From owner-bmw@chinacat.unicom.com Thu Aug 11 01:37:43 1994 Received: from newton.ncsa.uiuc.edu by void.ncsa.uiuc.edu (4.1/NCSA-4.1) id AA27185; Thu, 11 Aug 94 01:37:43 CDT Received: from chinacat.unicom.com by newton.ncsa.uiuc.edu with SMTP id AA28582 (5.65a/IDA-1.4.2 for davet@void.ncsa.uiuc.edu); Thu, 11 Aug 94 01:39:20 -0500 Received: (from daemon@localhost) by chinacat.unicom.com (8.6.9/8.6.9) id XAA08945 for dist-bmw; Wed, 10 Aug 1994 23:39:31 -0500 (CDT) Resent-Date: Wed, 10 Aug 1994 23:39:31 -0500 (CDT) Resent-Message-Id: <199408110439.XAA08945@chinacat.unicom.com> Resent-From: bmw@chinacat.unicom.com Resent-Sender: owner-bmw@chinacat.unicom.com Received: from rider.UUCP (urider@localhost) by chinacat.unicom.com (8.6.9/8.6.9) with UUCP id XAA08942 for in-bmw; Wed, 10 Aug 1994 23:39:29 -0500 (CDT) Received: by rider.cactus.org (smail2.5c) id AA26471; 8 Aug 94 01:37:48 CDT (Mon) From: davet@ncsa.uiuc.edu (Dave Thompson) Subject: Woo Hoooo! world cruise on a GS! Cc: bmw@rider.cactus.org (bmw Mailing List) Sender: bmw@rider.cactus.org Message-Id: <9408080137.AA26471@rider.cactus.org> Date: 8 Aug 94 01:37:48 CDT (Mon) Errors-To: owner-bmw@chinacat.unicom.com Precedence: bulk X-Redistributed-By: chinacat.unicom.com to the "bmw" list Status: OR Well, I did it... After weighing all the pros and cons of what bike would be the best for a world tour, I decided the PD is the way to go. I was deciding between a PD, Honda Africa Twin (not sold in US), and a big dirt bike like an XR650L. Thanks to all the informed people that replied to my posting and Bruce Leung for letting me check out his decked out PD. The reasons being reliability, self service-ability, comfort and huge gas tank. I crossed out the R1100GS because it's a new unproven bike, isn't as well armored or armorable as a R100GS, and the high compression engine requires high octane fuel which can be hard to find in some third world countries. I was checking around for availability and prices of PDs. List is $9090, but if a dealer has one on there floor, they might part with it for as low as $8340. I'm told this is the last year they will be made... which is a bit of a drag because I wanted to get this for a two year trip starting in the spring of '96. Also, I checked into European delivery which means that you pay for it in the States and pick up a US model in Munich. I've been told that BMW stopped doing this because of lack of interest. However, they will do this for an order of 5 or more bikes (not necessarily same bike). Motorad in St Louis, is getting together an order for European delivery, they have 3 for sure and need 2 more purchases. I was told these people have ordered R1100GS for pickup spring '95 in Munich. Price is the same, but of course this saves shipping cost which I priced at $800-$1000 on 3 day air shipment via AA or Luftunsa (not including packaging). I haven't checked out surface shipping yet... So, Monday this guy posts a note to a local news group selling a '92 BMW R100GS with 4800 miles at a reasonable price. The market for newish BMWs in Champaign IL is next to nil, and so I ended up getting what I considered a great deal at $4200. Unfortunately, the guy who sold it ignored basic maintenance. After driving it five miles home, I got to work. The engine oil seems to be the only thing that's not factory original. The transmission and final gear oil looked like it was the original factory stuff by the amount of ferrous sludge in it. Looking at the previous owners service receipts, it seems that the 600 mile check up (done at 932 miles) didn't include a transmission and final drive oil change. I'll probably change the gear oil again this weekend to wash out all the extra particles. By the way, what do these blue and green paint dots mean? This morning I adjusted the head bolts which were about a 1/4-1/2 turn off from what they should have been. So then I turned the engine to TDC to adjust the valve clearance, only I couldn't tell which side was on it's compression stroke because all four valves were closed! I turned the engine 360 to the next TDC, checked left side...closed, checked the right side... intake closed, exhaust open but only < .1mm. Sheesh! The bike runs great! The height gives it a very different feel from my R65LS. It feels like a very light bike to control. Dodging water buffalo should be a cinch. The R65LS front end feels heavier and responds more sluggish to turns. Although I'm not big on high speeds cruising and quick take offs, I like the extra power the GS has. Lots-o-fun! For highway cruising, I think I still prefer my R65LS due to sitting position. This afternoon I went looking for a dirt road, I love how the suspension and tires just grip the ground and glide over the bumps (I still have stock shocks on my R65LS). I noticed that rough portions of the rpm spectrum seem to be gone. On the R65LS 3200-3700rpm and 4500-5500 rpm are a bit rough. I've been putting together a wish list and am looking for cheap suppliers: 9.x gallon PD gas tank. A dealer told me that BMW no longer sells this but it had a list price of $900! This same dealer guessed that I might find one at a rally for half the price. Is this true? Someone I talked to at Capital Cycle (not Hal) told me that there were a couple after market dealers of PD tanks in Europe and that they might try to get some in... armor: bashplate - $125.00 engine fairing center stand exhaust guard kick start: These are standard on European GS models but not on US. That's why all the GS and PD literature has pictures with kickstands. Cost is $450 for parts + outrageous estimates for labor ($200-$500). I might try to install this myself. Darr or H&B expedition aluminum bags. Thanks for the info Jim! ~$480 + mounting rack. extras: bigger windscreen hand guards oil cooler bypass kit high altitude plugs (rumor has it this might help with bad gas?) oops, time to take the bike out... Dave Thompson davet@ncsa.uiuc.edu (http://yahoo.ncsa.uiuc.edu/davet/) '82 R65LS '92 R100GS PD-to-be (traveling machine) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mailing List bmw@rider.cactus.org Subject: subscribe/unsubscribe/help bmw-request@rider.cactus.org