A Fairly Farkled F800GT

[racer7]

Intro

The SO and I bought a pair of identical F800GTs to have lighter bikes for the mountain twisties than our heavier R and K bikes. This thread will contain a series of posts with photos showing how we set them up.

The Basics

Right from the dealership these bikes had Suburban Machinery footpeg lowering bits and Motorad Verholen bar backs that move bars both up and back.
Also a Fuzeblock installed on top of the air box to facilitate future install of electrical accessories. The Fuzeblock uses the factory gps circuit as a trigger so has about a 20 second delay to shutoff after the key is removed.
Her bike has the std seat- she's 5'6"; mine has the comfort seat- I'm 6'.
The intent of the ergo mods was to get the bike closer to the F800RT that BMW should have built- that's what US riders asked for, not this GT, which does not have proper bars or peg locations for distance touring unless you're a midget with long arms. Maybe some day they'll actually build a bike for US customers that shows they can listen.

Also added were the Garmin 390 GPS on mounts from Touratech. I connected it through the Fuzeblock though a BMW service connector can also be obtained and used.

The red switch on the bar came from Eastern Beaver and controls a pair of Solstice SP-120 lights from VisionX (shown later) to complement the low beam.

The little black box with the red and yellow knobs is a WarmNSafe remote dual controller attached with 3M DuoLock- way better than Velcro.

Shown in the pic of the foot peg lowering bits is an oil temp gauge from Wunderlich. I filed marks in the stem to correspond to factory oil dip stick levels so it serves that function also. Operating oil temps are a little under 100 C at speed.

 

[racer7]

The Windscreens

The stock screen is possibly the worst of any BMW I've ridden and can turn even my Schuberth into an intolerably noisy bit of protection- so they had to go.
Both bikes got a MadStad in light grey. Hers 20", mine a custom 24". That puts both in the mid range of adjustments for us.

The MadStad is probably the most functional screen in existence- it can be adjusted for angle (about 15 degrees, way more than enough) and height (a bit over 4"} so is like owning several non adjustable screens. In addition it vents at the bottom so eliminates a lot of the back turbulence that some screens create (much like a Cal Sci does but better).

Photos show screen rear view and the adjustment mechanism- go to bike side photo above to see the 24" side view. You can also see the rear view of the Barkbusters (discussed later) clearly as well as the bar mounted light switch, WarmNSafe controller and Touratech GPS mount

Great service, recommended if made for your bike

 

[racer7]

Protection from Road Debris and Spray

As usual, this model lacks basic protection for the bike from debris and the rider from spray and debris, all of which were factory standard on my 89 Transalp- BMW ought to study the old UJM stuff- they did a lot of stuff better.

So, I fitted a fender extender, factory rear mudflap, Ilmberger hugger, RG rear suspension protector (redundant with the hugger but I had it on hand), RG stainless radiator protection screen and Wunderlich screen device to protect the oil filter and heat exchanger from rocks kicked up. Probably overkill if all you do is ride around town but if you tour and add some gravel or dirt, its necessary.

The rad is built better than the ones on the new wetheads (which have large square section soft aluminum tubes just begging for a pointed rock to hit them) in terms of resisting thrown rocks but is both large and exposed. The RG screen is a nuisance to fit requiring removing most of the plastic to access tie downs up top and you need better attaching materials than they provide- but it is stout.

Ilmberger folks are artists in real CF, not the look alike plastic stuff, and the fit and finish of this hugger is their usual superb work- but you pay for it, not cheap. It replaces the factory (plastic) upper belt cover shown in the photo next to it.

The Wunderlich screens that protect the oil filter are difficult to attach only because the factory uses the same point to attach a fairing bracket and the screw is in with what might be red loctite or similar- took me a mini torch and 2 ft breaker bar to get out this T50 screw. Wunderlich supplies second rate hex hardware as replacement and the factory screws have to come from Germany, at present - but I do have them coming so the bike stays stainless torx for its fasteners.

