GS into a GSA

[Shaggy33]

I have a mandarin dream 1150GS which is lovely but I really wanted a GSA but could stretch the budget that far.
What obvious and relatively cost effective things can I do to my bike to make it look a bit more hardcore ie GSA stylee??

Apart from change the colour that is.....it has crossed my mind!

 

[vilguy]

i did this very conversion myself late last year mate.

It costs a bit unless you can find the parts secondhand

Changes are :-

Screen + fixings - secondhand

Shocks (these are easy to sort secondhand and people are often wanting to swap from one way or another.. keep an eye out in the wanted section)
Its easy to swap them too - about an hour tops

seat conversion - getting tricky, sometimes people want to swap to a std gs set up, but i wanted an adventure seat on mine. I loved it. You need to find a secondhand seat - ebay 50 quid ish, but alot of the other bits are hard to come by. Ive gone through it all in a previous thread. Its worth it, i loved the difference in the seat

fuel tank - dont pay any more than around 300 quid.. for a good un!
People go crazy paying more than 500 notes for some! Its madness.

Its worth the money though mate, it transformed my bike for me to something boring into something half fun

 

[Annette]

Shaggy the most obvious difference which can be seen by all is the larger Adventure fuel tank and a different seat, which will probably involve a large expense to convert. To the majority of people they both look the same.

Someone more technical will be along with all the other differences soon I'm sure.

You could go for the different stickers on the tank, but everyone will know that all you've done it put different stickers on.

What effect did you want to achieve and you may get more answers.

 

[dubweiser]

what point is to change it to a fake gsa? that other people can watch, you have a gs adventure, not gs?
my opinion is, if u dont like your bike as it is right now, change it as you like any way you like. colour it, put some extras, etc...watch from touratech also. they have a lot of different stuff, for changing your bike look like a 1941 russian tank

 

[Shaggy33]

thanks for input and all valid points. I suppose I should put the money away I would spend on mods and then use it towards a gsa when i sell this one!! Just too impatient thats my problem.
I just want the bike to look more like a gsa that's ready for some enduro/traillie action bike than a sparkly clean commuter machine!

 

[davegs]

Looks

Just get out there and get it dirty properly off roading not spray on mud

 

[turnipbmw]

To turn a GS into a GSA

jack up suspension so that you cant touch the ground, the drive shaft is at the wrong angle and makes the gearbox whine and bike weave at 110 mph

Put on silly low geared gearbox so it revs too high at touring speed and does 10 mpg less

Add 99mph rated TKC tyres

lugs around more fuel than you need in an ugly tank

job done

 

[Steptoe]

To turn a GS into a GSA

jack up suspension so that you cant touch the ground, the drive shaft is at the wrong angle and makes the gearbox whine and bike weave at 110 mph

Put on silly low geared gearbox so it revs too high at touring speed and does 10 mpg less

Add 99mph rated TKC tyres

lugs around more fuel than you need in an ugly tank

job done

You forgot about adding the uncomfortable one piece seat and losing the tool box, plus the beak extension that also helps with high speed weaves

 

[D6]

u need the beak extender too, motorworks, NOT bmw or ebay

 

[vilguy]

I would say if you like the adventure go for it, it was alot cheaper for to convert mine than sell it and buy an adventure.

If you keep all the bits you can sell off all gsa kit when you sell the bike and get most of your money back.

The GSA was a better bike for me compared to the GS. But bikes have always been a personal thing, one person will always tell you its great, one its crap.

Try and have a go on the adventure and see if you get on with it. At the end of the day you dont have to do ALL the conversion.

 

[Bronco Billy]

To turn a GS into a GSA

lugs around more fuel than you need in an ugly tank

job done

A clear case of Tank envy .....

 

[elevensies]

 

[King Rat]

What weave at 110? I have just ridden home at a steady 95 on back tyre that was nearly flat (14psi when I got home.....went OK. Got me home. Put another plug in it and will ride it some more (can't waste good tread!) holding 42 psi again now.

I like the extra suspension travel and the extra miles in the tank...agree about the long top though, would like to put the smaller 6th cog set in to lower the revs - but the acceleration at the bottom end is useful at times. 4000 at 70 isn't that revvy. Bumbles along at 40 in top without labouring though...swings and roundybouts.

Very comfy with the tall seat - awkward at first pushing it about, but no hinderence when underway, you get used to it. Noisy though, the wind roar is very noticeable and you have to daydream it away.........then you don't get the headache at the end of a long day.

 

[Steptoe]

would like to put the smaller 6th cog set in to lower the revs - .

Thats no [URL="http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=156760&highlight=snapped"]problem[/URL]

 

[Annette]

I just want the bike to look more like a gsa that's ready for some enduro/traillie action bike than a sparkly clean commuter machine!

But the R1150GS is already for enduro/trailie action. The differences between the 2 doesn't mean you can't take yours offroad. In fact, it's lighter than the GSA which is a bonus when you drop it.

If you want to go offroad the most important thing is to make sure you've got the right tyres. Also changing your tyres to something like TKC80s instantly makes your bike look more "rugged"

 

[vilguy]

That is true to be honest.. tkcs = instant kudos haha