[SnS_12]

Congratulations Sir on the fantastic new addition to the garage and wish you many happy trouble free miles on it.

Also a brilliant writeup on your ownership experience till date and the various accessories you have sourced till date

Do keep updating the thread as we fellow enthusiasts always like to learn a thing or two and I learnt a lot about the GS series by going through your very informative thread with beautiful supporting pictures.

Wanted to check on the heating aspect as there is only one radiator fan. I know you did mention that you got some terrible traffic on your first ride back home after delivery but no issue with heating. But, any other experience apart from that?

This Sunday on my way back i was stuck in a massive traffic jam and took me over 3.5 hrs to do a journey which normally I would do under an hour. I was on my Hayabusa and riding in traffic in 1 gear for hours together with dust all over and the heat from the sun and the bike. It never overheated and the temperature needle never went over the halfway mark as the two radiator fan did a good job at maintaining the operating temperature. But the heat was getting transferred to the tank and slowly the chassis which made it uncomfortable as I had to keep my legs a little wider and avoiding touching those parts but no hot hair was getting blown directly on the leg thanks to the design of the fairing and how the hot air is channeled away.

P.s - Thanks for the Exide battery info which I shared with my friend in Chennai who owns a GSA as well and he too was shocked to see the price difference between the two similar batteries . Also, I don’t remember seeing a video of you putting the bike on main stand which you mentioned you would be posting as well?

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by SnS_12

Wanted to check on the heating aspect as there is only one radiator fan. I know you did mention that you got some terrible traffic on your first ride back home after delivery but no issue with heating. But, any other experience apart from that?

Also, I don’t remember seeing a video of you putting the bike on main stand which you mentioned you would be posting as well?

Thanks for the kind word. This engine is basically BOTH air as well as liquid cooled. As the boxer engine juts out quite a lot on the sides, this proves a indirect boon for better engine cooling. To be very frank, that initial ride was the only when where I encountered bumper to bumper traffic and since then I have not encountered any such situation to really test out the engine heat. I did a 325kms ride this Sunday to Mohand, Dehradun with zero issues including feeling of any heat. Also the single radiator fan has really not effected the thermal efficiency of the vehicle as it is obviously a single joint cooling circuit with one radiator filling cap.

As for the video, I did make it but it came out quite funny as my son pointed out, as I was wearing some pre-weight loss tucked up baggy jeans, so really did not post it here. Anyways here's the video, but don't laugh... lolz

https://youtu.be/KFGueidHB1k

Cheers...

PS - There are no glares visible to me from the TFT screen to put up any extra shades, as another member had inquired in a previous post. Sorry, I forgot to post a feedback on that.

[dkaile]

A little research into this loose spoke fiasco going on the forum, led me to this quick emergency repair setting in case anyone runs into 1 or 2 loose spokes. This is NOT a tutorial to true your spoke wheels. It is just for tightening a few spokes IF needed in emergency -



Tools required - A normal 2 mm hex allen key and T40 Torq

The trick is not to mess up the little allens

Here's a video on loose spokes on a 2018 R1200GS

https://youtu.be/tz44WboLQsM

Procedure :
1. Back off T40 Torq nipple 1/4 turn. This takes the tension off the allen set screw

2. Now back off the 2mm Allen set screw several turns

3. Just tighten the loose spoke by T40 Torq till it 'sounds' similar to other tight spokes

Sound is the keyword here. Here's how a true (fully tightened) wire spoke wheel should sound -

https://youtu.be/8ngyQDdZqVk

4. Retighten set screws. Very less torque is needed on allen set screw. Just 2-3 nm. That means just snug, nothing more.

You are done...

Disclaimer - All the spokes on my bike are absolutely tight and all sound similar even around the 1700 km mark and I have done upwards of good top speeds on several rides now. The 2018 bikes faced this issue approx. every 500 kms as per feedback on international forums, leading me to believe that BMW has indeed fixed this wire spoke wheel issue in later models.

-----------------------------------

317 kms Ride to Mohand (Dehradun) last Sunday

Few photos

Beautiful new highways being built all over North India. This is the first time in my life I was able to really touch Dehradun (Mohand) and return home by early afternoon from Meerut.


Aah, that fresh air from the hills!


317 kms


Cheers for now...

[himanshugoswami]

Heartiest congratulations Dheeraj. this is THE bike to have. I recently bought its baby brother the 310, in my bid to resume biking after a 4 year hiatus. Hope to upgrade to this beast soon!. Safe riding and keep posting your brilliant updates!

[dkaile]

Few more accessories received -

Received this Headlight Protector



Headlight BEFORE installation


Headlight AFTER installation of this guard. Nice simple protection for this Rs. 70k part without compromising on the headlight beam or the looks of the bike.


Also received this Mobile Phone Holder for the Navigation Bracket. This fits directly on the Navigation Bracket and also provides USB power to charge the mobile phone directly, drawing current from the installed bracket without the need for any extra cables.



