The Moose
Guest
Hi All
Here are a few Cheap Mod’s which have worked well on my GS ADV, most of them should work on all GS’s. All of the Mod’s listed here have been on my bike for five years and 70,000 km’s two up with luggage. (30,000 of it on gravel roads). The total cost of all the Mod’s on Cheap mod’s 1 and 2 is around £40 not including the cost of spare’s (I am sure the likes of Motorworks will help you out with that)
One of the reasons that the Rear sub frame fails is due metal fatigue (The sub frame flexes, this is known as cold working, it coursing the metal to harden. The harder the metal the more brittle it becomes which in turn will lead to it cracking). By reducing the flex you should reduce the risk of failure. The best way to strengthen the sub frame would be to weld some gussets into all of the corners, however this needs the sub frame to be removed plus a welder; the frame would also need repainting.
The cheap way is to add an extra bar on each side, connecting the rear peg mount to the lower sub frame mount. This stiffens the frame and means any force is channelled to the mounting point, Not to the thin section of tubing in front of the rear peg supporting loop (where factures normally accrue). I also braced to the inside of the Frames triangles.
(However energy needs to go somewhere so if the rear is to stiff then any energy (force) will go into the bikes mounting point and could course damage)
Full stand and front plate protection are a piece of 5mm aluminium plate which you can pick up anywhere attached with conduit pipe mounts which I picked up at my local DIY shop. The front plate has holes drilled through it as air passing passed the boxer engine is part of the cooling system. The Exhaust protection came from a Motocross shop designed for a 2 stoke exhaust just one section cut in half is perfect for the GS.
Down the front of my fork legs is some strips of rubber cable tired on if it gets damaged just cut the tires and replace it. There is no stone chips or corotion at all after five years.
The side stand foot increased with a little more of the 5 mm Aluminium I had left over just bolted on. I traced around the original foot it create a filler plate and so it is 10 mm high which helps with the lean angle.
I bent some 1.5 mm aluminium used a couple of jubilee clips to attach it to the lower section of my final drive lever arm. A small bend raps around the underside and there some holes drilled to accommodate the arm mounting bolts (these holes also help keep the plate in position). A little of the rubber I used on the forks has helped reduce stone chips.
I looked at huggers and found them to be expensive and that a lot of mud and shite still got pass the things, so instead I replaced the flimsy rear shock protector with some 3 mm reinforced rubber. It is wider and longer than the standard part and I added a small plate of 1.5 mm aluminium to give it more rigidity. It seems to work and protect the shock well (I am still on the ordinal shock).
I also used the same rubber to extend the front fender it keep mud off the front of the engine.
On a long trip with some friend a while back, one of them had a problem with his rear brake pads. Since then I carry a spare pair bolted to the rear of my bike (one each side), from the side you cannot see them. On the plus side we discovered that rear brake pads for a Yamaha WR 450 fit the rear of a 1200 GS.
The pannier exhaust shield is an off cut of stainless tube I got from an exhaust fitting shop attached with standard exhaust clip. By cutting down it meant that it stayed cooler.
I once blow headlight bulbs which in turn blow a fuse leaving me without any lights 100km’s from home at night. I tried to figure out how where and how the carry spares. The answer is in the fuse box, mine now has a spare head light bulb, tail light bulb, indicator bulb, puncture repair kit, extra fuses, and extra co2 bottles and relay so that my bike will run on 91.
My bar extensions are a second pair of top clamps (off a mates Yamaha when he put some aftermarket wider bars on) they are simply inverted and mounted using longer bolts. Better standing position and all cables and wiring still fit.
The watch fixed with Velcro same a thermometer and barometer on it.
I hope some of the idea’s help save your bike from damage not to mention a few quid.
Ride Safe
Moose
I spent hours trying to download the photo's onto the page with the text but, no joy.
View attachment Cheap mods that work 1.doc
View attachment Cheap mod's that work 2.doc
So I hope the attachments works.