The fender extender sourced from Twisted Throttle is 2" too short but fits well otherwise. Comes with some cute, mini plastic fasteners to supplement the attaching tape, rather than the screws that came with older versions. An improvement in my book - I always used to substitute stainless pop rivets which are a bit more work- stainless gives your wrist a workout compared to aluminum or steel pop rivets.

The factory rear mudflap is the same part as other BMWs. I put some ScotchLite black / reflects as white film over it and the rear fender immediately above it and added a 70mm BMW badge and holder sourced from Bob's BMW. You can see the lock for a Stashbox that holds docs and some minor tools in that photo, also

Only 3 photos allowed per post so the rest of these are in the following post.

 

[racer7]

Rest of the Spray and Debris Protection Photos

Three more here.

The Wunderlich oil filter protection.
The Fender Extender
The RG stainless rad protection screen

 

[racer7]

Front Lighting

So far, upgrade of low to HID using a DDM Tuning kit with 35W ballast and a real Philips tube (4300K, highest output) bulb from Xenon Depot, plus a pair of 10W, Solstice SP-120s that complement it and serve as full time conspicuity. Also fitted is a set of Photon Blasters from Skene. Will likely use a 65W Osram H-7 for the high beam and add some long range LED driving lights in the future.

The HID is installed by drilling the bulb cover and attaching the ballast to the outside of the main plastic fairing support with 3M DuoLock.

The SP-120s draw power direct from the Fuzeblock through a bar mounted switch sourced from Eastern Beaver. They do not need a relay circuit for 2 reasons 1) low power and 2) LEDs are not sensitive to voltage fluctuations because they have their own voltage and current control built in- these are designed to run from 9 - 48 V.

The SP-120s are mounted through the black plastic under the headlight- its plenty strong enough for them. Theoretically they might be able to touch the fender at full lock and full compression but I've used this type of install for years on other machines with less clearance with no issues. Normal steering clearance is plenty and if you manage to actually hit full lock and full compression at anything over a walk you've already got worse problems than worrying about a mark on the fender.

The light changes made so far (including the 65W Osram high beam) raise total light output from about 3000 lumens stock to about 7100 lumens- a very worthwhile change.

 

[racer7]

Side Case Reflectivity

MotoEquip has no pre cut kit, yet, so I cut my own ScotchLite (black/reflects as white) reflectors from sheets sourced from them.
The material is also available silver/reflects as white and you could of course do this with other colors or fluorescents as you might prefer.

They went on the rear, side and front of each case.
The film is also on the rear mudflap and fender,

I added additional factory red reflectors to the rear and side of each case, also.

In one of the photos you can also see the Skene P3s (not running though) added to supplement the factory tail and brake light

Yes, I like to be seen.

 

[racer7]

Templates for Above

You don't need my help to do the mudflap or fender but cutting templates for the side cases is tedious so here is a leg up if you want to do your own.

Just print the jpgs as 8 1/2" X 11" so the little + index marks just touch the paper edges and you'll have the same size I used.
If you can't copy them from this site, send me a PM and I'll send you a copy direct.

The sides and rears apply easily if you've ever done ScotchLite but the front of the cases are compound curves and substantially trickier if you've got little experience. Do them last. Hint- a fine mister with just a bit of water works well. Rub them flat from the center out using a micro fiber cloth to avoid scratches.

I was doing 2 bikes so the Front template is annotated and sized so you could do 4 of them on one sheet and doing a bigger one on the case compound curve isn't possible anyway. Ignore the note if you're doing 1 bike.

Cut yours on paper first before playing with pricey film- so you know you like the result.

 

[racer7]

Misc Other

Every BMW needs a side stand foot to park on soft surfaces. Mine is a Wunderlich but there are many possibles. I pot mine in epoxy when installing so they don't get lost if a screw breaks.

I know my gear can scratch paint so some "tank" protectors are added plus the side grips. Also shown in the coax connector for heated gear that comes from the Fuzeblock.

