I've Turned to The Dark Side...

[Lost Rider]

I'm in Death Valley with r1150r's own Dan-A... we had a great day ripping it up in the dirt, added some new scratches and dents to the 8GS's... here the ADV link of whats going on and thought I'd share before my battery dies...
cheers!


http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=427909

[tobes]

Ooh that looks like fun. Well maybe not the flying duc part but he get's an A for effort. Now I really must get out to Death Valley for a ride.

[Ves]

Thought this might be of use:

http://www.quality-cycle.com/truth_abou ... chains.htm

[Lost Rider]

Thought this might be of use:

http://www.quality-cycle.com/truth_abou ... chains.htm

Thanks Ves, very informative.


cheers


finn

[lewellen]

A good ( DID or RK are an excellent brand) properly adjusted X or O ring chain does not just break. I'd want to find out what caused it to fail. New X/O ring chains are pre-streched.. there should be minimal streching on a new chain. The weak point is of course always the master link; but a riveted masterlink should also not fail. Keep in mind that there are many more chain drive bikes than shafties, and chain fialure isn't a common ocurance. If you're gonna put big miles on this bike I's strongly recommend a Scott Oiler, prolly add 10K miles to the life of the chain.

Re DID & RK, they are good; however, if you get a hard rock or other piece of strong debris in just the wrong spot as it enters a sprocket, it can break a chain. Not very common, but it does happen.

Re ScottOilers, I had one on my old KLR650. They do work, but I never found the sweet spot between "chain is dry and oil reservoir is full after 1000 miles" and "chain is dripping on the garage floor and oil reservoir is empty after 10 miles" on the drip control.

Good roads,

- Lewellen

[Lost Rider]

How time fly by when you're having fun...
I now have 12,000 miles on my GS and the chain has held up, stretched quite a bit, but OK.
More than likely I will replace the chain with a DID before my next big adventure.
Thanks for the info.

[Bill Stevenson]

This chain must have been defective. Chains are extremely reliable these days, probably more so than shaft drives actually. I would like to offer opposing advice about the Scott Oiler, though. I had one installed on my Triumph Sprint ST and it was the only problem item on an otherwise bullet proof bike. Definitely not worth the expense or hassle. Keep in mind that "O" ring chains are internally lubricated at all times. The need to provide external lubrication is minimal and actually may be counter productive on a machine ridden off road. That is because lube on the outside of the chain attracts and holds dirt, whereas a dry chain actually stays clean longer. I use a very light coating of chain lube and wipe it off to dry or nearly so on all my chain driven bikes. The best lube I have used is sold in bicycle stores and it is called Rock N' Roll Gold, which is supposed to stay dry or nearly so. It still collects dirt and I wipe the chains every day that I ride each bike so equipped.

Bill

[vielzebub]

Wow. 12,000 miles already?!

Good for you. Sounds like the GS is being put to good use....
I saw my first one this weekend. Black and Yellow at Max's in NH. It's a great looking bike. Seems nice and narrow and not too tall. I was afraid to hop on though. I mean, what if I like it? What to do with my R?

Instead, I'll keep my head in the sand and continue to sit astride my black R and not wonder too much what I'm missing.
Thanks for all your posts chitown.

[ka5ysy]

Wow. 12,000 miles already?!

Good for you. Sounds like the GS is being put to good use....
I saw my first one this weekend. Black and Yellow at Max's in NH. It's a great looking bike. Seems nice and narrow and not too tall. I was afraid to hop on though. I mean, what if I like it? What to do with my R?

Instead, I'll keep my head in the sand and continue to sit astride my black R and not wonder too much what I'm missing.
Thanks for all your posts chitown.

Our dealership has had several appear and be sold pretty quickly. I jumped on one and took a ride while the RR was in for a 12K service, and really had a ball on the 800GS. It is very light, quite obviously so when compared to the feel of the RR. The GS has pretty good low speed handling and does very nice low speed tight turns. Only peculiar thing I noted instantly is that the throttle action is kind of an on-off switch. It reacts very fast and comes on quickly. Several motorcycle magazines have noted the same thing on the demo bikes they tested. The interesting thing is that the F650 version of the bike apparently has a different throttle mapping, and it much easier to roll on small increments for low speed maneuvering. Many noted it as a "smoother" throttle than the F800. I would suggest that anyone who rides one of these the first time to take some time and get a feel for the friction zone and the fast throttle action. There will probably be a few unintended wheelies with the bike! It also has a definitely different feel of vibration from the inline twin engine: much higher frequency vibes felt in the bars. Again, different but not objectionable. The ride, from the plush suspension, is nice but the seat would be the first thing to change for me. It is a typical BMW plank.

In summary, it is a nice fun bike if you want to do some real dual sporting, but it did not grab me the way the RR did when I sat on it and took the infamous test ride. I guess that BMW forgot the nanobots in the seat that the RR has to instantly infect you and cause the checkbook to magically jump out of your pocket.

So what to do if you like it? MBS. Multiple Bike Syndrome