Traded in the GS for a Camhead...

[Nick V]

I took the plunge last night, and traded in the '06 GS for a '10 camhead-engined GS Adventure.

All I can say is... Wow.
Now I know for sure the '09 GSA Supermoto isn't fuelling properly... even in bog-standard trim, the camhead would leave it for dead from standstill up to any speed.
In fact, I strongly suspect the new bike would give many sloppily-ridden 1000cc sports bikes the fright of their lives...

I had some misgivings about the camhead engine, which is why I've delayed buying one until now - I like being able to adjust valve clearances quickly and easily via screw and locknut (on the camhead, it's a camshafts-out job ), and I really, really don't like the pointless exhaust valve.

Mission 1: Ditch the valve without the bike registering any fault codes.

The fellow who sold me the bike is an old contact of mine, and he gave me one of the extended Booster plugs with integral air-temperature thermistor.
I'm going to try it on the '09 and see the extent to which it improves the fuelling. Watch this space.

 

[cookie]

I like being able to adjust valve clearances quickly and easily via screw and locknut (on the camhead, it's a camshafts-out job )

don't think so. don't you just slide a rocker out or similar?

simple, but you need the right shims.

 

[KSMITH]

Congrats!!!!

me jealous ----- you smiling ear to ear!

enjoy

 

[autogs]

don't think so. don't you just slide a rocker out or similar?

simple, but you need the right shims.

correct, cams stay in rocker arms slide off.

 

[Clifton]

Congratulations Nick, the Camhead really is a nice running engine.

 

[Schtum]

In fact, I strongly suspect the new bike would give many sloppily-ridden 1000cc sports bikes the fright of their lives...

Maybe in a top gear roll-on from 40 mph or so but apart from that, I don't think so. My son has just bought a nice, low mileage 2001 VFR800. I was out on it at the weekend with him behind me on my 2011 GS. At one point, I revved the VFR out at maximum throttle through the gears and he said later that he couldn't keep up with me.

 

[Nick V]

don't think so. don't you just slide a rocker out or similar?

simple, but you need the right shims.

Hmm. I need to buy yet another Haynes, methinks.
Luckily, there's no shortage of camhead-vintage manuals at my local retailer... when I tried to get a manual for hexhead, I had a 40-day wait... What the hell. At least I'll have both.

As to the question of what the GSA will keep up with and under what conditions - in my experience, it's a crapshoot at best.
I've taken on guys riding Multistradas, late-model Fireblades, ZX-10Rs, Hayabusas, you name it. I usually beat them - at the point they realise that the Old Man's Mobile up their chuff is being ridden by someone who doesn't take 'No' for an answer. All I do is wait for some light traffic, unpredictable surfacing, lack of ambient light, bends in the road or any combination of the above.

Yes, put a camhead against even a CBR 600 on a dead straight piece of empty freeway, and the GSA will be handed it's backside. But how often does that happen in the real world?
In my experience, most sportsbike riders in SA have not been riding for too long, and we all know that any poephol (fine Afrikaans word, that) can exercise his right wrist.
But put him next to someone determined enough, and he'll realise quick sharp that his R900 down, six-years-on-the-drip, head-down, arse-up, all-singing all-dancing rice burner is not really the world-beater he'd been sold on.
More than that, the bike he can't shake is a metre taller than his, and the guy riding it is wearing motocross boots...

Win some, lose some. But win more than you lose, and win the big ones.

 

[KSMITH]

GEE HULLE GAS , SUPERBIKE SE MOER!

ha ha ha ha

sent you a PM

 

[Bendy toy]

Most of the sports bikes around my area get in my way. The bikes are too twitchy for (most) UK roads and the riders simply cant cope with rough surfaces with bends. Certainly in a straight line with a decent surface they'll blow any GS into the weeds but at the first or 2nd bend, they'll be getting in my way again.

This guy can ride http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3Cu8BZJ_hw even if his downshift technique does need some work.

 

[Blackal]

"Camhead" - must be a South African moniker?

I thought the difference between the 2004-2009, and the 2010-2012 models was that the first had one camshaft in each head, and the later had two camshafts in each head?

That said - I've not had the covers off either model to look........


Al

 

[Schtum]

I thought the difference between the 2004-2009, and the 2010-2012 models was that the first had one camshaft in each head, and the later had two camshafts in each head?

Nope - the '04-'09 oilheads, like their 1100 and 1150 predecessors, were a cam-in-head design, whereas the '10-'12 bikes were a true double overhead cam design.

 

[Schtum]

Nope - the '04-'09 oilheads, like their 1100 and 1150 predecessors, were a cam-in-head design, whereas the '10-'12 bikes were a true double overhead cam design.

Thus.....

 

[richie]

This guy can ride http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3Cu8BZJ_hw even if his downshift technique does need some work.

He is or was on here too

 

[Blackal]

Nope - the '04-'09 oilheads, like their 1100 and 1150 predecessors, were a cam-in-head design, whereas the '10-'12 bikes were a true double overhead cam design.

So - like I wrote------------one has a single cam in the head................

and the other has two?

An engine which doesn't have a camshaft in the head is generally referred to as a "Pushrod" engine?

Sure - the latter can further be defined as "DOHC", but I still don't get the "Camhead" moniker as a way of distinguishing the post 2010 engine.

Of course none of the above is true when applied to a 5.5 cylinder three-stroke

Al

 

[cookie]

i think the old engine is a "high cam" design. the cam is alongside the valves and it has pushrods to operate the rockers.


the TC is an overhead cam design with the cams mounted over the valves.

 

[Nick V]

Most of the sports bikes around my area get in my way. The bikes are too twitchy for (most) UK roads and the riders simply cant cope with rough surfaces with bends. Certainly in a straight line with a decent surface they'll blow any GS into the weeds but at the first or 2nd bend, they'll be getting in my way again.

+1. This holds just as true for South Africa.
Any bike with a cramped riding position, shorter-than-average wheelbase and firm, short-travel suspension is becoming increasingly irrelevant. They are wonderful things for Saturday-afternoon action under sanitized, velvet-smooth track conditions.
But for the real world...

"Camhead" - must be a South African moniker?
I thought the difference between the 2004-2009, and the 2010-2012 models was that the first had one camshaft in each head, and the later had two camshafts in each head?

They are misleading monickers... but they help when telling the difference between one and the other.
Single-cam = Hex-head.
Double overhead cam = Cam-head.

Nope - the '04-'09 oilheads, like their 1100 and 1150 predecessors, were a cam-in-head design, whereas the '10-'12 bikes were a true double overhead cam design.

So - like I wrote------------one has a single cam in the head and the other has two?

An engine which doesn't have a camshaft in the head is generally referred to as a "Pushrod" engine?

Strictly speaking, the hex-head is an OHV (overhead valve) design, as the cams are connected to the valves via rockers and short pushrods.