hello,
which alu cases do you recommend for a r100gs pd ? hepco becker, touratech ...
is there any other choice than those two brands ?
which shock absorbers at the front and rear
thanks do you recommend for a r100gs pd ? ohlins, white power ... is it really necessary to change the bmw original ones ?
thanks for your answers, ride safe

I won't answer on cases, there's a link on the links page to reviews, and it's largely personal opinion and price.

On the shocks - yes it's necessary to change the BMW one. Chris Bright for example didn't believe us when we told him his stock shock wouldn't last - on I think the fifth total failure of a stock shock he finally bought an Ohlins, having done Africa, North America nad South America.

And he was riding solo on an R100GS - two-up it's a no-brainer - replace the stock shock.

I've never heard of a major failure on any of the better brand shocks.

I run a Works Performance shock from the USA - 15 years, around the world two-up and still good.

------------------
Grant Johnson

Share the Dream!
at: www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Vincent
Regarding panniers, as Grant says there are plenty of reviews around to make an informed choice. We chose Darr boxes as they were half the price of Touratechs, but uprated the locks and catches to make them more secure. We also wanted to be able to take the panniers off at night, so they have locking catches rather than the semi-permanent u-bolt fixings that are common to most boxes/frames. We had frames custom built by Ernie in Kent and he did a great job, he also supplied the panniers and fitted the catches/locks. After 6000 miles the frames still look like new, but the boxes have a few scratches and dents from slow speed drops. You can pics of our frames/boxes and contact Ernie through our website www.chasingthesun.org.

Regarding shocks - yes, the stock one may well fail eventually, but it may take a long time. Although Chris Bright's failed, he did get all the way through Africa and North America and half way through South America, so you have to way up the balance between spending the cash now or having the potential hassle of replacing it on the road if it fails. I faced the same choice with my driveshaft (I'm riding an 1989 R100GS early paralever model) as they are prone to fail around 40,000 miles and I left the UK with 30,000 miles on the clock. As a new driveshaft costs 270 GBP I decided that I'd risk it and stick with the old one. If it fails it will be inconvenient, but I can get a new one couriered out within a few days and there's always the chance that it will last the trip.
Out of interest, we've just met a guy here in Goa who rode his new R1150GS overland from Germany. He replaced the stock shock with an Ohlins and it failed about five days ago as he was riding on smooth tarmac (the lower mounting bolt sheared in two places). Not only did it unnerve him slightly (!), it caused a considerable amount of damage to the driveshaft housing. He's now facing a large repair bill as, allegedly, BMW won't honour the warranty because he fitted after market parts.
Hope that's helpful in some way. You pays your money and you takes your choice.
Let us know how you get on.
Harvey www.chasingthesun.org

thanks a lot Grant (again! you see i'm almost on the road after some doubts :-)) and Harvey
i will look on the right pages for the alu boxes and i've heard EMC schock are quite good quality/price ratio and quite easy to adjust properly
of course ohlins ... but expensive

hi grant, sorry your site is superb :-)) but i do not manage to find the link on the links page to reviews (i'm not superb!).
otherwise, here it is : i bought yesterday my r100gs pd, a classic edition one : very good condition, low kms, wp suspension at rear, bmw cases, very happy with it, plan to leave france in april/may
have to do the ''certificat de passage en douanes'' think and a few stuffs then go !
i also couldn't find info on russia or ex-USSR on your site, for travelling, visas, etc ... is there any ?
thanks !
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Grant Johnson:
I won't answer on cases, there's a link on the links page to reviews, and it's largely personal opinion and price.

On the shocks - yes it's necessary to change the BMW one. Chris Bright for example didn't believe us when we told him his stock shock wouldn't last - on I think the fifth total failure of a stock shock he finally bought an Ohlins, having done Africa, North America nad South America.

And he was riding solo on an R100GS - two-up it's a no-brainer - replace the stock shock.

I've never heard of a major failure on any of the better brand shocks.

I run a Works Performance shock from the USA - 15 years, around the world two-up and still good.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Vincent, go to the links page http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/Links.htm
and press Ctrl-F on your keyboard, or Edit / Find and enter "panniers" (without the quotes) and press enter - the first hit is the link I was referring to, Carlo's Pannier pages.

We have no info on the site at this time for Russia etc. No great difficulty as we understand, probably why nobody has bothered to post. Of course we would love it if someone would send us what they learn so we can post it!! (that's a hint...




------------------
Grant Johnson

Share the Dream!
at: www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

hi vincent,

faced the same questions as you do now.
read carlo´s page, grant mentioned and decided for the touratechs weighting up the pro and cons.
if you decide for the zegas (by touratech) as well) order a spare set of plastic mountings as well. i was shot down on a dirt-track in morocco by a 4X4. box broke off, no damage fortunately but the plastic-mount, which could easily be replaced though.
regarding the shock, i would always go for an aftermarket like the oehlins one (use it myself). it uses the same bolt like the stock bwm btw. so it does not depend on the shock if it breaks. take out the stock-shock and auction it in ebay. a new stock one will cost you some 400 euros. add the the price you will get from ebay, then you are almost up an oehlins...

-=helmut=-