Here are a few Cheap Mod’s which have worked well on my GS ADV, most of them should work on all GS’s. All of the Mod’s listed here have been on my bike for five years and 70,000 km’s two up with luggage. (30,000 of it on gravel roads). The total cost of all the Mod’s on Cheap mod’s 1 and 2 is around £40 not including the cost of spare’s (I am sure the likes of Motorworks will help you out with that)
One of the reasons that the Rear sub frame fails is due metal fatigue (The sub frame flexes, this is known as cold working, it coursing the metal to harden. The harder the metal the more brittle it becomes which in turn will lead to it cracking). By reducing the flex you should reduce the risk of failure. The best way to strengthen the sub frame would be to weld some gussets into all of the corners, however this needs the sub frame to be removed plus a welder; the frame would also need repainting.
The cheap way is to add an extra bar on each side, connecting the rear peg mount to the lower sub frame mount. This stiffens the frame and means any force is channelled to the mounting point, Not to the thin section of tubing in front of the rear peg supporting loop (where factures normally accrue). I also braced to the inside of the Frames triangles.
(However energy needs to go somewhere so if the rear is to stiff then any energy (force) will go into the bikes mounting point and could course damage)
Full stand and front plate protection are a piece of 5mm aluminium plate which you can pick up anywhere attached with conduit pipe mounts which I picked up at my local DIY shop. The front plate has holes drilled through it as air passing passed the boxer engine is part of the cooling system. The Exhaust protection came from a Motocross shop designed for a 2 stoke exhaust just one section cut in half is perfect for the GS.
Down the front of my fork legs is some strips of rubber cable tired on if it gets damaged just cut the tires and replace it. There is no stone chips or corotion at all after five years.
The side stand foot increased with a little more of the 5 mm Aluminium I had left over just bolted on. I traced around the original foot it create a filler plate and so it is 10 mm high which helps with the lean angle.
I bent some 1.5 mm aluminium used a couple of jubilee clips to attach it to the lower section of my final drive lever arm. A small bend raps around the underside and there some holes drilled to accommodate the arm mounting bolts (these holes also help keep the plate in position). A little of the rubber I used on the forks has helped reduce stone chips.
I looked at huggers and found them to be expensive and that a lot of mud and shite still got pass the things, so instead I replaced the flimsy rear shock protector with some 3 mm reinforced rubber. It is wider and longer than the standard part and I added a small plate of 1.5 mm aluminium to give it more rigidity. It seems to work and protect the shock well (I am still on the ordinal shock).
I also used the same rubber to extend the front fender it keep mud off the front of the engine.
On a long trip with some friend a while back, one of them had a problem with his rear brake pads. Since then I carry a spare pair bolted to the rear of my bike (one each side), from the side you cannot see them. On the plus side we discovered that rear brake pads for a Yamaha WR 450 fit the rear of a 1200 GS.
The pannier exhaust shield is an off cut of stainless tube I got from an exhaust fitting shop attached with standard exhaust clip. By cutting down it meant that it stayed cooler.
I once blow headlight bulbs which in turn blow a fuse leaving me without any lights 100km’s from home at night. I tried to figure out how where and how the carry spares. The answer is in the fuse box, mine now has a spare head light bulb, tail light bulb, indicator bulb, puncture repair kit, extra fuses, and extra co2 bottles and relay so that my bike will run on 91.
My bar extensions are a second pair of top clamps (off a mates Yamaha when he put some aftermarket wider bars on) they are simply inverted and mounted using longer bolts. Better standing position and all cables and wiring still fit.
The watch fixed with Velcro same a thermometer and barometer on it.
I hope some of the idea’s help save your bike from damage not to mention a few quid.
Ride Safe
Moose
I spent hours trying to download the photo's onto the page with the text but, no joy.
View attachment Cheap mods that work 1.doc
View attachment Cheap mod's that work 2.doc
So I hope the attachments works.
