Lighter Bike needed
 

Hi all, i have and still have dabbled in an adventure tourer.

First was a honda Varadero, and now a Bmw 1100 gs.

To be fair i think both are heavy and cumbersome, so much so that the Bm is going to be sold.

Why can't they make a nice lightweight twin, around 150 kilos, stripped of all the unnecessary rubbish. I quite like the Transalp but why all the bumph on it.
It looks like a tarts handbag. To be honest i think someone needs to make a parts bin special.
The transalp would be a nice engine, reynolds frame frame, white power suspension, strong handbuilt laced wheels.
MMMMMM apart from the frame perhaps a Transalp special!!!

The F800GS only weighs 185kg, and about 207 when full of juices.

Not sure what on it could really be removed to be honest. Stripping of the few plastics wouldn't save much weight and would make distances much harder work, and whilst there is a rear seat and pillion footpegs, again I doubt they add much since the rear subframe would need to be pretty beefy for supporting the weight of rider and luggage.

They've gone over to canbus for the wiring, so there's no huge bundles of wires. Alloy wheels, swingarm, forks, handlebars, plasic absolutely everywhere - fuel tank, headlights, screen brackets, radiator mounting and side pods etc, and only the frame is steel really.

Not sure I can see where much more weight could be saved, whilst still having a bike tough enough to last. Unless we go to aerospace materials with the associated costs!

I do totally agree with you, and I'm sure one day it'll come. When 400cc engines can make similar hp and torque numbers to an 800 well be half way there...

As ususal, a parred down overland bike proper is a niche market, even amongst niche markets!! The overland look sells very well these days, but the market still wants all its gubbins!!

The closest a manufacturer have done to a proper overland bike is the new Tenere, IMO. I know BMWs are either loved or loathed on here, but I was happy with mine and it was the only choice two-up, for us. But, as already pointed out: it was not a light-weight bike, although very capapble for it's size!

Despite never having ridden one, I think the combination of small engine, decent-ish tank size and strong rear subframe (it can talke a pillion) the likes of the Honda NX400 Falcon are quite appealling. Unfortunately, quite rare in the UK.

I'm not a high mile rider, 500 miles a day! why!!!!. Unless you need to catch the ferry or get to a start point. Otherwise you miss so much. Nothing worse than sitting on ya bum for hours on end with boring motorway traffic.

Royal Enfield 500 with knobblies on??c?

You're having a laugh:nono:
Saying that 150 miles is about right i guess for one of those, then you need to tighten all the bolts and reset the valve clearances?c?

Cheap though, about £500:oops2:

I'd like to see someone try it with the new motor'd version. Everyone who's ridden one seems to rave about how they've entered the 21st century without loosing the essentials (fuel economy and simplicity). Build quality I wouldn't worry about, the 2004 I had had fewer problems than any BMW I've ever owned except the first F650. I'm not sure the HP limitation would be to everyone's taste, but IMHO they are getting very close (if not actually there) to a very usable bike. I think in maybe 2 years time there'll be people telling us good things about Enfields.

My other suggestion is the Bonneville/Scrambler family. Despite Triumphs best attempts to market this as a weekend polishers machine (just like Watsonian with the Bullet), they are proving very tough and reliable. Spec wise, excepting the DOHC and chain drive it's very similar to a BM airhead without 20 years of other people's bodges. Check out what the boys on ADV rider are doing, there are a fair few using the bikes instead of just playing Steve McQueen down the local coffee bar.

When I started looking for a usable bike I'd had enough of the likes of BMW's bling. If you'll excuse the mention (not trying to start this one again) I wanted to go more Ted Simon and less Ewan & Charley. I don't want CAN systems and HID lights and a solar powered step ladder to get me into the 10-foot saddle. While I like the look of the new Tenere I know the Bonneville will get me just about anywhere and think the right Bullet could too. Time for one or two of the manufacturers to take a step back and see where their now overweight overcomplex "Adventure" machines came from IMHO (not that they will, most R1200GS's ride on the M-25).

Andy

^^^^^^^^

I agree with the overspeced, overhyped bikes

and i have recently bought a BMW1100GS, i thought i would try one!! I don't like it at all, ok on the open road, other than that :thumbdown: UP FOR SALE IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED
Personally i prefer to travel light!!

It's a bit like camping, folks take everything bar the kitchen sink:nono:

Camping to me is a tent, a primus a saucepan and a frying pan:D

A frying pan AND a saucepan , thats luxury .

Crazy i am:helpsmilie:

If you particularly want a twin, then perhaps a KLE500 might fit the bill? - it ain't a rocketship, or particularly inspiring to ride, but it would do the job as a travel mule?

If you want the 21st century version, the Versys seems to get good reviews, but is more road/tarmac biased of course...

If you want a single, then as has already been mentioned, the new Tenere is rather good...

xxx

I can't praise the bike enought, have a look at the new KTM 690. Of course it's no twin, but runs fairly smooth for a single, has lots of power, is not too heavy and has an excellent handling. :scooter:

There's three issues I'm having with it so far:

It needs to see the dealership every 5000km for an oil change and every other time for the valves. For a travel bike that's a bit short in my book, but if you can do your own maintenance it might not be a big deal.

