Sorting the G650 Xcountry to go offroad

HonestJohn

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Having spent just 2 days getting a taste for offroading on Simon Pavey's level 1 course on a Xcountry, I decided to get one for this season and have some fun :JB 'cause while taking my 1200GS along Houndkirk Road is fun, I'm not planning to replace the Tourances to take it further afield - and I need something a bit lighter. To be honest, the "laser precision" of the Xchallenge was more to my taste, but the Xcountry is still capable of way more than I am right now, was loads cheaper, and, most importantly, available!! :thumb2

So what's the basic minimum I need to do to take my Xcountry offroad?

I've waded through most of the ADVrider thread that JohhnyBoxer pointed out (http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=290240) but with over 2,200 posts today, there's a lot more in there than I needed. Based on that, and reading these pages, here's my plan - offered for everyone's input (and sport, most likely :pullface)

Tyres When I get the bike, it will have had TKC80s fitted. Continental advised me to run them at 2.0 bar front and 2.3 bar rear (29 psi and 33 psi in old money) but that sounds quite high, doesn't it?

Bash plate I need to replace the plastic OEM bash plate with a decent metal one – but if anyone has ideas on a better/cheaper source for this than Touratech (£177 for their larger one, part 049-0107) I'd be delighted to hear before I order on in the next day or so

Gear lever Change the original cast gear lever for a steel one from an F650 to avoid the risk of shearing off the gear selector shaft - I've got that in train

Tail tidy The stock parts look pretty vulnerable, so I've ordered a replacement for £61 (http://www.rg-racing.com/browseBike/BMW/G650_X_Country/All_Years/LP0049BK.aspx)

Hand guards I’ve got some BarkBusters on order (part BHG13 for £79 from http://www.demonmx.co.uk)

All of which adds up to just over £300 - so I'm hoping that I've spotted most of the key things I need to do! What do you think? I know there's loads you could do, but I'm focussing just on the functional bare necessities

And here's a couple of pics before starting
 

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You've made a good start

I would recommend a perspex lightguard as the light is shared with the HP2 and most folks have found it easy to break the glass

TT do one

Wunderlich make some good XCountry parts - Marathon screen

I would put a 14t sprocket on the front for offroad

The TT frame hardpart is worth it too, plus I rate the XChallenge BMW Part # alloy frame parts and front sprocket cover (made by TT), again essential and for the Peak District gritstone, I reckon the TT rear chainguide and rear disc proctector are very worthy

The XCountry makes a good dualsport:thumb
 
Thanks JB for the suggestions

Thanks - I'll take a peek at the TT and Wunderlich catalogues over the next couple of days

And the bike should be ready to pick up in the next couple of days - woo hoo! :D
 
Search the advrider thread for any posts by Andrewgore. He seems to give his Xcountry a serious workout and has modded if for off road use. PLUS he makes a nice bash plate and other parts at well below TT prices. I bought his bashplate and tail tidy for my XChall.

:thumb2
 
Updates

Rushy, Andrew Gore's "Fender Delete" tail tidy looks a steal at $45, but I've already splashed out on one. On its own, the bash plate ($150 plus $50 shipping) with a 10% discount for Adventurers might take the price to around £115. I've emailed him to clarify the price - thanks for the steer

Johnny, I guess you're thinking Xch when you mentioned 14t sprocket - which probably translates into 15t for Xco. Xch stock is 15:47 with 18" rims, but Xco is 16:47 with 17" rims. In any event, I'll bear in mind the suggestion to drop 1t off the front
 
That front mudguard looks a bit close to the wheel to me if you're heading towards any serious mud.

Paul
 
HonestJohn said:
Rushy, Andrew Gore's "Fender Delete" tail tidy looks a steal at $45, but I've already splashed out on one. On its own, the bash plate ($150 plus $50 shipping) with a 10% discount for Adventurers might take the price to around £115. I've emailed him to clarify the price - thanks for the steer

Johnny, I guess you're thinking Xch when you mentioned 14t sprocket - which probably translates into 15t for Xco. Xch stock is 15:47 with 18" rims, but Xco is 16:47 with 17" rims. In any event, I'll bear in mind the suggestion to drop 1t off the front
Click to expand...

Talon do them cheaper
 
HonestJohn said:
Tyres When I get the bike, it will have had TKC80s fitted. Continental advised me to run them at 2.0 bar front and 2.3 bar rear (29 psi and 33 psi in old money) but that sounds quite high, doesn't it?
Click to expand...
Tyre pressures are a personal choice. The lower the pressure generally the more the grip in muddy conditions.
Bear in mind though that running lower pressures will increase the likelyhood of bent rims, and as you're in the Peaks...........:mmmm

I've run with road pressures in my tyres for the last 20 years, OK there's been times when I'd have liked more grip, but I've never had a bent rim :D
 
Spout said:
Tyre pressures are a personal choice. The lower the pressure generally the more the grip in muddy conditions.
Bear in mind though that running lower pressures will increase the likelyhood of bent rims, and as you're in the Peaks...........:mmmm

I've run with road pressures in my tyres for the last 20 years, OK there's been times when I'd have liked more grip, but I've never had a bent rim :D
Click to expand...

