Let's see your F650GS pics!

[mattomoto]

Ha, sleeping GS's! Needs a thread of it's own

Capt. Morgan!






Three sleepers!




Clean the girl up

[Marc gsbe]

[kubiak]

im so happy with my new seat cover on the dakar i just wanted to show it off a little. i been looking at the dakar rally race bike seats lately and see a lot of them going with the carbon fiber sides and black suede top material so i had a shop recover it this time. it cost me 70.00 and was well worth it i think.

[kubiak]

heres a top view.

[TheColonel]

Here is my 2007 Dakar. My first bike and I love it so far, have had it for 15 months now. And i wish I had your seat Kubiak ^^^, mine sucks it's the only thing I don't like.





cheers.

[Gravel Seeker]

Originally Posted by mattomoto

Ha, sleeping GS's! Needs a thread of it's own

I thought I had more pics of it laying down, but can't find any. So I guess I've only crashed it this once

There's a 'pics of bikes laying down'-thread or similar over in the "Pics, pics, pics" section, but not specific to GS's.

[Gravel Seeker]

Originally Posted by kubiak

im so happy with my new seat cover on the dakar i just wanted to show it off a little. i been looking at the dakar rally race bike seats lately and see a lot of them going with the carbon fiber sides and black suede top material so i had a shop recover it this time. it cost me 70.00 and was well worth it i think.

Did you have them add som foam since they were already working on it or just replace the cover ?
I had my F650 ST seat reworked by an upholsterer here in Oslo about 11 years ago and he charge USD 265 back then. This was the same company that rebuilds all the police motorcycle seats and he had original BMW non slip cover material which he used. He also built it to my specs completely.

[Gravel Seeker]

Originally Posted by TheColonel

Here is my 2007 Dakar. My first bike and I love it so far, have had it for 15 months now. And i wish I had your seat Kubiak ^^^, mine sucks it's the only thing I don't like.





cheers.

Nice bike.
If you take it off the bitumen a fair bit may I suggest trying the Michelin T63 tires. They worked very well for me on all surfaces around Australia so much that I've used them ever since 2005 regardless of riding and surface.

I bought a large sheep skin at Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne for AUD 50. I could've saved money on a smaller one, but had multipurpose plans for the skin at the time. Point is though that where I could only ride an hour before getting loss of bloodflow/ pain in the past I can now ride for about 3 hours before the same sensation sets in. Since it's a great insulator it also keep me cool on warm days and vice versa. I use a short flat Andy strap at the front and a short regular bungie at the rear. Feels weird now when I ride without it. Cheap investment.

[TheColonel]

Cheers Gravel Seeker, I am planning to get new tyres in the next few weeks, was thinking of the Heidenau's K60's.
Not sure I want a full knobby just yet.
As for the seat, I am tall....6'5" so I need more of a permanent fix for the seat. I need it higher and the pegs lower plus the bars higher. It has a small bar riser on it but not high enough for me.
Other wise the bike is great.

[Gravel Seeker]

Originally Posted by TheColonel

Cheers Gravel Seeker, I am planning to get new tyres in the next few weeks, was thinking of the Heidenau's K60's.
Not sure I want a full knobby just yet.
As for the seat, I am tall....6'5" so I need more of a permanent fix for the seat. I need it higher and the pegs lower plus the bars higher. It has a small bar riser on it but not high enough for me.
Other wise the bike is great.

I have the Toruatech rally peg kit and whilst expensive, it lowers the pegs and move the back a tad. Combined with bar risers my bike now fits me perfectly when standing.

The T63's actually stick very well on wet asphalt. I've never had any slipping on dry asphalt and ride it like it was a slick.
I've not tried the Heidenau's.

[kubiak]

Originally Posted by TheColonel

Here is my 2007 Dakar. My first bike and I love it so far, have had it for 15 months now. And i wish I had your seat Kubiak ^^^, mine sucks it's the only thing I don't like.





cheers.

nice bike you got there! i have the same seat as yours but cut the hump off the back portion and added a little foam. way more comfy than the standard or low seat for sure.

