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16 Mar 2008
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R.I.P.
Veteran HUBBer
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Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: california
Posts: 3,824
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Happy Hacker
2 water pumps, 1 ignition coil, 1 clutch, 4 sets of wheel bearings, 2 sets of head bearings, 1 stock shock rebuild, 1 gearbox rebuild (bearing went), all the touratech stuff broke, 5 chain/sprocket sets, intake hose, 3 fork seals, 2 fuel injectors, 5 clutch cables, handlebars, 4 cam chain tensioners, lost count of broken mirrors, cant be bothered to count brake pads, 1 fuel pump.... other stuff I've forgotten.
90000 miles of bad roads, drowned in rivers, riding salt lakes, hit by cars, dropped countless times, overloaded, fed bad fuel and sat on by fat people.
After all its taken me through I cant complain and after a bit of TLC it'll be ready for the next ride. :-)
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Considering the mileage/conditions/ load, that is good service Bob.
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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!
Last edited by mollydog; 22 Mar 2009 at 00:43.
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26 Mar 2008
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Contributing Member
HUBB regular
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Join Date: May 2003
Location: Belgium, Leuven
Posts: 37
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mmmm...good choice ?
Rode around Australia, New Zealand and Tassie on a F650 - 1994...a few minor problems.
Left Belgium with 50.000 km on it and did about 40.000 km. Only head bearings were changed & minor carburator problem. For the rest normal things chains and sprockets, new tyres, etc.
Only 1 big thing but due to bad quality cooling water ; cylinderhead had to be changed ; crack at the height of the excaust. So very happy with this one.
Now september leaving for trip around Australia and I just bought a BMW F650 GS - 2004, only 1800 km...after reading all your posts...doubt a lot if this was a good decision. First was looking again for same back, old version, but less km (old one has 120.000 km).
Since I am so happy with the BMW F650...thought going to the GS version was a good decision.
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New Zealand, Australia & Tasmania - 2003 - 40.000 km on my own
Next: South America - sept 2008-march 2009
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26 Mar 2008
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Contributing Member
HUBB regular
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Join Date: May 2003
Location: Belgium, Leuven
Posts: 37
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correction
I mean off course South America is next trip and not Australia again!
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New Zealand, Australia & Tasmania - 2003 - 40.000 km on my own
Next: South America - sept 2008-march 2009
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27 Mar 2008
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Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Missing, presumed fed
Posts: 295
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Yup, you're right, I forgot about some things, its all a blur....
The radiator got hit by a rock before I realised making a guard was a good idea, a bit of wire mesh & some tie-wraps would've saved me a lot of $$.
Swingarm & suspension bearings dont last forever, the rusty bits of metal that fell out when I thought it was time to grease them was a surprise.
Chain hub bearings, on my third set of them. Noticed a deep groove worn in the spacer between bearing & swingarm, allowing water/grit to sneak in and that was causing the problem. Shame that part is made from monkey-metal, needs to be stainless steel.
Batteries are a consumable - I've been on the road since 2003 & now on my fourth battery so no complaints. A 12 Amp Hour made a big difference.
No frame/subframe cracks or shock mount problems. The bolts that hold those things together leave a lot to be desired, grade 12 hardened bolts are easy enough to find. :-)
Lamda sensor died at around 60k, which isnt too bad. It had a new ignition coil at the same time, thought that'd failed but the problem was just Uyuni salt in the wiring so now I have a spare.
So yes, things break, but after all its taken me through I reckon its done a great job.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mollydog
Considering the mileage/conditions/ load, that is good service Bob.
I doubt my DR650 could do as well. But seems to me from reading over your web sites that I've seen more failures and replacements that you listed there and more REPEAT failures that I don't see noted above. Perhaps I've mis-read?
Things like holed radiator, intake manifold, chain hub bearings Ring a bell?
And what about batteries? Still using the original? Lamda sensor? I Remember reading something about broken shock mounts? bad linkage/swingarm bearings? broke or cracked subframe?
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Membership - help keep us going!
Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.
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