AdamChandler's "Rosie Red" 2018 GS Adventure Build Thread

I think there's one thing the smart guys here know which is these mods are adding a lot of weight. I gave up on weighing everything but I still think we're adding 50 pounds of weight once the boxes are on. Most mods are taking something off (usually plastic) and adding steel, aluminum or heavier plastic in its place. So...I would say that I'm making this bike less desirable to most people. Just my opinion.

I do appreciate the kind words but when I went from my loaded 2017 GSA to a stock GSA it was a significant weight difference and then I immediately missed my fancy suspension, risers, seat, wind protection and damn, so much for a 'lightweight boxer" (LOL)

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The Traffic camera will get one of my old 128GB cards...the ones that don't have the data-rate to handle 4K. I'll get roughly 11 hours of recording but keep in mind a few things.

1. In a catastrophic crash, the bike may not be running at all
2. If it is, the battery will die pretty quickly because I'll have a lot of power Draw from various electronics
3. In most of my crashes, I turned the bike of myself because these were all low-speed drops

Let's assume I'm in an ambulance, bike would just keep recording until the battery of the bike died and subsequently the camera also died since it does have a few minutes of an internal battery to power itself...I think 11 hours is safe.

You can grab a 1080P 128GB card for $25 today in 2019. Really low cost for 11 hours of comfort.

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One thing I'll remind people, test your footage at least once a month. I run a dash cam full time in my car and it eats SD cards. Luckily Sandisk has a really good warranty policy but my dash cam eats up SD cars every 6 months...they just go bad. I assume I'll have that issue here as well which means removing the top luggage grid to get to the card. I'm trying to find out a way to make this box more accessible without removing the luggage grid for when the inevitable card goes bad.

Isn't the camera wired to ignition? Unless you're somewhere in a ditch for 12h chances are someone will eventually turn the bike off and stop the recording..

Btw that's exactly why I sometimes pull videos of even the mundane stuff that I see on the road, mostly just to make sure my dashcam is still working for when I actually need it.

The dashcam is connected to the PDM60 which has an ignition trigger of the rear brake light.

1. Click power button
2. 7 seconds later, PDM60 boots (whether I turn the engine over or not)
3. If I turn the bike off, 30 seconds later, PDM60 shuts down
4. Dashcam will stay on for a few more minutes before turning off

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The VSYSTO has WiFi built in so I can grab stuff without having to dig for the box itself which is nice.

Also, any decent dashcam will automatically save at least 1 minute before, and 1 minute after an impact. They have G-sensors that automatically set the recording. How long before and after is saved is either preset, or setable.

Edited to make Plawa happy.

Most dashcams, not all.

If it doesn't, it is a pretty crappy dashcam.

That may be the case but claiming that they all do it might set the wrong expectations for someone with possibly unfortunate consequences.

Whatever, I'll update my post.

@markpaulsm - Does your cam have crash detection? Severe g-forces that save footage?

Just pointing out that relying on that might not be wise, plus on a bike that is being used offroad I really don't think the dashcam can reliably distinguish between something you want to save from just normal bouncing around. So most likely you'll end up switching that feature off and then you're left wondering why your crash footage wasn't automatically saved making the entire setup useless.

Woody's has confirmed receipt of my wheels. Like they suspected, both are already bent from the factory even though those wheels only have 300 miles on them. They say the majority of wheels they get from BMW are bent and will go out of true much faster if they don't first straighten then true then re-lace. Jill there indicated that if she un-laces them and puts them on a circle radius that's perfect, you'll see they are warped..it's not a flat spot or pit, just a general warp of the wheel. The result of them truing wheels that are warped from BMW would cost Woody's more time and money and reputation dealing with the fall out later for customers who have wheels go out of true again should they not do this right from the beginning.

I think I was sort of a jerk to Jill for a fleeting moment...indirectly and she handled it okay. I mentioned something to the effect of, "it's just suspicious to me that there are 250K GS bikes on the road around the globe and these riders are spending 75K miles each riding around the world with warped wheels. Do you mean to tell me that they all need to have their wheels straightened or are you just tacking this on as an extra fee?" I used nicer words of course but it's like Woody's quotes Lacing + Truing of a BMW Spoked wheel at $465. and an additional $200 straightening the wheels and yet I've sent brand new wheels to BMW and they're already bent.

So I can understand their response and see their point, I do feel like 'good enough' might be fine for most people considering that most of us are riding non Woody's fixed GS wheels without any issues at all. I hope that makes sense.

I have the means to buy a $25K motorcycle and spend $4K on shocks and $700 on wheel straightening and $1000 on crash protection to make the bike 'perfect' in my eyes but for every one of me, there has to be 100 riders out there on fully tock GSes with sub-par shocks that are under-sprung and wheels that are according to Woody's bent that are just on a ticking time bomb? It can't be that bad.

