The Ultimate Test of a GSA 1150 in MCN

[Robbo1200ADV]

2 Guys go round the world 109000 miles !!
Seems they had quite a few problems ,final drive ,brakes suspension and clutch..
The trip was over 3 and a half years though and with no back up.Check it out

 

[Engineer]

2 Guys go round the world 109000 miles !!
Seems they had quite a few problems ,final drive ,brakes suspension and clutch..
The trip was over 3 and a half years though and with no back up.Check it out

Should have used the more modern 1200 instead of those old clunkers Certainly confirmed my scepticism of servo brakes!

 

[Robbo1200ADV]

Should have used the more modern 1200 instead of those old clunkers Certainly confirmed my scepticism of servo brakes!

Those were my Exact thoughts!!

 

[Engineer]

2 Guys go round the world 109000 miles !!
Seems they had quite a few problems ,final drive ,brakes suspension and clutch..
The trip was over 3 and a half years though and with no back up.Check it out

Dispels the myth that the 1150 is a more reliable bike than the 1200

 

[Pekkavee]

I don't have MCN

Do you mean these guys:
http://www.robinbreesedavies.com/biketrip/index.htm

I met them in Finland in June 2009 during their trip. Nice guys.
We fixed their bikes also here in Finland.

Pekka

 

[davegs]

Travelers

You armchair critics make me laugh. all that way through god knows what conditions things do go wrong, it aint the same as your rides around the block
and back, try somthign like this sometime and you'll also have a few problems. Dave GS (Alaska to Ushia 2007).

 

[tully]

has anyone gone round the world on a 1200ADV...

....and had less problems?

 

[Popeye]

sleepsleep

 

[Timolgra]

I don't have MCN

Do you mean these guys:
http://www.robinbreesedavies.com/biketrip/index.htm

I met them in Finland in June 2009 during their trip. Nice guys.
We fixed their bikes also here in Finland.

Pekka

I met them in Mongolia, great guys and a fantastic trip

 

[Engineer]

....and had less problems?

fewer problems surely

 

[Timolgra]

Don't forget these lads were riding much of their route in hard offroad conditions.

There's never been or never will be a motorcycle which won't have problems on a trip such as theirs.......no doubt the armchair adventurers will continue to bestowe their words of wisdom though

 

[Engineer]

Don't forget these lads were riding much of their route in hard offroad conditions.

There's never been or never will be a motorcycle which won't have problems on a trip such as theirs.......no doubt the armchair adventurers will continue to bestowe their words of wisdom though

Yes, but rear drive problems seem to happen independently of how the bikes are ridden - they both suffered more than one problem and both needed complete replacement of the rear drive after a relatively low mileage. The 1150 is at least as bad as the 1200 in this respect (probably worse).

 

[Timolgra]

Yes, but rear drive problems seem to happen independently of how the bikes are ridden - they both suffered more than one problem and both needed complete replacement of the rear drive after a relatively low mileage. The 1150 is at least as bad as the 1200 in this respect (probably worse).

Yawn, is this going to be yet another 1200 v 1150 debate and detract from these lads great journey.

It needed a complete replacement because the repair wasn't carried out correctly....of course repairing in the field is not really an option with some bikes

It's well known that rear drive bearings can be the achilles heel of the 1150 that's why most of us carry spares on trips and know how to fit them

Servo brakes? yes that's why I removed mine

 

[Engineer]

Yawn, is this going to be yet another 1200 v 1150 debate and detract from these lads great journey.

It needed a complete replacement because the repair wasn't carried out correctly....of course repairing in the field is not really an option with some bikes

It's well known that rear drive bearings can be the achilles heel of the 1150 that's why most of us carry spares on trips and know how to fit them

Servo brakes? yes that's why I removed mine

Just making the point that there are well known issues that happen regardless of how the bike is treated.

I am sure that 'these lads' had a great trip; but it is telling that if they did it again they would choose a different bike because of the reliability problems that they encountered.

 

[Timolgra]

Just making the point that there are well known issues that happen regardless of how the bike is treated.

I am sure that 'these lads' had a great trip; but it is telling that if they did it again they would choose a different bike because of the reliability problems that they encountered.

I agree, the marketing of these bikes has had a lot to do with where travellers use them. I'll hopefully be visiting them soon and I'll ask what bike they would use if they set off again.

Despite weight figures of the Africa Twin being similar to a new standard GS, they (AT) do 'feel' much lighter, are most definately more nimble and despite a few issues also more reliable. I'm fairly sure that's what I'd choose, if not a GS.(1150)

The main reason I insisted we all used GS's on our trip was to see if it was possible.
It grives me no end to say that the 1200GSA Pete was riding had few problems
Right bike? It's a nagging question which I still don't have a definitive answear to The main thing is to just get out there on whatever you have and give it a go

 

[Decster]

Right bike? It's a nagging question which I still don't have a definitive answear to The main thing is to just get out there on whatever you have and give it a go

there is no 'right bike'

what suits you and your needs then add the anything can happen to a bike on a trip so as Timolgra says get out there and have a crack at it.

1150's didn't stop these guys either they kept them going for over 3 years

 

[ahutcheon]

On a long enough trip surely it's not about whether things will go wrong but about dealing with them when they do.

If you try too hard to plan your breakdowns something else is liable to go wrong instead...

 

[argos]

+1 with the above,things going wrong can be half the fun,ok at the time its may seem a disaster but met loads of decent people this way,retrospectively it can lead to some of the best bits of the whole experience

 

[monkeyboy]

Ditto that. I went RTW on an R1100S in 2002 and half the fun was getting lost and dealing with whatever unforseen circumstances arose. Plain sailing would be pretty flippin boring.

As for the right bike - it's always going to be a compromise. Sometimes you'll be anoyed you're on the wrong bike, sometimes you'll be glad you're on the right one, but you'll always be happy you're alive. Absolutely nothing does it all.

 

[motobiker]

19 breakdowns and Major repairs over the distance they did.. is an average of one every 5785 miles.

I would blame the riders for that rather than their bikes. I'm sure anyone on this forum could break their bike if they wanted to... and it seems these two guys took a perverse delight in breaking theirs.

But that aside.. they didn't particularly rush... so whats the problem?

Lots of impressive figures on their website.. but what it all boils down to is 90 miles a day.

Oh.. and it's not my purpose to belittle their acheivement one little bit.

seems to be more than a hint of atavistic desperation in some of the posts above from 1200 owners.