One Year

              
I have owned my F800GS for almost a year now and absolutely love the bike.

Work commitments prevented me from riding a lot, or installing “farkles” on my bike for the first seven month of ownership, but I still managed to ride close to 20 000km. anyway.

OK where to start....I think upgrades or personalising would be a good start.
I have been able to add a few more things since my last post:

 

Bitubo rear shock and fork upgrade.

Reasons for this upgrade:  

1)  I am approximately 110 kilograms including riding gear.

2)  I like to use the bike for the intended purpose as an “Adventure Bike”.

3)  I want to be able to load gear without compromising spring travel too much.

4)  Heavier fork springs and cartridges to avoid bottoming out off road and damaging the rim.

All in all the upgrade was worth the money, fully adjustable to any riding condition in the blink of an eye. Off road and also on, for the occasional day out with the “Big Boys”.

Remus headers and Hexacone, combined with the PowercommanderV , Auto tune module

And also K&N air filter.

Reasons:

1)      Performance increase.”Naturally”

2)      Better sound.

3)      Less weight.

The new exhaust system alone did not do the trick, since the machine will not work very efficient.  The exhaust breathing situation was solved, now the air intake had to increase also.

After looking at different options I installed the K&N filter. Also looked at the “UNI -filter” good filter also but more suited to dirt bikes.

 The next step was the PowercommanderV . It was relatively easy to install but needed a dyno run, since no map for my exhaust system air filter configuration was available.

The final step was the Auto tune module a little beauty it fine adjusts the fuel/air ratio while riding. Similar to the OEM sensor set up, but using a Bosch wideband sensor and no limits to adjustment.   It will adjust to riding style; high and low grade fuel, tyres, temperature conditions and so on.  Like a little dyno under the seat. This upgrade has worked about 9000km. flawless so far.

Dyno results before correct map: Max Power=76.01 Max Torque=52.57 Ft-lb

Dyno results correct map but not finetuned: Max Power=82.2 Max Torque=56.4 Ft-lb

These results are at the wheel.

Added bonuses: A lot less back burn (POP), and complete loss of abrupt throttle response which makes stand up riding much more comfortable.

Tyres: I still like the Continental “Trail Attack” it performs better than it should, (just by looking at it) on gravel / sand and is very nice on road also. I estimate this set to last about 12 000km. maybe a bid more.

Reliability, Recalls, and Warranty issues:

1)      Air filter recall.....did not matter to me since I have the K&N filter.

2)      Valve cover slight weep on left side, was fixed under warranty while being
       at the10 000km. Service (same day pick up) no issues since.

3)      And.... ‘Yibbidy Yibbida’....that’s it folks.

Honestly reliability has not been an issue after close to 20 000km.

My F800GS has handled all I can dish out, with ease and never missed a beat.

All I do is keep the bike clean, lubricate and clean the chain and also the bearing seals and wheel axles. I use the recommended Staburax grease for the wheel bearing seal since it is a good product and above all it is white, easy to see if a seal starts to fail before it does.

I use that one for the chain, sticks well and also lasts. Added bonus is the small can which I can actually fill with the big one. The small one lives on the bike.

Again I love my bike.... and so does the neighbour’s cat, must be a colour thing or something?

One step closer to the bike and the Lasers will cut you into pieces!!!!

Quality Time

Finally able to take seven days off work and spend some quality time with my ride.

.

I will be spending a lot of time on sealed surfaces in the coming month, so I went for a tire change. After a lot of research I bought the Continental ‘Trail Attack’. TKC80 will have to go on my second set of wheels for now. First impressions with the tyres are excellent. Very stable, especially on the front at speed of 120km onwards. I have only done a very small amount of gravel road on my last ride but so far so good.


I also spent some time to install most of the nice farkles I was able to buy while I was working away.


Wonderful world online....... makes it easy to spend all the money you make!

 
 

 
  I started up with removing some panels to allow for easy installation.

The two pictures below show the mounting of the Touratech cradle plate onto the Wunderlich solid handlebar plate, which gives you some mounting options trough threaded holes. Note that the plate is mounted on an angle to bring the GPS in a better viewing position.

 

 

 The next picture shows the finished installation.
Note the rubber grommets for reduced vibration.

Also the lock to add a bid of security against the grab and run membersof our society!

There is a little work involved to install but well worth it I think.

 

Garmin Zumo 660 from a different perspective. The Zumo is the first motorcycle GPS I ever bought.

A great unit easy to operate and very versatile (Car setting bike setting and a walk setting also in case your car breaks down!!).
I have used excellent GPS units on boats before but this is the simplest unit so far.

 

 

 

‘Wunderlich’ driving lights and LED ‘P’ markers for better visibility. (The markers stay on when the driving lights are turned off). The driving lights are a little tricky to assemble but the step by step instructions are easy to follow, including the electrical part of things. I have tried the lights at night and they are definitely helping

to keep the edge of the road well illuminated.

Touratech brake reservoir cover, not cheap but nice.

Wunderlich switch for driving lights. (Next to mirror stem)

Wunderlich driving light with the HD Hero clip on bracket attached.

HD- Hero clipped on in waterproof housing. Great little camera!

Barkbusters mounted. And a few pictures from my ride.

In the Perth hills and the west coast.

Wunderlich adjustable Gearlever and lowered foot peg.


Very handy if you got Size 12.5 crossfire boots!
The leaver also got a safety wire to prevent sticks from getting caught when off-road driving.
Leaver tip is a roller tip and also hinges back! (Perfect)
The lower foot pegs are extremely well designed and make no difference to ground clearance, but a big difference to rider comfort!

Combined with the removal of the foot peg rubber (25mm) the difference is 50mm!

OK farkles lets see….

I got ABS

BMW Panniers

A dealer supply bash plate

Motech crash bar

BMW hand guards

Wunderlich radiator guard

Lowered foot pegs (excellent)

Adjustable gear shifter (excellent)

Solid handlebar plate (not installed yet)

Driving lights (not installed yet)

Side stand enlarger (excellent)

Brake leaver enlarger (have uninstalled that one cannot rest foot in proper position original size is better)

Mudsling (excellent easy install and looks good too)

Xenon conversion from xenon depot (fast shipping professional kit with long cable between ballast and bulb) not installed yet.

I also got a spare set of wheels thanks to Dave who had an unlucky encounter with a deer.

Wish list: Zumo 660 cannot get with Australian maps. (Everything gets to Australia via the old camelback it takes ages!)

The loooong wait is over

In Love......................