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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:even the BMWMOA magazine has acknowledged the issue and almost came around to criticizing BMW for it. they said it was something about the pressure put on the bearing. but they also implied the pressure was adjustable, making it really just an assembly issue, which it doesnt really look like it would be in that picture. but then i'm not familiar with those single sided swingarm contraptions. 2 BMW master mechanics I've talked to say the issue is using 1 part for nearly all the bikes. The lighter bikes like the R1100S, R1100R, R1150R, R1150ST and R!100RT and R1150RT tend to have few if any issues with the final drive, the GS particularly the 1150GS and the K1200LT their luxo liner run in to more common failures. Part of the issue is weight, the bigger bikes strain the bearing more and the GS bikes tend to fail if the bike is commonly overloaded (BMW spec for overloading is very very low, the load that my rear rack is rated to is 5lbs.) I wish that they would produce a heavier duty part for the final drive. (I have heard rumor that the final drives built for the new GSs with the lower gearing are supposedly tougher, but that's just rumor.) I've looked pretty long and hard at the R1100S and I've never even heard of a single person needing the final drive replaced that wasn't the result of running low on fluid, on R1150Rs and R1100Rs it's also a fairly rare occurrence. Ola I think the R1100S is a pretty sweet bike and I for one really like the telelever suspension on bad pavement, however the sound that an ST4S makes when it has termogucci (sp?) pipe is downright amazing. If you do go for the Beamer you do really want heated grips and the luggage. It's not too hard to find a set of luggage second hand. The cases are designed to fit on multiple bikes. Another to check out is the K1200RS, one of the smoothest bikes ever made. I owned a Sprint RS and while I loved the engine I never thought the suspension was that great. PlasticSun fucked around with this message at 06:26 on Aug 11, 2009 |
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Aug 11, 2009 06:23
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PlasticSun posted:2 BMW master mechanics I've talked to say the issue is using 1 part for nearly all the bikes. GS bikes tend to fail if the bike is commonly overloaded (BMW spec for overloading is very very low, the load that my rear rack is rated to is 5lbs.) I have to wonder if the environment the bike gets used in adds to the trouble. I know that I rode my GS like a dirt bike on the unpaved Taylor highway and on the Klondike loop. My bike has Ohlins and while they do a wonderful job of smoothing out the ride, they may be masking the pounding the final is getting from the raod. But come on dammit, it's adverteased as an adventure bike. It should have somewhat more robust assemblies.
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Aug 11, 2009 06:59
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PlasticSun posted:termogucci (sp? Termignoni
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Aug 11, 2009 15:34
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Gnomad posted:I have to wonder if the environment the bike gets used in adds to the trouble. I know that I rode my GS like a dirt bike on the unpaved Taylor highway and on the Klondike loop. My bike has Ohlins and while they do a wonderful job of smoothing out the ride, they may be masking the pounding the final is getting from the raod. I agree, I think the GS final drive should be made much stronger, I just finished up a trip on my R1150R with 100lbs of gear and a passenger and I was contantly checking the final drive due to the extra weight. It's an annoying thing to have to continually worry about it if you load it up for a long trip which is what BMW advertises all their riders doing.
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Aug 11, 2009 20:26
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i noticed from looking at photos that that main bearing in the final drive looks about the same size (maybe same type even) as the one in my 1955 model.
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Aug 11, 2009 20:33
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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/08/motorcyclist-dies-in-ventura-county-road-rage-incident-.htmlquote:Motorcyclist dies in apparent Ventura County road rage incident Darwin Award winner right here, brake checking a loving RV and wearing only a brain bucket.
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Aug 11, 2009 21:18
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redscare posted:http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/08/motorcyclist-dies-in-ventura-county-road-rage-incident-.html But hey, the RV driver failed to maintain a safe travel distance so the biker wins! (posthumously) 
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Aug 11, 2009 21:34
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redscare posted:http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/08/motorcyclist-dies-in-ventura-county-road-rage-incident-.html I was just riding on route 1 and the 101 last week and I was amazed at how much horrific behavior there was on that road coming from the cruiser crowd. Big packs of bikes would make it near impossible to pass and accelerate hard in the straights before nearly parking in corners. I was seeing bikes holding up trains of RVs, trucks and passenger cars. A few times we had to pull over just to let the parade get about 10-15 miles in front of us so we could enjoy the road on our own.
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Aug 11, 2009 21:42
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PlasticSun posted:I was just riding on route 1 and the 101 last week and I was amazed at how much horrific behavior there was on that road coming from the cruiser crowd. Big packs of bikes would make it near impossible to pass and accelerate hard in the straights before nearly parking in corners. I was seeing bikes holding up trains of RVs, trucks and passenger cars. A few times we had to pull over just to let the parade get about 10-15 miles in front of us so we could enjoy the road on our own. That stretch of the 101 is a hotbed for imbeciles on cruisers. The 1 is for imbeciles on sportbikes. 