[kubiak]

Originally Posted by Gravel Seeker

Did you have them add som foam since they were already working on it or just replace the cover ?
I had my F650 ST seat reworked by an upholsterer here in Oslo about 11 years ago and he charge USD 265 back then. This was the same company that rebuilds all the police motorcycle seats and he had original BMW non slip cover material which he used. He also built it to my specs completely.

i grinded off the back hump then added a little foam a few covers ago so the last job they guy just recovered it. i buy all my seat material from him so he gave me a killer deal on the seat cover. i should have had him write something on it like renazco does!

[GSBS]

Originally Posted by TheColonel

Cheers Gravel Seeker, I am planning to get new tyres in the next few weeks, was thinking of the Heidenau's K60's.
Not sure I want a full knobby just yet.
As for the seat, I am tall....6'5" so I need more of a permanent fix for the seat. I need it higher and the pegs lower plus the bars higher. It has a small bar riser on it but not high enough for me.
Other wise the bike is great.

I've been running the Heideneau K60s front and rear on my 03 Dakar for awhile now and really like them. I got over 6K miles from the rear and the front still looked almost new when I changed the rear for another. Now the newer K60 rear has around 3K on it and the front looks like it'll probably be good until that rear is worn out. So... about 2 rears and one front for 12K miles! When restoring my bike after a 2010 accident last year I had two Woody's Excel rims superlaced on the front and rear hubs and went from the stock 17" rear to an 18" rear, so this could affect wear somewhat compared to stock (tire has larger circumference). I'm running a 140/80-18 rear and a 90/90-21 front.

New K60 on my bike (currently at 82K miles and has seen lots of different tires - these, T63s, TKC80s, Mefos, IRC GP1s and GP110s, D606s and a couple of others). Of everything I've tried these are my favorite...


Overall shot of bike:


The Heideneau tires don't look as aggressive as the T63s (which I've run as well) but seem to grip about as well off road to me and the K60s are markedly better on pavement, wet or dry, IMO. The T63 rears I've had on my Dakar lasted about 2,500 miles and the front about twice that, but really cupped up badly in the last 1K miles or so. For me the K60s are a much better value since they go over twice as far with better overall performance. They also cost more - $150 for the rear vs. about $70 for the T63. $85 for the front vs. $70 for the Michelin.

[Gravel Seeker]

Originally Posted by GSBS

The Heideneau tires don't look as aggressive as the T63s (which I've run as well) but seem to grip about as well off road to me and the K60s are markedly better on pavement, wet or dry, IMO. The T63 rears I've had on my Dakar lasted about 2,500 miles and the front about twice that, but really cupped up badly in the last 1K miles or so. For me the K60s are a much better value since they go over twice as far with better overall performance. They also cost more - $150 for the rear vs. about $70 for the T63. $85 for the front vs. $70 for the Michelin.

Are the Heidenau's similar in thread depth to the Metzeler Enduro 3 Sahara's ?



I wouldn't take them off the pavement again....



I guess different riding styles and air pressure makes alot of difference, because one of the thing I really like about the T63's is that the front wears really nice and even with no or little stepping (unlike the Pirelli MT21's which look like a Mayan pyramid after 25 minutes). Riding fully laden around Oz I got about 6000km from a set, but never wore them out and could easily have gone another 2000km I reckon. Tires are like chicks though, go with what you like, which isn't necessarily what your buddy likes

[GSBS]

Originally Posted by Gravel Seeker

Are the Heidenau's similar in thread depth to the Metzeler Enduro 3 Sahara's ?

They look similar, but so do the IRC GP110s which really sucked. The K60s seem to sling/self-clean themselves pretty good in the mud. I've never had issues of loading up like in your photos.

I log a lot of miles on my Dakar and for me the K60s just make more economic sense than the T63s (which I actually like as well). With the Heideneaus I can go 12K miles on two rears (@6K each) and one front for a total cost of $385 (3.2¢/mile). With the T63s I have to change rear tires at 2,500 miles and fronts at 5K miles. It takes two rears and one front ($210) to go 5,000 miles (4.2¢/mile) plus I'm changing tires more than twice as often. And as mentioned above, I like the Heidi's more on pavement and just as well on the road compared to the Michelins.

To each his own. These just work best for me.