a nice special I rode

newguy

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I was down in Dunedin and had a quick ride on this bike. it belongs to a guy called Alistair, he did the bike up himself and I must say it handles beautifully. Husky Marzocchi forks and Ohlins custom on the rear.
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Riding this has made me realise that I must build one of these it is just awesome.
 
The gear change is around 2" higher than the footrest, must make down changes a bit slow. Brake is similarly inaccessible, and the state of the white paint on the pedal confirms this - it looks untouched

And , give that an OAP like me has no problem scraping the pegs on my GSPD at the standard height the 2" lower pegs must come into play real early.

Looks like a 45 liter tank , and given that the difference between full and getting empty is around 40 kg handling is going to depend very much on how much fuel is in the tank - it does with the 32 liter PD tank.

Getting the bach wheel off is going to be a problem too, with the silencer in that position.

No trace of mud anywhere so one wonders why it has off road tires on it.

Looks a bit of a wankers tool to me.
 
why is this turning into the uk'i havent got one so ill slag off the pretty pictures from those that have'gser.com. forum? blah blah blah get a life etc etc......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
 
hehe, who peed on your parade?
I assure you that bike does plenty technical riding. That is why the bike is setup for standing to do hillclimbs and rocky trails. perhaps you should have asked "why are the foot controls setup that way?" rather than making yourself look like a dick... :augie

Oh, and a 43liter tank with 20 liters fuel has a lot lower center of gravity than a PD tank with 20 liters.
 
That will be Alistair the car dealer will it? If so he used to have a few BMW's and recently sold a HPN tank on Trademe (the NZ equivalent of Ebay).
 
robbo said:
That will be Alistair the car dealer will it? If so he used to have a few BMW's and recently sold a HPN tank on Trademe (the NZ equivalent of Ebay).
Click to expand...

Yeah, he was running a bike rental with airheads. There is a spotless R80GS Basic in his garage with 4000km on the clock.
 
Beemerboff said:
Looks like a 45 liter tank , and given that the difference between full and getting empty is around 40 kg handling is going to depend very much on how much fuel is in the tank - it does with the 32 liter PD tank.
Click to expand...

Have a similar tank fitted to The Storm the bike that did the run to The Gambia earlier this year and because of it's design it carries the load much lower than a standard tank so the handling is actually better. Your right there is more weight with extra fuel but decent aftermarket suspension can handle it both on and off road. :thumb
 
No argument that a full tank gives the GS/PD a nice feel on smooth bitumen, but if set up right for that, like mine is, it isnt so hot on the rough stuff with a full tank. And the better you set the bike up for one situation the worse it is on the other.

However , if you have 45 kg of luggage on the back and and a set up to cope then we are talking about a different sort of bike to the one in question.

Given that the bike in question has 80/20 road tires and doesnt look like it has ever seen mud not a lot of point in setting it up for standing up hill climbs. And it must be a frigging long hill climb if it needs a 45 litre tank to get up.

Even standing up , with a pedal 50 mm higher than the footrest you will still have to take your foot of the rest to change down - just try it sometime.And the paint on the brake pedal tells its own story- it is just out of reach below the carb.

The whole point about that bike is that is a mismatched set of components, 45 litre tank and no luggage capacatity, set up for hillclimbs but road tires, strengthened frame but tires which which wouldnt have sufficient gtip on road or off to test a stock frame.

Which is why I came to the conclusion I did.

But I seem to have struck a raw nerve with some folks out there with similar bikes , so apologies all round.
 
robbo said:
That will be Alistair the car dealer will it? If so he used to have a few BMW's and recently sold a HPN tank on Trademe (the NZ equivalent of Ebay).
Click to expand...

Has a female family member that rallys a Subaru rather effectively (go Emma!)? Just wondering if it's the same guy I've bought a couple of cars from...
 
