Fitting Wilber (630) front shock

bfisher · Post by **bfisher** » Thu Jun 09, 2016 1:07 pm

Has anyone fitted a Wilber 630 shock? I am attempting to do this one on the 99 R1100S; shock was previously on a bike from a member on this forum (mikek_7) who had the R1100S but can't confirm year.. Mike has inferred it was a tight (short) fit, but i'm wondering if there is a difference in the fork length as at its current rate, i think i will need to compress the front of the bike a good 20mm to enable it to catch the thead enough & not convinced this is a good thing... I am contacting Wilbers as well.

See image below to compare new & old.

Brad

f90x · Post by **f90x** » Thu Jun 09, 2016 4:24 pm

Looks like you've got 20mm worth of thread on the pre load to adjust there.

roadburner · Post by **roadburner** » Thu Jun 09, 2016 5:28 pm

got mine through the other day and fitted it in about 30 minutes. you don't even need to take the panels off that the haynes manual says you do.

You will need an ABBA stand or centre stand.
Put it on the centre satnd.
Get a jack and very slowly raise the front end by jacking under the front of the engine using a piece of wood between the jack and engine ( remove belly pan first if you have one) until the front wheel JUST leaves the ground.
Remove the lower nut.
remove the top nut after removing the adjuster.
remove lower bolt and remove shock.(helps if you jack up the front end a bit more to give more clearance.
put the top off the new shock in first and get a couple of turns on the top nut.
( i put new rubber top mounts in at the same time(£3.05 for 2 from BMW))
lower the front of bike VERY VERY slowly on the jack until the lower mount lines up and insert the bottom bolt.
tighten bottom nut
Lower front of bike onto ground and tighten top nut. You won't be able to torque the top nut up to the specified setting as the top of the shock will rotate before you get to 25Nm, but you'll feel when it's maxxed out anyway

roadburner · Post by **roadburner** » Thu Jun 09, 2016 5:30 pm

Oh yes and then buy one of these to cover that awful nylock nut that looks out of place:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M4-M5-M6-M8-M ... s0jTlVP1DA

Mitch1100 · Post by **Mitch1100** » Thu Jun 09, 2016 10:34 pm

As Roadburner says not hard...I'd contacted Wilbers about that 'orrible nut to see if they had a Logo'd cover...no..looks crap.
[i

P1010284 by Phil Mitchell, on Flickrg][/img]
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P1010289 by Phil Mitchell, on Flickr][/img]

bfisher · Post by **bfisher** » Fri Jun 10, 2016 11:40 am

Thanks all for the responses..

The fitting is not the issue, my bike is in bits anyhow at the moment.. my point being though is the even with weight of bike on the front forks, the visible thread above the 'raw' head-stock is luck to be 1-2mm; thus when i put the rubber grommet on top, i will need to put a reasonable amount of pressure on the front end to at least get thread accessible to attach the nut. This doesn't seem right & then i ask myself is it my bike being a slightly different fork length by default or rather an issue in the forks themselves (i was hoping to avoid a fork rebuilt - that is the winter project!)..Worth noting on inspection/movement of the forks without the shock, all seems ok.

Mitch - I don't suppose you can measure the forks in normal (compressed by weight of bike) could you - may provide a clue? Let me know if you have a full tank of fuel though as i'm currently tank-less.

Mitch1100 · Post by **Mitch1100** » Fri Jun 10, 2016 11:29 pm

G'day Brad..I sold my Bumblebee.. preload adjustment and sag should've been set from the factory for your model, weight. Fitted Wilbers shock on rear of my BCR to try with telelever front doing its thing and don't think I'd bother with fitting front.

nab 301 · Post by **nab 301** » Mon Jun 13, 2016 7:37 pm

I fitted one over a year ago , I don't recall any problems , currently the rod is about two threads above the nut.
Part number on the packaging is 630-0419-00 . If you're still stuck I guess I can remove the shock and compare lengths.
The old shock measures 365mm from he top of the rod ( with the adjustable damping nut removed) to the centre of the btm mount

bfisher · Post by **bfisher** » Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:28 pm

Sorted, i think it was a combination of rubber mounts, still washer & getting caught on headstock.. You live & learn. As for the ugly bolt, my intention is to screw original (including adjuster knob) on which will be purely for cosmetic as opposed to function.

Thanks for all the input.

B

Mitch1100 · Post by **Mitch1100** » Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:40 pm

Pleased with change??

bfisher · Post by **bfisher** » Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:42 pm

Its not left the garage yet! See my next challenge via my post redline @ startup!!!