ah!
it seems a lot smaller and lighter. not as shiny (or lairy), but i got the right one for me.
airhead history could be for sale
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ah!
it seems a lot smaller and lighter. not as shiny (or lairy), but i got the right one for me.
Deleted account W
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A glimpse of Mrs Cookie's bra in the Airhead section, quick nurse the CPR kit, they're dropping like flys 
A high street is the perfect place for a paralever!
Let's look at the points of failure:
I just do not see real long distance touring on/off road as a good environment for the paralever. The driveling itself fails, the mount onto the trans is delicate, the bikes must be split in half to replace a clutch, and if it falls over, the trans case cracks....
I don't think anybody would consider the 1st generation Paralever for any serious off road work but the later Paralever is a very sensible proposition. This is Chris Emmersons lovely bike http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showpost.php?p=974014&postcount=46
HPN use the 1100 backed on there long haul desert racers.
cgoodwin
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No. That would be Yank, Septic Tank etc etc. Merkin is just a lazy spelling.
Have you contacted BMW and informed them of the fact people could die in lonely hot deserts and their m/cs could all do a million miles if only they hadn't listened to their engineers and ditched monolevers for paralevers cgoodwin? I think BMW should be told
Easy old son, finish your Eggs and Soldiers and think before you type.
The Paralever was designed to prevent "Shaft jacking" and it did reduce it by about half, but this was achieved at the price of quadrupling the number of components and points of failure. On a road bike, I see the point, but on a distance off road tourer I simply do not. Would I rather have a bike that raised slightly in the back under hard accelleration and squatted a little under trailing throttle, or one with a glass driveline...
I agree that the paralever is a more predictable ride and for one who is not experienced riding a BMW, perhaps more familiar. I agree that in performance riding on pavement it has advantages, but I will also argue that the monolever is a much more durable and robust suspension with 4 times the longevity of the paralever.
The point I am making is that if you are in the middle of the bush in some God forsaken corner of the planet and you have an issue with your monolever BMW, you can likely fix it. If on the other hand you are on a r1200gs Adventure and your alloy suspension cracks, the u joints fail, the trans housing cracks (Touratech makes a guard as it is so fragile), you break a suspension link or pivot, the forks snap when you drop the bike (Touratech makes a brace), the ECU fails, your TPS's go out of sync, you get some dodgy fuel and your injectors pack it in, you get constant surging at mid-throttle, the ABS lights start flashing out of sync, the fuel pump fails, or any of the issues resulting in many recalls covering the front brakes, anti-lock braking system, throttle cable, fuel pump, clutch, final drive assembly, brake pipes, and gearbox should take place. You are stuck my friend.
The original GS was what it was (and still is), it is a solid, simple, on/off road motorcycle capable of carrying passengers and gear over some of the worst roads on the planet with a high degree of reliability and is easy to repair and maintain with few tools. Some things do not need improvement.
It would appear that you already know which way you want to go with your project.
I've taken to him as well Rob
At last another Confirmed Paralever hater, but in my instance it was a lock up at 100 mph that nearly killed me
I agree with most of your sentiments cgoodwin but I think you overstate the fragility of paralevers. It might present problems under Paris Dakar race conditions but in the real world it's not really a problem. There are very few places in the world today that are really remote and some form of help is not at hand. I agree a simple well engineered m/c like the BMW airhead is the logical choice for the remoter places. A lot of peeps use the R80GS Basic for RTW trips. A big plus is BMW have a spares service (or did until at least 10 years ago)for just about every country in the world. That said, there are people going around the world on R1s and their indomitable spirit seems to get them to where they want to go as much as their choice of m/c or shaft drive.
i don't believe bmw designed the later GSs as off road tourers. i think they know their real market better than that.
There is nothing wrong with the Airhead paralever. It is a very good Bike.
It was a K Bike development and there are far more paralevers out there than monobuggers.
But I think that I would always go for a GS over the G/S. I have had a few of both, STs, G/Ss, Basics and PDs..........but I am certainly not a serious offroad or RTW rider but to be fair neither Bike was made for such purpose so they should be considered for what they are not what they are not.
The GS has kept BMW alive, (saved BMW Bikes?),.........particularly the Oilheads and Hexheads and 90% of them never see long distance dirt..........as Cookie indicates, they were not really made for that purpose no matter what the marketing hype may suggest
(don't get me wrong - I am a fan of both, and I am not a particular fan of the oilheads and certainly not of the CanHexbuggers).
It was a K Bike development and there are far more paralevers out there than monobuggers.
But I think that I would always go for a GS over the G/S. I have had a few of both, STs, G/Ss, Basics and PDs..........but I am certainly not a serious offroad or RTW rider but to be fair neither Bike was made for such purpose so they should be considered for what they are not what they are not.
The GS has kept BMW alive, (saved BMW Bikes?),.........particularly the Oilheads and Hexheads and 90% of them never see long distance dirt..........as Cookie indicates, they were not really made for that purpose no matter what the marketing hype may suggest
(don't get me wrong - I am a fan of both, and I am not a particular fan of the oilheads and certainly not of the CanHexbuggers).
Nice for looking at, but has it been used in anger since it was modified from a mono - to fragile
Nice for looking at, but has it been used in anger since it was modified from a mono - to fragile
Mine gets loads of use
Nearly 2 years of off roading and apart from 1 slightly bent paralever arm caused to much enthusiasm trying to get over a small log
It has proved to be totally reliable and IMHO gives a lot better suspension than a extended monolever
There have been some very nice PD Bikes out there that have been sold over the years.
I almost bought a one in my paragon days........but I could never get on one
This one will suit Keith, as it's a monobugger, but not a mono
I know someone who has one of those, and with some real rallye racing history. And he'll sell it - last time i spoke to him he wanted £7k.
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And apparently they didn't need doing
Are you trying to say they're just a pile of wee stained tinkerers
What complete and utter bolloxs - the clutch is replaced in the same way as any other airhead.
Fanum
Toubab
every village in Africa has a welder....and more ingenuity than a college full of engineers over here.
You won't get stuck on most bikes these days
I've seen a broken KTM swing arm drilled, stitched with bailing wire then splinted with two re-bar strips ....I've also seen fork seals improvised out of god knows what (I do actually but I can't say 'cos he'll probably read this and he's still riding around on his Zanussi/KTM
Having said that, I do carry a spare final drive bearing for 11xx's (though again, you can go into any spares shop in Morocco and have a pretty good chance of finding one that'll do the job
)If you want a properly fixable RTW bike, it would have to be a C90, or the Yamaha version.....not only are they such basic old tech machines, but every villager in every village in Africa and most other continents has ridden one, fixed one or knows someone who has.
As Devon said though, it's the spirit and attitude that makes any RTW trip a success.....Ted Simon got it right but sadly, so many people who try it just don't get it and think the machinery is more important
I've only just looked back on these pics but in the light of this thread, isn't this very similar?
That bike has an oilhead rear end.
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And apparently they didn't need doing
Still squeaking..that bike is jinxed...poor Tarka nearly had a hernia twattin' the originals out !!!
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