So we've all heard/seen the 650 xchallenge...let's see your XCOUNTRY!

The left hand bearing bush is a standard part:

IR 25x30x30

As are the bearings themselves and the seals. So you can buy them from a bearing retailer. I couldn't find the right hand one anywhere apart from BMW.

Viv

They can be tricky things these dry sump engines when it comes to oil levels.

The key thing I find is to have confidence when re-filling after an oil change. I just put 2.1 litres in after a oil and filter change and leave it at that as it must be correct. I used to check it then after a commute (45 miles) but don't any more as it was always ok.

At 60k miles (so 10 oil changes) I really should check the level periodically but I never do now.

If you need to remove some oil (or change the oil) just use something like one of the larger veterinary type syringes and a short piece of tubing.

Viv

Hi guys!

I have a great deal for a 2007 XCountry!

My only concern is will it be good for 2-up riding, for 200-300km trips?
Is the passenger seat big/confy enough etc.
Does anybody have experience with this?

I'm 75kg and my SO is under 50kg so together we weigh like a well built human.
So I guess the bike should handle our weight. I just wonder will it be a torture for the lady.

I would greatly appreciate the answer cause i'll be buying a bike in the next few days and I can't make my mind between the XCo and F650GS single.

Cheers!

Hello. I'm 170lbs and my wife is about 130lbs (she'd kill me if she knew I posted that!) and we have no problems riding 2 up on a stock seat. I also have a Hepco&Becker topcase that she uses as a backrest. The passenger seat is quite a bit higher than the yours, so a full face helmet will provide the passenger more comfort from the wind. It is only a 52hp engine, so your acceleration will suffer, but there is enough zip to provide plenty of enjoyment.

My wife and I are maybe a total of 20 kg more than you are are and we do 200 km dual sport day trips on a regular basis. You should get a new rear spring though or you'll be bottoming out allot when off the pavement. I had a progressive spring made with a 14-18 rating that works really well. I have the preload cranked up when we are both on it and wind it back done for just myself.

We do some pretty serious off road with it and she doesn't mind. Just stop every hour or so. We did all of the popular high altitude trails around Ouray/Silverton area in Colorado last year and even the White Rim trail over in Moab. Although she was ready to kill me after 10 hours on the bike in 98 degree Moab heat. That one was a little to much for a 2 up ride in sand with that bike. But you should have scene the looks we getting from other riders on the smaller dual sports. They thought we were nuts. One guy on an XR650 that we passed coming down Engineers Pass in Colarado had to to pull me over cause he wanted to "shake my hand" after following us down.

I forgot to mention the backrest. I have the same HB setup and often time she mentions the backrest as a being allot less tiring then having just to hang on.

I agree with the guys above. You will be down shifting more often to carry the weight but with an upgraded rear spring it will work quite well for the task at hand. Just don't try buzzing down the hwy at 70 mpg two up for hours on end....that's not the bikes forte.

JE

If you go to my LINKS page and search for "oil change" eventually you will find a section where I refer to RoyB and his procedure with pictures, and a short procedure summary I typed up.

As to the level, after the engine is hot I drain the tank and eventually add in 2.25 US quarts, and not all at once.

What amount is everybody else using?

Then assuming this is the correct amount, I have looked at the oil tank levels at various hot and cold temperatures to see how it moves up and down.

Shock dimensions: LINKY

I changed my oil yesterday and following the reprom procedure, added 1.7 then 0.6 litres followed by a check of the level. I find it hard to check the level because after idling the engine (as per instructions) the oil in the tank seems to be rather foamy and seeing the precise mark on the dipstick is quite difficult. In the end I think I added a little more in the region of 50 mL for a total of 2.35 L.

Thanks a lot for your replies guys!
That was exactly the info I was looking for and after reading your posts I was excited like kid on Christmas!
So this morning I packed my helmet and went with my brick of doe to get this beautiful bike.

But today I noticed it doesn't have pillion footpegs!
So I didn't buy the bike
I can't tell you how disappointed I was.

Now I've spent like 3 hrs on the net trying to find these footpegs and since the bike is discontinued I can't find any.

Does anybody happen to have some pillion footpegs to spare?

Not having any spare ones but they do turn up on Ebay.de every now and then. You might also try at the German X forum: http://www.michaelbense.de/g650x/forum/index.php

If the bike is good then get it. Pillion pegs do come around. Just remember they usually don't come cheap unless you are lucky. I sold mine last year for €200,-

Make sure you check it out well. The main thing is to check the gear lever and the shaft on which that is mounted. If the original shifter is still on there (aluminium) look for damage on that. If there is any damage from dropping the bike on it, there is a good chance that the shaft is bent and to replace that, the whole bike including the engine has to be taken apart....