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Aug 11, 2009 23:01
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redscare posted:http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/08/motorcyclist-dies-in-ventura-county-road-rage-incident-.html A lot of weekend warriors tend to ride their bikes in the same aggressive manner as they drive their trucks. Works well to maintain the bad rear end attitude, doesn't work so well to maintain the structural integrity of your skull.
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Aug 11, 2009 23:31
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autozone had a relay that looks like it will precisely fit the connector and mounting bolt for the old starter relay on my 1984 moto guzzi. and it was $6. i'm floored.
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Aug 11, 2009 23:35
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PlasticSun posted:I was just riding on route 1 and the 101 last week and I was amazed at how much horrific behavior there was on that road coming from the cruiser crowd. Big packs of bikes would make it near impossible to pass and accelerate hard in the straights before nearly parking in corners. I was seeing bikes holding up trains of RVs, trucks and passenger cars. A few times we had to pull over just to let the parade get about 10-15 miles in front of us so we could enjoy the road on our own. I was up 1 to drop off the pig this weekend, between San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz, and it was fantasticly clear in the morning, but in the afternoon on the way back I did a lot of...safe but illegal passing to get around the idiots. Only saw one other motorcycle going my way though, a Speed Triple stuck behind a bunch of cars.
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Aug 12, 2009 00:06
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Just got word back from the Mechanic, hes ordered a new Jet kit and a diaphragm cover. He also said there was something capped off on the carbs which was causing the crazy revving. So yeah, i'm happy 
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Aug 12, 2009 22:16
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$60 for the brake and light inspection.  Spending way too much money on the bike...I think its time I craigslisted my TV
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Aug 12, 2009 22:51
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http://www.cmsnl.com/m/mini-bikes_model7149/worlds-fastest-monkey.html Some dude is attempting a land speed record on a seriously built Honda Z50. Which is totally awesome in my book.
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Aug 14, 2009 15:08
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Survived the outbound leg of my longest trip so far. Left an hour later than I had originally planned, got caught in start of rush hour traffic which delayed me further, and in a bizarre twist, 2 friends driving up ended up right behind me on the last road up, a small, twisty sideroad that would be excellent in the day but was a bit iffy in the darkness. Feels good to test one's limits Route 19/Harburn Road out of Haliburton. Chris Knight fucked around with this message at 19:53 on Aug 19, 2009 |
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Aug 14, 2009 18:54
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Today I rode out to one of the local Triumph dealers since they supposedly have a couple used anniversary VFRs in stock. I couldn't find them if that was the case, but it's entirely possible they had them somewhere I couldn't get to since the place was packed to the gills. I probably couldn't have sat one if I wanted to (which was the ultimate goal, since that would determine if I'd consider getting one). So I made the most of it, and looked at the Triump line, sitting on pretty much everything they had in stock. Now I want a Street Triple R. Great. That said, does anyone know if the VFR riding position is at all similar to the Sprint ST?
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Aug 15, 2009 23:44
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Endless Mike posted:Today I rode out to one of the local Triumph dealers since they supposedly have a couple used anniversary VFRs in stock. I couldn't find them if that was the case, but it's entirely possible they had them somewhere I couldn't get to since the place was packed to the gills. I probably couldn't have sat one if I wanted to (which was the ultimate goal, since that would determine if I'd consider getting one). So I made the most of it, and looked at the Triump line, sitting on pretty much everything they had in stock. Now I want a Street Triple R. Great. From what I recall the Sprint is a little more aggressive than the VFR. Been forever since I played with a VFR though.
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Aug 16, 2009 01:50
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The Sprint and VFR are going to be really close in riding position-if those 2 were your choices you'd really want to try both to see which you prefer. I do love that anniversary VFR, as i did have a couple of the first gen Interceptors. The 83 I had was my first "good" bike and the 84 was the bike that got me back into riding after a few years away.
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Aug 16, 2009 03:58
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Yeah, I'm just kind of looking. I doubt I'd get the Sprint since it's a good bit more bike than I think I can handle at this point. I was mostly just sitting on what was there since the Triumph dealers are quite a bit further from me than the Big Four dealers (which don't seem to carry VFRs at all). I guess my problem is that I don't really have room for more than one bike, and there's not a lot of choices in middleweight sport tourers (VFR, F800ST, and I guess some of the smaller adventure bikes would also work). I guess I could kit the poo poo out of the SV. Maybe I should hit up the BMW dealer.
