R1200GS ADV - Alien Raptor Looking Thing

[BobFV1]

Okay - I'm as busy as a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest, but here are a couple of quick pics for you guys. Lots of ride stuff will follow as soon as I have a minute. This is the ultimate riding machine....

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/64427936-S.jpg

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/64427944-S.jpg

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/64427946-M.jpg

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/64427948-S.jpg

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/64427950-S.jpg

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/64427952-S.jpg

[Sir Limpsalot]

Time alters your perpective. When the 1100 GS first came out I though it one of the ugliest things I had ever seen. Now, a few years later, I look at your new bike with sheer,unbridled lust! The styling's not changed that much, so It must mean that I have. Worrying....
But what's with those hose clamps on the frame (on the closeup photo) above the exhaust?
Si

[supermotoC]

Is it a vision of chaos, or just pure evil in M/C form?

[BobFV1]

Time alters your perpective. When the 1100 GS first came out I though it one of the ugliest things I had ever seen. Now, a few years later, I look at your new bike with sheer,unbridled lust! The styling's not changed that much, so It must mean that I have. Worrying....
But what's with those hose clamps on the frame (on the closeup photo) above the exhaust?
Si

Simon -

You are a man of extraordinary powers of observation :) - those are indeed hose clamps - and get this, they are there to hold on my cannister! This calls for a cannister-ectomy! I will have to see if I can pull in a favor from Dean-o to have San Jose BMW retune the bike after the can comes off!

Collyers - it's chaos, in it's raw form. My working name for the bike is from another Grateful Dead song - "Black-Throated Wind". I am retiring "Lazy Lightning", since there is nothing lazy about this bike!!! How do you like my Remus decals - they go great with the white paint, don't they!

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/64479977-S.jpg

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/64479971-S.jpg

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/64479979-S.jpg

[Bones]

Congrats!
Will look forward to a full ride report.

Jeff

[Deans BMW]

Bobster, no retuning necessary, I can't wait to try it out.

[BobFV1]

Bobster, no retuning necessary, I can't wait to try it out.


The oracle has spoken - the can comes off!!!

[Ed K]

Bob, Those headers are bluing beautifully!

[BobFV1]

Thanks Ed, I think so too......

[Wild Will]

What a bike. Sweet Remus, serious foorpegs, nice engine protection. Love the white. I don't think you'll outgrow this prize! Well done!

[socalrob]

Those black rims with silver spokes are great looking wheels. The spoke wheels on any GS rock IMHO.

Bob,

What kind of lights are you looking at? I'd get a HID for the low beam & some driving lights. I can't tell you how much I like the HID kit I put in my RR, & the GS has the advantage that the high beam remains a halogen, which is the better since its instant on. Keep us posted on the mods. That could be my next bike.

Hows first gear? One of the few complaints I see over on Advrider about the 1200GS is that first gear is a bit tall for dirt. Its sure too bad BMW doesn't put in a dual range transmission on the GSA (like HI/LOW 4WD for real trucks). It'd be great fun to hoon around on a big GSA in the dirt with a top speed of about 40mph in 6th.

[BobFV1]

I have about 500 miles on the bike, mostly twisty mountain stuff. For the Arizona contingent, I have done Tempe to Prescott back and forth on SR 89. and the Saguaro Lake loop, in addition to some local running around. She goes in for the 600-mile service on Tuesday, and on Wednesday I leave for Washington DC via Los Angeles, Reno, Salt Lake, West Virginia, Charlottesville, and back to my corporate HQ in suburban Washington.

Let's start with an overall assessment. The bike is absolutely fantastic. The Remus Titanium full system was installed before I picked it up - it has a throaty growl which smooths out to a purr when it is not under engine load. Handling is light, power delivery is smooth and peppy, and brakes are fantastic. The bike looks incredible up close with the Alpine White paint scheme - I was going to recover the partly red seat because I thought it looked gay, but it has really grown on me!

Power delivery - very smooth through the entire range. A very responsive throttle that does not jerk or lash at all when yanked. 4000 RPM in top gear gives me about 70 MPH, so as of yet I have not taken it too much above that except momentarily when revving up through the gears - a couple blips up to 4500 to 5500 range. I am breaking it in under varying load conditions and it seems to be liking it so far. Have managed a couple of little wheelies in first gear quick starts - not intentional.

The gearbox is smooth as silk and a huge improvement over my R1150RT's clunky gearbox. Having had the Roadster and then the RT, I forgot that BMW could actually build a transmission! This gearbox is completely smoothed out and refined. First gear does not seem too tall, but I have been on nothing but nice, dry pavement so far and it is geared well for these conditions, so I may in fact find the rear wheel spinning around in first in the dirt - more to follow once I have some experience off the blacktop.