Good luck Zeus.

Cheers, Ard

Not really xCountry related but how do these work?

I don't think I've been attaching them properly.



No matter how I try and wrap them I end up with velcro hooks on velcro hook, or the velcro loops on velcro loops.

You attach the D-ring with velcro to the rack. The butterfly on the other strap fits through the D-ring with the butterfly turned 90 degrees to the straight side of the D-ring. Then turn the butterfly back 90 degrees after you put it through the D-ring and it attaches your Wolfman bag to the rack.

Makes perfect sense. Cheers. I have of course been doing it wrong.

I just bought this and have a few questions, I hope I can get some answers:
1. I'm 6'2" and the seat seems low, are the 2007 seats much higher?
2. Is the rear shock taller on the 2007's?
3. Seems like the original owner lowered the muffler and maybe removed the cat, as I can see a rectangle weld on the muffler.
If the seat and shocks on the earlier models are taller, is anyone interested in trading? Not sure if anyone has a stock muffler for sale.

Has anyone fitted a slip on muffler from another model bike?

Thanks

COngrats!
1. It is wider and taller, if you look for some of my old posts I have pics of the two pans side by side.
2. Yes, significant amount. Also has the forks raised in clamps all the way, yours look to be raised already,

I am 6'1" and fit well on the stock 07. Put up a trade post and I am sure you will find an 07 owner looking for shorter ride.
Matt

Im 6-2 and ride an 09 XCo.

The answers to all of your questions plus many other helpful answers are in pasts posts.

If you take some time and read through the thread, you will be an XCo expert!

The pre-09 bikes had a taller suspension but proper set-up of the 09 suspension along with a good aftermarket seat will solve your height and ride problems.

Hi guys. Im not an owner of the x country or any of the X BMWs at all. I own a 650 Sertao.

I just want to so say you owners have a very very cool bike. I really dig the X family and particularly the x country. I think its the best looking scrambler bike ever... yes to me even cooler than the new ducati scrambler. The x country is a proper scrambler.

Unfortunately BMW do not make the X bikes any more. And I was looking for a brand new bike so I had no choice but to buy the Sertao (I love this bike dont get me wrong). I just think that between the Sertao, x challenge and the x country it would have been a choice between the challenge and the country.

So congrats to you owners you have a cool and extraordinary bike.

Does anyone know why BMW stopped producing the X family?

I would like to read ride reports from longer rides with the x country to know more about how they do on such rides... anyone have any links?

I did a 3000km ride in spain last september on my Sertao fully loaded 2up with my wife. Mostly road riding and i did great. You can see from my pics below how loaded it was. If interested I 6 feet (184cm) and the wife is 5.4 feet (165cm) The topcase is a HB Gobi and the side cases are 45L TT zega pro2's

Ride safe.

Congratulations, SBN! Looks to me like you are doing pretty well!

Your Sertao is outfitted for some serious travel and you have a pretty wife going with you. You can't do much better than that!

We can only speculate about why the X Series was not produced for very long. For one thing, they were expensive bikes.

I think the X Series may have been targeted to a younger buyer and such buyers are not able to spend $9-10,000 for a bike compared to the Japanese singles that were much cheaper.

The more seasoned riders wanting a bike set up for long distance running would be more attracted to the 650GS single that was sold alongside with the X Series. The GS came with a much larger gas tank and provisions for hard saddlebags.

Anyway, who knows. They're gone now and aftermarket support with accessories etc is gone too. That's one reason I bought my Akrapovic full exhaust for the XCo. I expected they would be discontinued, as was the bike, and I was right.

Looks to me that you would be better off with the Sertao than the X Series anyway. I would prefer the 19-inch front wheel of the GS Series but I'm sure you do fine with the 21-inch wheel.

If you had bought an XCountry and configured it to match what you have with that Sertao, you would have a significantly greater amount of money spent.

If you read this long thread, you will see many of the modifications we make to our X Series to produce a platform similar to what you are riding.
Even then, the dimensions of the bike are somewhat more compact and a passenger, even a petite one like yours, would tend to be more crowded sitting on the X compared to the Sertao or GS.

Don't get me wrong. I like my XCo. It is set up as a true dual-sport and not a dirt bike. I can travel similar to what you seem to like. Compared to its bigger siblings, the Sertao and GS, the XCo is more of a hot rod. It will haul butt, handle nimbly on a curvy road and the suspension is more robust.