Making the Mods.

     Now that I knew what needed to be done, I just had to Git'r Dun...I took a good look at crash protection, I could only find a couple of options and after seeing what they were I decided to modify the Touratech large skid plate that came on Brenda’s bike. I added some extra material on the sides and bottom to provide proper coverage to the engine cases. I bought a piece of 4mm thick aluminum, made some cardboard templates and cut out the pieces. Then began the process of blacksmithing them with the proper bends to fit the contours required prior to welding into place. Welding aluminum requires special equipment so I got a friend of a friend to weld it for me. Sounds quick and easy doesn’t it? Not so much. A blacksmith may take years to master the skill of forming metal, training and some special tools are not uncommon. I had a ball peen hammer, a 4x6 post with a Vee cut in one end, a file, a hacksaw and a jig saw. No problem. In the end it looked something like this, but with less holes.

                                                  

Did someone say Bacon??


Nice doggy...


Then I purchased a second one and modified it the same way and installed it on my bike.

After that there was luggage, I went with soft luggage as it is lighter and does not require any support frame. This kept with the theme of "lighter and smaller is better". In my research for luggage I discovered that several G650xchallenge owners experienced broken sub-frames due to overloading the stock aluminum frame. There are two ways to fix the issue, buy a steel sub-frame to replace the aluminum one or re-enforce the stock aluminum one. Replacing with steel would add the ability to use aluminum panniers but would also add some weight. As I happen to have left over sheet aluminum it only made sense to choose option two. The cutting and shaping of the frame gussets was a little easier than the skid plate as all the pieces needed were flat, they only needed to be shaved and coped then welded on. Now I could feel confident that the weight of the luggage would not break the frame. The second piece of luggage is a tank-bag, this is a handy little storage unit which is generally used to hold frequently used items and I also like to use it for fragile items like camera’s and such. I went with products from Nomad Rider for both pieces.    

                  

From luggage, I moved onto fuel capacity. The 650x has a relatively small fuel tank (2.5 gallons) which still gives fairly decent range (on the CDT ride we got consistently 70mpg) but for long distance travel more range would required. The easiest method to accomplish this is a Kolpin or Rotopax fuel can. These bolt easily onto the luggage rack and the extra fuel can be shared if required. The other popular option is to purchase a very large gas tank that mounts in the traditional location in front of the rider. The 650x stock fuel tank is beneath the seat with the idea that it lowers the center of gravity providing better handling and balance. If the large tank is chosen it needs to be plumbed into the fuel system, this tank also poses a problem for regular maintenance because the air-filter and battery are underneath it. So a simple thing like cleaning the air filter becomes a somewhat larger operation. The removable fuel can also allows for light travel when I know there is no need to carry extra fuel.  With the extra 1.5 gallons of fuel it will be easy to get 300km of range which has always been enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In general I have found that if there are vehicles around there is fuel of some sort available.

Seats...ah we must never underestimate the need for a comfy seat. Unfortunately the G650x is not known for this, in fact just the opposite. The bike was designed with a more off road flavor and as such the seat is mostly an aesthetic item as the rider spends most of the riding time standing on the foot-pegs. After spending some time on the bike I too found the need to stand, even when on pavement, people look at me a little funny when I pass them on the highway and I am standing up...but at least they see me. There are numerous seat manufacturers out there that make very nice touring seats, wide in the saddle, soft in the pocket, all kinds of seating comfort. Surprisingly, Brenda found her seat to be quite comfortable so hers did not require any modifications. Mine, not so much, I found it very hard and narrow in all the wrong places, so I thought I would try my hand at seat customizing. How hard could it be, shave a little foam here and there, stretch the cover back over top and try it out. After a couple of adjustments I feel I have a travel ready seat.

Tires make all the difference in handling and general performance. The possibilities are endless. There are tires more suited for off-road than on and vise versa. There are a few that mingle in both worlds and these are the ones I like because we do both types of riding and swapping tires for every change in terrain is not an option. The Heidenau K60 Scout is a very capable tire for most surfaces and the reviews from riders are that they also get very good wear properties. The rear tire on the average dual purpose bike will get about 10-15 thousand kilometers depending on the rider and how aggressive the throttle is turned. The K60’s report about 20-25 thousand, so that is a great improvement and facilitates longer distance travel without having to worry about replacing worn out rubber.

                               

Electrical, well this is where things can get a little carried away. Some guys like to travel with all kinds of gizmo’s and devices powered off of the bikes electrical system, instead of using disposable batteries.

Personally, I have become accustomed to heated hand grips, a GPS unit, and a helmet camera. Brenda trades the GPS unit for a heated vest. This way we do not overtax the electrical system. This bike also does not have an alternator with the highest output ever invented, again it was designed for a different purpose and the folks at BMW probably did not intend for people to use this as a travel bike. The stock stator has an output rating of only 280W, most of which is used up keeping the bike running, the small balance has to be used wisely so as not to use more power than is being generated and thus killing the battery. A flat battery is not the end of the world but with the newer bikes having Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI), and Electronic Command Units (ECU’s), when the battery is dead everything stops. Literally. No boosting, no push starting, nothing. Just start figuring out how to charge up the battery because that is really the only option. Although we have towed a bike back to town once, which was an experience in and of itself.

Due to the nature of the bike, a windshield was a necessary addition. The stock screen is not much more than a shield for the dash and as such provides no protection for the rider. Again, there are a few options and I chose the Pro-Screen. It is adjustable vertically and horizontally, so it can be positioned just where we want it. They can be quickly removed with only two allan bolts to be loosened and they have a nice style to them. The only place they are available is from Argentina, but surprisingly with shipping included they were just $114 each.

                               

Mirrors, ah, the reflectors into our past. These are also one of the first things to break in a wipeout, mainly due to the nature of design and location. There are new designs that place the mirrors in the handguards and these are probably the best solution but because the bikes already had handguards it seemed like a waste of money to buy more. I opted for the second best thing out there in my opinion, the Double Take Mirrors, a nifty design that uses a Ram-Ball mount with a pivot arm connecting the mirror to the handlebar. This design allows the rider to fold the mirrors down when offroad with the simple twist of wing-nut.


So that is about as basic as I can explain how to prep the bike from an ergonomics point of view. There is of course the mechanical side of the story which involves checking and/or replacing the following:

• Brake fluids and pads (front and rear)
• Wheel bearings and seals (front and rear)
• Fork seals and fork oil
• Stearing head bearings
• Swing arm bearings
• Air Filter cleaning and upgrading to foam filter if not already done.
• Oil and Filter change
• Wiring for electronics (GPS and Helmet Camera)
• Mounting brackets for luggage
• Change spark plugs
• Installation of the heated grips
• Stainless steel wheel spacers
• Acorn nut style axle nuts ( to protect the threads )
• Run spare clutch and throttle cables in case one breaks

And in case you are wondering what that looks like well...something like this. Then I put it all back together and took the front wheel and forks off to do the front end work. So really a rather simple process.

The above picture is an actual picture of my bike. All the other images in this post were borrowed from the web.
Now what do I do with these extra bolts???