Seating position is high, high, high. It is very nice sitting up there when out on the highway, but I am 5 11 and I must admit that with the seat in the low position I am on my tiptoes. The Adventure has a special seat with lots of padding which is still uncomfortable as hell and raises me way up off the ground - that thing is going next Thursday. I spoke to Bill Meyer yesterday and will be riding in to his shop in Southern California next week and spending the day having a custom seat made. Turns out he is a GS nut as well, has an 04. Anyway, I found myself squirming in the stock seat after two hours. It is a two part seat, which has it's advantages in terms of storage options. There is just a minimal tool kit which is in a small compartment (plastic tray) under the front seat where I would expect the fuse box to be (it is a can-bus system bike) so I removed the worthless tool kit, ditched the plastic tray, and hot-wired my Autocom and XM radio directly to the gel battery, which is also easily accessible right under the front seat. I placed the Autocom, wires, 12v to 6v transformer for the XM, and ground loop isolator, as well as the stock tool kit, in the area under the seat where the tray was.

I am going to have to wire in a fuse block with relays - no two ways about it with the Canbus. So far, no problem just running the 2610 and XM off the battery, but any additional load will require fused and relayed circuits. I will stop by a boat store and pick up one of the West Marine fuse blocks and wire it in to the switched wire for the diagnostics socket which is also just under the seat. The only other electrical accessory right now is the 12V BMW electrical accesory outlet on the left side - I will be adding one or two more of these.

The body work came off very easily - three torx screws and the whole left side was off and I was able to run the Autocom and XM wires over the tank but below the bodywork. I think I could probably make a little bracket and actually put the Autocom up in front of the gas tank, but I have plenty of time to mess with this.

The horn is okay - I like Harry (GPM's) Stebel and will probably do something like that later. I presume you used a relay, right harry? Or did you use the existing horn relay (is there one - have to take a peek). The rest of the switchgear is typical BMW - no better or worse, except where the 4-way button would usually go on the left side is a slick button that toggles between odometer and two tripmeters, which can also be reset by holding the button in - that's pretty cool - you can set one to check how much gas is left in the massive tank, and use the other for seeing how close you are getting to the next town, without having to mess with the GPS unit.

The large GS ADV windshield is excellent - directs the air over the top of my helmet, lets a nice breeze in around the sides, has lower deflector to smooth out any hint of turbulence., The massive gas tank completely shields my lower body int he same way the RT did - this think is wide - the gas tank on the Adventure, 8.7 gallons, is as wide as the cylinder heads!

Ergos are good. I am 5 11 with a 31 inch inseam. The pegs are lower than my RT pegs and more comfortable. The Adventure comes with the huge Touratech pegs you can see in the photos - they almost feel like running boards down there - very comfortable.

When I started riding the bike I got some numbness in my right hand so I immediately picked up 25mm Touratech risers but have not installed them yet. I will experiment with the new seat and see how it feels, but I think they will probably end up on the bike. I think the bike is built for someone who is about 6 2 and lanky - isn't that right Harry???

I did not get any aux lighting. I simply do not ride at night. I will assess daytime conspicuity issues later, but for the time being I have on order the "Brake!" LED rear taillight flasher which I had on the RT, and a Kisan headlight modulator which is really cool - it plugs in and when low beam is on, no modulation, and when high beam is switched on it modulates both low and high beams. I like switching this on as I approach intersections or driveways, and on the Interstate.

I mounted the XM with a RAM ball mount attached to the bars with a u-clamp. I have a Z-technik eye-level shelf on order for the 2610 but I saw an RCU shelf on another GS and I think I like it better - so I will have to do some messing with this. I also have the Touratech black oil cooler screen on order.

Handling was excellent in the twisty stuff - the stock Bridgestone Trail Wing 125's seem to be very firmly planted but again - this is just on dry pavement. I am a Metzeler fan and plan to put the Tourances on as soon as I shred the Bridgestones, in about 4-5K miles. The suspension is disappointing me a bit. The stock shocks look just like, well, stock shocks - nothing special and while I need to do some more tweaking, they don't do the bike justice. Since I have the Touratech metal side cases on order and plan to do some 2up touring, I will be getting the Ohlins sooner rather than later - it's a shame to have a beautiful bike like that with a very average to mushy ride.

Well - that's about it for now. I have to teach a BRC this weekend so I need to run - will be fun showing my bike off at the MSF school today! Everybody ride safe and enjoy the lovely Spring weather - at least I hope it is wherever you are!

