Monthly Archives: June 2012

Engine Guard Extensions Arrived

27 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by in Adventure Designs, Bike, BMW, R1200GS

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The Adventure Designs Engine Guard Extensions arrived today; they are very sturdy and will definitely a give lots of protection to the cylinders. They look like they are better build strength than the OEM BMW Engine Guard (or hoop). They had one tricky expanding nut that fits into the OEM BMW Engine Guard Bars for mounting; this takes a bit of a beating to get in but thats as hard as it gets. I am wondering how easy it would be to get off tho. That said all services can be done with the bars on so I’m not terribly concerned; I’m guessing applying equal pressure in the opposite direction to something lodged in the bolt would do it nicely.

Heres what my bike looked like before installing the Engine Guard Extensions; I’ve got the standard OEM BMW Engine Crash Bar and BMW Aluminium Cylinder Guards or Valve Covers…

And heres how things now look with the Extensions installed…

The Extensions offer good clearance all the way around the Cylinder Guards. The extension profile nicely fits behind the OEM BMW Crash Bars, you have to look closely to see the extensions from the front:

Barkbusters and Throttle Lock Arrived

27 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by in Barkbusters, BMW, R1200GS

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My Barkbusters, Throttle Lock and Frame Sliders arrived on Friday; I fitted them on Sunday night (because I didn’t find the package until Sunday arvo). Heres what the bike looks like with the Barkbusters, in person the Barkbusters aren’t the same colour as the paint, so my iphone is a little bit colour blind.

I wasn’t sure about the white, but they’re growing on me now. So now for the before and after detailed shots:

Heres what the Barkbusters and Throttle Lock look like up close:

I also got a set of frame sliders, I still have to work out how to install the rear bung but heres how the front ones look:

BMW Panniers

21 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by in Bike, BMW, GS, R1200GS, Touratech

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Its taken me a very long time to select panniers, both from the perspective of finding ones I like and finding ones that I think are reasonably priced. I’ve never been a fan of plastic panniers, so from the start I was never going to fit the standard GS plastic oem panniers. The oem GS panniers open to the sides, not the top. The problem with panniers that swing down is that you’ll at some point or another have things fall out, as soon as they’re full its always annoying getting a single thing out only to have a bunch of over stuff fall out. The more clam shelled the pannier the worse, it means up to half the capacity of the pannier will be emptied onto the ground at some point. So I was after panniers that open from the top, and am keen on the alloy look.

I I’ve looked at the Trax panniers from SW-Motech, they look sturdy but the combination of alloy and black powder-coating annoys me a bit, also the mounting rack really looks low quality, it looks like you could ripe one off the bike by hand. Again a black mounting rack would not look groovy with all my silvery stainless looking things. On the up side the Trax panniers were at a decent price.

I like the look of the Touratech panniers mostly, the basic addition without the rounded corners; the loops on the top do look a little funny. Touratech also make a pro series which is closer in appearance to the BMW GS ADV panniers. On the downside the markup on Touratech panniers in Australia is terrible, in some cases we pay more than double for what folks pay in europe, we also pay two thirds to double the price of what they get them for in the US as well. The Touratech panniers do have a better mounting frame, it looks to be pretty close in design to the oem BMW frame. Touratech also stock a frame with and without cut-outs around the exhaust. I did spent many days pondering the appearance of the cut-out pannier and a rack without the cut-out. In the end I decided the cut-out would look nicer, but I still wasn’t overly keen on price.

If I was going to pay top dollar panniers I though I might as well consider looking at the BMW panniers, I do like the look of the alloy Adventure panniers and from what I’ve read they fit the GS as well. I don’t really get why they’re not marked for the GS as well given the smaller F800GS gets alloy panniers as well (while still sporting a small fuel take and no crash bars etc).

After several hours of finding you can only get BMW panniers from a reseller in your country I came across a website that by the looks of it might even build the panniers for BMW, well the GS ADV panniers at least. The Pak Meister panniers look the same as the GS ADV panniers down to the last rivet, the only thing missing is the BMW stamp. The panniers ship all over and extremely cheap at $699-750 USD for a set. You will need to supply your own BMW oem rack tho, they also don’t have the left pannier cut-out.

In the end I’ve decided to go with the standard BMW GS ADV panniers, I’ve also found someone that will ship to me at price that doesn’t involve an Australian Tax, so all round very happy with that, will update once I have the panniers.