The stock seat is horrible for touring.

The tank is a tad small. I get about 200km before hitting reserve, but there's a lager add on tank available from Aqualine.


The bike is worth checking out, even if it's too expensive right now you might be lucky in a year or two.

It's not a twin, but otherwise the spec is looking spookily similar...?!

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...t/DSCF2799.jpg

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...t/DSCF2801.jpg

xxx

(ok, so it's still a fair way away from 150Kgs too, but better than it was x)

looks kinda cool in an ugly way

Give me more info

Yes i know its a Yamaha, water cooled

Maybe soon
 

The Highland ticks lots of boxes, 950cc Vtwin, 165kgs dry, 220 kms to reserve when murdering the speed limits and comfy enough for 500 mile plus days, oll change and filter 10 minutes. Not quite smooth enough for the very long haul yet but it is improving as we do some development. Hoping that one day we'll get it right:rolleyes2:

some more info here

Highland Motors - Page 7 - ADVrider

http://www.weetwood.force9.co.uk/images2/2Heidi.JPG

Ugly? - Schmuggly!
 

Hi Floyd - it is basically the new XT660Z Tenere, but with few mods...

I bought one last summer and immediately took it to the USA for seven months - rode it 23,000 miles over every kind of terrain, and every day became more impressed with it.

As an all-road travel/dirt road/trail bike, it really is excellent - yes it is big and heavy compared to an enduro machine, but it feels very nimble on the move (it only feels it's weight when you have to pick it up!).

It will cruise at 80mph if required, is very comfortable on and off road, refined for a single, great luggage capacity, good economy etc etc. There are some very nice detail touches that you only really begin to appreciate once you live with the bike for a while, plus it has been excellent reliability wise, and (until the recent price increases at Yamaha) was exceptionally good value I thought?

I'd also say the stock (if basic) suspension is surprisingly well balanced/composed for general trail riding at reasonable speeds... However, the standard wheels are quite heavy (twin front discs and large cush-drive rear hub), and if you really start to press on, then the damping can start to feel a bit overwhelmed - but only once you start pushing the boundaries of what the bike was originally designed for?

In fact the more I rode it off-road, the more impressed I was at how stable the machine remained when things started to get a bit sketchy... and I considered that with a few modifications, it would actually make a half-way decent rally bike?

So since I brought it back to the UK earlier this summer, I have mostly been in the shed (and on the phone) sourcing suitable parts to upgrade the suspension and wheelset, plus fitting a lighter exhaust and a few other bits and bobs (not in the pictures yet) in preparation for the Heroes-Legend rally to Dakar later this year...

I'm confident that it's going to live up to the original Tenere's reputation in that respect too...

xxx

Highland: where do you go for parts, servicing & specialist knowledge? Better off with a KTM 950/990 of some sort. My 950SE is 200kg fully fuelled (14.5 litres), makes 100hp at the crank, can manage 120 miles before the low fuel light's on & has awesome suspension for the offroading. There's also the benefit of the OC Hall of Wisdom on Advrider on how to service, maintain & repair them plus there are plenty of dealers about. Home servicing is easily done if you've got a bit of knowledge & the right tools.

Triumph Scrambler: not ridden one but probably a good road bike but as heavy an R12GS from all accounts with less ground glearance & a protruding gear lever that looks vulnerable if dropped on the left? Would like to see one cope with North Wales offroading. :thumbdown:

I'd choose the Tenere or the F800GS if you wanted more than 50hp. Saying that, I rode to the Dolomites & back recently with two Tenere's, they cruised @ 80mph with plenty of luggage on board & were surprisingly good offroad. They'd be the perfect multi-purpose big single if they lost 20kg. Ditching the twin cat-equipped pipes for a single straight through silencer will save you 8kg at least.

JMo - what is the exhaust on your tricked out Tenere?

Sean

Hi Sean - the exhaust is made by SR Racing in Germany, and sold through Off-The-Road.de

Exhausts

However mine is a custom version for the rally bike - without the cat, and therefore is about 100mm shorter than their standard version. It is very light (titanium) and seems very nicely made - but is very expensive... Fortunately they did cut me a bit of a deal on the price as I bought a lot of other bits from them too...

xxx

That's ridiculous money for a single silencer IMO.

A friend bought a new Scorpion silencer off Ebay & fitted it to his Tenere on the left using the pipe that had originally fed the right hand silencer. Overall cost was under £200.

For less than the cost of the SR Racing set-up, you could have a one-off built with cash to spare.

I agree, it's a ridiculous amount in anyone's opinion!

They will tell you it is because the exhaust (being made and sold in Germany) has to meet TUV approval as a replacement part - the price of their triple clamps (to fit the WP forks to the Tenere head tube) are the same...

Of course you could get a custom (full) system made up in the UK for significantly less - or as you suggest, put something together using aftermarket parts. I however got a very good deal as I mentioned above.

With the OTR stuff you are paying for their development time, especially on what is only ever going to be limited productions run, and I must say, the finish of there products is first rate.

xxx