45,000 km - dead rear shock

[DualSportBiker]

I thought I'd ask as I have no idea if that is reasonable or not. My stock rear shock failed on me last week - felt like I was riding on jelly over any small bump or undulation... I was advised that refurbs are always short-lived and never faithful to the original set up, so I picked up some Ricor products online. I have Intiminators coming for the front forks, and a replacement rear mono-shock on its way...

My question is, does 45,000 km with say 6,000 off-road seem reasonable? I normally ride with around 15 kg of luggage, but no pillion. I am fairly aggressive over rough roads, but cautious off-road... I'd be interested to know if you think it failed early, or did pretty well.

Cheers.

[guzzi850m2]

What bike are we talking about?

[seedy]

Is it nitrogen-filled ?

[DualSportBiker]

2007 BMW F650GS.

Not sure about the nitrogen, there is no sub-tank...

Edited January 15, 2015 by DualSportBiker

[seedy]

I searched the net - can't tell if nitrogen filled or not.

Any seal leakage around the shaft ?

If it had a very small amount of fluid loss over the 7 years it has been on the road, it might be low.

Or did it just one day stops resisting movement ?

[guzzi850m2]

I think the around the world guys: Evan & Charlie also had rear shock problems on their BMW's so perhaps a common brand problem?

But okay the bike is 8 years old so not too bad.

[DualSportBiker]

I searched the net - can't tell if nitrogen filled or not.

Any seal leakage around the shaft ?

If it had a very small amount of fluid loss over the 7 years it has been on the road, it might be low.

Or did it just one day stops resisting movement ?

It went from normal to jelly between 2 noodle-runs in 3 days. I saw some oil on the floor, not much, when I went out, got no more than 2 km before the rear had softened up completely. I ride standing in town, so only noticed over s speed bump when the rear just kept on bouncing.

My Ricor rear shock just shipped. The Intiminators are held up somewhere; hope they have not been appropriated... I might make a before after clip for the front end - show how much less it dips.

[seedy]

The small pool on the floor might have been the 'straw that broke the camels back' scenario.

Let us know how the new shock works.

7 years - sounds like you got your use out of it, and as has been said maybe BMW had shock problems during this time.

[dave_boo]

I agree, you got a good amount of time out of the shock. Motocross bikes are recommend to have their suspensions rebuilt about every 40 hours. You're obviously not riding that hard all the time, but do the math. Bet the amount of time you spent beating on that shock with stresses at least motocross level would easily exceed 40 hours.

[ll2]

it all depends on your riding style.

I normally don't stop for bumps or speed bumps so my shocks normally dont last long.

but ride carefully and stop for every bump and speed bumps etc, it can go long time, much longer than 45 k.

your new shock is on the way so problem is solved.

[DualSportBiker]

Cheers all. Was just curious... From your feedback it seems I did just fine with it. Let's see how long the Ricor lasts...