Nice bike that.Surely the owner can do whatever he likes with it, it's his. Just because it isn't covered in mud perhaps means thay guy looks after it. I detect a bit of green eyed monster going on......:augie
 
No need for for jealousy,I have a 93 R100GS with an Ohlins shock and matching HPN Mognum inserts in the forks , a special High comp engine, six pot and a host of other farkles and mods to make it a more practical and better rider.

I also have a 85 G/S PD with a few special bits , 1000cc high comp motor, twin plugs and Boyer Micropower ignition, White Power shock with custom spring , lowered broad footrests with special brake and gear change pedals to suit, custom fork valves and springs , wave disk, four pot , Flatracer fork brace and guard, fat flat bars on custom bar backs/risers, Maier hand guards on Barkbusters, Give screen, sump extender, custom seat and a host of other trick bits and mods.
Goes and handles very well.

My VFR , R75/7 and BSA B44Victor Special look a bit more stock.

My GS is described as the best handling BMW that they have ever ridden by everyone who has ridden it, and that includes folks with upside down forked HPN lookalikes. It will easily outrun a new BMW 800 twin. Distanzas help here too, best tires ever on an 80/20 airhead.

I do 60,000 km a year on my Beemers, and after a total of 600,000 km between them they have the unmistakable patina of well set up, hard ridden, and well used bikes.

With respect, the bike in question just does does not have that look.
 
Well, he who dies with the most toys win... guess that puts you in the lead :D

seeing you like to fiddle maybe you can give me some pointers. I'm looking to maybe go for a TDM850 and basterdise it a bit by adding more travel and some spoked wheels, whatya recon?
 
Masterbrewer, over on Adventure Riders , has a fast and well set up Yam, and he takes it everywhere at a great rate of knots.

If his is anything to go by if you get it right they are as good as it gets.

Doesn't post much except on the OZ Regional forum, S A Adventure Riders extended thread to organize runs and piss ups, which he does will a great deal if ability.

Has a big one on for Sunday , 10 hrs, 500/600 km, 95 % on dirt , and as one or two usually manage to stack it on his runs they must have a bit of pace on.


To fast for me - I prefer to ride at my own pace, and my Distanzas are not real good in the mud and sand these guys go looking for.

PM him over on ADVR if you have any specific queries, he is a helpfull sort of bloke
 
schweet ass, I was just on the carpe-tdm forum and they also mentioned him, well known in the TDM crowd he is. Took a look at some of his rides and must say that he is making that TDM work for him. I'm keen to give it a go as they are real good value for money and really useful for commuting too.
 
I know I'M going to regret this...

Looks a bit of a wankers tool to me.[/QUOTE]
They say wrestle with a pig, you get covered in sh.t and the pig enjoys:):) it!
But the bike is mine and I feel I need to correct you on a couple of points.
1.The foot pegs are 2 inches lower not the bike, it is 2-3 inches higher than std.
2. The footpegs, gearlever and brake are level so unless you ride your bike in high heels the brake and gear lever are just right.
3.The rear wheel has plenty of clearance for removing.
4.The Dunlop D609's aren't bad on tarmac but they are not a road tyre.
5. Gahston Raher and HPN put a lot of thought into the tank, I think they work great.
6. Not enough mud showing for what? Parking it on the footpath, while you drink your lattae?
7. Mismatched collection of bits, that's rich coming from you! Maybe you should buy a Harley seeing scraping your footrests and buying trinkets is a priority!
8. The bike was built with help and advice from Paul Rooney, it has close to 200mm of rear travel and 290mm front, it all works great! Come on over sometime and I will take you riding and then maybe we can talk again and figure out who was being a wan.er
 
Congratulations on the bike Alistair, I was following your build on ADV. Great bikes mate, I certainly love mine :D :D

IMG_2394.jpg
 
Hi Alistair, great to see you here. there are plenty mods and nice bikes on this forum, I'm sure you will contribute lots of useful info/tips yourself. Just ignore the odd crap comment :comfort
Thanks for the ride on the bike the other day, I thought the geometry of the pegs/bars etc. was just perfect. I'm putting mine up for sale now as the duties and taxes to south africa are just to much, so she will have to stay in NZ for now :(
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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