[GPM]

Excellent write up Bob. I got the Stebel from Adventurers Workshop. I also ordered the GS mounting kit which costs almost as much as the horn, but makes installation a snap. The horn comes with its own relay.

Where did you order the Brake light?? Michelle bought one at Victory yesterday for her 650 for $119. The GS uses the same light.

[BobFV1]

Excellent write up Bob. I got the Stebel from Adventurers Workshop. I also ordered the GS mounting kit which costs almost as much as the horn, but makes installation a snap. The horn comes with its own relay.

Where did you order the Brake light?? Michelle bought one at Victory yesterday for her 650 for $119. The GS uses the same light.

Harry - where do you draw power for the horn - from the old horn wiring?

I bought the light unit from Sierra BMW - did not check at Victory. Is Michelle's bike a can-bus bike? The can-bus brake light has an LED board wired to a socket plug which plugs in to the old tailight socket and tricks the can-bus system. The Brake! light for my RT was simply a replacement bulb with dipswitches.

[jamming]

Bob, I've been in contact with the "brake" folks and they don't make one for the ST yet. I had one on my R and really liked it.
I just ordered the black 3M reflective kit for my bags from CycleGadgets.com. Alot of my riding is at night.
Nice write up Bob, too bad I can never ride one. I ain't got enough leg for that bike. Sounds awesome.
I've been in the Kawi dealer this week, really thinking about a KLR650.
Have fun on the trip, too bad I won't get a chance to see the bike in person.
Roger

[GPM]

I initially drew the power directly from the battery. I have since moved it to a Centech. The Centech is not bad (smaller than the Blue Sea) but only accepts bare wire connections. And the wire needs to be fairly small. The mounting kit contains a single wire that connects to one side of the original horn plug. Make sure you hit the right hole, it will not work and will set fault codes if you pick the wrong one. Don't ask.

I'm sure the 650 is not a canbus bike, but checking the model number a couple of places, and looking at the box from her light, the model number is the same.

Premier Cycles, a local place, was offering a discount to either K-Bike or I-BMW board members. Bought the one for my KRS from them for $99. Don't know if they still offer the deal, but I think I'll drop them an email and see.

[BobFV1]

Oh - Sorry! Forgot to comment on the brakes!

For the past 14 months or so I have had the fully integrated, servo-ABS brakes on my RT. I liked them but toward the end, the servo whine and the grabbiness started to irritate me - it is amazing that I didn't ever dump that top-heavy bike with the grabby brakes.

Anyway, the brakes on the R1200 GS ADV are fantastic. They have steel braided lines and heavy duty calipers and pads. I deliberated over ABS or no ABS and MAN AM I HAPPY I WENT WITH NO ABS! I finally feel like I am actually riding the bike again! I can modulate both brakes, use just the rear in limited space maneuvers, come to a very confident quick stop - it feels natural! I learned to ride without ABS and guess what - I love it! Some guy was sitting next to me on an LT the other day and I heard his servos and it made me wince - so glad I don't have that to put up with any more!

[Deans BMW]

Bob, you definitely need the relay for the Steible, The Adventures Workshop is the way to go for both the Steible and the instl kit. Your bike sounds great.

[BobFV1]

Make sure you hit the right hole,

He he, he he

[supermotoC]

Hole, indeed.

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/58932727-O.jpg

[Bones]

Bob,

Nice write up. I have the Tourance tires on my non Adventure GS. I have 2,500 miles on the bike. So far, so good. I have held the Metzler Z6's as my favorite tire before, but they don't last that long. I have considered them for replacements for the Tourances when they get used up (I have no plans to ride my GS offroad) but haven't really decided.

Once run in is complete, wait 'til you get to ride the hex head in the 5K to 7K rpm range. Max torque is at 5,500 rpms, so you will really like the get up and go.


Regarding brakes:
See my signature, below.

Jeff

[mrmaico]

Bob, Those headers are bluing beautifully!

Great write up Bob. Unfortunately unless your headers are the chrome plated ones, and it looks from the pics like yours aren't, the will turn a shit brown before long. I had mine on my standard GS1200 ceramic coated and really like the looks of them now. That may be something to save for a winter project though. Time to ride now! :)

Barry
http://images.fotopic.net/y4pz5j.jpg

[Bones]

At least I now know why mine look shit brown at 2500 miles.

