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9 Dec 2008
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I think you did well with the R1100R.
There are a few bikes out there that will match it and fail in different ways and so might be easier to repair (eg. R100's, Triumph Bonneville), but honestly I don't think there is such a thing as a 100,000 mile bike never mind one that does better.
I don't know why this is as I drive a Skoda for work that's done 115,000 miles with nothing except oil changes 10% past the recomended limits. Bikes I'm afraid are designed for weekend warriors who'll decide they are unfashionable long before they wear out, even when made out of toffee/cheese/wet cardboard etc.
The alternative is to repair what you have. This means either learning the skills and getting the tools to fix that BMW gearbox yourself, or going for something like an Enfield that you are going to learn about repairing very easily but very quickly.
Andy
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9 Dec 2008
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Hate to think how long it would take to cover 250,000 km on an Enfield!
The only bikes that I would think stand any chance of covering that sort of mileage without anything more than oil changes are other BMWs such as the K100/1100 or R1150s.
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9 Dec 2008
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It sounds like you are wanting an HPN, but instead of using an old donor bike you should start with new parts which will then be modified and improved by HPN. This sort of bike can last a life time and when you think it is at the end of one life time you strip it apart and rebuild it from scratch to start its next lifetime.
hpn
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12 Jan 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gsworkshop
It sounds like you are wanting an HPN, but instead of using an old donor bike you should start with new parts which will then be modified and improved by HPN. This sort of bike can last a life time and when you think it is at the end of one life time you strip it apart and rebuild it from scratch to start its next lifetime.
hpn |
Does it mean that a Hpn modified bike will never have a problem or not will fall down? driveshaft for instance?
I really wonder that.
Sami
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12 Jan 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Samy
Does it mean that a Hpn modified bike will never have a problem or not will fall down? driveshaft for instance?
I really wonder that.
Sami
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Everlasting is a relative term, everything can break.
Guess you refer to the standard paralever driveshafts? Mine broke after more then 150 kkm.
Most HPNs are based on other swing-arm solutions then the standard airheads, they will probably not last forever but I expect the lifespan to be 10-20 times the life of a chain/ sprockets. My plan is to open mine and inspect it after 50kkm.
I guess you know that you can get serviceable driveshafts for the standard GS?
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12 Jan 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AliBaba
I expect the lifespan to be 10-20 times the life of a chain/ sprockets.
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Obviously, but then again you can change the chain/sprocket in 30 minutes every 15000 km's (more or less), even carry a set with you to change in case it wears out somewhere in Ulan Bataar thus being independent of DHL in that respect, have a set of sprockets made in the middle of nowhere in Russia en route to Vladivostok etcetera and so forth. Chain and sprockets are more available than any drive shaft, so given that "everlasting" is a relative term and that everything can break, I'd go for a chain driven bike if I'd go for a really long trip through more or less desolate places - the exeption being Guzzis, of course.
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12 Jan 2009
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I have not met anyone carrying a spare shaft, but I have met people carrying 2 u-joints for the shaft. I would estimate that a set with u-joints is 200 gram. If you like to carry parts, the weight is as follows.
R80/R100GS shaft 1.990 kg
R80G/S shaft 1.104 kg
R1100 shaft 2.376 kh
F650GS (2*Sprocket +chain) 0.220 kg + 0.978 kg + 1.710kg=2.908kg
I don’t know how the weight of the HPN-shaft, I will guess 2.3 kgs.
The R80G/S-shaft will last almost forever.
You will have problems finding chains and sprockets in most of Africa, Asia and South America. Same goes for shafts.
If you change a set with chain and sprockets in 30 mins you work pretty fast. I have 2 bikes with chains and I always use more then 30 minutes. I also need tools hat I don’t carry on the bike. To change a paralever-shaft I will need 2 hours, all the tools are in my toolset.
When I was in Kenya a guy fabricated a front-sprocket. It looked okay, but a few weeks later I met him in Ethiopia. The sprocket had killed his chain and he had used a week to get the bike to Addis Abeba where he waited for parts.
I’m sure you can find similar examples where shafts have broken.
But everything that moves can fail, shafts just lasts a lot longer. It’s not “everlasting” but it outlasts a chain.
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13 Jan 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AliBaba
Everlasting is a relative term, everything can break.
Guess you refer to the standard paralever driveshafts? Mine broke after more then 150 kkm.
Most HPNs are based on other swing-arm solutions then the standard airheads, they will probably not last forever but I expect the lifespan to be 10-20 times the life of a chain/ sprockets. My plan is to open mine and inspect it after 50kkm.
I guess you know that you can get serviceable driveshafts for the standard GS?
