wilburs 640 or 641?

[PDoz]

G'day, I'm wondering if anyone has fitted a wilburs 640 rear shock into a v11 and if so, have you been wishing ever since that you spent the extra $ on a 641 with dual compression dampening adjustment? I suspect I'll be spending the extra $ on a 641, but I'd love to hear that the 640 is so good I can spend the extra $ on the forks instead.

 

I've just spent 2 wonderfull days exploring the limitations of the standard suspension on my 03 lemans. Lots of fantastic memories of twisty roads with stunning scenery, but a few moments I'd rather forget where I'd have been better off on the KTM 990 I was chasing. Australian "roads".... what more can I say. Perhaps a picture might help?

[PDoz]

Sorry, I can't work out how to continue directly underneath the picture.

 

If it's any help, I'm re -learning road riding after 20 years of almost exclusively dirt riding, I've had the guzzi for 5 months so far and have well and truly reached the limits of the suspension both ends. I'm not a particularly fast rider - out of our group of 50 this weekend I was about 10th most of the time. I'm looking for safe suspension, not race suspension.

[galaxiid]

Sorry, I can't work out how to continue directly underneath the picture.

 

If it's any help, I'm re -learning road riding after 20 years of almost exclusively dirt riding, I've had the guzzi for 5 months so far and have well and truly reached the limits of the suspension both ends. I'm not a particularly fast rider - out of our group of 50 this weekend I was about 10th most of the time. I'm looking for safe suspension, not race suspension.

There'll be people here much better qualified to answer your q's about suspension for the V11. Ohlins came out on some variants of the V11 and that might be worth investigating for the rear end anyway. Source one off a wrecked bike if you're lucky. A good front end ohlins would be much harder to source off a wrecked bike though. Maybe the sort of riding you are doing (looking at the road pictured) means you'd be better off on a Stelvio or an older, cheaper NTX.

 

KTM 990????

Just what I was thinking of as the right ride too! I wish! SMT 990 PERFECTO! (Sssh)

[PDoz]

Thanks, but I'm in love with the V11 so it stays- besides, I've got a KTM 640 I usually use for that sort of riding. This particular ride was still 90 % tight but bumpy bitumin and I felt like giving the guzzi a run. Even on the bitumin the back was playing up on some of the harder hits, and if there were more than 2 in a row on corners things were getting interesting. The rest of the time the bike was flawless, so I'm hoping a new rear will improve things.

 

 

Then again, if you know of a nice NTX 650 for sale in australia...... I have a soft spot for small bore guzzis.

[Lucky Phil]

G'day, I'm wondering if anyone has fitted a wilburs 640 rear shock into a v11 and if so, have you been wishing ever since that you spent the extra $ on a 641 with dual compression dampening adjustment? I suspect I'll be spending the extra $ on a 641, but I'd love to hear that the 640 is so good I can spend the extra $ on the forks instead.

 

I've just spent 2 wonderfull days exploring the limitations of the standard suspension on my 03 lemans. Lots of fantastic memories of twisty roads with stunning scenery, but a few moments I'd rather forget where I'd have been better off on the KTM 990 I was chasing. Australian "roads".... what more can I say. Perhaps a picture might help?

I have the 641 fitted to my V11 Sport.Adjustable comp (high and low)rebound and ride height as well.Really nice shock,just as nice as the Ohlins fitted to my 1198s.

Ciao

[GuzziMoto]

I have no experience with Wilbers but plenty of experience with various aftermarket suspension bits.

Typically for street use most people are going to be just fine with a single compression adjustment and a single rebound adjustment. High and low speed compression adjustment is typically tuning to a higher level then you could use on the street as the variety of pavement is too great. The advantages of high and low speed adjustment come in to play when you are riding the same bit of pavement over and over (aka, Racing) and you can tailor the dampening to suit that particular bit of pavement more precisely. But if you are riding on a wide variety of pavement on the street being able to fine tune the compression dampening that precisely is likely not of much use.

That said, I am sure some street riders will swear they need that sort of precision adjustability.

[PDoz]

Thanks, the trouble is the 640 model has NO compression adjustment - just rebound. About 20 years ago I fitted a similar ohlins into my transalp and to be honest it was so much better than standard I didn't miss the lack of compression adjustabilty. Trouble is, in the interim I've been spoilt with several KTM dirt bikes with multi adjustable white power suspension. I don't expect my guzzi to handle as well as they do, but it'd be nice if it was at least as good as my transalp used to be.

 

I reckon I'm going for the 641, thanks everyone for the input

[Lucky Phil]

I have no experience with Wilbers but plenty of experience with various aftermarket suspension bits.

Typically for street use most people are going to be just fine with a single compression adjustment and a single rebound adjustment. High and low speed compression adjustment is typically tuning to a higher level then you could use on the street as the variety of pavement is too great. The advantages of high and low speed adjustment come in to play when you are riding the same bit of pavement over and over (aka, Racing) and you can tailor the dampening to suit that particular bit of pavement more precisely. But if you are riding on a wide variety of pavement on the street being able to fine tune the compression dampening that precisely is likely not of much use.

That said, I am sure some street riders will swear they need that sort of precision adjustability.

I disagree,high and low speed comp allow you to not only adjust for the type of roads you typically ride on but also for pillion and carrying extra loads when touring.Why would you want some suspension guy from Europe guessing what damping I need on an Aussie road.I seriously doubt the Wilbers guy knows how bad our roads are.So its nice to be able to "fine tune" a little.

Ciao

[PDoz]

Well I had a moment of clarity this morning - whilst paying a bill to fix my ride on lawn mower I realised it was the same price as a wilburs shock! Perspective is a wonderfull thing, I've ordered the 641 and look forward to my next ride. (after which I'll be asking how to fix the forks, no doubt)

[Baldini]

...I am sure some street riders will swear they need that sort of precision adjustability.

Sure wish Scura shock had a high-speed compresssion adjustment. OK on track but too harsh for road.

 

KB