The bikes and the gear....

Micky

Never knowingly understood
UKGSer Subscriber
Joined
Nov 13, 2005
Messages
23,942
Reaction score
999
Location
South Yorkshire
OK the trip ended abruptly in northern Pakistan, but we had done some 7,500 miles on crap roads and no roads to get there :eek:

In any case the F800GS has now done 36,000 miles :thumb

36,000 great miles I might add :thumb2

So how did the bikes and the equipment fare? Wunderlich helped me no end by giving me stuff to test and evaluate... no holds barred, saying nothing here that I haven't already told them :eek:

Throttle lock ... great piece of equipment :thumb2

Seat ... slopes forward and so uncomfortable when braking downhill. A pre production test piece, I hope they listen :mmmm

Engine protection guard/oil filter/heat exchanger ... Fiddly to fit, over the top and takes twice as many mounting screws, some small and fiddly, to mount, in comparison with the BMW piece. Having said all that it doesn't even protect as well as the BMW one, leaving the lower engine nearside and offside, the lower exhaust, unprotected :blast

Trax Panniers ... They leaked from the outset, the frames are flimsy and bend oh so easy. Held together by Zuz quick release fasteners the frames and panniers bent at a drop from standstill and for the rest of the trip were out of alignment. Sue dropped her bike several times in the Gobi desert four years ago and the Hepco Becker panniers/frames never flinched! I guess you get what you pay for! The locks could easily be 'sprung' ... not impressed :eek:

Rear hugger ... a bit of a fiddle to fit, but it certainly kept the rear suspension unit clean :thumb

Wilbers suspension ... supplied by Wilbers and a revelation. Bloody fantastic. The front springs and oil, and rear unit, made soooo much difference :thumb2

Pivot Pegz ... great piece o' kit. They made standing on the pegs sure footed. Beautifully made they should be mounted on a wooden plinth and displayed in your dining room :thumb

Tank Bag ... the Wunderlich tank bag is the tops. No reservations 10 out of 10. Does what it says on the tin :thumb

Peli camera case ... fitted as a 'top box' was the tops too. No dust, grime or grit got in there. Wired with a 12v car cig lighter outlet I was able to charge the mobile phones, iPods and Samsung NC10 lap top while in there :thumb

The DID chains fitted to both bikes never even needed adjusting :)

Samsung NC10 laptop ... top piece of equipment. WiFi in several hotels, able to download and re-size photographs, and compose updates even when camping, to send later :clap

I must load it with more games than Mahjong for the next adventure :eek:

GPS - BMW Navigator III+ ... Maps of Europe down to street level, otherwise the track logs were downloaded on a regular basis for the website.

GPS - Garmin Quest ... Great piece o' kit, had the World map installed and otherwise used as a compass to the days end destination :thumb

Sue's TTR 250R

Larger 22L petrol tank :cool:

Home made pannier frames to keep the Australian 'AndyStrapz' throwover panniers in place. Worked a treat, were more waterproof, sandproof and crashproof than the Trax panniers :D I totally agree here with Timolgra that maybe soft throwover panniers are much better for the real rufty tufty overlanding adventurer than hard cases could ever be :thumb

GPS - Garmin Zumo 550 with maps of Europe installed and the World Map on an SD card :thumb

Two bits of equipment neither of us would do without?

1) a pair of Crox

2) an iPod

:beerjug:

Maybe nothing to do with the engine protection plate, probably just a 'one off' but after many miles in roadworks a small stone had been thrown up in to the radiator fan housing. When later, riding in to Quetta, the fan was asked to come on, it couldn't, and the engine overheated and spewed boiling water all over the instruments and inside of the windscreen. It's a testement to the strength of the engine that no lasting damage was done, but for a moment is was touch and go :eek:

Riding together, a Yamaha TT250R and an F800GS we averaged the same mpg, about 80 ish. We were able to wave and smile to people, stop and talk. At greater speed we would have missed soooo much.

