Look what found its way into my garage

[Sleeping Dog]

:wings: 2005 Dakar with 15.3k miles and the usual BMW options plus a few more, case guards and a few Touratech and Wunderlich pieces.

Why the Dakar? Well I've been a BMW guy long enough that its become a habit, but I began considering the new KLR 650. I wanted a lighter bike with decent two-track capability, that could also serve as a long distance traveling rig with mostly two lanes in mind.

The R11/1150 GS was an obvious choice but loaded they weigh over 600#, plus the worry of the final drive. The R12 is lighter but an 07 or 08 was more than I wanted to spend considering that it would need to be outfitted and I'm choosing to pass on 05s & 06s due to the servo assist brakes. The servo unit is far to expensive when it fails.

I began looking for a Dakar late last summer and missed one then passed on another and then they dried up. In September a birdy told me that the F800GS would be introduced at the Milan bike show and would likely be available in the US in the early spring. With that news I decided to wait and see the 800.

I went down to the NY motorcycle show and threw a leg over the 800 and thought, yup this is for me. A couple of weeks later I planned to put down a deposit and found out that the bike was delayed till September.

I decided not to wait and had a talk with the Kwacker dealer who told me that he could have a KLR in my choice of colors 3 days after placing the order. With that knowledge I looked around for a Dakar, knowing that if I didn't find one by April 1, I'd by the KLR.

So let the farkleization begin.

First are panniers, get the GPS connected and a secondary fuse panel. Closely followed by some fork gaiters. Given the history of overheating problems with gaiters this maybe an experiment. In the future I'll probably upgrade the chain guard and add progressive fork springs as well as a Wilburs or Ohlins shock and some driving lights. A small topcase will also be sourced.

I'll update this post as accessories are added.

Jim

[LandCruiserPhil]

Congratulation on the Dakar. I have a few bikes and the Dakar is my best of both worlds, not perfect for either but a great balance IMO.

As for the overheating, I use the Touratech fork protectors/slides and I have not heat issues here in AZ. Looking forward to the mods.

[goodtimes]

I was concerned about the overheating as well...but after talking with Lisa Thomas (2ridetheworld.com) a couple weeks ago here in Tucson....I am not so concerned. Not only does she have gaitors, she has the TT radiator guard. The only time she has had overheating problems was when the OEM fan quit on her. Even then, if she was moving, all was good.....even in the 130*+ temps they have seen.

[MuddyMudskipper]

I just love it when cool stuff finds its way into my garage too. Congrats and I look forward to the build.:lurk:

[HMR]

Nice bike!

[WhereTheHellIsJames?]

Right-on... score!

[HiLift Jack]

I really miss mine, sellers remorse. Great ride and stone dependable.

[Spicy McHaggis]

Very nice, congrats!

[Hunter]

Well, that'll happen when you stop to pet strange things. They have a habbit of following you home.

:victory: Nice grab though, congrats.

[Sleeping Dog]

In choosing panniers for adventure touring there are many choices and a lot of good products, which can make the process difficult. But when you filter the options by what works well with your particular bike and consider your needs/wants the choices narrow quickly. But the devil is in the trade-offs.

My requirements were basically top loading bags that are basically a box in order to facilitate efficient packing, that were removable with out tools and entering the bags and that there be F650 specific mounting brackets. Well, I got 3 of 4. Moderate cost was also highly desirable.

The top-loading requirement eliminated the OEM panniers from BMW as well as highly regarded options from Hepco Becker, Givi and adapted Pelican cases. Top loading eliminated all plastic cases except the H&B Gobi, which I feel are small for their external dimensions. It’s too bad that there is not more plastic top loading bag options as plastic is more resilient when the bike goes over.

Having a box shape eliminated Jessie’s and Happy Trails, as I didn’t want the bags wrapping around the exhaust and was willing to live with the fact that a box shaped bag would likely be wider. In the end the choice came down to Zargus, Hepco Becker Alu, Touratech and Moto Sport. Also considered was the new Trax pannier from Twisted Throttle. The Trax (http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productlist/708/)were eliminated because the initial shipment was not expected till May and I didn’t want to risk hassling with a possible back order during New England’s two weeks of summer.

