ESA

[rickmeister]

I have a 2015 R1200RT, 64,000Km. I recently had grief with fork seal blow out. Eventually had them replaced by (I think) a competent mechanic. The question I'm asking, when you sit on the bike, engine and ignition OFF, and you rock the bike back and forth, there is absolutely zero suspension travel. I've been told that it's because the computer which controls the ESA is off, and zero suspension travel is normal. I've had the bike for about 8 years, and for the life of me I can't remember. Before the grief, hop on, kick it in the slats and off you go.

Any replies on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Rickmeister.

[Stu]

It's probably more to do with the way the telelever suspension works than anything else

There is hardly any movement on mine too

[David.]

With the ignition on and the engine running, does the suspension travel more.

[rickmeister]

When the bike is going, engine ON, everything is normal. I've been for a couple of 200Km rides since the repair, and everything seems OK. I haven't changed the suspension settings, Soft, Normal, Hard. But will do so next ride.

Mainly curious about the ZERO travel, front and rear, with everything off.

[BoB21]

with no electronics on, there is no electronic suspension.

[David.]

Wishing to understand how ESA works, found this video, ok, it's for a Hexhead but the principle may be the same for a Wethead.

[David.]

Mainly curious about the ZERO travel, front and rear, with everything off.

Does this mean that without the ignition on/engine running the F&R suspension is completely solid.

When the motorcycle is taken off the centre stand and then the rider sits on the seat, is there no movement on the rear end.

If not, I'm curious to understand how the electric pre-load and damping motors unlock what to me is a hydraulic shock absorber with electronic (not manual) adjustment. I could be wrong, any help to explain this phenomenon would be much appreciated, thank you.

[simbo]

Does this mean that without the ignition on/engine running the F&R suspension is completely solid.

No. My understanding is that the rear shock can be bounced up and down like any other mono shock motorcycle. You can only adjust the compression and damping while the engine is running because it's electrically adjusted via motors. The front suspension is the telelever set up so all the fork stanchions are there for is to connect the wheel to the bikes frame and handle bars for steering purposes, all the damping and spring rate is controlled via the single shock unit on the telelever hence the reason they can't be compressed much by hand like they don't dive during heavy braking. The fork stanchions do have oil in them but I think it's only for lubrication.