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Aug 16, 2009 04:10
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If you're real determined to get a VFR, the big-four dealer that's honda-focused should be able to get one in for you, it's not like there's none left in the country. You might not get the deal on it that you would on an in-stock bike, though. Actually I'm surprised you'd have trouble finding one, honda's been in the process of consolidating their dealerships into single-brand houses like car dealers do, which to my mind would make it easy to find at least one of every honda. If your dealers have managed to avoid the powerhouse curse but still have 2009/2010 product, that's actually kind of interesting in its own right.
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Aug 16, 2009 07:03
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Got my license last friday. The SIUE rider program is pretty quick getting the DMV waivers out. Rode to my home town saturday, holy poo poo Illinois sucks so bad. The back roads are just as straight and boring as the interstate. Except they take twice as long and are bumpy as poo poo. I saw a sign that basically said "lovely roads ahead." Ugh. But god drat, I hit rain twice on the way back. I knew I should've ordered the rain gear, but the weather was fine when I left saturday. I-72 between springfield and quincy is the most boring road I've ever been on. Without music it's just a slow spiral into insanity. Also, GOT to get a new windscreen. Stock send air right at my head. So yeah, finally being on a bike kicks so much rear end.
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Aug 17, 2009 04:42
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Methusulah posted:Without music it's just a slow spiral into insanity. The best music comes from the tailpipe!
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Aug 17, 2009 22:25
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Endless Mike posted:I guess my problem is that I don't really have room for more than one bike, and there's not a lot of choices in middleweight sport tourers (VFR, F800ST, and I guess some of the smaller adventure bikes would also work). I guess I could kit the poo poo out of the SV. Maybe I should hit up the BMW dealer. I'll sell you my ZZR600 with heli-bars and corbin seat. It's almost a sport tourer.
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Aug 17, 2009 22:42
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If you've got decent seat time on an SV I don't see why you'd have much trouble with pretty much any bike. Hillsboro Motorsports near Portland WA is selling new '07 VFRs for $7k. Just FYI.
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Aug 19, 2009 00:21
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n8r posted:If you've got decent seat time on an SV I don't see why you'd have much trouble with pretty much any bike. Hillsboro Motorsports near Portland WA is selling new '07 VFRs for $7k. Just FYI.
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Aug 19, 2009 00:35
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Did my first big distance (for me) ride this past weekend, 240km each way, mostly through 2 lane country highways, to my friend's cottage up near Algonquin Park. If I wasn't before, I'm now completely addicted to this riding thing. Big thanks to whoever suggested stretching out on the passenger pegs, it made the long cruises at speed much more bearable! This was my 2nd rest stop & refuelling point on the way back. Thankfully it didn't rain, but when I stopped for lunch an hour and a bit later, the humidity & heat was insane. 
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Aug 19, 2009 03:05
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PlasticSun posted:I agree, I think the GS final drive should be made much stronger, I just finished up a trip on my R1150R with 100lbs of gear and a passenger and I was contantly checking the final drive due to the extra weight. It's an annoying thing to have to continually worry about it if you load it up for a long trip which is what BMW advertises all their riders doing. I'm not so sure it's the weight that's an issue. I think those early-mid 00s just have drive issues, my old man's 99 GS1100 lost a seal in the back end, dumped all the oil out but didn't hurt much. My 87 K bike has the earlier rear end on the monlever and it hasn't given me problem 1 in 45 thousand miles. It seems that the progress goes original final drive pretty much everything BMW used through the 70s is great. Can't break it but through neglect. the monolever they went to in the 80s was almost as good. The rear end after that on the 1100s and 1150s is pretty troublesome. I know noone with it that hasn't at least lost a seal. The newest rear end they started putting on them around when they changed all hte R bikes to the hexhead, 2007ish? I know nothing about- but I haven't heard anything bad and that's probably good. If it ain't BMW get the gently caress out of our way!  ...unless we are broken down with a failed final drive... then- for god sake, help us, those fuckers weigh too much to push to town.
