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

Confirmed Hippo hands fit over the stock hand guards with Givi extensions and makes a nice tight fit. Side Velcro doesn't seem to be needed.

Your missing the most important part... I’ll need to know what day, time and place you plan on doing this. So I can spread a very fine layer of silt just in the corners.

I'd probably switch insurance companies first. Geico covered $500 for the helmet and maximum $500 for my riding suit. They also required receipts for every Farkle and gave me 70 cents on the dollar for everything and beyond I think $2500, you have to buy additional coverage which luckily before our Trans-Lab trip last year I increased it to 20 grand in Farkles. State Farm just wants receipts and will cover the full price of your suit and most of the price of Farkles w/o any additional coverage being purchased. They're just a little pricier up front but far more generous on days you plan on crashing.

Adam, when are you going to get one?

Considering I hit my Insurance decuctable again with the kids, I'll have to look into these other dampeners. I am assuming both options will completely remove the stock dampener on the LC GS?

I'm super happy with the Yacugar damper I have. OEM replacement, direct fit, works well!

I think that's a fair scenario. the Yacugar option is a direct replacement to the OEM damper. The other option would not be able to work as effectively with the OEM damper still in place.

Yeah you take of the stock one for the Powercell and replace it with Yacugar one. Both great options.

Thanks guys. Something to think about for this winter's projects. Plus talking with ted about a different rear spring for my heavy ass

Well, wished I had those damn hippo hands. Rode to Missoula to check out new helmets. Long ride from my house. Don't have heated gear, which was tolerable. However, not gonna lie, fingers where friggin cold!

If you don’t mind, post your findings. I’ve been considering both the steering dampener and rear spring replacement but wondering about effectiveness for my riding. I ride almost strictly road though somewhat aggressively , and I’m at 260lbs. Not sure what the two mods would do for the ride.

Adam, I’ve been hearing that mounting your phone on you bike will brake the camera.

have you had any issues with this?

Yep! (will include photos below)

Last year, on 9-21, I bought an iPhone XS


On 9-28, we went on a 2-day ride and I was ride leader. Since I was on my Beta 500 (Thumper), I was using the iPhone to navigate.


Here's a photo of my setup that day:


This is the Hondo Garage Perfect Squeeze + their Buzz Kill. I purchased the buzz kill based on rumors (like you mention above) that motorcycles can kill the OIS Sensors in modern phones. This video shows how OIS works and what it's doing. Pretty much every modern phone has these and it's why GoPro is using Digital Image Stabilization versus optical because their cameras take a lot of abuse and an OIS in the GoPro would lead to a lot more warranty returns.

In clips in this video, you can see my buzz kill in action.

later in the day, the buzz kill has a catastrophic failure and forced me to remove it. Luckily, Hondo Garage did a no questions asked replacement and that revised solution has yet to fail a year later. They changed up how they mount the Flexi pieces to the baseplate.

Since I was the guide, I had to mount the iPhone to my handlebars to get us home so I removed the perfect squeeze buzz kill and mounted the phone directly to the handlebars. A few hours later, I tried to take a photo of the Buzz Kill and look at this image:


Blurry, right? Let's try again back home?


A few days later, I found myself here:


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Luckily, this iPhone was at the time only 1 week old (9-21 to 10-1) before it failed and I was the reason it failed...well my Beta was as the Buzz Kill successfully isolated the vibration (and continues to do so to this day) BUT just a couple of hours of riding w/o the Buzz Kill had me getting a full replacement from Apple which they told me at the time could have been $500 if it was proven negligence or out of warranty. I had AppleCare+ and still do to this day but I paid nothing for the replacement. Since then, no issues at all.

Now.....On my R1200GS Adventure, on the F750GS and the K75, I've never used a Buzz Kill. I've had OIS Enabled iPhones since 2014 and have ridden 50K miles on motorcycles without them and have never had an OIS failure but 1 hour on the beta 500 and the OIS was toast on both cameras (1x and 2x).

so if you're on a standard motorcycle (twin, triple, etc) you're probably okay and I'd recommend NOT using the Hondo Garage Handlebar clamp because it absorbs no vibration. I have mine mounted on a RAM connection

Here's the Clamp + Buzz Kill


Here's the RAM Ball solution:


RAM Mounts DO isolate a little bit of vibration where the direct handle bar clamp will pass all of it through to the phone. The buzzkill eliminates almost all vibration that I can perceive since it's a plane that is basically identical to how OIS works in the phone.

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So to answer your question. Thumpers absolutely kill OIS sensors. It's always best to wear your iPhone on you or on the tank bag's map pocket over anything else. On a big touring bike, you're safe to mount it up but I wouldn't direct mount (clamp) I'd still use a RAM ball. and on a Thumper, you should spend the extra money on the Buzz Kill.

For RAM X-Grip people, those rubber pieces on the X itself + a RAM ball will take some vibration away but not all so I think X grip + RAM Ball is still a ticking time bomb.

Considering the iPhone 11 Pro has 4 cameras 3 with OIS and a $1350 price tag for the high end model, it's worth spending money to eliminate as much vibration as possible but on my GS boxer, I've never had an issue. On the beta. it took 1 hour to kill the OIS sensor on both lenses.

I've got about 10k miles on my Hondo Garage mount which is directly mounted to the bars, no RAM mount. I've never had an issue with the phone. That said, this as been strictly on-road or double-track dirt, nothing too crazy bumpy, etc. I've never mounted my phone to my KTM EXC 500 when doing off-road. It's always in my left thigh pocket.

I also have the Hondo Garage Mount w/ Buzz Kill on a ram ball/ram arm w/ a ram security knob (photos attached). It has held up perfectly after taking some brutal beatings out in Baja. I also love the fact that I can move the phone around a bit to get better viewing angles.

Hey Adam,

I’m having issues with the low speed steering on my RTW. It uses the same BMW damper as the GSW. I just watched your HyperPro video and since you’ve held both, how much less stiff is the HyperPro reactive at slow rates of movement?

For instance the stock damper feels really stiff and takes about a pound of force to get it to move at all. Is the HP very easy to move slowly?

Hi. Thanks for the PM as well. I had replied with the following and maybe it helps others. Always happy too if I'm wrong and people jump in to correct:

The HyperPro module is fully adjustable and progressive with 24 clicks of damping so you can make it behave like it's not even there OR make it pretty hard to steer and move. I would say Level 8 of 24 of the HyperPro is about the same as BMW's OEM Damper. I keep mine level 12-14 which I find best for loaded up touring and off-road.​

I'd put a word of caution that a damper is an aide and should not be used to cure steering "problems". If you're having steering problems especially on the road on an RT I'd argue a damper is NOT the solution but a look at bearings, tires and suspension is.

True. I was only addressing the HyperPro product question but the RT wet-head at low speeds is an insanely balanced bike. There's a reason so many police use them. They're brilliant at maneuverability and low speed turns. So much fun and so if that is an issue, it could be more than just the damper. BMW's OEM damper is not progressive and basically has a tiny bit of resistance but nothing insane.

Let's Try this again: (link to initial header saga)


...of course, after spending $1100 on the initial failed attempt at aftermarket headers, here we are again with an additional $845 on the Titanium headers and this time it's gonna work! I can just feel it!!!!

I mean.... its not like anything bad can happen.