Weight of a packed bike

[Warthog]

Not too sure what I'm expecting to acheive by posting this but I just have to get it off my chest: Packed my bike and rode it two-up to the MOT station where the bloke said I could use their wheel scales to weigh the bike.

Front wheel load: 153 kg

Rear wheel load: 320kg!!

This does not even include the 10L of unleaded I could carry in the two jerry cans in one of the panniers

manual says that max load is 300kg

So now I have had a frantic review of all our kit and I have managed to shed another 9.5kg. Plus using a calorie deficit of 500kcal per day, I hope to shed another 5-7kg from my own personal equator before we leave.

All the camping gear seems justified, I'm not travelling without my camera and kit and the clothes are a minimum, so this leaves tools, spares and sundry items.

So, sockets or spanners, if I can't take both? (Spanners represent the greater weight!!)

 

[Dahoum]

I usually go to Tescos with spanners.

 

[ianboydsnr]

Not too sure what I'm expecting to acheive by posting this but I just have to get it off my chest: Packed my bike and rode it two-up to the MOT station where the bloke said I could use their wheel scales to weigh the bike.

Front wheel load: 153 kg

Rear wheel load: 320kg!!

This does not even include the 10L of unleaded I could carry in the two jerry cans in one of the panniers

manual says that max load is 300kg

So now I have had a frantic review of all our kit and I have managed to shed another 9.5kg. Plus using a calorie deficit of 500kcal per day, I hope to shed another 5-7kg from my own personal equator before we leave.

All the camping gear seems justified, I'm not travelling without my camera and kit and the clothes are a minimum, so this leaves tools, spares and sundry items.

So, sockets or spanners, if I can't take both? (Spanners represent the greater weight!!)

leave sundry items at home, they wern't worth telling us what they are, so they can't be that important, hth

 

[Deleted account 250319001]

320kg rear
At least your aware, a mate of mine who has no idea about (Bikes) how important it is to keep the weight down, turned up to a one night camp out with a five man tent, chairs, table BBQ, everything...........what a muppet, i did try to educate him

 

[MikeP]

Front wheel load: 153 kg

Rear wheel load: 320kg!!

This does not even include the 10L of unleaded I could carry in the two jerry cans in one of the panniers

manual says that max load is 300kg

I'm not sure that you have anything to worry about (based on what you have said above).

Reading it, it seems to suggest that you have weighed the pressure of each wheel with the bike loaded.

That's going to give you the Gross Axle Weight (bike's weight and load).

It's notoriously difficult to weigh individual axle weights without using a Dynamic Weighbridge. It's almost impossible to weigh each axle in the way you have and get an accurate Gross Weight because part of each axle weight will be borne by the other axle.

In other words axle one weight shows 100 kilos, axle two shows 300 kilos so you'd think the Gross would be 400 kilos but if you weigh the Gross (the bike plus load) you often find the Gross Vehicle Weight to be 350 kilos or less.

You'd be better to find a public weighbridge and weigh the bike, loaded and with rider and pillion to get the Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) then check the GVW against that shown in the handbook.

I did just that a couple of years ago. 1150 Adv GVW is 470 kilos, me bike (full tank etc.) and kit weighed in at 460 kilos. No sweat, 10 kilos of Duty Free was plenty!

 

[Brian V]

I weighed the load that my 1150 adventure carried when we went to Holland at Easter this year. This excluded the weight of the 'bike. But included panniers, tank bag, roll bags with tent, sleeping bags and ourselves in riding kit and got a total weight of 270 kg's or near enough 600 lbs in real money.

 

[Mick O'Malley]

Hi Nick

You only need the tools for the breakdowns that you can fix in the middle of nowhere, an oil filter socket and the bike's toolkit. Anything else you might need you can borrow out there. I ended up sending a 20kg parcel back to Dakar Motos and didn't miss any of it. Get some tank panniers too, they make a big difference to weight distribution and therefore handling on the dirt.

P.M. me if you want more info.

Regards, Mick

 

[Steptoe]

As mick says, just take the bikes basic toolkit, no need to take your torque wrench. No point taking tools if you don't know how to fix the problem. If need be, just buy/borrow the tools as and when you need them on the road.

 

[ricardo kuhn]

okay i confess I have overload my poor GS so many times for so many years, i don't even pay attencion to it anymore...

yeah she does Wheellie a little but exept for the lack of mass tranfer to the front wheel ,everything works just fine, no bend subframe, not even a wisper of trouble on the final drive or the tranny case, nothing,,,

yes I start small..well smaller.
but by today I have move two of my small houses on the bike (well exept for the beds) with out much trouble..

i will say check the bike and the saddlebags from time to time for fractures on the structure, but for sure she can handle far more than you may think..