grantzilla

I'm signed up for Buttonwillow on the 4th. Hope to see other SDAR folks out there. This is my first track day and I'll be on my F800GS with street tires so it should be fun in group 3. See you at the track!

Just a little heads up for military members and those associated with them. Per the OPNAVINST 5100.12H all military members are required to have completed the offroad training for either ATV's or dirtbikes prior to operating a privatly owned dirtbike or ATV. Up here in Lemoore we are running in to a legal issue with this. Our OHV track on base (doesn't everyone have moto x tracks on base?) has been shut down to all members unless you have documented proof of offroad class completion. Additionaly, no one(civilians or active duty) can ride on military offroad facilities without the class either. I see the writing on the wall here. With all the offroad injuries, the military is trying to enforce the mandatory training. Get yourself to the class and be in compliance with the instruction before you have an accident offroad and get hammered for not obeying an instruction. The safety center up here has the class and with a little research you can find out who provides this class (free) in your area. Get with your local safety center for info. This class should be free to military members and your command is authorized to give you time off to attend.

So it hasn't changed (yet). I signed up for that class four times, it was cancelled before I showed up two times and cancelled after I showed up the other two, once for rain and once because I was the only guy there with a spark arrestor. Now the only place they have the class is on Camp Pendleton so it's not very convenient. Did you do the class? Was it decent? We have a class scheduled for May 2nd, I'm attending that one. Yes, I know I just said I was on the track recently....ok here it goes, opening can of worms. A street legal dual sport bike is not technically an OHV. Per the safety center up here a "dirtbike" that the 5100.12 instruction refers to is an OHV non highway legal vehicle that if registered in CA would have a green or red sticker. I have the MSF experienced rider course within the past 3 years and am operating a highway legal vehicle, so technically I'm compliant with all military instructions. Yes I'm taking the class asap so as not to have any issues at all with this. The 5100.12 specifically applies to ATV's and "dirtbikes" but since I am riding on a military OHV park I should get the class, even though I'm not operating a "dirtbike". Hell I had the BMW on this track and it is for sure not a dirtbike or OHV. Better to go the extra mile, take the class and not dwell in grey areas or loopholes. The man will smack you down sooner or later.

Yep, check 1.14(e) it says somthing to the effect of all active duty with privatly owned ATV's/ dirtbikes must have the course. Yea the OHV onbase is a good target for 100% compliance on every regulation. No worries if you just take the class and wear the gear.

How do they do on the motocross track? HA, not very well. I don't think the GS is the right tool for the job at the moto x track tho. Got the right machine for that now (yes again) see I saved you the trouble of a smart assed response. Looks like there are several recalls on the F800GS. Axle, sprocket and coolant hose are the few I know of. My bike only has the coolant hose recall issued on it. Never had recalls on a new bike before, but never had a BMW before

How do they do on the motocross track? HA, not very well. I don't think the GS is the right tool for the job at the moto x track tho. Got the right machine for that now (yes again) see I saved you the trouble of a smart assed response.

The BMW wheels on the F800GS are not like the others. The are standard spoked rims not spokes connected to the outside part of the rim, so tubes are required. Personally I'd rather have tubeless rims on a bigger bike. Punctures from piercings are far more common for me than splitting or a chunck coming off. With a tubeless, puncture repairs are a breese, with tubes a pain to repair or change the tube. Also you don't get the dredded pinced tube with tubeless or valve stem ripping out. There are probably lots of points of views for both sides. Since most of my riding for now is on the street and hardpack I'll stick with the battle wings. They are great on the street and do very well on trails and hardpack.

Got some new gear for the GS. Barkbuster hand guards....awesome and solid as hell. Great price and waaay better than the cheezy BMW guards. Adventure Spec bashplate....big, beefy, covers oil cooler & filter, pipes and more. Adventure Spec crashbars....heavy duty and solid with complete coverage of the radiator and engine. All super easy to put on and reasonably priced from Adventure Spec UK. Now I just need some knobbies and maybe I won't suck in the sand so much.

