Adventurizing my F800GS

[Oso Blanco]

I bought my F8 last April for the sole purpose of a last minute RTW trip (left 60 days after saying, "Hey we should ride around the world"). For the most part I was thrilled with the F8 on the trip but there were a few things I wanted to change before the next trip which is coming up this October.
These changes break down to 3 sections:

A) It failed me last time and caused me a ton of grief
B) It worked OK but I'd like to upgrade for next time
C) I like blingy sh*t, am single and have no kids so I'm going to spend my money where I like

First things first, here's what I broke:

Chain (replaced with DID VM2 @3000km). DID is now worn out (@33,000km)but the BMW chain and sprocket recall letter just arrived and they are going to replace my DID because my CZ broke in Siberia and there were no BMW Motorrad dealers for several thousand miles.

Battery sh*t the bed. Solution: Upgrade to DEKA. I'm currently still using the tiny Russian battery.

Bent the hell out of the rims (front especially). Solution: Replace with Excels from Woody's but am undecided on rear rim dimensions and whether to reuse the stock hubs or upgrade to Eagle/RAD.

Rox Risers kept twisting. If you have them you likely know what I mean. I'm 6'3" and went with the 3.5" tall version. Despite the eBay auction being for 1 1/8"x 1 1/8" risers, when they arrived they were 1 1/8" x 7/8". Apparently Rox doesn't make a double 1 1/8" version in the 3.5". They give you stupid "C" shells to shim up the difference...what a nightmare. The wheel was pointed straight ahead but the bars were way off to one side...no problem, I'll just crank on the bars and correct it, oops, went way too far... dammit, these things suck not to mention are pretty dangerous.

Bent upper shock bolt. Solution: added RalleMoto brace and bumped up a bolt grade...and will carry a spare.

No other "breaks" really. Some annoying things:

The suspension was a bit soft and under valved for me (240lbs) and my gear. I didn't realize how bad it was until I had a chance to ride a few other bikes recently. The front definitely needs upgrading. Solution: Hybrid F8GS/Shiver 45s and upgrade to an Elka on the rear.

Despite kick ass fuel mileage the 16 litre tank is a hassle in areas lacking regular/reliable fuel stations. Also annoying once on the fast autobahn type highways @130-140km/h and having to stop every 1 1/2-2hrs for gas. Solution: Will be adding a Tourtech "Tanker".

I have the Pelican top loader cases which I LOVE! I can't believe how durable these things are. I had 2 huge crashes in Mongolia and the Pelicans were unscathed. What I don't like is the Hepco Becker racks. They move and sway a ton and the left case sticks out over 3" farther than the right. It looks stupid and is WAY too wide. Of course with plastic panniers it's not as simple as just cutting out around the muffler and welding new bits in to balance things out. Solution: New exhaust and modified/rebuild/reinforced racks.

The beginning of the mods:

I started with the ROX Riser issue. I tossed the "C" shims and had a local inmate (Wrekluse) turn an adapter tube up with an ID of just under 7/8" and an OD of 1 1/8" out of 6061 aluminum. He then knurled the 1 1/8" section for a bit more bite.



This tube solved 2 issues; it tied the 2 risers together which helps with the twisting issue and it also gets rid of the 7/8" to 1 1/8" shims. After pressing the risers into the tube I had a welder friend TIG the 3 pieces together. I also bought a bridged upper bar clamp from Highway Dirt Bikes to help control the twist. All the mounting holes in the upper clamp are useful too.



I know 3.5" risers look ridiculous but 2 1/4" aren't quite tall enough. Finished package:

[Oso Blanco]

Upper Shock Bolt

Not that this forum really needs more pics and talk about upper shock bolts but heres mine:



No pics of the brace but I'm sure you all know it.

Exhaust

I don't have any belief that changing the muffler will give me better mileage or more power. The two reasons I did it was the ability to have balanced panniers and the weight loss.

I couldn't justify the $$ for the Akrapovic. $700 + for a slip-on...can't do it! In the past with other bikes and quads I've just jumped on eBay and looked for a slip on from a bike with a similar size motor and I just make the mount and mid pipe. That's exactly what I did this time. $120 got me a brand new, in box, never opened Leo Vince Titanium pipe from a ZX10R Ninja with all the hardware. They had aluminum and carbon-fiber too.



The first thing I noticed was the weight difference, wow! That stock stainless can is heavy, infact well over twice the weight. The LV is a tad longer and roughly 1/2 the width which is exactly what I needed to make room for my new pannier racks.



I started working on making a mid pipe but pulled out the calipers and noticed the stock pipe welded to the muffler was EXACTLY the diameter I needed. I hmmmed and huuuued about cutting up the stocker but decided to not be a puss and just pulled the trigger so I clamped it in the bandsaw and cut the pipe off.





Cleaned it up on the bench grinder and viola! instant adapter:



Fits like a dream:



Stuff it in the stock location, attach springs and use supplied mounting hardware, 30min from start to finish and I have a $120 Titanium Leo Vince for my effort.



Looks like it should free up just over 2" to move my rack over:













The bike goes in Monday for chain and sprockets. Hopefully by then the Shiver forks have arrived and I can start tearing into that next. If they are delayed getting here I'll start building the new racks.

[Penguin69]

Looks like you´ve got a list of things to do there. I think you should add cleaning the bike to that list though!

[CheckerdD]

Thanks for the info. Like yourself I am skeptical of folks who say a new exhaust improves performance. There are too many psychological factors after one spends the bucks. I look forward to hearing if you notice a difference. Dave

[Nictrolis]

I'm not really into spending the $$$ on a new exhaust, though the size + weight reduction is tempting. But as far as performance - I've seen numerous reports with dyno charts for improvements from putting on a new exhaust, even just a slip-on. Of course, you're still probably right: a couple horse is probably in the realm of a psychological improvement.

