Long Distance Commuter

[Ixworth_GS]

I bought my G650GS 3 weeks ago to use as my daily commuter. Nothing unusual there except that my commute is 95 miles each way, each day. I suspect that this might give me an insight into the bike that will be different from most owners.

My journey involves 65miles of dual-carriageway / motorway with 15 miles of Central London traffic at one end and 15 miles of b-roads at the other. The bulk of the journey is despatched at 75mph and has been fine. The bike is happy to go faster but I'm just about to get my license clean again after 5 years so am trying hard not to get myself nicked. I had been concerned about wind blast, and also vibration from the single, but the standard screen pushes most of the air over my head (I'm 5'9"), and I don't notice the vibration at all. Riding through the b-roads is fun-filled and the bike really excels itself in the city with filtering a dream with the ultra-light steering.

So far, after 2,800 miles, I'm getting an unvarying 15miles per litre (68.5mpg), which isn't bad. Although I had hoped for a litte more than that as I was getting 50mpg from my 12 year old Thundercat previously.

The bike went into BMW Park Lane for its 600 mile running-in service 3 days after I bought it. The £180 bill and promises of £280/£380 bills for 6k/12k services (i.e. every 6 weeks for me, or £10 per day) made me decide to say "sod the warranty" I'll service the bike myself. I'm certain I can cope with oil, filter, plug changes, and lube/fluids etc. Brakes and chain/sprockets shouldn't be beyond me either (although I might be on here asking for help from time to time). I guess the only thing that I'm a little concerned about is the requirement to check the valve clearances every 6k; if anybody has any advice I'd appreciate it.

I'll be trying various tyres out too to see which last best and longest. Again, anyone with any advice, feel free to let me have it.

So far though I'm happy to report that I've had no real problems with the bike (now that I've realised you don't try and finesse the gear changes). I did have a bar end weight fall off where the handguards weren't bolted on properly by the dealer, and the heated grip switch appears to be have been wired up the wrong way round (low=high, high-low). The depression lever job was done before I got the bike and I haven't had any warm start problems, and everything else has worked as it should.

 

[Dansin]

Welcome to the forum.

Sounds like you're going to be doing some serious mileage. Servicing the bike yourself should be pretty easy, they're not complicated bikes. If you need any pointers there's loads of info on here, over at F650.com and F650.co.uk.

Valve check procedure for the F is here. I would think that the G will be very similar if not identical. Mine's on 26k miles and has not needed any adjustment so far.

 

[Giles]

Welcome!

I know Ixworth well. When I was a teenager I had a summer holiday job there in a warehouse that made 'Parsley Pigs' and 'Daffodil dogs'. Lost me cherry to a gorgeous girl on the production line (if you could call it that).

Sigh, happy days .....

 

[Ixworth_GS]

I'll be up to 7,000 miles by Saturday and am going to give the bike a service - oil and filter change, air filter, spark plug, chain adjust, clean and lube, check pads (got a replacement set if needed) and brake fluid, check coolant level. It'll be bye-bye warranty but I can't be paying £280/£380+ to BMW every 6 weeks or so.

Given that the bike is only 7 weeks old, is there anything else that I should be checking/adjusting on this simple single? I'm going to give the valve clearances a miss this time round and check them in 6 weeks' time at 12,000 miles. By then I reckon I'll be also looking at possible chain and sprocket, tyres, pads (if they're ok now) on top of the oil and filters etc.

Never done anything like this on a bike before so quite excited/nervous. I'd hate to be the cause of a problem on a bike that hasn't missed a stroke to date.

Any advice will be useful.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Simon_h]

christ, I've just stopped doing 120 miles per day (Basingstoke to the City) after 3 years of doing it because I got fed up with the boredom. My journey pales into insignificance next to yours!

I ultimately ended up on a 1300 pan. It doesn't matter how good your intentions are, you need that weather protection, comfort and build quality. It was the best bike I had to do the journey on.

 

[Dansin]

I'll be up to 7,000 miles by Saturday and am going to give the bike a service - oil and filter change, air filter, spark plug, chain adjust, clean and lube, check pads (got a replacement set if needed) and brake fluid, check coolant level. It'll be bye-bye warranty but I can't be paying £280/£380+ to BMW every 6 weeks or so.

Given that the bike is only 7 weeks old, is there anything else that I should be checking/adjusting on this simple single? I'm going to give the valve clearances a miss this time round and check them in 6 weeks' time at 12,000 miles. By then I reckon I'll be also looking at possible chain and sprocket, tyres, pads (if they're ok now) on top of the oil and filters etc.

Never done anything like this on a bike before so quite excited/nervous. I'd hate to be the cause of a problem on a bike that hasn't missed a stroke to date.

Any advice will be useful.

Cheers
Andy

How about a scottoiler if not already fitted? Should extend the life of the chain and sprockets significantly.

 

[JJH]

Is there not some rule that u keep your warrenty if u use genuine parts?

 

[Ixworth_GS]

I've had a Scottoiler before and have been looking at getting one again. Might pay for itself in scott oil vs Wurth chain lube that I liberally apply every other day or so.

As for the warranty, I understand that having a service done by anybody other than a trained/certified mechanic weakens any warranty claims rather than necessarily voiding it. Doing it myself will weaken that even further and would mean I'd have to fight on a specific case basis and prove that my servicing approach was in no way responsible for the defect.

 

[JJH]

I would buy genuine parts and keep reciepts

 

[AberdeenAngus]

Lost me cherry to a gorgeous girl on the production line...

Was that not a little uncomfortable ?

 

[Ixworth_GS]

christ, I've just stopped doing 120 miles per day (Basingstoke to the City) after 3 years of doing it because I got fed up with the boredom. My journey pales into insignificance next to yours!

I ultimately ended up on a 1300 pan. It doesn't matter how good your intentions are, you need that weather protection, comfort and build quality. It was the best bike I had to do the journey on.

I had 4 main considerations when choosing my bike:
- cost: cost of bike, MPG, servicing
- build quality: notwithstanding the fact that these bikes might be parts-bin specials, they're still BMWs
- city riding: very light steering, high vantage point with good visibility
- comfort: wind blast, weather protection, seat etc.

I used to ride a fully-faired bike into town and, while it was more comfortable, and I stayed a bit dryer and warmer, I got about half the mpg of this bike, wrist ache from the heavier steering in town, and still got a sore backside after 2 hours of riding.

I'm looking at this as an experiment really. I'm hoping that a modern bike from a decent manufacturer, and with regular replacement of consumables and reasonable care and maintenance will manage a minimum of 3 years of heavy use. I'm not expecting much in the way of residual value after this and rather suspect it'll look pretty sorry for itself after a few months or so.

As for the boredom; while on the A14/A11/M11 I listen to audiobooks, I don't get bored while driving through the city :

 

[Simon_h]

tenner says you won't still be riding the bike in 3yrs if you continue to do 190miles per day.

 

[harry]

Was that not a little uncomfortable ?

Yes, but it was an endless belt