The Zargus were eliminated, as these were not designed as motorcycle panniers and are simply not robust enough to stand the abuse. H&B and Touratech took a hit due to the price increase caused by the sinking dollar, with shipping and bag liners these would have been well in excess of $1200.

And the winner is…Moto-Sport (http://www.moto-sportpanniers.com/). Panniers, racks, bag liners and shipping, $885.00 and I can feel good that I bought domestically from a small business.

To the best of my knowledge, Moto-Sport is unique in specifying the grade of aluminum (T6 Hardened 6061 Aluminum) used in the manufacture of the bag and for using the Boeing method (glued and riveted) of construction.

An installation post will follow.

Jim

[LandCruiserPhil]

I also like the Moto Sport products. I have the Yukon II soft bags on my Dakar and Dirt-Bagz on my XR and could not happier with the product. What was your reason for the hard over the soft?

[Sleeping Dog]

I also like the Moto Sport products. I have the Yukon II soft bags on my Dakar and Dirt-Bagz on my XR and could not happier with the product. What was your reason for the hard over the soft?

The panniers on my bikes end up being used like a car's trunk, for the little things I pick up running errand etc. The panniers will almost never be off the bike and with that type of usage I believe hard bags are more durable.

When traveling I usually end up with stuff tied atop the panniers, which is easier with hard bags. My only experience using soft bags was problematic, but they were inexpensive throw-overs and not anything like the Yukons or Dirtbags.

Jim

[LandCruiserPhil]

Jim, Thanks for the reply. I was just curious with no harm intended. You picked some real nice panniers and I look forward to the installed pics.

Phil

[Sleeping Dog]

Leaving out the trip to the hardware store to purchase the proper size torx wrench to remove an OEM fitting the installation took only an hour and was very straight forward. The picture below shows the what UPS delivered.

The bag liners open fully helping to overcome the first law of packing, what you want is always at the bottom of the bag.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2324/2396884317_4e4b4d9554_o.jpg

The racks use the same mounting points as the OEM bags with a shouldered bushing to hold the rack away from the body work.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3292/2397716034_8041de2920_o.jpg

The welds are smooth and the paint appears durable. Most importantly they fit well and needed minimum persuasion to get the bolts started.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3162/2397716368_e8bf673700_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2194/2397716538_d984cd2cc9_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2121/2397716652_6e05b76a4a_o.jpg

I'd been considering nick naming the bike Gertie or Fredele, but looking at this picture I'm going to call it Crisco, fat in the can.

Jim

[Sleeping Dog]

Jim, Thanks for the reply. I was just curious with no harm intended. You picked some real nice panniers and I look forward to the installed pics.
Phil

I didn't take the question as a critique, I hope it didn't sound like I had.

Jim

[goodtimes]

Jim, not to start a debate or anything (afterall, I have Jesse's panniers on my beemer), but be careful with hard bags off road. It is very easy to get your leg in trouble if you need to dab a foot at anything over crawling speed. I did it once, and it darn near pulled me under....and I wasn't moving very fast.

In case you (or anyone else) isn't aware of the problem....once your foot hits the ground, it and your leg stops moving relative to the bike. It only takes a split second for the pannier to catch up to your leg. As the pannier pushes forward on the back of your leg, it basically wedges your leg/foot between the pannier and ground....often resulting in a broken leg, you getting pulled off the bike, or both!

On the street and semi-maintained roads, I'm quite happy with the Jesse's. As you mentioned, they are a great "trunk". Perfect to hold lunch and your laptop on the morning commute...or the books on the way to school....or a couple days worth of food on the way back from the grocery store....

[Sleeping Dog]

Jim, not to start a debate or anything (afterall, I have Jesse's panniers on my beemer), but be careful with hard bags off road. It is very easy to get your leg in trouble if you need to dab a foot at anything over crawling speed. I did it once, and it darn near pulled me under....and I wasn't moving very fast.

In case you (or anyone else) isn't aware of the problem....once your foot hits the ground, it and your leg stops moving relative to the bike. It only takes a split second for the pannier to catch up to your leg. As the pannier pushes forward on the back of your leg, it basically wedges your leg/foot between the pannier and ground....often resulting in a broken leg, you getting pulled off the bike, or both!

