Marrakesh red r1150gs

[Neil W]

Using two 20x52x15 bearings and the correct spacer for the offside I have worked out that there is 35mm space on the speedo drive side but the speedo drive is 40mm deep, rather than machine the drive unit I can get away with a narrower 20x52x10 bearing on that side and the speedo drive will be fine and I can get a shaft seal in the correct size to fit as well .

Hopefully it just needs a couple of grooves put in the hub to take the pressed steel drive plate and it will be up and running, if it all works out then both wheels are getting powder coated in gloss black .

Will go for a 160 or a 170 rear and the current 150 back tyre on the spoked wheel can go onto the ktm 1090 as it is running Tourance Next tyres as well

 

[Neil W]

Belt and braces to make sure wheel is 100% centralised, bolts screwed into disc mounts and both set at 15mm so they just miss the fork legs and then made up a pointer to mount into the valve seat and it indicates the wheel centre is dead inline with the centre of the fork brace, at the minute I am waiting for the 10mm deep bearing and there is a 10mm mock bearing turned out of aluminium in its place and it is ideal for centralising the wheel

 

[Aidan1150]

Well done sir, very thorough and meticulous attention to detail. By the look of it, all will be well.

 

[Neil W]

Will be interesting when I get the alloy front wheel sorted as much as anything to see if there is a weight saving, standard spoked gs wheel,,discs and Tourance Next is a very hefty 14.5 kgs

 

[Neil W]

The 10mm wide bearing turned up today as did the 12mm wide one I ordered and typically the 10 mm is too narrow and the 12mm too wide for what I want , so I have ordered some 1mm thrust washers to go behind the 10 mm bearing and it will centre the wheel correctly , once I have trial fitted it and when I get the new speedo drive plate tomorrow I will machine two slots in the bearing housing to take the drive plate, then I will remove the bearings and put the wheels in for powder coating .

 

[Neil W]

Speedo drive plate arrived today and using the trusty dremel put a couple of slots in the bearing housing so it will fit with the new bearings and dust seals, wheels away tomorrow for powder coating and should be ready for the weekend and I can get all of the correct bearings fitted.

All goes well and I can source a 170 60 17 Touance Next for the rear I should have the swap finished by next week and if the rain ever stops can give it a run

 

[Neil W]

New bearings arrived today and it mocks up fine , so final fitment it standard r1150gs front spindle (20mm) a stainless steel spacer to fit the spindle ,the offside oil seal is the standard r1200gs, front offisde wheel bearing is a 20x52x15, the standard inner hub spacer has been sleeved down to 20mm from 25mm , then there is a 1mm spacer behind the speedo side bearing a 20 x52x10 , the hub has slots in for the new speedo drive plate and then I have used 2 (45x52x 4 ) oil seals ,one holds the speedo drive plate in place and the second seals the speedo drive .

The wheel is perfectly centred and the speedo drive works so the whole lot was stripped back out and the wheels went away to be powder coated this morning and should be back by Monday and the new 170/ 60 x17 Tourance Next should be here by Tuesday so the wheels are booked in to get the tyres fitted on Wednesday morning .

 

[Neil W]

Will probably change the speedo drive shaft seal to a single 45 x 52 x 8 item as they are only £4

 

[Mzokk]

Great job

 

[Neil W]

Certainly got the brain cells working to get it all sorted , that said even with buying the alloy wheels and bearings etc and getting the wheels powder coated it is still working out cheaper than getting one standard wheel refurbished with new stainless steel spokes, powder coated hub etc

 

[Mzokk]

My wheels are still in reasonable order but would not mind doing this mod myself if only to cut down on the cleaning time.

 

[Neil W]

I intended doing similar back when I had my first 1150 , back wheels were never an issue but I did not want to go down the 17" front wheel route and at the time the R1200GS with the correct pattern wheel was a current model and they were unobtainable. Typically for a while I ran my 2011 R1200 GSA tc on GS alloys with sticky road tyres and they sat in the loft for ages before I sold them for buttons after I got my first 1200 lc

 

[Neil W]

Slow progress, the new rear tyre turned up yesterday but the powder coaters who aaid wheel would be ready on Saturday or Monday at the latest are now saying possibly Wednesday , that said it is absolutely p#ssing down again so no chance of getting out

 

[Neil W]

Powder coater came through and the new front bearings and spacers line the wheel up correctly and the speedo drive is working ,the new 8mm seal on the speedo drive side is a perfect fit , tyres tomorrow and then fet it all built up

 

[Neil W]

All finished and back together, if it ever stops raining I will get the bike out for a run.

Probably the only r1150gs in existance with a 19" BMW front wheel fitted.

Also got an old 120/ 70 x19 tyre put on the old spoked wheel ......... fiits perfectly and profile looks fine

 

[Neil W]

Tallied it all up and buying the wheels, bearings , new tyre , powder coating and getting tyres fitted and balanced all less than £600 ( about the price of a proper rebuild of one spoked wheel with polishing , powder coating and stainless spokes

 

[Neil W]

Tallied it all up and buying the wheels, bearings , new tyre , powder coating and getting tyres fitted and balanced all less than £600 ( about the price of a proper rebuild of one spoked wheel with polishing , powder coating and stainless spokes

Could have saved £160 on the rear tyre had I realised that a 12070 x19 tyre fitted fine on the narrower 1200 hexhead /1150 width rim ( have a spare set of part worn Michelin tyres in the loft that came off the 1250 last summer )

 

[Littledumptruck]

Absolutely loving what you’ve done to this 1150. The wife and I took my old R850GS to wales with us for Easter as my Tenere is on sorn and i’d have had to pay for two days at the end of march. She actually admited that not only is it easier to get on and off but the GS pillion seat is more comfy too. It’s left me thinking I might need to look out an 1150 once I’ve sold my Pan and Fjr.

 

[Neil W]

My wife finds pillion comfort better on the 1150 than my r1250 gsa triple black and this one is such low miles (now 24,000) that it will hopefully last for years . The motor is a lot quieter than the one I owned from 2002 up until 2011 and even the gearbox is much smoother with a slicker change ( well as slick as an 1150 gearchange can be and much better than my 2014 R1200 gsa lc ever was ).
Yes it is heavy but It is such a relaxing capable ride and I enjoy having a bike that I can experiment with and personalise beyond throwing all the bits from the Touratech or Wunderlich at.

Next I need to get started on either the 1977 XS650 project or dig out the 1984 GSX750 ES /GS 750 lookalike project that has been in the shed for 14 years

 

[Neil W]

When I bought to the 1150 it was fitted with an BMW r1150gsa top box but the plastic hinges were damaged so I found some stainless ones that fitted but the box in general was tatty with a number of minor dents and scrapes and the lid had a deep dent right on the corner with deep scratches .

Decided to strip the box down to use it to practice some panel beating skills , using a nylon head hammer and a selection of straight and curved dollies I have removed almost all of the dinks and the corner edge of the lid is straight and dent free. Just got to set to with the orbital sander and then decide whether to paint it or get it powder coated , I will use a bed liner material for the interior .