Wilbers Shocks

I have had them, the piggy back type,  on my 79 Jota for a few years..really tip top..never felt the need to fiddle with settings though there are many. They set them up according to your weight , type of riding you specify. Pricey, but  so much better than the Marzos..mine have been fully restored and look great, but are going nowhere near the bike again! So, recomended...ah, and i had wilburs fitted to my bmw  r1200 st front and rear..that thing really handles now, even 2 up, simply superb.
 
I have them on two bikes and about to put them on my Jota project.  Great shocks.  Best to call them and then you can order over the phone what you need for your weight , riding style and if you ride with Pol?gono or luggage.  They have a really nice knowledgeable girl there that speaks fluent English.  To customise my spring it was 30 euros more. 
 
I have them on the 1000 SFC (classic ones with just rebound and pre-load settings). I can not see any difference to the YSS fitted to the Jota regarding how they work, the built quality or adjustability (assumed the same type of shocks). They are a lot more expensive though compared to similar shocks from YSS (or others). Have never found out why.
 
Cooo, a shock thread.
Have Ikon on all my larger Laverda except the SFC which has the Ceriani.
Plenty good enough.
Couldn't be bothered to refurbish more Ceriani, so sold the bits off.
Marzo are crap but the rods never rust. They're already covered in oil when they leave the factory.

Paul

 
I have all of them, Koni in my RGS, ?hlins in my SFC 1000, YSS in the other SFC and Wilbers in my 1000 racebike.
Ohlins are superbe but expensive. Regarding the others I do not feel a big difference and would say, take the Konis -now Ikons- for a standard bike. Best value regarding price/ performance. I would recommend the Kawa Z 1300 type, they ar a bit longer but take them with the softer spring ifbyou are not too heavy.
Andre
 
I have had Koni's on my Jota for many years. I agree they are really good in the context of the bike. I have not had Wilbers and I am sure they are probably "better" but given the inherent limitations of a 40 year old bike compared to a new bike, don't you have to ask yourself if really pricey shocks alone are going to make so much difference to your ride ? i would guess that if you were really going to get the most out of them you would have to change the forks, and the frame and get bigger tyres, but then you would not be riding a 40 year old Jota any more would you  ?
 
I agree, that one change can almost "force" the next. If the bike else is standard, Ikons are good shocks and an improvement over the original ones, no doubt. If you are planning to transform your bike into an almost modern riding feeling, this as said before will need you to modify every single step. Forks - at least speaking for my 38mm Marzocchis - can be made to work very good, but they need at least some attention (and in my case a stabiliser), too. Went on that journey years ago, coming from worn out Marzocchi AG Strada to Konis at that time. felt the bike to improve dramatically, but now the fork was to soft. changed the springs, the oil, pre-load and installed the stabiliser. Was OK for some years. Then I changed to box-type swing arm with needle bearings, which improved the riding also. Then Piet introduced me to the GSX-R rims. Now the whole setup needed to be much more sensible and the Konis simply were not doing a good job here I felt. Changed to YSS and all of a sudden, the bike handled like a good bike from mid 90's! No problem to keep up with my wife's brother's VFR750 (RC36) anymore! Handling is a dream on that bike, no where near the way it handled when I got it 1992...

So - will Wilbers be good to your bike? Yes, they will. Will you make the most out of them? Not without other modifications.
 
Paul Marx said:
Cooo, a shock thread.
Have Ikon on all my larger Laverda except the SFC which has the Ceriani.
Plenty good enough.
Couldn't be bothered to refurbish more Ceriani, so sold the bits off.
Marzo are crap but the rods never rust. They're already covered in oil when they leave the factory.

Paul
Click to expand...

WILBERS thread actually...  :D
 
When setting about to improve my bike the plan was to do everything in balance.
Engine heavily modified.
Frame extensively braced and modified.
Wider, lighter wheels to allow tubeless radials with modern compounds.
Bigger discs, calipers and m/cs.
Monoshock rear with Wilbers shock.
Maxton-modified forks.
Uprated ignition, charging and electrical system.
Bigger bore free flowing exhaust system.
Bigger tank (by 5 litres).

The reason wasn't to try to compete with modern bikes, but to make it what might have been developed by the factory and to iron out various deficiencies I had experienced on standard Laverdas over the decades.

The result is the best handling Laverda (to me) and the sweetest ride.
I have ridden Motodd and Harris Laverdas but they are compromised by the riding position.

2018-06-21 11.45.52 by Grant Duguid, on Flickr
 
..I just bought them cos they look great😄 Those Maxton things are pig ugly..Ohlins look cool  the others plain Jane. Liked the echo of the Marzos in the piggy back function.As a bonus, turns out they are great😄😄 Oh, and agree the forks now seem harsh and I plan an internal fiddling there by Keith, though have lost the plot as to what the latest approved upgrade is. The front on my SP1 is truly fab..Showa i think. Maybe it will bolt on?😁😁 Suspect both ends would be improved hugely by light wheels and discs, but am not going there..its a 79 Jota not an SP1 so a bit of tweeking yes but not wholsale modification for me, though wouldnt say no to a spin on that bike of Grants!
 
Yeah did the same thing, put some Ohlins on the back of my 80 Jota and the gold valves in the forks. The front was never as good as the rea so on went a set of 41.7 Marzocchi forks with Honda Fireblade cartridge?s so that fixed the front, then the brake?s were changed to 4 spot Brembo?s.
Next I neede better tyre?s so at great expense purchased a pair of PVM forged alloy wheel?s to allow larger modern tyre?s to be fitted, bike is now an absolute hoot to ride and I love it 😀👍
We won?t mention the motor work as that?s another story😂😂
Tom
 
I have got as pair of second hand shocks on TOG, donated to me by Nickdav7, I have no idea what make they are (W&S perhaps) but hey! I put Koni stickers on them and then IT REALY handled!
CLEM
 
I reckon your mod with the longer steering head on your bike was a fundamental part of the improvements, Grant. I've always seen the crazy long forks willlowing (wallowing?) in the wind on later triples as a handling prob looking for an owner.
 
That was one part of the bracing process.
Double-skinned swing arm pivot plus the triangulated standard swing arm.
Plus other bracing added around the frame.
The end result is super-stiff and super-responsive handling.
 
Grant said:
When setting about to improve my bike the plan was to do everything in balance.
Engine heavily modified.
Frame extensively braced and modified.
Wider, lighter wheels to allow tubeless radials with modern compounds.
Bigger discs, calipers and m/cs.
Monoshock rear with Wilbers shock.
Maxton-modified forks.
Uprated ignition, charging and electrical system.
Bigger bore free flowing exhaust system.
Bigger tank (by 5 litres).

The reason wasn't to try to compete with modern bikes, but to make it what might have been developed by the factory and to iron out various deficiencies I had experienced on standard Laverdas over the decades.

The result is the best handling Laverda (to me) and the sweetest ride.
I have ridden Motodd and Harris Laverdas but they are compromised by the riding position.

2018-06-21 11.45.52 by Grant Duguid, on Flickr
Click to expand...


Thats a great list of works, and a sweet looking bike !
 
Do folk carry out calculations when significantly modifying frames like that, or is it an uncalculted risk?!
 
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