I have the remote resevoir / hydralic preload adjuster Wilbers on the back and a GP Suspensions modified forks up front of my 06 AE. I was going to put an Ohlins on the back but at the time there was no listing from Ohlins for the bike and the Wilbers was the only one that had a hydralic preload that would allow me to maintain ride height easily when going "bareback" to fully loaded for trips.
This year was an exceptional year for mileage with the trips to CFR, WCR (across to Vancouver Island) & NAFO probably totalling 30,000 km for the season. I'm normally in the 10000 - 20000 range. My service plan is to change fork oil every season since it is so easy to do and it needs it and then pull the suspension (front & rear) every two years and send it back to GP suspensions for complete service.
The Gen 2 will need the bushings done more often the Gen 1 but I think for the average rider every two years for a complete service would be reasonable.
NC Rick gave us an excellent post as to the why and there is nothing I could add in that regard. It's just such a pain to completely remove my rear shock due to the need to loosen the shifting solenoid to get clearance to get the remote resevoir out on my paddle shifter.
GP suspensions normally take 5 hours tops to completely service an FJR if you do the "ride in" service. Mine was the AE from hell and was in the GP Suspensions shop for 9 hours.
In fairness to the gang at GP mine was the first AE they had seen with the "full race" Wilbers and it was a bit of an experiment to figure out how to remove the shock & resevoir. We thought we might have to remove the swingarm to get the resevoir out but then figured out that loosening the shifting solenoid and some clamps for some hoses gave us enough clearance. Next time I will be pulling the suspension off myself and ship the forks and shock to them.
