A BMW I'd actually like to own.

[Uncle Phil]

Only to non Canadians, here we say “new fund land”

I prefer 'New Potholey Land' ....

Uncle Phil - Canada 2018 Day 06

 

[drbuzzard]

i got the BMW i wanted to own also

 

[Coop]

The Adventure model has a 6 gallon tank which should achieve close to 300 miles

That would have been awesome back in the day. I'm in 250 mile days.....sometimes. When I get to the Pearly Gates Saint Peter is going to look in his book and smile and say, "Coop, you had fun."

 

[Coop]

I prefer 'New Potholey Land' ....

Uncle Phil - Canada 2018 Day 06

Phil, you know how sensitive the Canadians are, are you trying to get them to invade New England. Look on the bright side, if not for them we wouldn't have Cajuns and would be over run with mudbugs.

 

[Larry Fine]

When I get to the Pearly Gates Saint Peter is going to look in his book and smile and say, "Coop, you had fun."

Funny you say that. I've often told my friends I want my epitaph to say "I had fun!"

 

[HorST]

About the time I got my ST1300, I clearly remember looking at a K1200GT ... well now I have one a nice fully serviced garage queen.

well aware of the pitfalls but it was simply time if not now then when - my 60th

 

[dmkkeng]

If money was no object I would own the R1250RT. Looked at this bike back in 2003 when I purchased the ST1300, the cost to purchase the BMW was significantly higher and I could not justify the difference.

 

[MaxPete]

Well sports fans, it is time for another chapter in the saga of Gretel - my 1983 BMW R100RS (cue the Wagnerian sturm und drang musik here). As the COVID19 sh!tstorm subsides, I am planning a couple of bike trips hither and yon and so I wanted to try to get a top box mounted on Gretel’s ample derrière in which to tote my stuff (chiefly rain gear etc.).

Several years ago, I found a top box off a Honda <I think> GL1200 Gold Wing at a bike wrecking yard for stupid-cheap money and so I bought it. Frankly, I’m not even sure that I knew why I bought it at the time, but it only cost about $25 and except for some slightly faded pinstriping, it looked solid and the nice chrome latches were secure, even though there were no keys for the locks. I may have had delusions of mounting it on my XS650, but I have since concluded that this scheme would not have been a good idea.

Then along came dear Gretel and so I thought, “hey, she is a big tourer, she has hard cases (the Krausers) and she’s black, plus she has such a cute little rear luggage rack - why don’t I bust out the ole’ engineering skills and see if I can mount this box on Gretel?

With a couple of possible trips looming this summer and fall, I got down to business. The BMW rear rack is sort of a dumb design as it is quite small and the forward of three cross-bars is not flat - so attaching anything to it is not easy. Anyhow, I fabbed-up a sheet metal reinforcing plate for the inside of the box, drilled some holes in suitable locations to suit the stock chrome Honda brackets and the box was secured to the seat rack - but it could still pivot forward and backward. Obviously, I needed some "pitch" axis support to prevent that pivoting action.

One of my former students is now an executive with a major automotive engineering consulting firm in Detroit and he suggested using 3D printed brackets to prevent rotation and he even offered to print them for me. So, we took some measurements and the next day he popped out two of the slickest looking brackets you’ve ever seen and holy cow, they work great and fit perfectly. He even incorporated four little hex-shaped recesses in the forward bracket to accept M6 nuts and bowed the upper surface on that same bracket to accommodate the curved recess in the forward-underside of the Honda top box.

You will note from the photo below that my inner steel reinforcing place has some hole-drilling errors. I could blame that on the fact that very few of the surfaces of the Honda box are flat and easy to measure (which is quite true) - but the fact is that I am not much of a machinist. It is too bad really, because Craig had powdercoated the plate - prior to the fitting being done.
Oh well.

All I need to do now is touch up the black paint and white pinstripes and remove the Honda emblem and finally, install the 83mm BMW roundel that is on the way from evilBay onto the rear of the top box lid.

Pete

 

[ST Gui]

Wow that's really nice work with those bracket especially the "T" brackets. Well done!

 

[CDNolddude]

Well sports fans, it is time for another chapter in the saga of Gretel - my 1983 BMW R100RS (cue the Wagnerian sturm und drang musik here). As the COVID19 sh!tstorm subsides, I am planning a couple of bike trips hither and yon and so I wanted to try to get a top box mounted on Gretel’s ample derrière in which to tote my stuff (chiefly rain gear etc.).

Several years ago, I found a top box off a Honda <I think> GL1200 Gold Wing at a bike wrecking yard for stupid-cheap money and so I bought it. Frankly, I’m not even sure that I knew why I bought it at the time, but it only cost about $25 and except for some slightly faded pinstriping, it looked solid and the nice chrome latches were secure, even though there were no keys for the locks. I may have had delusions of mounting it on my XS650, but I have since concluded that this scheme would not have been a good idea.

Then along came dear Gretel and so I thought, “hey, she is a big tourer, she has hard cases (the Krausers) and she’s black, plus she has such a cute little rear luggage rack - why don’t I bust out the ole’ engineering skills and see if I can mount this box on Gretel?

