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

Sargent Cycle sent that to me when I ordered their heat controller.

It's pictured and discussed a bit better here -

Yeah, they actually kinda scare me. Having my hands in something like a dark tunnel on my bike. I dunno dude. I know it sounds retarded, but consider the source....lol

Hippo Hands makes a version that isn't as long as the Alcan's that Adam installed. They are called the Back Country. MOST of the benefits of the longer version but you can still see the buttons and such on your bars. I use them and am happy with the result. With heated grips, they keep my hands mostly warm down to the mid 20's at least. I know that doesn't cut it way up north but it works fine here in TX. I don't usually ride on the rare occasions it drops below that.

You do get more of a draft as well as rain/snow coming into them from the rear because the opening is bigger and not as far back from the bars. The back country ends at about your wrist. Alcan's seem to end about halfway up my forearm. I don't think the fear of not being able to see your hands on the bars is irrational but will say you will probably get used to not being able to see them pretty quickly if you want more weather protection.

I'm wondering if the Hippo Hands fit over Barkbuster Storm handguards?
I was looking at Barkbusters but was told by Barkbuster that I would have to removed the Storm handguard and only use the backbone.

Don't know if they will fit over the Storms. I run mine over the VPS ones and they fit even with the shields in the higher position. They are relatively flexible. Check with the hippo hands folks. I found their customer service to be good when I had a question.

We have a pair of Storms on heather’s F750GS that we can test fit for you. Send me a PM reminder since I’m traveling today and will rely forget!!!!

MAMO’s ADVAnce hand guards are HUGE and larger than the storms. I’d be surprised.

They do fit. I have them over my Storms.

My Rogue hippo hands fit the Barkbusters on my old bike. Unfortunately they don’t seem to fit the OEM handguards on the BMW.

I have been considering hippo hands over my snow mobile gloves. I'll have to check out your video. Are they fairly easy to install/uninstall

I'm sorry for the delayed response. Yep, super easy. I reinstalled them this morning with my gloves on as I went outside and realized it was 35F so threw them on in about 2 minutes and off I went. First install should take about 10 minutes but then you can just keep them in your top box when commuting.

I'll have to look into some Hippo's. It's surprising (to me) just how little wind protection the stock hand guards provide.

I feel the same about the ADVance hand guards. In winter mode, they're huge yet I have to decide. Do I lower them and have frozen knuckles or do I raise them and have frozen fingers. Below 40F, even with winter gloves, my hands are like ice and I'm not really a cold hands / feet kind of person. The Hippo Hands are a blessing for extending my riding into November.

Quoting myself from mid-May. Seems like so long ago now but you all remember that my Yacugar Steering Damper failed in Ontario at the Horizons Unlimited event. Way too much sand and the seal failed. I had it removed and shipped it to Beemershop. The damper has a 5 year warranty from yacugar and Ted can service these. While the oil is serviceable, it really doesn't need to be changed because the damper is doing far less valving under far less load than a traditional shock.

Here's a photo from May 25th of it covered in oil & sand (we spent a day sand riding out in the woods):


Why am I finally posting an update in October? First I have no issue with BeemerShop. Jeff / Ted did a fantastic job at communication. Yacugar dragged ass on this one. They took months to approve the warranty work. Had I offered to pay for the repair myself I'd be back with the damper in 2 weeks but I wanted to save $100 and that's why it took 5 months to get this damn thing back in hand.

It wasn't until August 20th that I got this solid update from Beemershop:

Yacugar had covered the seals under warranty but once I got the damper apart I realized that the shaft had physical damage. That is probably the reason the seals failed. I'm talking to Yacugar to get another shaft from them as that is not a part we stock. While they covered the seals and our labor on this, they may not cover the shaft as that had physical damage to it. I will update you on the shaft as soon as I hear back from Yacugar.​

It then took over a month to get the shaft sent to Beemershop so they could physically do the repairs to it.

October 4th:

Yacugar took way longer than they ever have to get an order to us as. We had some serious discussions about this with them.

That being said, we received the replacement damper shaft only a couple of days ago. I will try to get to it today but I have a big fork/shock job that has to be done today. If not today, then it will be my first job that I do next week. ​

Yacugar approved the warranty claim which was BeemerShop taking the damper apart, re-valving, re-oiling and replacing the seals but they pushed back on the shaft because it had damage. I had to pay $39.90 for that part. Entire damper was $350 new. BeemerShop returned the shaft to me:




You can't feel the 2nd picture damage with your finger but the first is most definitely pitted. While I don't feel this is excessive use, I'm not going to argue over $40. That's what a good bottle of craft beer costs these days (haha millennial humour! LOLOL)

Here's the returned product. Good as new:


I'm not going to install this in a hurry because honestly, it requires removing the wheel & fender and I have better things to do since the riding season is coming to a close so I'm only commuting on Rosie right now. I did put together a small video where the last 5 minutes, I talk extensively about this damper and just how wonderful it is. The last half feels like a love letter to this hunk of metal and oil but honestly, I feel pretty strongly that this is a must purchase for you guys. If your suspension on your bike is doing great and your sag is fine, then this is a huge upgrade but ONLY if you tour 2-up or with a lot of luggage or do a ton of off-road riding. There are more expensive damper options out there but this is $350 and will severely reduce front wheel wobble and unexpected shimmy when going over baby heads or pot holes especially with a full load behind you. Every day I rode my bike with full panniers, I noticed how unsettling the front steering is and you really don't notice it until you are without this amazing little beauty. I keep it cranked at 15 out of 24 clicks at all times and with a full load, I go to 18-20 clicks and still have no problem on twisties. The feedback is linear at first then progressively harder as you turn the wheel more. I recommend this more than any other modification to your GS. if you have lights, seating, windscreen, panniers and crash bars, this should be the next upgrade.



You can buy one here: https://www.beemershop.com/product/...-and-r1200gsa-liquid-cooled-2014-on-2635.html

and to clarify, I paid full price for this and got no handouts other than the warranty coverage. I just really missed having this on my bike.

Wow. What a huge milestone. Build thread was started in October of 2018. A year later, we've hit 200K views. Truly insane and thanks everyone for keeping the vibes in this thread positive, supportive and mostly on topic. I appreciate it. it's always nice to get the best out of people on the Internet and I feel for the most part, we all built the bike together. I'm really thankful to have you all drop in and be a part of this. Even though the bike is done, it's a thread that I hope will benefit people for many years to come.

This is a great resource for people to have in the future. Now you just have to keep the bike forever so we can keep this thread open instead of starting over with a new bike. hahaha

I’m all about a 1250 bike build thread.... just putting it out there

Sure, let me just put on Anakee Wilds again and go riding the canyons in 40 degree temps. Mind leading the way tossing out bags of sand ahead of me so we can guarantee the bike gets totaled? LOL.

(dear insurance agent, this is a joke).

Another option for hand warmers:

I have been using these for the last 5 New England Winters ( same set ). They have held up well and I have been very happy with them. Bought a second set for my son and his GSA

http://www.stormind.net

I haven't used those but I own a bunch of little custom bags (for tools, supplies and for my panniers as liners) and Storm Industries makes great bags. I even have their Kermit Chair. You cane mail them any custom size and what denier you require and they'll build you a bag in any color.

Adams video inspired me to order Hippo Hands for my GS. They come today. Looking forward to cold morning commutes without bulky gloves.