seattle cycle show

[Stretch]

great picture of an fd failure on that adv link :lol:  yup, thank god for chains.

I'll see if I can find it, but somebody there posted photos of their FD failure that caught fire.

hey stretch, i think i made them mad :P

And the snobbery came out.  Again.

[Bixxer Bob]

I had a F650GS as a local runabout.  I was very happy with it in so far as it was reasonably light, very agile and frugal - often returning 68 mpg (and it had a chain)  I finally got rid of it because, other than getting tired of it's lack of grunt, the surface finish was very dissapointing (much flaking paint on the alloy parts not due to neglect and corrosion on fastners - when you pay a premium for a brand like BMW you expect stainless steel, not crappy plated mild steel) and it needed new head bearings after only 6000 miles.  BMW claimed it wasn't a fault, but loads of other people had the same, thought to be caused by the oil in the frame heating the bearings alllowing the grease to run out.


Dealer was good, if expensive but BMW themselves couldn't care less - we've got your money now f*** off seemed to be their attitude.

[aeronca]

holy crap stretch - i think you made that guy cry. i cant believe what i'm reading over there. it has inspired me to start a new thread, so if there are no complaints, lets go

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(Edited by Stretch to place those comments here, keeping all this restrained to just one thread.  Thanks)

the link :D http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=294123

ok my brothers and sisters, i've decided to start a new thread dedicated to adv and the oil-head kool-aid drinkers. if you havent had a chance to read whats going on over there, take a look. stretch linked this on my last thread(seattle cycle show), and it shows exactly what i was getting at with these new-age beemer guy's.you know, the only true motorcyclistsssss. and i would also like to say, good on you stretch - if that guy (xanderdick) or what ever his sign on is, could have come through the screen, i think he would have tried to comit bodily harm to you. wow. any way's, take a read and tell us what you think. at least here we can talk.     thanks   eric.
  p.s. i'm known as "supercub" over there on adv :D

[noivson]

Gus? hey Gus are you out there (here) yet?    
This is just up your alley!  









p.s.      Gus rides a black Tiger...'05   been around den dare furrin' bikes....

[Stretch]

Aeronca, I deleted the new thread, cutting-and-pasting your comments from there into your latest post on this thread.  There's not much sense in duplicate threads, so for housekeeping's sake let's just keep this subject in here.

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I didn't go over there to participate in a blood feud, merely to set that one guy straight about chain drives.  The conversation evolved a bit, but didn't get out of control.  I do not want an ongoing battle between here and GSpot.

I enjoy my membership on ADV, and I don't want any of us to wear out our welcome on any of ADV's boards.

Baldy and his Mods were very helpful in letting us openly post information about Triumph-Tiger and TigerTriple on ADV's "Beasts" forum.  They didn't have to do that.  TriumphRAT and other sites strictly forbid linking to other sites.

I kept my comments on GSpot civil, but that one snob's comment-- "inferior chain drives... I'm glad I can afford better" was calling out for a dose of reality.

Three or four people in that very thread reported final drive failures of their own, one with photos of his broken driveshaft and swingarm.

During the course of my housekeeping and reorganization project here when we first opened back up, I've been through every single thread in this entire forum, and I don't recall a single post about a Tiger breaking a chain.  There may be one, but I don't remember it.

Hell, there's a final drive complaint every two or three pages on GSpot.  "Inferior chain-drive", my butt.

[abruzzi]

My brother and I both ride, both own three bikes, and both like to BS about bikes all the time, and test drive anything with two wheels.  Talking with him the other day, I came up with this idea (you know the kind that you think might be right, but you're not quite ready to get behind fully.)  So I throw it out there for your reading pleasure.

BMW sees itself and an innovating company, some of there bikes are loaded down with lots of new tech that do things differently than the usual motorcycle way of doing things,  you know, like telelever, duolever, servo assist ABS, etc., but this is limited to their more expensive bikes (mostly.)  Their innovative attitude is similar in many ways to Buell.  Buell pioneered USD forks, which everyone uses now.  The inside out front brake, the underslung exhaust, fuel in frame, and so forth are others.  The difference I don't know why BMW made their innovations, they seem to be ends in them self--"look, we figured how to get a double wishbone into a motorcycle!"

I know each of these things has its benefits, but they also have an equal number draw backs.  The FDs fail, the funky suspension add to unsprung weight, the ABS can fry in such a way that the breaks cease to work (the mongolia episode of LWR when they had to replace the cameraman's bike.)  Buell is clear that their innovations are only a path to a goal - mass centralization, low unsprung weight, chassis rigidity.

Buell has it's problems (HD) but each out of the ordinary thing contributes significantly to the three goals.  Everyone does USD forks, more are doing underslung exhaust, because the drawbacks are minimal.  And even with a POS Harley motor, Buell's are insanely fun to ride.