With a couple of possible trips looming this summer and fall, I got down to business. The BMW rear rack is sort of a dumb design as it is quite small and the forward of three cross-bars is not flat - so attaching anything to it is not easy. Anyhow, I fabbed-up a sheet metal reinforcing plate for the inside of the box, drilled some holes in suitable locations to suit the stock chrome Honda brackets and the box was secured to the seat rack - but it could still pivot forward and backward. Obviously, I needed some "pitch" axis support to prevent that pivoting action.

One of my former students is now an executive with a major automotive engineering consulting firm in Detroit and he suggested using 3D printed brackets to prevent rotation and he even offered to print them for me. So, we took some measurements and the next day he popped out two of the slickest looking brackets you’ve ever seen and holy cow, they work great and fit perfectly. He even incorporated four little hex-shaped recesses in the forward bracket to accept M6 nuts and bowed the upper surface on that same bracket to accommodate the curved recess in the forward-underside of the Honda top box.

You will note from the photo below that my inner steel reinforcing place has some hole-drilling errors. I could blame that on the fact that very few of the surfaces of the Honda box are flat and easy to measure (which is quite true) - but the fact is that I am not much of a machinist. It is too bad really, because Craig had powdercoated the plate - prior to the fitting being done.
Oh well.

All I need to do now is touch up the black paint and white pinstripes and remove the Honda emblem and finally, install the 83mm BMW roundel that is on the way from evilBay onto the rear of the top box lid.

Pete

Nice job! Ps just so you know it’s a gl1100 top box,

 

[Sadlsor]

Nice job! Ps just so you know it’s a gl1100 top box,

Wow.
Talking about living up to their screen name.
(No worries, I'm actually a USAolddude, meself.)

 

[MaxPete]

Nice job! Ps just so you know it’s a gl1100 top box,

Good information - thanks @CDNolddude - that may help me track down some keys for the locks (which appear to be in absolutely mint condition). The box even came with all of the interior tie-down straps and buckles.

....would anyone happen to have the key code off a GL1100 key (i.e. what is the blank number so that a locksmith would know where to start...?).

I wonder what happened to the rest of that old GL1100.....?

 

[MaxPete]

…….aaaaannnndddd, here she is with the GL1100 top box mounted.

The mounting is very secure and even the rubber lid seal is good, so it should be dry inside. I think the box has a sort of “squarish” Teutonic look to it, despite its Asian origins as a Honda GL1100 part. I really don’t think that one of the giant rounded “flying potato” style GIVI boxes would look good on Gretel at all.

Once I get the emblems sorted out and get a backrest installed, I think that she will look quite good and be very well-suited to some long haul trips.

Pete

 

[Sadlsor]

Oh, yeah!
Definitely a good and suitable match to the Krausers.
Well done, Pete.
You won't find ANYTHING with a Beemer roundel on it for $25 today, with the possible exception of a branded key ring.

 

[MaxPete]

Oh, yeah!
Definitely a good and suitable match to the Krausers.
Well done, Pete.
You won't find ANYTHING with a Beemer roundel on it for $25 today, with the possible exception of a branded key ring.

Thanks USAolddude much appreciated!

You are dead right about BMW parts prices, but I actually found an 83mm (about 3-3/8” dia.) BMW roundel on Etsy for about $14 - it is supposed to be the badge from the hood of a Bimmer 4-Series car - so let’s see what pops out of the mail on July 21.

If it isn’t nice, I will just break the bank and get a good one.

Pete

 

[Winged_STer]

That, sir, is an awesome job and it looks great! My hat is off to you.

 

[CDNolddude]

…….aaaaannnndddd, here she is with the GL1100 top box mounted.

The mounting is very secure and even the rubber lid seal is good, so it should be dry inside. I think the box has a sort of “squarish” Teutonic look to it, despite its Asian origins as a Honda GL1100 part. I really don’t think that one of the giant rounded “flying potato” style GIVI boxes would look good on Gretel at all.

Once I get the emblems sorted out and get a backrest installed, I think that she will look quite good and be very well-suited to some long haul trips.

Pete

That looks great Pete. Way to go

 

[rwthomas1]

One of my favorite bikes. And what a great addition, I'm jealous.

RT

 

[rjs987]

I'd like an F 850 GS.. to try out...

That is a nice bike.
You do know that the engine for this bike is made by Longxin Motorcycle Industry, Co. out of China?
But that's ok, A few of the BMW scooters, the entire scooter, are also made there. The C650 gt engine used to be made in Taiwan by Kymco, who makes a lot of engines and other bike parts for many brands. Kymco has built a rep for being reliable for their bigger stuff and is one of the bigger names in Europe, don't know much about Longxin stuff.

 

[Mellow]

That is a nice bike.
You do know that the engine for this bike is made by Longxin Motorcycle Industry, Co. out of China?
But that's ok, A few of the BMW scooters, the entire scooter, are also made there. The C650 gt engine used to be made in Taiwan by Kymco, who makes a lot of engines and other bike parts for many brands. Kymco has built a rep for being reliable for their bigger stuff and is one of the bigger names in Europe, don't know much about Longxin stuff.

I think it's a moot point, the more I ride my Tracer the more I feel like it's the perfect bike for me.