On the street and semi-maintained roads, I'm quite happy with the Jesse's. As you mentioned, they are a great "trunk". Perfect to hold lunch and your laptop on the morning commute...or the books on the way to school....or a couple days worth of food on the way back from the grocery store....

Good point. Mostly I'm exploring small roads some paved some not so much. Off road for me will mostly be forest roads and logging access. When I get the inevitable hair brained idea to try a single track I'll leave the bags in the garage.

Jim

[Sleeping Dog]

I like having a top case for carrying miscellaneous item, spare pair of gloves, extra face shield, binoculars etc., but I prefer that it not be too large - 20-25 liters is a good size. Eventually I'll mount a Pelican 1450, but for now this marine toolbox will suffice, it is a bit smaller than I'd like, but for $12 I couldn't go wrong.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2134/2535543806_32f3e2da6d.jpg

The basic tank bag on my K-bike is about 25l and with the insert grows to about 35. The insert long ago found its way into storage and the tank bag has proven to be more than adequate. My first thought was to adapt that bag to the Dakar, but it is too long, so I began looking.

The faux tank on the Dakar is fairly small and additionally I wanted a tank bag that wouldn't interfere when standing on the pegs. The BMW bag is nice but pricey as is the Touratech/Wunderlich Dakar bag.

On the K-bike bag, the largest item always carried was the rain cover, which could use up a significant amount of space in a small bag, so the idea of a waterproof tank bag had appeal.

Conveniently the Wolfman, Small Expedition bag fit the bill.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2384/2534731371_a41b73e5b8.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3216/2535543700_2886779c89.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3125/2534731325_f049c27ae7.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3244/2535543758_b93778501a.jpg

To this point I haven't ridden in the rain with it so the test of waterproofness is still to come, but otherwise I like it. A couple of quibbles, the universal mounting straps do what they are supposed to do but like anything universal it can be better. Most likely dump the straps and use 3M Dual Lock fasteners to hold the bag on, simplifying removal. The other is that the map pocket is just too small, it barely holds a folded map. Wolfman and others offer larger map covers so I'll replace the stock one fixing that problem.

So far I love the bike and will be heading for the UP in a few weeks to play with a friend. We'll eventually make it to the BMWRA rally in Houghton, so if you see a Dakar with NH plates, an orange top case and yellow tank bag, say hello.

Jim

[Sleeping Dog]

and leaving for the UP in the morning. :roost:

Meeting up with a long time riding buddy and exploring scratchy little lines on the map. But as much as I wish it were not true, those two pallets of tile will still be their when I return.

Jim
:camping:

[Flounder]

In case you (or anyone else) isn't aware of the problem....once your foot hits the ground, it and your leg stops moving relative to the bike. It only takes a split second for the pannier to catch up to your leg. As the pannier pushes forward on the back of your leg, it basically wedges your leg/foot between the pannier and ground....often resulting in a broken leg, you getting pulled off the bike, or both!

....
I did that with my Honda Africa Twin 750. To make matters worse, I did it in front of my apartment building in Paris as I tried to ride up a curb. Not exactly an adventuring accident. I think I would have rather busted my leg than endure the giggling stare from the two hot French girls sitting at the cafe across the street.

[ntsqd]

I did that with my Honda Africa Twin 750. To make matters worse, I did it in front of my apartment building in Paris as I tried to ride up a curb. Not exactly an adventuring accident. I think I would have rather busted my leg than endure the giggling stare from the two hot French girls sitting at the cafe across the street.
You obviously needed nursing and they failed to heed the call?
tsk, tsk....

[Icewalker]

and leaving for the UP in the morning. :roost:

Meeting up with a long time riding buddy and exploring scratchy little lines on the map. But as much as I wish it were not true, those two pallets of tile will still be their when I return.

Jim
:camping:

I just noticed that we not only share bikes ... I've got a 650 Dakar as well ... but we are also New Hampshirites :clapsmile

[flyingwil]

Nice bike!

[Sleeping Dog]

So much for good intentions. I planned to keep updating this thread when modifications were made and didn't, so we'll do a little housekeeping and mention a few changes.