Unable to load config info from /usr/local/ssl/openssl.cnf

21 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by in Apache, openssl

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So have been playing about with some Apache goodness on Windows, would prefer Unix but there you go, just a little tip for creating SSL certs on windows. Running the following, you get a nice error telling you the openssl.cnf doesn’t exist on the Unix path:

C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\conf>openssl req -new -x509 -days 365 -sha1 -newkey rsa:1024 -nodes -keyout server.key -out server.crt
Unable to load config info from /usr/local/ssl/openssl.cnf

Adding the -config option to resolve this issue, for example:

-config ‘C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\conf\openssl.cnf’

C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\conf>openssl req -new -x509 -days 365 -sha1 -newkey rsa:1024 -nodes -keyout server.key -out server.crt -config ‘C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\conf\openssl.cnf’
Loading ‘screen’ into random state – done
Generating a 1024 bit RSA private key
…

Super groovy bike man

19 Tuesday Jun 2012

Posted by in Bike, BMW, GS, R1200GS, Wunderlich

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The fellows over at Wunderlich make a pretty cool visor for the GS, its called a Flowjet. It fits just over the instruments and gives the bike a naked mean sort of look. I’ve not much been a fan of massive screens, if you can’t take the wind you shouldn’t be riding in it. Plus I like to feeling of wind and being connected to things, not sheltered. So I might see if I can grab one, they spray them to match the colour of the bike which is super groovy. It would make a nice addition to my tourer. They also do a instrument visor-ma-jig, that adds a bit of needed sizzle to the gauges. It looks like BMW planned for one to be fitted but left it off so others could sell you one.

Touratech Parts Arrived

19 Tuesday Jun 2012

Posted by in Bike, BMW, R1200GS, Touratech

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I was hoping to pick up some parts at the post office this morning, but it turned out to be parcel from BMW containing a book and roadside assistance card and info. I flipped through one of these books at the dealer, still a nice surprise.

I got home and found a box full of Touratech goodies on my doorstep, I managed to get all bar one item fitted tonight and then get the bike back together, this is what it looked like at the half way mark. It took about 4-5 hours, not hard to fit stuff, just a lot of removing of nuts and bots involved…

More details tomorrow on what I’ve fitted, if you look hard you might be able to see a couple of the mods.

Touratech Protectors

15 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by in Bike, BMW, R1200GS, Touratech

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At the end of last month I ordered a bunch of alloy protectors for various vulnerable points on the bike. It looks like my stuff shipped today, or at least the order status has been changed today. Heres what I ordered from Touratech Australia:

  • Oil Cooler Guard R1200GS/ADV – BLACK, AUD83.77
  • Frame Protector R1200GS/ADV – SILVER 2008-on, AUD90.12
  • Pivot Point Cover – Left Silver R1200GS/ADV, AUD39.93
  • R1200GS Rear Brake Fluid Reservoir Guard, AUD54.65
  • ESA sensor protection (set) for BMW R1200GS/ADV from 2008, AUD57.06
  • Headlight Guard R1200GS/ADV – Steel Mesh, AUD149.65
  • Manifold exhaust flap protection for BMW R1200GS/ADV/RT, from 2010, AUD44.03
  • ABS sensor protection, front for BMW R 1200 GS/ADV from 2006, AUD37.98
  • Front Brake Reservoir Guard R1200GS/ADV, AUD43.19
  • Front Clutch Reservoir Guard R1200GS/ADV, AUD40.23
  • Kick stand support extension for BMW R1200GS/ADV from 2008 on, AUD51.17
  • Petrol Line Protection for R1200GS/ADV from 2010, AUD111.30
  • Frame plug for paralever screw fixture for BMW R1200GS/ADV from 2008, AUD37.32

With this and the other parts already in the mail I almost have all the protector bits for the bike.

Luggage Racks and Extra Fuel

12 Tuesday Jun 2012

Posted by in AltRider, BMW, R1200GS, Rotopax

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Some of places I plan to go to on my trip will require a little extra fuel. Steep Point in WA the western most point of Australia is one of those places.

I’ve seen people strap fuel cans to the back of their bikes, usually tied down with rope or straps. While this might hold on a perfect road, hit the track and your load will start bouncing around and worse if you have a spill maybe launch itself. If I am to cover extra fuel I want to be able to do it safely and without attracting the attention of the local constabulary, so that rules out tied down cans. One of the things I like about the GS over the GS Adventure, is the smaller tanks and leaner looking bike. I wanted a bike I could ride about town plus take on the tracks, this did leave me with less fuel capacity, but I figured it would be rare that I need that extra fuel load.