Just some personal introspection on this whole modification business. Shocks and Wheels shouldn't be essential parts for a bike that costs more than most economy cars. Either Woody's and Beemershop are bending the truth or BMW is selling a crap product and calling it premium.

I shouldn't have to had wheels straightened to enjoy my bike that's just off the showroom floor.

sharing this here in hopes for a semi-positive dialogue.

Woody's quoted me $720 to fix my 200 mile wheels and send them back to me. I agreed to the work.

So, you know that they do this, or just speculating? Mine sure doesn't record everything as I ride, and those used off road probably either turn it off, or don't mind recording their ride. Let's not add issues that you do not know exist.

You expect a company that makes their money straightening wheels to admit that it is not needed? No offense to Woody, but that is kind of ridiculous!

That said, I do believe Woody does a fine job of making the wheels stronger with his methods. He also does a good job of straightening wheels bent through accidents or hard use.

That's why I'm bringing this up. It's obviously convenient for a company selling snake oil to find something wrong with you but we're talking about brand new wheels here and we're talking about a service almost 100% of R1200GS owners never utilizing. They buy a bike, ride it and after 75K miles, they sell it and buy another one.

I'm not saying the staff at Woody's is lying to make a profit... I just can't believe thousands of GS owners are riding on warped wheels that require straigtening...or is every wheel warped in some way and Woody's just makes them more perfect than OEMs usually require?

Another factor here is these are 2018 spokes which are notoriously bad so we have to keep that in mind as well that I'd say many 2018 spoked wheels are warped but I'd like data from Woody's that breaks down how many GS wheels they straighten a year, how many are warped and by how much so I didn't feel partially robbed.


I should add that if I was local to woody's I would have hung up and drove over and had them show me the warp. I have to trust they're not lying. on my last GS, I bent one of the wheels, the other was not bent..they still said it was. That left a bad taste in my mouth so now I've sent 4 wheels to them and all 4 were warped..2 of which that are brand new?

Why don't they take a picture of your wheel and show you the warp, that way you can decide if you want to have it straightened or not, without casting any doubt on Woody I would think that would be the best way to do business and make sure everyone is happy. I would like to see a before and after picture.

We are on the same page!

Good way to prove he is correct!

Did Woody’s mention how much — ie 1/32” out — your wheels are warped? I, like most GS-owners, am very particular about my ride and since we spent a chunk-o-change on these bikes it’s unlikely 70-80-90% (?) of us would put up with vibarations caused by warpage. No vibration...? No issue in my book.
With that said ...I’m wondering out loud if Woody’s would be willing to put these claimed warpage measurements in a letter with some evidence (pic/vid) that could be taken to a dealer/BMW and used as “proof” the wheels need replacing? Meh...probably too much to ask.
Good to know though... as always - caveat emptor!

Agreed a great service would be firstly an accurate run out measurement (they must have a jig for that) to compare with BMW specs, then if its out of spec a pic / measurement showing / proving the warp in the wheel. If I just bought a bike (I have) and someone told me I had to spent $700 plus shipping and time to fix my wheels I would be going to BMW with this info first before committing to fixing them. Likely they would tell me to take a hike but if enough people do it and have measurements to prove it maybe something bigger will be done.

Edit: I would be willing to pay a small fee for this service as its time effort required, so it would a win / win for everyone...

I have never had my 2016 wheels trued. I only ever have TKC 80s on the bike, so might not notice the difference anyway, unless really far out of whack.

I (foolishly) take the bike deep into speeds that are well above the tire ratings for short spells while passing vehicles or whatever, AND I actually have had a minor ding right now in my front wheel from a fat rock offroad over the summer -- bad enough to loosen a single spoke beyond retightening, where the rim lip was visibly lifted on one side, but it has held air for months and some1000 additional miles since. If/when that wheel starts losing air or gets a bit more banged up from further hard use...ONLY THEN I will send it off to Woody, but not a moment before.

Eta: What I mean to be implying is that I suspect people may be overestimating the importance of having a "perfect" wheel -- one that is highly prone to quickly again fall outside of such exacting standards, Woody's efforts be damned.

Those who do spend the money are naturally (perhaps subconsciously) motivated to "feel" a difference afterward, required to internally justify the expense -- but by the seat of my own pants anyway, especially on a bike outfitted for offroad use, it's just not critical imo...i.e., I have noted literally zero difference at triple digit speeds (with TKC80s) as between a now badly dinged rim and the way it felt beforehand. Far more difference is notable just as the TKC80s increasingly wear, adding vibration continually as some scalloping in the leading edges of the front lugs tend to develop.

Finally, I would wager that if you send Woody a wheel ridden strictly onroad and carefully/smoothly for a mere two hundred miles further (after he has trued it once), and perhaps after a couple months of additional time just sitting there immobile across a winter for example (so he hasn't just had them in his shop too recently), his measurements and standards would already show it would need to be trued yet again. It might even be 100% accurately so as then measured...just not deeply relevant, imo.