before buying a new shock.
I replaced fork springs and shock springs, then fork cartridge emulators (I bought YSS 36mm ones), then reduced oil fork level and got to a reasonable comfortable good handling bike. It was awful stock.
I then bought a Nitron R2 rear shock using same springs, but this didn't give me as much improvement as the first mods, but still worth doing as they are so nicely made and have a better ride quality, just least bang for your buck.
My urban had a harder front spring and softer rear spring than was ideal for my weight.
Most suspension experts suggest you measure your springs 'rider on sag' both front and rear to give you an idea if your bike is oversprung or undersprung. This is fairly easy to do.
At the front use a tape measure down the slider to two points. Measure on a stand unloaded and then you measure with you mounted in riding position feet up bike on ground. The difference needs to be around 40mm.
Rear suspension, do the same from the axle to seat and this needs to be around/under 40mm. Just check what spring preload is on the rear shock, ie how far the spring threaded collars at the top are wound in. Should be about 10mm preload from factory to give you 35 mm ish rider on sag.
If your front sag is more than 40mm you need stronger springs or try an increase preload with a spacer in fork.
Same at rear, if you have to wind the preload to 0mm to get 35mm sag you need a softer spring. More than 20mm rear shock preload and you need a stiffer spring.
Replacement springs are fairly cheap either end.
The Rninet conventional front suspension damper rod forks usually have way too much high speed compression damping that causes harshness.
You can only fix that with new internals somehow. Racetech 36mm Cartridge emulators are simple and cheaper than replacement inserts from ohlins, ktech or andreani which are available for £500 and above.
You can also adjust fork oil level to increase/decrease fork dive when braking hard. My Urban had way too much fork oil level from the factory.
Finally the standard rear shock is also rubbish for high speed damping, but this can only be cured by an ohlins, wilbers, Racetech, ktech, nitron, mshock, YSS, Matris replacement.... Id solve the other issues above first before buying a new shock.
I replaced fork springs and shock springs, then fork cartridge emulators (I bought YSS 36mm ones), then reduced oil fork level and got to a reasonable comfortable good handling bike. It was awful stock.
I then bought a Nitron R2 rear shock using same springs, but this didn't give me as much improvement as the first mods, but still worth doing as they are so nicely made and have a better ride quality, just least bang for your buck.
Ohlins comes in black
Ohlins offers replacement front forks and a replacement rear shock for the Pure in black. Attached are pictures of both products from the Unit Garage website.
You can also get forks and rear shocks in black from Wilbers and probably some other manufacturers as well.
If you liked the suspension on your standard R9T, you will really love the Ohlins setup.
Ohlins offers replacement front forks and a replacement rear shock for the Pure in black. Attached are pictures of both products from the Unit Garage website.
You can also get forks and rear shocks in black from Wilbers and probably some other manufacturers as well.
If you liked the suspension on your standard R9T, you will really love the Ohlins setup.
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I weigh about the same as you and find the stock suspension pretty good. You can adjust the rear, which you should try before upgrading.
Sachs and WP also make very good components for alternatives but Wilbers seems to be popular for our bikes.
Those ohlins LA2PDX posted above look shithot!
Sachs and WP also make very good components for alternatives but Wilbers seems to be popular for our bikes.
Those ohlins LA2PDX posted above look shithot!
And FYI ... Nitron supplies shock in light blue or dark grey ... I got the dark grey...
Attachments
I know this has been beaten to death here but some of the RnineT's seem to have different springs and components then others. I try to sit on different bikes at the dealer and some feel downright nice compared to others. My UGS had the worst combo of all- the way too stiff front and the super soft rear shock. Most don't feel like that, go figure.
If you're used to decent suspension from other bikes with the possibility to make personal adjustments for varying situations then you'll find the Rnine's stock is an abomination and in mho it was a deliberate move by BMW to keep the price down.
After scouting around and comparing one with the other I've opted for this rear shock from the "Shock Factory" for my UGS with the ride height adjustment option (not shown on the website) .
![134378]( "134378")
To order with the height adjustment I had to call the factory directly but that was only a bonus as I spoke directly to the owner Mike Capon and he's a great guy with a ton of experience but sounded a bit stressed out as he's got a lot on his plate, orders are up which speaks for it's self, that said he got my order dispatched two days later so it's on it's way.
Gave him all my personal details, weight & ride style etc and he said it'd be setup for me from the factory.
If you are considering this option then call the factory directly, I first wrote using the contact form but got no answer.
Next on the list is the front and I'm probably going for the Matris cartridge setup, so before I order if anyone has any experience of the Matris F15B311K I'd be glad to hear it
/Dave
After scouting around and comparing one with the other I've opted for this rear shock from the "Shock Factory" for my UGS with the ride height adjustment option (not shown on the website) .
To order with the height adjustment I had to call the factory directly but that was only a bonus as I spoke directly to the owner Mike Capon and he's a great guy with a ton of experience but sounded a bit stressed out as he's got a lot on his plate, orders are up which speaks for it's self, that said he got my order dispatched two days later so it's on it's way.
Gave him all my personal details, weight & ride style etc and he said it'd be setup for me from the factory.
If you are considering this option then call the factory directly, I first wrote using the contact form but got no answer.
Next on the list is the front and I'm probably going for the Matris cartridge setup, so before I order if anyone has any experience of the Matris F15B311K I'd be glad to hear it
/Dave
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