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power_engineer

New member
Just picked up an 07 F650GS. Wondering what more experienced owners would recommend as the best additions. It came with throttlemeister, upgraded (Corbin) seat and factory bags, so those are already taken care of. I’m wondering about; taller windshield, front crash bars, better (steel) hand guards, auxiliary lights. and I’m open to ideas. My intended use is riding on gravel and dirt roads but I don’t expect to do a lot of serious dirt riding. I’m keeping it Street functional.
 
Welcome to the forum! Glad to have you with us.

I am not the guy to give you any advice on farkles; my bike is mostly bone stock and it fits me perfectly as is. The only thing I have added are yellow Clearwater visibility lights on the front forks. I experimented--on other bikes--with various seats and various windshields, but always went back to the original as being the best for me. I personally think the manufacturers get it about right with their wind tunnel testing. Whenever I buy a new bike, I try to find one that fits me well from the get-go, then I ride it until my body adjusts to the bike. After that it is simply ride, eat, sleep, repeat.

Good luck.
 
Well, that IS a girls bike you know. :) Just put what you need to make it functional for you.

OH NO! I just bought the ultimate "beginners" and the "girls" bike. :) The G310. We (Voni and I) both got the G310GS models. At 1,110,000 BMW miles (look it up) she is not a beginner, and at 860,00 BMW miles I am still not a girl. But, she sold her K75 and F800S and Yamaha TW200 dirt bikes, and I sold my Kawasaki 250 Super Sherpa dirt bike and my Suzuki 650 VStrom is for sale, because the 310 makes them all non-essential.

For our 2018 summer rideabout, we will park her R1100RS (Big Red) and my K75 (Smokey II) and plan to take the G310s. We have already done 400 mile days and endured 25 gusting to 35 mph headwinds and crosswinds. We plan to ride from Texas to British Columbia with Iowa and Washington in between.

If a 1200 or 1600cc bike is your thing I congratulate you. Our 1100 and 1150cc bikes at 410,000 and 190,000 miles have served us well. But don't assume that huge CCs and horsepower is really needed, and don't demean the smaller bikes. At age 14 I went two-up camping 30 miles from home on a 49cc Sears moped and had a ball. Now I intend to go from Texas to Canada and back on my 310 and enjoy most of the minutes and miles doing it. Certain weather such as rain, hail, snow, and winds will account for those other few minutes that suck. Motels might be my friend. :)
 
Just picked up an 07 F650GS. Wondering what more experienced owners would recommend as the best additions. It came with throttlemeister, upgraded (Corbin) seat and factory bags, so those are already taken care of. I’m wondering about; taller windshield, front crash bars, better (steel) hand guards, auxiliary lights. and I’m open to ideas. My intended use is riding on gravel and dirt roads but I don’t expect to do a lot of serious dirt riding. I’m keeping it Street functional.

I toured all over the country on an ‘07 F650GS. Everyone’s needs are different. I liked the OEM top case. It was visually small but would swallow the largest modular helmet with room left over for gloves, glasses, GPS, etc. It’s an excellent security add-on. If you tour, a tank bag is also a must. I had the OEM but if I had to do that again, I’d go with the SW-Motech. The 650 has a somewhat small visual profile. I added Skene lights front and rear to fix that. Playing around with windscreens is a guaranteed trip down the old rabbit hole. If you go with the OEM flyscreen, you’ll have little protection but it’ll be quiet. If you go up you’ll encounter buffeting (worse!). Go low or go way up. I installed a Britannia Composite Mirage on mine was good with it. Bottom line, the F650 single is a fantastic touring platform. It’s light and fuel economy is amazing. Until you figure it out, they’re awkward to work on. A lot of shops are clueless when it comes to the 650, so beware. Best of luck.
 
thanks for the comments (most anyway)

thanks for the ideas. I already started checking out the lights and fairing (a little pricey for my taste but they look like high quality products). As far as it being a "girls" bike, so what? If we want to see motorcycles to continue to be relevant we need to encourage everyone to ride. More bikes would certainly make the roads safer. Most of us, tend to ride more cautiously, pay more attention and are generally more courteous motorists. That means encouraging lots of other people to ride what ever kind of bike they like (even Harley's!).

I have ridden exclusively on the street for the last 20+ years so I decided I wanted to get off the pavement so that I could see more of the countryside and get to the better views. If I need a girls bike to do that, so be it. I expect to drop it a few times and so I don't want to have to pick up a 1200 CC GS. Plus I don't have the skills to ride it. However I am impressed by, and encourage, those who do. I took the F650 out to eastern KS and rode in the Flint Hills a bit last weekend. I had a blast. I rode dirt, gravel, rocks, did a couple of water crossings. we got to some hilltops where the expanse of the view was beautiful. I can't wait to go again.

Go have fun. If you have other suggestions for me, I'd love to hear them.
 
Decent skid plate can be a bonus, I like good hand guards with decent coverage. Aux lights are a big help after dark and for visibility. If you’re keeping the top box the rack may not be important. Good tires make life more comfortable and predictable off pavement and for me stiff sidewalls for pinch flats, I stopped running cheap rubber after a day with 2 front flats. Whether your bike takes tubes or not be sure you know how to deal with flats and have the proper equip. I had front and back flats in two days on the Trans Labrador. Do you have/want extra power? Does it come with a plug?

This is my go to machine that spends a lot of time touring on pavement with plenty of dirt mixed in from basic roads to some more serious off-road. Most of my farkles are purely functional for comfort and practicality, same league as your machine with more off road focus.

Renazco seat, carbon tank guards, high fender, headlight guard, rally boxes/skid plate, rack, top box, Denali 2 aux lights, hand guards, Double Take mirrors are pretty much it.
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Edit: for you folks on the 310 GS’s Jenny Morgan is doing some extensive long term testing on one this summer across the US and Canada. She’s mixing it up with a good bit of pavement and a lot of dirt some of it pretty technical. She is also involved in some aftermarket development for Rally RAID out of the UK including wheels, suspension and foot pegs to come. Her ride report on ADV is a lot of fun with really good info. She is also giving a presentation about it all at the Rally in Des Moines on Friday afternoon, I plan to be there.
http://http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/beemer-beemer-chicken-deener.1294883/
 
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