Little more time on the 800GS and I'm enjoying it more each time I ride. I have a moto X track about 4 miles from my house (One of the few, but awesome benefits of being stationed at Lemoore). So I have been riding the vet/beginer track to dial in the suspension. I tried the regular moto x track and could barely make it around on a 450lb GS. I have gotten really comfortable adjusting the spring rate and dampening and can figure it out pretty well for the kind of terrain I'm on, but the front suspension is NOT adjustable at all. So, can I really dial the bike in for the vet track....no. Without an adjustable front suspension I can't. I can only think that the reason the 800GS suspension is adjustable on the back is to account for 2 up riding on the street and to soften it up for mild dirt road riding. This bike could really use adjustable suspension all the way around. When I jump it, a LOT of weight is transfered to the front on landing. By jump I mean about 2 feet off the ground max. The front is a little soft for serious off roading. Here are some more opinions on various parts of the bike.... The brembo brakes are great on and off road, no I don't have ABS. I'd rather modulate the brakes than a fancy computer that can crap out when it can't figure out why only the back wheel is in the air. Good progressive feel and good bite when you want it. The BattleWing tires are very good on road and on all hardpack. I have not had them in the wet yet. Like all 90/10 tires they suck in the sand and so do I. Street riding is better than expected. On a ride up to Hollister in the twisties the bike handeled like a dream. The BattleWings stick very well and never gave any signs of grip loss in hard turns or under braking. I don't charge in to corners I can't see around on roads I've never been on berfore (anymore) so if you want to drag a knee on this bike with it's high ground clearance you will be leaning waay over and hanging off farther than I feel comfortable doing. The power of the engine is very good. Smooth, predictable and pulls hard. Like other fuel injections, it is a little abrupt upon initial opening in low gear. Not as bad as most, but you do learn to control your fine wrist modulations. The seat is good and I have no complaints, I'm used to dirt bike seats and like it. The windshield has no buffeting at all, but you do catch clean air to the head and shoulders. If it bugs you to get air to the face and chest a bit and you are on the highway a bunch, a tall screen may be for you. After noticing a big ding in the headers and little chips on the oil/air cooler, I plan on getting a full cover bashplate, handguards and crash bars from Adventure Spec. X Plane ride took it's toll. Did the initial service at 688 miles. The little magnet on the oil plug caught some metalic fuzz, pretty normal for first oil change I suspect. Why don't all bikes have a magnet on the plug? The air filter was pretty clean still and not hard to get to. I want to replace it with a K&N when they come out with one for the 800GS (unless the 800ST one is the same?) All the other bolts and screws were tight and the chain is still within limits so no adjustment needed. I have a centerstand for it and can't live without one on any bigger bike for maintenance. Thata all for now.

Fantastic ride report. I'm up here in Lemoore and can see the snow capped Sierras from my back yard. If you end up doing another ride this summer and want some company for a couple of days, just post where you're going and I'll shoot up there on the trusty GS and meet you. Not sure if you are interested in a group adventure ride, but I imagine there would be a few folks from SDAR who would be interested in a Sierra trip. Just a thought.

Interested in doing a track day for the first time, probably at BW. Do you have any advice on the requirements for bike prep and required gear for a track day. Ignorant as hell about track days, but know I'd rather practice on a track, not the street. Thanks, Grant

Couple of shots from the Otay TT and loop.

Dirtdiver, if you are looking for some fun 2 up riding on a big bike, you should do the Otay truck trail and trails that spring off of it. Hardpack and very scenic. I used to do a huge loop on my Strom that started by Tavern rode in Alpine that ended up near Santa Isabel. tntmo, could give you directions, I forgot the road names. EPIC ride on a big bike and perfect for safe 2 up. I tried some desert riding on a big bike without knobbies and it's tricky as hell. The S-2 is a great road and there is some riding out there. To agree with Bagstr, I would also not risk 2 up riding in sand with the wife. Mostly because I suck and would dump it for sure. Hope this helps. Rattle tntmo's chain for the names of the Alpine, Julian, Isabel loop. Best 50/50 ride ever. Grant

ahhh, torture being stuck up here, with no easy access to Superstition. I know the number of a heavy duty tow truck in case you get your RV stuck in the wet dry lakebed out there. Used it once myself. Have fun.

shhhhhh, no picture means it didn't happen!!! Blind Unfortunately we had a witness Blind, Roger saw the whole thing and it was obviously my klutzy fault. Don, that hill was a tricky spot to stop. Pretty sure the whole group got to see me dump it at Husky. Slight slope to the right and tired from that gnarly wash = tip over of 400+ machine. At least I got that first scratch on the fairing out of the way, good stuff.

Thanks large to Crawdaddy and Strega for organizing this epic ride. Extra thanks to Strega for watching my back and helping my wrestle the beast down that ridiculous hill. Fantastic ride, but a little much for a 800 with street tires, so I bailed after Randsburg. Felt like I'd been in a UFC fight, battling that thing through the deep sand. Great group and great ride.

I'll be there, got a room already. I'll be the slow as hell, little talent, deathly afraid to drop his bike, rider on the trail.