Same here.....................25psi front and rear, no rimlocks on a G650

Whatever the conditions, winter or summer

The G650s are heavy bikes and there's plenty of weight to get some grip

Top Tyre choice for me is Pirelli MT21, but you can't get them in 19/17 combo:blast
 
HonestJohn said:
In any event, I'll bear in mind the suggestion to drop 1t off the front
Click to expand...

Whilst making the front sprocket smaller is cheap and easy to do, from an engineering perspective, it's better to make the rear sprocket larger.

Greg
 
650 xcountry.Definately my next dual purpose bike.
1200 goes for 1st service at rainbow on friday.
Hands will need to be tightly fixed in pockets.
I'm surprised Jo's letting me go on my own!!!

Steve
 
Tyres and pressures ...

Thanks for the comments - as an offroad newbie, I'll take the advice and stick to Continental's technician's guidance, and not run with lower pressures -for the reasons you guys have given. And by the time I've worn out my first set of TKC80's, I'll know a lot more than I do now!

Most of the comments (all very welcome) are coming from folks on other bikes - particularly Xchallenge - and I wondered who's using the Xcountry offroad already? Any advice from that quarter?
 
XCountry offroad......................I doubt there is many used that way in UK

No reason why they won't make a great offroad trail bike

Same chassis platform as XChallenge, just with less suspension travel and smaller wheels

If I was 15 years older, I would be using one

I just like the XChallenge at my age:augie
 
I have both a XCountry and a F800GS.
I use the XCountry mostly for day trips of road and as my daily Commuter.
I first tried it at the ORS as you did and I absolutely had to have one after that.
This bike never stops giving me big :D and I absolutely love it.

My modifications so far have been:
Home made Bash Plate designed under minor influence from the Touratech plate.
Hebco & Becker Crash bars.
KTM hand guards, (they are direct bolt on)
Oxford heated grips.
Hebco & Becker rear rack.
And for the season I have mounted tires with studs to deal with the icy conditions here.

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/12gx6uPzK0ChUjkXzRodAw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_fOLLXPLAZXQ/Sl4SVUZmWsI/AAAAAAAAAkI/7CHn_yxV8bU/s800/IMGP0245.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/kalligeir/Web?feat=embedwebsite">web</a></td></tr></table>
 
Micky said:
Probably my next consideration JB :thumb

:beerjug:
Click to expand...

If you do get one buy a 2007/2008 black one................not a 2009 Yellow one

The earlier ones are ..................

a) Cheaper

b) Better finished and have better quality components (have a good look at the exhaust can on an earlier one v's a 2009 one:eek::rolleyes:)

c) Have a Rotax engine built in Austria, whereas I believe the 2009 ones are made under licence in China by Loncin

The latest Yellow 2009 ones have been significantly cheapened on the cost control front:eek:
 
Greg Masters said:
Whilst making the front sprocket smaller is cheap and easy to do, from an engineering perspective, it's better to make the rear sprocket larger.

Greg
Click to expand...

Rushy said:
Please explain Greg because I most definitely don't have an engineering brain :(
Click to expand...

OK - I'll have a go.

  • The smaller the sprocket, the tighter the radius that the chain has to wrap around. That means that the wear on the links and pins is going to be greater because each pair of links has to 'hinge' through a greater angle than if you used a larger sprocket.
  • Gears are circular. For a pair of gears the meshing points are always at a constant radius from the centre of each gear. This means that the output gear operates at constant velocity for a given speed on the input gear.

    Sprockets are not circular even if you ignore the teeth. They are more like a threepenny bit. So the chain rollers are further from the centre of the sprocket than the notional centre line of the chain at a point between the rollers. As the chain wraps around a sprocket rotating at a steady speed, these variations in effective diameter of the sprocket mean that the chain's velocity is not constant but pulsing each time a roller latches onto the sprocket. The effect is exacerbated by larger pitch chains and by smaller diameter sprockets.

    In normal use this pulsing is not noticed by the rider. However, at certain speeds the pulsing can set up a harmonic whipping in the chain run. For a variety of reasons this is best avoided.
  • Fitting larger sprockets also has its drawbacks in high-speed applications. The bike's weight increases not only because of the larger sprocket but also on account of a longer chain. At high speeds, the centifugal forces on the chain are higher with larger diameter sprockets and that, in turn, adds to the tension on the chain. This can lead to problems with heat build-up in the chain and subsequent loss of chain lubricant through overheating and run-off. If you don't think that a chain gets hot, grab hold of it immediately after a high speed run. None of this would be a problem for most trail bikes.

That's about it.

Greg
 
... and have better suspension for offroad use?

JohnnyBoxer said:
If you do get one buy a 2007/2008 black one................not a 2009 Yellow one

The earlier ones are ..................
Click to expand...

d) kitted out with much longer suspension travel - 240/220mm front/rear, whereas the 2009 revision lowered the seat height significantly by reducing the travel to 220/165mm. In comparison, the Xchallenge is 270/270mm (with clever (?) rear air damping and separate adjustment of spring and rebound damping) and a KTM450EXC is 300/315mm ... and other things being equal, longer travel should give you more ground clearance, I guess

Mind you, the shorter travel on the 09 doesn't seem to hold Andrew Gore back much - as Rushy said, from ADVrider it looks like he gives his 09 a good workout!
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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