Tour-a-tech rear master cylinder guard, the (relatively) inexpensive one not the chi-chi carbon fiber model.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2562/4124960065_4456a97abe.jpg

Hooking up

Where to put the helmet when off the bike is frequently a problem. Particularly a place where it doesn't roll off and crash to the ground. So stealing an idea from my friend Doug...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2509/4125728000_6e5469d858.jpg

An 'S' hook bent 90 degrees and held on by the license plate screw.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2610/4125728206_c27c122f09.jpg

It's also easy to use a cable lock to keep the helmet from growing legs if the bikes left for a while.

Bazookas

On the F650 single, box shaped panniers leave a protected, open area below the muffler and cat. A great place for anti tailgater weaponry.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2697/4124959739_ded33e205c.jpg

Actually tool carriers. These contain a tool roll, tube patch kit, mini air pump and few other items. Simply 4" PVC pipe with one end plugged, hung by 1/2" pipe hangers to the pannier frame painted silver. The red cap is normally used to close off work in progress or in pressure testing the waste system. The wing nut expands a gasket that holds the cover on and provides a water proof seal. But what gets the most comments is...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2557/4125728538_8cc196ebc6.jpg

[teotwaki]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3162/2397716368_e8bf673700_o.jpg

Sorry, right in that first post I really wanted to see a picture of it in your garage!! :elkgrin:

[trailsurfer]

Your bike looks great.

[Sleeping Dog]

Your bike looks great.

Thanks, Crisco is a work in progress.

Over the winter I have a few other things to do, get rid of the possum scraper, install the secondary fuse panel that's been on the shelf for a year and add a battery/charging system monitoring gauge. I'm considering some auxiliary lights, probably the Piaa Cross County's or an equivalent. I don't ride much at night so adding lights hasn't been a priority, but the added visibility during the day would be nice. I also want to add at least one more accessory socket in a more convenient location and prewire for electrifying the topcase, when I finally get a larger one. At the Chain Gang, I saw a neat modification that allows the seat to be removed with out accessing the space under the rack, which for me requires unscrewing the topcase, I'll implement that also.

I need to look more into these, http://www.webbikeworld.com/lights/bikevis-led-lights/ as +or- $25 a set is cheap and drilling holes in the body panels doesn't bother me. While I replaced the stock tail light with an LED flashing model, I still like add additional LEDs to the back of the bike perhaps even changing incandescent bulbs in the turns signals to LEDs and have them glow red when not signaling a turn. Frankly I worry more about getting hit from behind then from the left turning cage.

Jim

[Sleeping Dog]

When I put the bike away late last fall I had a list of farkles I wanted to add. Plenty of time till spring I thought and then the remodeling projects started around the house leaving me scrambling to get everything done as riding season begins.

First is was a possum-scraperectomy.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/4449523408_a1f7621bee_m.jpg
Possum Scraper aka mud guard.

To be replaced with a Tour-a-tech fender extension.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2705/4448748239_06436f95fc_m.jpg

I considered the TT chain guard, but I don't know how it would be better than the stock so I got out my trusty coping saw and trimmed the scraper support off.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4025/4448748013_b27f4e18dc_m.jpg

The accessory socket on the Dakar is attached to a frame rail next to the cylinder and awkward to reach on or off the bike, so I added a second socket on the dash.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2694/4448749079_7465a30720_m.jpg

While working around the dash, I also added a volt meter, as the Dakar's alternator can be marginal with heated gear and driving lights
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4449525480_6d3fe7fe3a_m.jpg

With the plan to add driving lights and a Steibel horn, adding an auxiliary fuse box made sense with along with a relay so its only powered when the key is on.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/4448749323_d201798dae_m.jpg

On the Dakar, the seat release is in the tail compartment, a PIA if you have a top case or rack. So I snaked a wire under the tail lamp that releases the seat.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2684/4448748905_3c028927cb_m.jpg

Back together and ready to ride.

Jim

[alfio]

The accessory socket on the Dakar is attached to a frame rail next to the cylinder and awkward to reach on or off the bike, so I added a second socket on the dash.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2694/4448749079_7465a30720_m.jpg

nice bike - any details on that accessory socket? i'm looking for something with a sturdy, waterproof lid. that one looks pretty good

[Sleeping Dog]

Powerlet http://www.powerlet.com. If you are installing on an F650 single and in the same place I did, use the plug that has a 90 degree bend for the wires.

Jim