The bike is fitted with a Helmet Secure that allows locking a helmet upright to the bars with its 14"-15" self coiling cable. Used Rescue Tape for a bar bushing and trimmed it because the ones they supply won't fit. No big deal, it goes on easily. Could go on the frame by the passenger foot peg if you prefer- I don't.

 

[racer7]

Barkbusters and Levers

I use the S-7 Barkbuster from Twisted Throttle on almost every BMW in our fleet (5 of 6). Here it is fitted with the Barkbuster end weights also. The reason is the factory weights are very heavy but have to be removed to install the S-7s so this keeps weight close to original to damp vibration.

Note that Barkbusters will interfere a bit at full lock unless you've got Motorad Verholen bar backs like this bike (or similar that move the bars back a bit). Probably not a big problem but it will happen with stock bar location.

Barkbusters protect levers and extend the lower temp comfort level of any glove by about 10 degrees.

I add a CrampBuster - the wide one - for wrist comfort- the bike has no cruise of course (I don't use them much anyway so don't really care).

The levers are Wunderlich Varios. I adjust the clutch for 4 finger use but the brake side shorter for only 3 finger use. The GT has powerful brakes and that's more than ample. Allows easy covering of the front brake with no danger of trapping a finger and limiting travel when you need it most. Varios are pricey. If you need cheap there are some short inexpensive ones on EBay that I have seen but not used. Note that some levers are too long to work with the S-7s (e.g. the longer version of the Synto) - they can't be longer than stock.

 

[racer7]

A DIN (BMW) Outlet and More GPS

I added a low Powerlet outlet fused 15A and connected to the Fuzeblock. Mostly its used just for plugging in my charger.

To make it easier to see, I added a 20 mm BMW badge sourced from Bob's BMW to its cover.

A rear pic of the GPS mount from Touratech is shown, also. Be aware that the Garmin 390 has some new features as well as quirks- so is a bit different than many of the units preceding it, especially when it comes to address entry and selection which is clunky compared to old stuff. Also, depending on how you enter its address selection search function (intended to speed up entry) it often comes up with very different results. Takes some learning and can slow stuff down. I'd say the book is still out on this unit and if you don't like using new stuff, stick with a 660 or 665.

 

[racer7]

Final Thoughts

1 of our 2 bikes is equipped with an AF-XiED. Comparisons ongoing.

Working on some LED long range driving lights - probably 25W VisionX Light Cannons (remember this is a 400W bike, not an R1200RT with as much juice as many cars).

Still need to decide what small tank bag I want. Definitely not the BMW one- don't like the attachment method. Probably something from Twisted Throttle.

Normally I don't change horns but this bike invites it. Probably will use the low tone Fiamm Blaster- abut $15 from Amazon or Aerostich. See horn review in the current issue of Motorcycle Consumer News.

Bike has great brakes stock but will be really impressive when stock GG pads are replaced with either the DP HH+ or EBC HH. Not in a rush- as I said, stockers are great as is.

The mirrors don't have enough spread for guy's shoulders- they need the Hornig extenders or similar, about $60. But they work fine for the SO.

Most of our bikes have top cases but for these we prefer to tour with large yellow Ortlieb rollups held on with Rokstraps- adds to visibility. Yes our side cases have the factory liners. Can't say I like the factory side cases much- the shelves waste a lot of usable space and complicate use. Some have sawed them out and I'm considering doing the same.

At least some of you know that the twins are the choice of some very well known BMW riders- which doesn't include me- I've never even been to a National. Its faster and easier in tight stuff due to light weight with sufficient power. Also has great brakes - better than any other BMW we own. Try a demo some time- you might like it despite the need to up its equipment level for any serious use.

Frankly, BMW should have done a better job with this bike's touring suitability, especially given its very high price point for a bike with Asian key parts. But they do as little as possible to make unique twin models as a look at the RepROM and parts fiches will show you. The RepROM is maybe 1/10th the file size of one for R models, for example and this bike has a lot of similarity and too few changes from the F800ST of which its basically a line extension product.