I'm always amazed when young sailors tell me they want a liter bike as their first ride. It is getting more unusal to see a 600 or smaller as a first bike for service members. I give em the speech, but doubt it sinks in, about going at a moderate fun pace, riding within your limits and buying the bike that "fits". I follow up with the horror stories, mine and others, but don't want to glorify the risk. I have lived in countries that had a tiered licensing system and it made a lot of sense. I know this rubs the whole freedom of choice crowd the wrong way. It seems to work tho and provides experience by making it a requirement of the process. Does an 18 year old need a GSXR1000 as his first bike? I dunno, but I also know an XT225 kicked my ass worse than any other bike after 18 years of riding! Go figure.

Wow, it's Santa Tom, you just need to gain about 200 lbs and grow a beard and some hair. I'll loan you about 100 lbs from my fat ass for starters and a bottle of Rogain for the hair. All kidding aside, nice job!

That is all true. I'm not too much of a farkler, so was looking for a bike that would fit the bill stock. I break more than I fix when I have tools in my hands. Yep the gs is a limited offroad machine. I did a little offroading up here, but on hardpack with the stock tires. Suspension works great at high speed and the bike inhales terrain. I was probably going 70 where I'd go 45/50 on the wee. Low speed bumps are ok, better than the wee, but not like a birtbike. I did some small jumps and got both tires off the ground about a foot. Nice smooth landing and it looks like small to moderate jumping is possible for this big bike. I'm not much of a jumper, I consider 4 feet of air under both tires as a very big deal. Very predicatable wheel slides under power and braking. Getting the bike sideways left or right is easy and very linear and progressive under acceleration or braking. Did something I'd never done before on a bike when doing a wheelie in first, then shifting to second and holding the wheelie. Very linear power and managable. There is a hard initial hit on the gas like other fuel injected bikes I've ridden. Less initial hit than the wee, but still there. Love the turning radius. This bike out turns any other big bike I've ridden at low speeds. Where I'd be wobbling and looking to put an inside foot down, the gs just turns and tracks with the bars all the way over. U turns are no problem, a real bonus for a big bike on the trail. On the street it's fun too and the wide bars let you turn in nicely despite the 21" front wheel. I had it leaned over as far as I was comfortable with and it felt very stable. Didn't scrape the pegs, but got rid of the chicken strips. There are lots of better dirtbikes you can get and a few street bikes if riding on the street was all you'd be doing, but for a dual sport this has my vote as best fit for me.

Not sure if this had been brought up, but has anyone else seen the news article on yahoo.com specifically mentioning this area and the associated hazard?? Big story on the levels of arsenic in the area, "RANDSBURG, Calif. – Heaps of toxic mine waste rise like church steeples over this wind-swept desert town, threatening the health of residents and of thousands of off-road bikers. Tests on dust samples have revealed some of the highest arsenic levels in the country — as much as 460,000 times the level deemed safe by the federal government. But while the poison can cause cancer in people and harm wildlife, little has been done to remove the costly waste here or similar hazardous waste at thousands of other abandoned mines around the nation" Don't know if this is tree hugger fear mongoring, but I'm checking up on this.

It makes sense that patterns, seams or chords on the inside may rub on the tube and cause failure eventually. I really do want to stick to tube type tires, just looking for a good street knobbie. The Shara 3 looks like it will fit my rims and provide enough offroad capability. Really want to stay away from trailwings, hated the way the wee conered on them. They seemed to push the front end to the outside of corners and did not have a nice quick drop in to a turn feel.

Had a little dialog going on another thread in regards to tires and thought I'd bring it here. I got the word from Dig Dug that using tubeless tires with tubes on a tube type rim should be ok. He had heard that high speed may degrade the tube, but was not sure. Sounds pretty feasible and makes sense to me. I contacted motorcycleproshop.com and asked if I could run tubeless tires with tubes and they said "Yes tubeless tires do still accept tubes in them there shouldn’t be any problem using a tube." It looks like many larger dual sport bikes do run tubeless tires with tubes on tube type spoked rims without any problems. So I was just wondering if anyone else had experience or knowledge on this? For now I'm going to stick with the battlewings till they wear out for economic reasons mostly. I've seen what tntmo can do with street tires on dirt, rocks and trails and I've ridden trailwings offroad a bit and had great fun until I hit deep sand or mud.

Great info, thanks a bunch. That is exactly what I needed to know.

Good link on ADVRider, I see a bunch of TKC-80's in use on this bike?? I know they don't make the standard tube type size for the 800GS tho???