When I look at the BMW line I realize the bikes that interest me the most are the the low end (meaning low tech) bikes with Rotax motors--the 650 Dakars, the new 800 bikes.

Triumph is a conservative company--they are not really innovators.  The tech on all out bikes are five years old before we buy it.  In a way, that means we take less chances, but we have more opportunity to ride, which isn't a bad thing. (hell, I just bought a 2008 bike with carbs!  And it's not a KLR!)

A last point before I'm off to bed--about the fanatics.  All bikes have them.  Even our beloved Tiger.  Check out the posts from Slide in ADV.  I'm sure he's a nice guy, but usually when he enters a thread, the temp goes up +100 degrees.  (Maybe he's a lurker here?)  I tend to think fanaticism comes from a combination of sources:

1. I paid $15k for this bike because I wanted to be better than you.  there are 5000 of us, and 30000 of you.  Obviously we are the discriminating group. You must be a dolt to want a chain drive...etc.(extroverted fanatic)
2. I paid $15k for this bike and the $@#@#% final drive died again, I don't want to think I blew my money. (introverted fanatic)
3. I'm not a fanatic in person (internet amplification.)
4. I'm an asshole (asshole fanatic.)

Either way, they're fun to watch like a train  wreck, but to paraphrase Stretch, let's not invite them home for dinner.

Well, what truly sucks is I out with some evil (cold/flu/bacteria/army of microscopic robots) infection, and instead of riding, I'm spending all day trying to figure out which exhaust will sound best on my bonneville, and wether I should be a cheap ass and buy the alum panniers from the KLR site ($300 delivered, sans mounts) or buy something real like TT or HT.  

Geof

[aeronca]

sorry to all, im letting my anger get the best of me. stretch is right, i'll let those gspot guy's fight it out. but i will say this - they make my point exactly about the snobery. long live the chain.

[Stretch]

Buells are very innovative.  The first time I ever saw a Ulysses, I nearly splooged all over it.  I still love them, but detest Harley engines... no Uly for me.

BMW is innovative, but they seem to short-cut the beta-testing of their machines...

Final drive failures have been documented for quite some time, as have the other common design faults I listed on page 1 here, yet they refuse to change / improve their designs.

Is that hope or arrogance?

hey check out this guy from germany, he's a really cool dude, and a nice guy to talk to also
http://www.possi.de/.    and now is the time on sprockets when we dance(try that beemer boy's) :D

This dude is the real deal.  So many of the GS crowd yearn to be Ewan and Charlie, it disgusts me.  Yeah, it was a good show to watch, but they're both already rich, had free top-of-the-line bikes given to them, support trucks, secretaries to handle visas and the like for them back home, etc. etc. etc... yeah, really living on the edge there, boys.

The straw that broke the camel's back for me was when they were in Siberia, and one of their Russian truck drivers shot a bear in order to sell parts of it.  The Hollywood nancys went off the deep end, whining about how it made them sick to see the guy killing a bear for money.

You spoiled little Hollywood shit, you're a fucking multimillionaire!  You don't have to do a lick of work for the rest of your life, and neither do your kids... but that poor Russian has to drive a truck in fucking Siberia  and kill bears in order to earn money for his family.  And these rich, spoiled punks have the nerve to complain about it.  Fuck them and their soft-hearted, enlightened pansy asses.

"Look at me... just like Ewan and Charlie!"  If I read that once on BMW sites, I've read it a hundred times.  Anyone who says that is a poseur of the highest order.

People who actually get on their bikes and travel just for the sake of doing it don't do it to emulate a couple of spoiled, rich Hollyweird types.

Like the German fellow there, he's the real deal.

[JetdocX]

But now the Buelly has a Rotax, Baby!  No excuses!  Cycle World seems to approve of the change. :D

I bought a used F650 as a first bike a few years back.  I rode the PEEEPEEE out of that thing into places that make BMW think about voided warrantees.  It's all I would ever need for dual sporting and I'd still have it if I thought I could afford four bikes in the garage.

So three years and almost 40,000 miles later, I still sold it for $1000 less than I paid for it.  And that guy got a GREAT bike.  That thing was bullet proof.  

I hope to be as happy with my Steamer.  Now that the suspension is sorted out, that should go a log way toward those ends.

[abruzzi]

But now the Buelly has a Rotax, Baby!  No excuses!  Cycle World seems to approve of the change. :D :

The HD dealer just got one in, and I kno a salesman there.  The 1125R is not my type of bike, but I want to try it out.  If Buell puts that lump in a Uly II, they will have a very formidable ADV bike.

Geof

[Stretch]

Right, the Uly still has the 60-year-old Sportster engine, the 1125R has the Rotax.  The 1125R is a sportbike... I'm too damn tall, not interested

*Edit-  I threw a leg over an 1125R this past weekend at the show in Atlanta.  Sexxaaaay!  Me likey.  I wouldn't be able to ride it across town without cramping up, but I did like it.