Jeff

[DarthRider]

If you do get headers & pipes ceramic or aluminum/ceramic coated as in the image, spring for a few more bucks and have the insides coated too.
The looks are the same but the system will run much cooler and the exhaust gas extraction benefit is effectively doubled.
It's not a huge power gain but is worthwhile and "free" if you are already paying for the esthetics.
Mike Young, Prez of Big Gun Exhausts makes race pipes & cans for all kinds of 4-stroke MX & enduro bikes & quads. He is a straight shooter says their tests on a 650 single with 2 exhaust valves & a 2 into 1 system show a gain of 1 HP with the inside coating and another 1 HP with outside. This is in addition to the power gains of the race exhaust itself, of course.
My MZ street Super Motard has a 2 into 1 stainless steel system. I had just the inside coated as I wanted to keep the beautiful look stainless gets with heat & time...a nice straw color. The interior coating keeps the outside from getting all splotchy and shit brown fading to purple to blue to yellow.
And while I don't claim to be able to "feel" 1 HP on the old Butt Dyno, I know it's there.
Mike packs a tube of Semichrome with each system for a good yearly cleaning and scratch removal.
We use this system on the turbocharged Bonneville racers with good results.

Dave

[BobFV1]

I kind of like the brown that BMW pipe turn - and I plan to have a lot of brown on the bottom side of the GS a lot of the time.

I must admit, mrmaico, your pipes certainlly have a lot of aesthetic appeal, but i am more of a John Madden type when it comes to my bikes - the pics at the top of this post are probably the last ones you will ever see with the bike really completely clean.....

Thanks for all the great comments, guys.... Welcome to the board, mrmaico - tell us more about your bike and your riding.....

[mrmaico]

Unfortunately the header pipes and cat are one piece on the GS so I was only able to have them do the outside. If I had the bucks I would have gotten Remus headers and eliminated the cat but that will have to wait for another day.

Barry

[Deans BMW]

Barry, welcome to the board, sit down, have a cup o and enjoy. Please fill out your profile as it adds to the flavor of the espresso grind.

[mrmaico]

Thanks Bob and Dean, I just picked up the GS last fall after having an R80RT and R65 for a couple of years. They were the first street bikes I'd ever owned after riding various dirt bikes in the 70's and 80's.

Sadly here in North Dakota there isn't much for nice twisties or off road to ride so I get down to the Black Hills whenever I can. I spent a couple of days down there this week and had a blast. I'm still pretty nervous in the dirt on the big GS so I took it pretty easy. One of these days I will have to do a writeup and post some pics but right now it's too damn nice out so I'm going for a ride!

Barry
http://images.fotopic.net/ybor7e.jpg

[DarthRider]

Welcome Barry, glad to have ya'!

Tell us more about where you ride.

Dave

[rivi]

Bob, not all turn to shit brown. It is possible to polish a turd, if you catch it early. Mine were on the edge of turning to kaka at ~ 2K miles. Spent some quality time with Colonel Brassy. Are now a beautiful shiny purple, blue, and gold...

Congrats on the new GSA!

[BobFV1]

Note to self -



It is possible to polish a turd, if you catch it early

[supermotoC]

http://www.advrider.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=71019&stc=1&d=1144606647

http://www.advrider.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=71020&stc=1&d=1144606694

http://www.advrider.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=71021&stc=1&d=1144606729

ST wheels, Akro can, might be a very nice ride.
(nicked from AdvRider)

[Deans BMW]

Collyer, that is good looking.

[mrmaico]

Welcome Barry, glad to have ya'!

Tell us more about where you ride.

Dave

I assume you meant the Black Hills Dave? They're in South Dakota, Sturgis is on the northeast edge. They're the highest mountains east of the Rockies. There was still quite a bit of snow in the higher elevations last week and it looks like they got dumped on pretty good the last few days. Interstate 94 to the west of here was closed last night due to snow but all we got here in Bismarck was rain.
I've heard that there are supposedly 3000 miles of unpaved roads/trails in the Hills and most of it is open to riding! We used to go dirt biking down there in the late 70's and had a blast. So far I've only done a little bit of off road on my GS, pretty nervous of dropping that heavy/expensive bike but I'm sure I'll be doing more as time goes on.

Here are a few pics from down there, a couple were from when I met my brother there last fall when he brought a couple of ATVs with him. A person could have a lot of fun there on one of those. They let you ride the shoulder of the highways on one...nice for getting from place to place.

The paved roads there are awesome too....lots of twisties...from 1st gear to 6th! Last week the place was almost deserted, no touristas yet.:eusa_clap: I saw a mountain goat right by Mount Rushmore just standing on the shoulder of the highway grazing on the grass, he was letting people walk up to within a few feet of him.

Thanks for the welcome guys...Barry
http://barrybuelow.fotopic.net/c677769.html

[DarthRider]

Excellent!
I nearly got gored by a Buffalo once on those roads...
Beautiful country.
Cool Maico, Mr. Maico!

Dave