2012 BMW G650GS Sertao Owners

Have you ever done a mock emergency braking test on the road? I mean REALLY grab as much brake front and rear as you can with the F650 ABS?

On mine at least once the rear wheel began to slide, that was it for the rear brakes. Nothing. Nota. Just plain scary to me.

I'd much prefer to just back off myself when I feel the wheel slip. At least I'd still have brakes to try again.

But again, that was my experience with my Dakar. Maybe the ABS was screwed up on mine. But it was anything but confidence inspiring!

I ride my Dakar very aggressively on tarmac and have never had any issues with the ABS. I usually apply braking force about 70/30 percent front/back and on the rare occasions that I have activated the rear ABS the bike still slows down fine.

I can understand you not wanting it if you ride a lot offroad with your buddies. Not many chances for me to ride dirt and I'm slow when I do...

I'm pretty sure that's not how it's supposed to function. You may want to have it checked out.

I bought a used 2003 Dakar and put over 30,000 miles on it with no issues. For the riding I do, the Dakar is the perfect bike. Mine has been modded quite a bit, new bodywork, Yamaha forks, Ohlins etc, etc. If something happened to mine, I would build another just like it.

Though I really like the Dakar, I can't figure out why BMW is re-releasing essentially the same bike. If BMW upgraded the forks and knocked a few pounds off, this bike would appeal to a lot more riders.




Eric

Yup...

I went and looked at one a week or two ago. I liked the look of it with the new plastics and instruments. When I sat on it, it semed like it was a little taller than my 01 Dakar.

I bought my Dakar with 8k miles on it last Jan. I almost doubled its mileage this year. It took some money getting it road worthy after it basically sat for a few yeas. New brakes, coolant, oil, tires. air filter, fork oil, chain, and sprockets. Not all these needed done but I figured it couldn't hurt. I haven't had any issues with mine outside of taking a rock to the radiator resulting in a slow leak.

If I had the money i would buy a new one without a doubt. My brother has a KLR and whenever I hop on it i instantly feel disconnected from the bike compared to mine. Im extremely happy with mine despite being a bit heavy. I wanted something that was streetable and could still take a beating on Colorado's jeep trails. So far so good, its next test will be baja in few weeks. We will see how it handles Calamuje wash.

Thanks for the insight, as a former KLR owner, I'm hesitant to buy what many call 'a more expensive KLR'. Thats why I was looking at the F800, but after hearing so many positive things about the Dakar/Sertao I think im getting close to a final decision. At least I have a few months before the snow melts :)

If you dont mind me asking - how much did you pay for your 01 Dakar?

It's already "checked out" and on the floor of my garage!

I removed the ABS lines and modulator last week. Good riddance!

Hopefully you don't regret that decision, there was something wrong with that
unit without a doubt.

I've put over 20k miles on my 650cc kawasaki with ABS in just under 5 years
and it has saved my a$$ on the road at least 3-4 times in that period from
certain front wheel lock-up crashes.

Knowing that I had the ABS to rely on I was a bit more prone to going
"over the line" in some situations, but in one or two nothing and
no-one (98% of riders anyways) would have never saved it, and ABS did.

That led to a decision never to buy a non-ABS bike again.

Biggest gripe I have with the bike (Sertao) is it leans over too far on the sidestand, I'm 6'1" and weight around 230, I think it's heavy to upright, any tried it yet. This is what happens when you use the same sidestand as the one on the 650GS, it's too short for the Sertao.

John

Same as the Dakar, another issue you'd think BMW would have updated. Some Dakar owners bolt a hockey puck to the bottom of the sidestand.

The only time I've had a bike fall off the side stand was when I rode one with a longer stand, the wind caught it, and it blew over on the right side. The bike stuck the car parked there, damaging both vehicles.

The only time I hurt myself getting on a bike was putting my right leg over a 1200gsa and then trying to push it up with my left leg from a fully leaned-over position:eek1

Best way to mount the bike, IMHO, is to be sure it is in gear, raise it off the side stand in the open position (wheel pointed to the right), raise your right leg so that you have a tripod between the two tires and your left leg. That works fine if your are tall enough

YMMV

Mine will be delivered on Wednesday. I couldn't find any decent used Dakars in the area.

Congrats...nice looking bike. Let us know your impressions.

I have an 03 Dakar and the rear ABS functions exactly as described here by GSBS. The front works great, but the rear is scary indeed. I took it in years ago under warranty (don't recall where) and was told that this is how these brakes are supposed to function. Couldn't believe my ears. I still have the ABS installed for the benefit up front but may lose it now that i've upgraded to an Ohlins rear and considering the YZ front swap.

Do the YZ conversion... you won't regret it!

I finally got to test ride my "new" Dakar today for the first time since converting to the YZ forks and having the stock Showa shock revalved and dialed in by Go Race Suspension in Virginia.

It is truly a different bike! Even though today's ride was somewhat abbreviated due to the cold weather and time considerations, the suspension handled every thing thown at it very well. I did a bit of slab and ran it up to over 90 mph, carved on some twisty backroads, even did a stretch of gravel and ran over a dog (Yes, A 50-pound DOG!).

I was going 45-50 mph when this boxer/terrier-looking dog was already running full speed and on me at 3 o'clock before I saw him... Ran clean over him with both wheels. His momentum and angle actually pushed the front end sideways enough to cause a pretty severe swerve and the forks bottomed out.

But the longer suspension must have cushioned the blow cuz the dog just kept running into the woods and wasn't yepping or crying.

Bottom line is that with stock suspension I'd have gone down and the upgrades kept me upright. Hell YEAH!

And the non-ABS brakes work just fine. I had toyed with the idea of buying the EBC oversized (320mm) motard rotor kit for the YZ front brake, but after today I think the stock YZ rotor is large enough for my riding. Nice to have the option for under $200 though.

David

Awesome, it looks great, congrats. Please post some pics when you get it.

I'm interesting in seeing how the stock front suspension works out on these. Also very interested to hear if they resolved the water pump issues on the Dakar. I also broke down and will be buying a new Sertao as the Dakars around here are way overpriced - new ride and 3 year warranty for an extra grand - no brainer.

Is the frame on the Sertao the same as the old F650GS and Dakar? I'm curious if older pannier and rack systems would fit without any modification required, or if I would need to buy a rack system specific to the Sertao?

I'm going to have to say yes only because Touratech is listing a few interchangeable parts including the guards and rack.

Sertao was delivered today. Sunny and 34° this afternoon and got 40 miles in. Hand warmers work very well. Tires are strictly street tires. Michelin T63s are in the garage. No real complaints to speak of so far.