[raider]

I'm interested that you're unhappy with the Hepco frames (so am I), but are planning to keep them?

[Motoriley]

Just curios if that exhaust needs occasional repacking?


[

[Oso Blanco]

Originally Posted by Motoriley

Just curios if that exhaust needs occasional repacking?

This from the Leo Vince site:
"LeoVince uses the industry's best ceramic composite based packing and typically does not need to be replaced very often, unless exposed to unusual wear conditions. For those rare cases, re-packing material kits are available from LeoVince."

I have no idea what the timeline of "typically does not need to be replaced very often" is exactly but from what I've read and hear from ppl using the LV it is wears very well.

[johngil]

FYI. This bolt isn't really bent. BMW would never allow it. You are the first person we have heard of w/ this problem... You must be jumping your bike off cliffs...

[hasenwerk]

Originally Posted by GNP77

This from the Leo Vince site:
"LeoVince uses the industry's best ceramic composite based packing and typically does not need to be replaced very often, unless exposed to unusual wear conditions. For those rare cases, re-packing material kits are available from LeoVince."

I have no idea what the timeline of "typically does not need to be replaced very often" is exactly but from what I've read and hear from ppl using the LV it is wears very well.

My Leo Vince SBK exhaust lasted about 10.000km on my 1100GS before it needed to be repacked. There are enough "weasel words" in their statement that it can be read always as true - half way thru a riding season isn't "rare" nor "does not need to be replaced very often" - but perhaps to some people it is.

I have a rebuild kit sitting on the bench ($15 kit from the local dirt bike store) so we'll see how that goes!

[Oso Blanco]

Originally Posted by hasenwerk

My Leo Vince SBK exhaust lasted about 10.000km on my 1100GS before it needed to be repacked. There are enough "weasel words" in their statement that it can be read always as true - half way thru a riding season isn't "rare" nor "does not need to be replaced very often" - but perhaps to some people it is.

I have a rebuild kit sitting on the bench ($15 kit from the local dirt bike store) so we'll see how that goes!

That's not encouraging! Having to repack 3 times on a 30,000km trip is a huge pain in the ass!

[Trout]

Originally Posted by Motoriley

Just curios if that exhaust needs occasional repacking?

I have to find the link - there is a guy who makes 'pillows' which replace regular exhaust packing. I have one in the can on my ZRX and it has held up like a dream. Service interval has gone from every couple of months to every couple of years. It also quieted everything down a bit, I'm sure at the cost of power. I like my neighbors and frequently ride early so I'm willing to make that trade off.

[Oso Blanco]

Originally Posted by Trout

I have to find the link - there is a guy who makes 'pillows' which replace regular exhaust packing. I have one in the can on my ZRX and it has held up like a dream. Service interval has gone from every couple of months to every couple of years. It also quieted everything down a bit, I'm sure at the cost of power. I like my neighbors and frequently ride early so I'm willing to make that trade off.

The guy I did the RTW trip with has over 30,000km on his Akrapovic and there's no sign it's going to need repacking anytime soon. Hopefully I get the same life out of the LV.

[Oso Blanco]

So I had some free time this weekend and decided to tackle the pannier racks. I had a couple ideas in my head, basically combining the way the factory BMW racks mount with the HB set-up up. I had previously yanked the passenger grab bar off to save weight and because I never have a passenger. I was looking at it yesterday and decided it would make a good base for upper rack mounts, I hate starting from scratch.



The HB racks with some scabby middle of nowhere emergency welding on it:





Quickly hack the old upper mounts off with the plasma cutter:



Add the new upper mount tubes:





Repeat on the other side...ok that makes it sound too easy. How it really happened was:
Cut off old mounts on left side and grind clean. Sit on milk crate and scratch head, pondering how I'm going to hold 2 tape measures, a level and tack weld the new tubes in. So I zip tie the hoop in with various bits of junk off garage floor jammed in spots to shim things out to the proper distances, grab the MIG pistol go to tack and have everything fall apart. Swear, wonder why I always have to f%^k with things and can never just leave them alone, try again with the same results, leave the garage, bbq a burger and play fetch with the dogs. Try again an hour later and have slightly better results. I get everything tacked and double check all my measurements before fully welding things up, realize there must have been an earthquake while I was playing with the dogs because what was totally plumb and even a few minutes ago now it completely out. WTF?! Cut all my tacks apart and start over. Get everything bang on again and tacked only to have the same results. Looking closely I realize that the hoops are twisted (assuming from multiply drops) and depending on where put the level things are perfect or total fubar. Decide that even thought the bike is only a year old that it's had a rough life and if FAR from show room condition so I'm not going to spend hours upon hours correcting an 1/16" here and there only to tweak the whole thing when I drop it next.

Left side pretty good, pulled in over 2 1/2" from stock, only about 1/2" farther than the right side. Total width now 42.5", still wider than I want. I may switch to 1550 Pelican suitcase style which would shave almost 7" off the width and only lose 1 litre of space per side. I didn't quite get things wrapped up as I ran out of time and had to get everything back together so I can get to the chain/sprocket recall appointment tomorrow. They are supposed to be fixing the fuel sender (which reads full until about 1/4 tank then is accurate), the wobbly side stand and something else...drawing a blank.

[RevTheThing]

i just got back from the cape and f8 went well, only casualty was the Behr front rim, more dings than a NY cab, thinking the excell, any other recommendations