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This is not clear for me AliBaba !
Mine is a 96 R80 GS Basic and I am not sure if I need a servicable/greasable driveshaft for it as it is at 50K kms now. Or if it is a good solution?
I don't know if it is helpful carying U joints for that too ! Technically a bit poor yet 
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9 Dec 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AliBaba
I find the price for fixing your gearbox a bit high. If it gets overhauled before it stops to work it should be around less then half that price.
Some people overhaul there gearbox every 100kkm,.
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This might indeed be true, it 's very probable that my bike won't break down when doing enough precautionary repairs.
It's very difficult to get a correct maintenance scheme for this.
Anyway, it might just be me, but i don't have much trust in models that require that kind of maintenance.
(to an extend obviously, i'm not going to wait for breakdown before maintaining my bike)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Threewheelbonnie
Bikes I'm afraid are designed for weekend warriors who'll decide they are unfashionable long before they wear out, even when made out of toffee/cheese/wet cardboard etc.
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I am starting to realise that.
I 'm just hoping there is still one model out there that defies this design.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Threewheelbonnie
The alternative is to repair what you have. This means either learning the skills and getting the tools to fix that BMW gearbox yourself, or going for something like an Enfield that you are going to learn about repairing very easily but very quickly.
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I did most of my repairs myself (else those prices would be a tiny bit higher)
Repairing a gearbox is beyond my capabilities, but that 's not relevant as it was completely smashed (repairing what was broken would take about 3000 euro)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Magnon
Hate to think how long it would take to cover 250,000 km on an Enfield!
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It would probably take me just as long as on any other bike...
Would someone know a place I could find maintenance costs for large distance motorcycles?
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9 Dec 2008
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Any of the big Japanese touring bikes will run mostly problem free for many many miles. I think you can do better with most Japanese stuff.
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9 Dec 2008
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I had an Africa Twin (1991 model) from 20.000kms onwards to 105.000kms. The only mechanical glitch during that time was the countershaft bearing behind the sprocket, which very nearly lead to a big catastrophe at almost exactly 100.000, but luckily the fault was found & fixed, otherwise it probably would´ve blown up the engine. Even this was a freak occurrence, and could have been the result of having the chain adjusted too tight somewhere along the way. I didnt sell it because of this.
If I´d have to try to get real big mileage out of a bike, I´d probably still go for the Africa Twin, or possibly a DL1000 (or how about a 1200 or 1250 Bandit?)........ the km´s mentioned are huge, however, so your personal riding habits, choice of routes, and how good you are in maintaining the bike will probably have a huge impact on the outcome.
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9 Dec 2008
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Bikes in the "developed" world are generally used as a secondary vehicle to a car, say. And they're not designed/expected to rack up huge (100k+ miles) mileages without major overhauls, here in the UK a bike is "high mileage" if it does more than about 3k miles/year... If you want a machine that'll seem to cover high miles reliably look towards, say, a Fireblade in any of its incarnations, or that old faithful the Cub (seriously!).
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9 Dec 2008
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Not too sure about the new one but the old Honda Deauville 650 use to do it all, had one for a year and a half, only thing that went wrong was a wheel bearing went but i was told its cause i was riding it too hard  (who said a deauville cant get both wheel off the ground!!!). Couriers love them so the better more loved 2nd hand ones are hard to find.
Anyway the new one is suppose to be the same but as usual quality of some of the pairs is just not what it use to be.
Apart from this maybe the Honda Transalp but its got the usual chain drive which can add up costs over a high milage bike.
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9 Dec 2008
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I agree with the sentiment of others on here...no bike is everlasting or without sorrows every so often.
BUT one bike that should be in the running...with some minor alterations...would be the BMW K75(no ABS)...
These bikes consistently rack up the mileage and the punishment with minor drama...
The biggest drama is the final drive splines but the costs of swapping that out is almost equivalent to the maintenance of a chain and its complimentary sprockets. Heck a buy in Canada(Bruno's Machine Shop) has developed a permanent fix by remachining the worn splines, rebuilding the final drive and the driveshaft for about $1k USD.
When you consider the cost of acqusition, pre-trip adjustments, maintenance, and farkling...the K75 has got to be about the cheapest to get you 300k miles.
Its not a sexy looking enduro bike...but it will get you wherever *there* is...
HTH
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9 Dec 2008
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Go Guzzi! They last, parts are cheap, they are easy to fix, they are good and strong runners (the big blocks that is) - the closest motorcycle equivalent to a Perpetuum Mobile in my opinion. But then again I'm totally unable to see any flaws in any Guzzi. I'm totally in love with these bikes and love makes blind they say... ;-)
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