BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

I have a K1200R with ESA and find the ride to be bit harsh even in comfort mode. I have posted across a couple boards asking if I have any recourse and one person mentioned having the ESA on his R1200RT set to a softer setting by his BMW tech. Does anyone know if this is possible on the KR?

-r

Rabia, since no one has piped up for nearly 10 hours, I will. I might be mistaken, but I think that the ESA feature on the new KR and KS has two sets of adjustments. One affects the rear pre-load, and the other adjusts the damping of both shocks. Again, I could be wrong, but check the manual, or just play with the ESA. Unless, you are waif-like in size, I would think that one of the settings would suit you well.

One other thought: get an accurate tire guage and check both tires. Guages can vary widely in precision. It would be all too easy to over-inflate the tires and generate some harshness in the ride.

mac

I understood your question on the other forum and couldn't offer any help since mine is all manual and lacks adjustment at the front.

But tomorrow I am seeing Stuart, the Service Mgr at Morton's and a VIR CLASS instructor to boot. He might have an answer and I will let you know.

Not to pick personal items, but what weight are we talking about single, with gear?

MikeCam wrote:Not to pick personal items, but what weight are we talking about single, with gear?

120 lbs @ ATGATT. I sent an email to my dealer up in NH to see if they had heard of this secret diagnostic adjustment, but did so too close to EOD to expect to hear anything until next week.

Sorry to hear about your incident with the truck...my best wishes to you and your bike.

-r

Welcome to our world, Rabia.

Best of luck with your ESA settings.


DSKYZD

Rabia, assuming you have the rear suspension set to one up and the front to COMFORT....

At what RPM do you find the problem? Is it everywhere or more in one range? Personally, I find a lot more vibration around 6k. I avoid that RPM as much as possible, unfortunately, the bike seems to settle there quite a bit, especially if I want to stay within a reasonable speed limit.

Try different cruising RPMs and let us know where you "feel" it the most.

COH (Rich)

CupOHemlock wrote:Rabia, assuming you have the rear suspension set to one up and the front to COMFORT....

At what RPM do you find the problem? Is it everywhere or more in one range? Personally, I find a lot more vibration around 6k. I avoid that RPM as much as possible, unfortunately, the bike seems to settle there quite a bit, especially if I want to stay within a reasonable speed limit.

Try different cruising RPMs and let us know where you "feel" it the most.

COH (Rich)

It's not vibration. It is how the bike handles unfavorable road conditions. I have the bike set up for ONE person and on COMFORT and the bumps in the road unsettle me from my seat. It's too stiff. My rockster is plush in comparison. Imagine the difference between a truck and a sports car and that is how differently the two bikes deal with bumps. I am not asking for the K12R to be a soft and squishy ride, I would just like a little more give than it's giving. Since I have ESA, I have no outward control beyond the 2 settings previously mentioned, which are developed with a certain sized rider in mind. I have ridden with the bike loaded up, and set up for ONE person and on COMFORT and the ride is comfortable...but I would prefer not to have to ride with 60lbs of lead weights in my panniers to acheive this effect regularly. I am SOL for the time being it seems.

-r

Rabia,

This is interesting. I went from an '04 R1150R to a K1200S. Taking into account your smaller size, I would have expected you to find that the KR, with the "softest" KR suspension settings, provided a softer ride than the Rockster. I certainly hope that you get the problem solved promptly. You and the KR deserve to enjoy each other thoroughly.


mac

Rabia,

If you have not already done so, go see your dealer right away. My K12R is a *much* smoother ride than my 1150. Something is wrong.

COH (Rich)

CupOHemlock wrote:Rabia,

If you have not already done so, go see your dealer right away. My K12R is a *much* smoother ride than my 1150. Something is wrong.

COH (Rich)

By 'smoother' are you saying that the suspension on your K12R is more compliant than your R1150R? Do you have ESA? What setting do you run most of the time? And lastly what do you weigh?

If I had the manual adjustments on my K12R I would be golden....I just didn't realize before I got the bike that I wouldn't be able to tell it how much I weigh.

You must weight absolutely nothing!!!! (what's 120lbs in stone??)

Eight-and-a-half...

ESA is set to 1up and NORM. Yes, the K12 is a smoother ride across all RPM bands. I weigh 185 pounds.. I think.. about.

rabia wrote:I have a K1200R with ESA and find the ride to be bit harsh even in comfort mode. I have posted across a couple boards asking if I have any recourse and one person mentioned having the ESA on his R1200RT set to a softer setting by his BMW tech. Does anyone know if this is possible on the KR?

-r

Hi Rabia, I have ESA on my K12R and have no problems with the ride but I do weigh 180lbs on a good day. I usually ride at normal and switch to sport for fun. I also have an R1150R ED80 and it feels fairly soft in comparison to the sports mode but it gives the same feel on the ass in comfort. I would reckon you need to eat more McDonalds. That should cure it........

I have 29k on my Ed80 and I think it might be time for a suspension upgrade...it's too compliant, I think (maybe the K has managed to change my perceptions..eeeek)...and I've messed with the bits to try to make it less so, and have not been happy with the result.

The K is getting better, or potentially I am getting used to it..and the harshness really only bothers me when it launches me out of the seat..so I keep a little more weight on my feet now to prepare for those rogue road irregularities.

Now....any one had problems with the gear indicator flashing through different gears or dissappearing entirely from the display?? Even with the issues I'm having, I really like the bike...I guess I'm dumb like that.

R,

I think the gear flashing w/ the indicator was ID'ds as wrong software/bad update around the 5.4 or 6.0 time. Can get a reload of the 6.0.1?

Also, check switches/contacts around the side stand/shifter area.

BOL