So once again I’ve been doing my homework on fuel and ways to carry it. I know some strap extra fuel, oil and water to their panniers but I kind of think that would attract attention and maybe bust and catch fire in a nasty spill, or even just get torn off. Plus panniers are for groovy stickers!

I found some pretty nice looking fuel cells called Rotopax, these have a bolt that lets you mount these to almost anything you can screw the bolt to. The Rotopax come in 1, 2 and 3 gallon containers. I was thinking of getting 4 gallons of fuel cells and 1-2 water; that should give me plenty of range. I’m hoping the GS is pretty good on the fuel but the only way to test it will be to take it into the conditions and monitor the fuel usage, once I hit Cape York I should be able to suss out the dirt track fuel mileage fully loaded and do some sums to see what I can and can’t get to.

AltRider make a luggage rack thats compatible with the Rotopax cells, from the video it will fit 2 2 gallon containers and 2 1 gallon containers with plenty of room for a bag on top. Its alloy construction, large mount space and looks pretty cool. The rack it has mount points to connect Rotopax as well as cameras. This looks like its the go for me, more on that later on.

Barkbusters and Throttle Lock

11 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by in Barkbusters, BMW, R1200GS

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The standard hand guards on the GS look like they’d tear off the first time you drop the bike on the handle bars. A small tree would definitely destroy one, then your possibly left with a broken clutch or brake lever and perhaps a smashed up hand too. Not that the BMW hand guards aren’t nice looking, but they are nothing more than wind protection for the street. I once hit a tree with a barkbuster, the aluminium bar took the force, I ended up a couple of metres away on the ground, but my hand, fingers and brake lever were saved. I don’t plan on doing as much bush bashing on the GS that I did with a dirt bike but I’d like the same hand and handlebar protection.

I’ve ordered a set of the GS fitting Barkbusters from Twisted Throttle. They’re coming with a set of the blue plastics and a Kaoko Throttle Lock. I’m not a fan of throttle locks, but as I’m going to be doing some bike days I’m going to need something to save my hands. On the last big trip I did without a throttle lock or cramp buster, I had to pull over from a hand that felt broke, it was 5 days of almost 1000kms days. I did need a recharge too but my hand was the weakest point. I found that there aren’t a lot of throttle locks out there that fit with Barkbusters, and then there aren’t a lot of good hand guards that put something strength between the ground and your fingers. So this was a very simple choice, from the start I knew the stock hand guards would be replaced. I’ve also ordered a set of R&G Sliders for the front forks and rear swing arm. Twisted Throttle shipped the gear quickly, but now I’m waiting on UPS to send it internationally. Its been 6 days since the order shipped so hopefully the arrive early this week, pictures to follow.

Einbauanleitung

10 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by in BMW, R1200GS

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I’ve spent a lot of time looking at crash bars and almost considering buying a complete crash bar and valve cover set. The BMW Aluminium cylinder covers don’t fit with a lot of crash bars out there, the ones it does fit with either fit by a couple of mills and so might hit the bars during a crash. Or don’t offer complete cylinder protection.

I almost went with the set from AltRider (Upper Crash Bars and Lower Crash Bars), these will fit with the BMW cylinder protectors, but the bars look like they come out a ways and don’t offer great support for the rear of the cylinder.

I do still like the set from Touratech, but as I’m still waiting on a order from them and they probably won’t fit with my covers. So they are ruled out, well almost. I went down to the local dealer and asked about bars, I picked up a set of the standard BMW Crash Bars after checking them out on another R1200GS. It was really a case of I’d pick up what was available and what would fit with existing components I’ve already got. The standard Crash Bar cost $580, which is steep, but they are stainless, and do hug the cylinders a lot more than some of the other gear out there (while still fitting the cylinder guards).

My other gripe was the protection from the rear of the cylinder and also the underneath, so I’ve also ordered a set of extensions to fit this problem. The Crash Bar Extensions are from Aventure Designs, these are stainless and built to fit with BMW Crash Bars on either the GS or Adventure, best of all they fit with the cylinder covers as well. These are $269 for a pair plus shipping, all up $308.

I am still keen on tank protection bars, both from the point of having somewhere to mount lights but also having that bit of extra protection for when the bike slides out of sand or loose ground. People I’ve spoken too have said you don’t need it but I’ve seen a couple of GSs with the scratched up plastics and videos of riders skiding the bike around salt pans. The Touratech Upper Tank Crash Bars are pretty snazzy, and are meant to fit with the stock BMW Crash Bars. So I might start looking into getting a set of these as well.