Advise/tips for installing Wilbers front springs on R18 (Basic)

[Manhattan Matte]

Another suspension question from a new member - this time about replacing the front springs on my 2023 R18 (Basic/Pure model) with Wilbers Progressive springs. I've ordered the parts for both front and rear Wilbers suspension parts, which will take a few weeks for delivery. In the meantime, I'm trying to find installation tips from someone who's done the job previously. I've done due diligence in searching the forum for installation instructions and tips on replacing the front springs, but only found the horrific thread from the person who grounded off and snapped the fork bolts because of the excessive application of red Lock-Tite from the factory. Can anyone point me in the right direction for an instructional or video tutorial? Thanks in advance.

 

[Noelpolar]

Mmm.... I did mine last year..... I also added YSS emulators.

Anyway, the forks are normal old school except for a couple or so points. These are.....

The top stanchion of each fork is not clamped by the top triple tree.... but bolted from the top..... pretty obvious.... some have had issues removing this bolt (thread lock) but mine came out ok. A decent rattle gun would be useful.

After removing the top bolt from each stanchion I slid them down a bit and retightend the lower triple tree and tried to undo the stanchion fork cap, this was the hardest part.... threadlocker on lots of fine thread.... I would not do it this way again.... I needed a 1 meter breaker bar..... the whole bike rotated on the stand.... I did get there in the end..... but only just (one leg took 90% of me the other leg was 99.99%).

It is likely that the stanchion can rotate in the lower triple tree and get scratched this way.... the metal fork gator would cover this but it is not optimal.

Heat didn't help..... sorta made it worse.... seemed to gum/bind things up (I put that down to fine thread on large diameter along with maybe not being able to really heat it up).

Really I'd want the fork out next time, a proper stanchion clamping device, a 3/4 rattle gun with a socket to fit the weird stanchion fork cap. Maybe take each fork leg to a "place".

I did not use thread lock on reassembly.... could not see a reason to.... so access from now on is simple.

Good luck!

 

[Manhattan Matte]

Thanks for the tips, Noelpolar. Sounds like this might be a better job for shop to do. I'll tackle the rear shock myself. I'm mostly a DIY guy, but this is the first BMW I've owned that doesn't have a Haynes Shop Manual available.