There is a GS-911 beta version out that has pretty much full functionality for the F800GT. But the sections for other 800s will work to do most things because there is little to no difference between motor parts/controls.

Its not a 2 up bike for any distance - solo only unless you're a masochist.

It would be a better bike with either the Triumph or Yamaha triple motor. I don't get the point of making an "unbalanced" twin and trying to make it acceptable by wasting space and parts on a counter-balancer that could just as easily be a cylinder in a better motor that would have inherently good primary balance (and sound better, too). But the motor has a good torque curve as is and in this light bike has sufficient power..

 

[EUGENE]

tank bag

take good look at RKA - luggage web site for a small tank bag. Richard and Kathy are easy to talk to on the phone too, for questions. ALL are USA MADE.

 

[classicvw]

And how much $$$ did it take for all the farkles?

 

[dbrick]

Nice, racer7. Thanks for the tour!

 

[racer7]

I appreciate the tank bag tip.

The cost of all the fixes is high- north of $1500, maybe approaching 2K. Although this is an OK bike, its the primary reason I'm not impressed at all by BMWs persistent failure to listen to requests from US customers. This is a very big market for their bikes but not a single one is ever sent here with suitable ergonomics- which are by far the most expensive thing to correct. The Japanese UJM machines almost all had far superior ergonomics to BMWs bikes.

I'm also getting tired of having to fix every side stand on every BMW, something I have NEVER had to do with any other bike I've owned. And to add huggers, etc because the simple basics of spray control are ignored for some design fetish.

The twin motor is also getting silly long in the tooth and all the minor things they're doing to make it look current aren't fooling anyone.
Despite hp claims, for example, there is absolutely no discernible difference between the old S/ST version and this GT version. I'm sure there are a few real differences but they are not discernible in use. Its time for a better motor at this price point and something along the lines of either the Triumph or Yamaha triple is probably the best current answer. See no reason for a mid size inline 4 or, as much as I like he feel of the Honda V-4, any reason to go to a design that seems to produce the low fuel mileage the Honda is famous for.

BMW has benefited a lot from Honda and the other J brands that ape their lead basically having their head in their butts since Sochiro died. But there are signs Honda is waking up though so far their innovations have all been wide of the target. It would actually be pretty easy to take a lot of BMW US business for anyone who listens well.

 

[vtbob]

Thanks for this thread. I've been looking at the GT for the same reason....I wish there was a F800rt too

FYI There a LED H7 bulb in the work. May be a lower power/longer life alternative to HID http://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/3000-Lumen-H4-H6-LED-Headlight-bulb-_p_83.html

There is a long thread on this development on avid rider vendor area.

I like several of your ideas.

Sort of agree that the f800 motor could use an update...but the triumph triple is a gas hog vs the F800..so with unless there is a bigger tank in the works that would be a real compromise.

If BMW actually made a F800RT, fully featured mid size tourer (no huge harley like bulbous fairings) I would buy it.

Cruise control please!

 

[racer7]

I'm familiar with both that LED design and another though I've used neither. I don't like being an early adopter of uncertain stuff and this has all the earmarks to be skeptical including ability to cool, beam patterns given the odd layout needed for LEDs, actual color temp and its suitability, etc etc. I've built custom high power flashlights including LEDs for years and could write a small text about all the things that could be wrong with an LED sub. Then there is the basics of how the human eye works- at the same output an LED will not deliver as good depth or color perception as a filament bulb or HID or indeed any continuous spectrum light source- this is very easily demonstrated on any nearby treeline if you have equivalents to do so. So I am not rushing to own some aftermarket LED headlight, especially now that HIDs are inexpensive and work well. The LEDs stuff their electronics in the equivalent of ballast cases anyway, conveniently not shown in most of their ads.

I suspect a lot of the reason Triumph triples are gas hogs is Triumph and their design choices. I would expect a small penalty for a triple compared to a twin but a lot of that depends on bore/stroke choice, redline allowed, shape of the torque curve, etc and in general I think BMW makes pretty good basic choices for most of their designs. They've not succumbed to the hp/redline wars like some other brands have.