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Aug 20, 2009 17:06
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I got my 07 Yamah- sorry, STAR 1300 back from the shop after its break-in service yesterday. Must say it rides like a different bike, the freeplay in the throttle before taking it in resulted in a big fat dead zone at the bottom of the throttle, so that even if I rolled on carefully, I'd get a big jolt when the engine computer finally got the message. The throttle/coast transition is still a little abrupt (they say its the nature of the beast), but I can actually finesse it properly now. New discovery: the bike DOES have a petcock after all. But it's one I'm not supposed to flip. Turns out the technician forgot to turn the fuel back on so once I was through the bladder under the saddle, the bike turned off and I thought I had gone insane cause it did exactly what a carbed bike would do when it's time to flip it to reserve. It's a good thing I was going in a straight line in 5th gear or it coulda been dangerous (the wife recently demonstrated what a low speed turn with the fuel off results in; a munched turn signal and a pulled leg muscle). On the upside, my tool kit got its first use. I had to undo an Allen bolt to to get to the petcock, hah. So 600 miles down, hopefully many thousands to go. Plan to ride out to Mt. Rainier this weekend. That should put me at around 900mi on the clock, after that only 100 until break-in is over! clutchpuck fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Aug 20, 2009 |
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Aug 20, 2009 21:09
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Goddamn i hate my local Suzuki. Today i walked in to hear the salesman talking to a women saying that Hyosung GT's are "EXACTLY THE SAME!" bike as a Suzuki GS and that they are "built in the same factory!". That Suzuki's just cost more and there's no real advantage. Also their tires cost MORE than rrp.
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Aug 21, 2009 15:28
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Dubs posted:Goddamn i hate my local Suzuki. Today i walked in to hear the salesman talking to a women saying that Hyosung GT's are "EXACTLY THE SAME!" bike as a Suzuki GS and that they are "built in the same factory!". That Suzuki's just cost more and there's no real advantage. Wow, as a suzuki GS? Not even an SV? 
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Aug 21, 2009 15:29
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Yeah, that old myth that they have the same engine is somehow now a selling tool.
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Aug 21, 2009 15:32
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Dubs posted:Yeah, that old myth that they have the same engine is somehow now a selling tool.  It's true that they did make the gen one SV engines, and the hyosung engine looks a lot like an SV engine, as it was pretty obviously based on it. But then again, SV engines don't seem to have this problem with magically exploding that hyosung engines do.
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Aug 21, 2009 15:36
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Dubs posted:Hyosung Are these anything more than just a chinese knockoff? The prices at the local shops here seem way too good to be true.
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Aug 21, 2009 15:38
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they made ONE run of SV blocks. And suzuki rejected them. the motors are only similar in that they're 650cc v twins. They really aren't similar otherwise.Raven457 posted:Are these anything more than just a chinese knockoff? The prices at the local shops here seem way too good to be true. Nerobro fucked around with this message at 15:47 on Aug 21, 2009 |
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Aug 21, 2009 15:38
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Z3n posted:It's true that they did make the gen one SV engines, and the hyosung engine looks a lot like an SV engine, as it was pretty obviously based on it. But then again, SV engines don't seem to have this problem with magically exploding that hyosung engines do. Oops yeah, got my poo poo mixed up, in that case its even worse.  The lady was gone when i walked out so atleast she buy anything while i was there. Raven457 posted:Are these anything more than just a chinese knockoff? The prices at the local shops here seem way too good to be true. Korean, there some really bad stories around about them. They are suddenly expensive in Australia. They sell when because its pretty much the only faired bike you could buy under the learner system (now we have the Ninja 250 and i'm sure their sales have dumped). They also sell a 'restricted' 650 under the learner laws that can be unrestricted easily, so i'm sure they are still selling them.
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Aug 21, 2009 15:55
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Nerobro posted:they made ONE run of SV blocks. And suzuki rejected them. the motors are only similar in that they're 650cc v twins. They really aren't similar otherwise. Huh, after some more research, it looks like Hyosung "co produced" some SV engines. Regardless, things appear similar enough with the block and casting that's fairly obvious that they cribbed a fair bit off of suzuki's designs. Build quality is poo poo on the bikes though. I was astounded at how poorly things looked.
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Aug 21, 2009 16:44
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Just a reminder to do your pre-ride checks. I got back from Dragon this morning, and decided to wax my chain while it was still warm and noticed that I'm missing lots of teeth off the rear sprocket. I've known that it was time to replace that poo poo for a while, but a simple inspection this morning could have saved me a ride to the hospital had it thrown the chain. Also, clean and wax your chain like you're supposed to.
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Aug 23, 2009 21:26
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What's the most ridiculous thing you guys have transported/done on your bike? I just went with a bodyboard in a board bag and wore it like a backpack. It wasn't too far of a journey but I definitely got some looks. I've put bits in plastic bags on the handle bars. Other than that I did go through a drive-thru once but after that I only had to ride 2 blocks. I assume you've all carried a set of tires around your body and a pizza on the gas tank.
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Aug 24, 2009 02:20
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Other than totally overloading the rear rack on my bike, nothing out of the ordinary. I did follow my friend when he rode with a chainsaw sticking out from the back of his bike. That was interesting.
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Aug 24, 2009 02:57
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