Couldn't miss the fecker that turned in to Sue's path though. Even Houdini couldn't have got out of that one :eek:

1) Pannier frames
2) Twisted pannier frames
3) Well they leaked before
4) Hugger keeps the Wilbers clean for sure
5) Pivot Pegz :thumb
 

Attachments

  • Pannier frames.jpg
    Pannier frames.jpg
    116.3 KB · Views: 1,995
  • Twisted pannier frames.jpg
    Twisted pannier frames.jpg
    88.9 KB · Views: 1,970
  • Well they leaked before.jpg
    Well they leaked before.jpg
    84.7 KB · Views: 1,957
  • The hugger keeps the Wilbers clean.jpg
    The hugger keeps the Wilbers clean.jpg
    89.9 KB · Views: 1,953
  • Pivot-Pegz.jpg
    Pivot-Pegz.jpg
    101.4 KB · Views: 2,026
More piccies...

1) The fan housing... a stone in here almost bust the engine :eek:
2) Engine protection ... not! Twice as many mounting points, some small and fiddly, and doesn't protect as well as the BMW version with half the mounting points :eek:

The bike went down three times and the engine bars never touched down, so 'over the top' ?? Over to you....

3) Relocated front brake reservoir came to no harm after three falls and one submission :eek:
4) Peli case 'top box' came out tops :thumb
 

Attachments

  • Fan housing, a stone in here...jpg
    Fan housing, a stone in here...jpg
    93.2 KB · Views: 1,939
  • Engine protection.jpg
    Engine protection.jpg
    84.9 KB · Views: 1,967
  • Relocated brake reservoir.jpg
    Relocated brake reservoir.jpg
    106.3 KB · Views: 1,948
  • Peli case 'top box'.jpg
    Peli case 'top box'.jpg
    106.8 KB · Views: 1,910
TTR250R

Sue's TT250R had home made pannier frames and throwover panniers by AndyStrapz, (Australia) and they faired much better than the Trax panniers on the 800. More crash resistant, more waterproof and more dust/sand proof :eek:

:beerjug:
 

Attachments

  • Panniers rails and rack TTR250.jpg
    Panniers rails and rack TTR250.jpg
    112.8 KB · Views: 1,919
  • TTR panniers and 22L tank.jpg
    TTR panniers and 22L tank.jpg
    88.5 KB · Views: 1,910
Handguards by Wunderlich? They look to give better weather protection compared to the BM ones.


Shhhhhhhh they're from Touratech :blast

Wunderlich never noticed, but just happens John that they do the job better :eek:

I wuzn't about to give them up :eek:

:beerjug:
 
Shhhhhhhh they're from Touratech :blast

Wunderlich never noticed, but just happens John that they do the job better :eek:

I wuzn't about to give them up :eek:

:beerjug:

Ok "Wunderlich" ones they are ;)

Interesting seeing the mods and how the little bike seemed to do all that the 800 did :bow
 
Nice one Micky, it's very useful to have a 'real life' report on how equipment fares rather than what amounts to no more than speculation:clap
 
Interesting seeing the mods and how the little bike seemed to do all that the 800 did :bow

Let's change the perspective here for a mo ... the 800 did all that the TTR did also ...

But one thing is for sure John, you don't need a big bike... that's an ego thing methinks :eek:

Any bike will do... for sure any bike will do :thumb

For South America I'm seriously thinking about geting the '79 MZ Supa five out of the boxes and rebuilding :rob

:beerjug:
 
Just fitted a 1450 Pelicase as a top box on my new bike. What size was the Pelicase you put on the 800 Micky?

Can't remember the model designation, but it's not particularly big, as you can see from the photo's.

I wired a car cig lighter socket inside, wired through a Centech unit next to the battery, and can charge the mobile phones, the iPod and lap top while on the move. The Samsung NC10 is secured in to the top lid of the Peli case with velcro straps and foam, and to date hasn't come to any harm, even on some of the roughest terrain possible, and a collision with a car :eek:

:beerjug:
 

Attachments

  • Peli case.jpg
    Peli case.jpg
    105.6 KB · Views: 1,857


Back
Top Bottom