I'd like another gallon on the GT- I really want about a 225-250 min cruise range (meaning a 1 gal reserve at that point) and the GT won't do 250 run dry from a max top off, at least not the way I ride it. Might make 225 if I don't ride it too hard. Europeans are used to their dinky little countries and seem not to get that there are plenty of places in this country, especially after day business hours, where going 200 miles between obvious fuel stops isn't difficult. It takes about 10 hrs to go end to end in France- don't think there's another Western Euro country that allows longer straight rides in it borders - that's just a nice touring day for some of us.

 

[racer7]

Brake Pad Update

Have now noticed that the rear pad of this bike has the same bad habit of the pads on my 08RT- lots of dust in dry condition. On the RT, that dust absorbed water in the winter and left stains in wheel paint almost impossible to remove- I had to use those fine abrasive Mr Clean sponges to get it off.

The rear pad on the RT was organic at the time. Haven't checked to see what is on this bike but the solution is simple and will get done here soon.

Replace all pads with EBC HH and coat wheel paint with "Keep Clean Wheel' a commercial product at most auto parts stores. The solution works well- been using it almost 5 years on several BMWs.

You'll also get improved feel and better brake bite at speed. Dealers often sell this pad as a replacement- far less expensive than stock and also not hard on rotors. Don't know if the DP HH+ behave the same or not but might try a set on one of our 2 bikes for comparison. (Note that while both the EBC and DP have a higher coefficient than stock- most stock front pads are GG - and could be used for track days as well as street, they are not real race pads which are rarely satisfactory for any kind of street use because they need a lot of heat to have any bite so can get you in trouble on cold wet days of street use, especially. Some true race pads I've used are almost totally ineffective in a first cold, wet stop so don't go there except for track only use.)

 

[vtbob]

I like the idea of LED's lower power and higher color temp. Seems to work better for me. I've put a truck-lite LED in a cafe race build i did this winter. This is the first LED i've seen with a tailored reflector and lenses for head light application. Seems to work great in my basement....when the snow goes I'll see how well it really works. You points about bulb replacements in reflectors and lens design for filament are well said.

The LED head lite in the new GS LC does work very well...but as you point has cooling for the chip. The truck-lute used a cast (aluminum?) rear housing as a heat sink..so there is no cooling fan. They seem to have been in use for over a year now on trucks and other vehicle with good results.
Not cheap however.

 

[racer7]

I also use a TruckLite- in my 89 Transalp- as a replacement for the H4 bulb in 5X7 Stanley reflector that was there originally.

My "not enthusiastic" comments about LEDs were aimed specifically at the current designs intended merely as bulb replacement- NOT at purpose built LED designs intended as oem equipment or sold by oem makers (TruckLite is also sold by GE and meets all the motor vehicle lighting standards as do the factory provided LEDs on some new bikes).

The color temp and discontinuous wavelength issues for LEDs remain.
My own side by side testing of color temp shows that sources at the color temp of halogen bulbs allow better color differentiation between greens and browns than higher color temp / discontinuous sources like LEDs. This is relevant to spotting deer, for example, along a tree line next to road but not so relevant to open country riding or desert racing.
I don't have any special concerns about well designed LEDs for low (main) beam use but remain unconvinced of their superiority for long beams (at the same lumens as a halogen source).

However, bikes that make only 400W of power give one limited choices for long range lights if one intends to run 2 pair of auxiliaries- halogens are not possible if one is trying to stay in a total power consumption range of 80W or less for 4 lamps.

And of course it is possible for LEDs to easily output a great deal more light than a halogen bulb which may very well offset the negative side of higher color temp and discontinuous source. For example the Light Cannons I might add to my GT put out 2500 lumens at about 25W vs 1500 lumens at 55W for a std H-7 halogen bulb. Expect to be able to do some direct comparisons on that eventually.