The contact points that draw current directly from the original BMW bracket are visible here on the under side of the mobile holder


Fits on the original bracket in a jiffy in place of the Navigator 6 unit


Here my Samsung Note 10+ is attached on this bracket. It grips the phone very securely even for high speed riding. The phone can be charged with the supplied cable which is attached to any one of the two USB ports on the side of the mobile holder.


Frame Slider for the Shaft Drive



Here's how it looks


Here's how it is supposed to work in principle


Here's where it will be fitted on the bike


The plastic cover removed to remove the hollow nut where the part will be tightened


It was installed in under 2 minutes and here is how it looks on the bike


Now I was facing some issue with the Metal key of my Keyless Remote. The key used to get stuck due to some deformity on the metal part. I had bought this to the notice of the dealership right at the time of delivery. Thankfully they agreed to the problem and raised a formal Warranty Claim for the same. Finally the part arrived from Germany. The extra Remote Key costs a whopping Rs. 22,339/-. Thankfully it was covered under warranty. Here's the part# in case anyone is interested -



Both the keys together for one last time. The new one is on the right. The old one was returned back to the dealer to be sent back to BMW, Germany for R&D.


Here's a view of the Battery inside the fob, in case anyone is interested. It's a standard CR2032.


NOCO SAE Adapter for the Bosch Battery Charger

This was finally received by me in India. It was ordered through Amazon.UK as I had mentioned earlier.


The adapter attached to the Bosch Charger for seamless charging on all my bikes.


From a ride last Sunday. All parts tested for integrity with the bike. Zero issues.


Cheers for now...

[Red Liner]

With Ali express shut, I wasn’t expecting your accessory update anytime soon lol. Good to see the tasteful yet necessary updates to the princess in your garage. Any ride reports or trip reports to share, something you may have done recently?

[Frankenstein]

Nice bike, roads are definitely improving in this part albeit average to bad quality. Can you post a comparison of this bike to your Harley in terms of roll on power in gears, suspension comfort on road, and all the other points for a long distance cruise.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Any ride reports or trip reports to share, something you may have done recently?

Rides have pretty much dried up in these Covid times. Only average weekend ones for now.

Originally Posted by Frankenstein

Can you post a comparison of this bike to your Harley in terms of roll on power in gears, suspension comfort on road, and all the other points for a long distance cruise.

The last longish ride I did was a 300+ km one to Mohand. The sofa seat on my particular Harley (Heritage Softail) is the major plus point when compared to the Beemer. However as I had mentioned that the 1250GSA is a 'Sports Bike on Stilts' in it's character and is more nearer to my previous Ninja 1000 in speeds and acceleration rather than any Harley. Roll on power in gears and suspension comfort is unsurpassed on the Beamer especially the electronic suspension which works flawlessly on differing road conditions on a single ride, where you do not need to adjust anything even when you come across potholed ridden to butter smooth road surfaces. The bike does it all. This is truly one bike to rule all... Lolz (with pun intended to the Lord of the Ring).

Cheers...

[v12]

Apologies for the late reply [Idon't know how I missed this thread] . . . but Heartiest Congratulations Dkaile Sir on this monster. your threads are always a pleasure to read since they are so detailed and have so much of information (especially the DIY Stuff).

I have never ridden the BMW, but have always wondered - is the bike very top front heavy. It looks so bulky on the top front - how is the ride at slow speeds and especially on U-turns or tight corners?

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by v12

I have never ridden the BMW, but have always wondered - is the bike very top front heavy. It looks so bulky on the top front - how is the ride at slow speeds and especially on U-turns or tight corners?

Thanks for the kind words.

The bike is 268 kgs. So it is not a light bike by any stretch of the imagination. But then it is in normal superbike territory. Just for comparison my Ninja 1000 was around 240 kgs and Heritage Softail is around 320 kgs. Even my previous Himalayan and the current Interceptor 650 is around the 200 kg mark. It's weight can be felt only at standstill, like when manually reversing the bike. But once it gets moving, I felt the weight totally disappear even at slow speeds or on U turns. It's a beautifully balanced bike due to the low centre of gravity of the Twin Boxer Engine. And corners are a dream. Though it is currently on 80:20 off-road biased tyres, putting it on totally road based tyres will take it's cornering ability to Ninja 1000 levels. And it is easily capable of 200+ speeds just like the Ninja 1000. It's the seat height of the bike that is of more concern to many and I would not recommend this bike to anyone shorter than 5'10".


Cheers...

[dkaile]

Project Fog Lights -2

What's a Adv that doesn't look like a Christmas Tree at night... lolz. So in continuation to my previous posts, received the next set of Auxiliary Lights Mount and Round (Main) Fog Lights after a delay of almost 3 months due to the ongoing trade wars. This Total setup costs more than 50K (just for the mount and one set of lights) in Denali. I have tried to replicate it at a fraction of the cost with high quality components.

The custom built Auxiliary Lights Mount which is specific for the 1250GS Adventure. This alone costs around 10k in Denali. It is of exact same quality and specifications from Ali Bhai. Costed 3k.



The build quality up close. Quite solid.



The high quality round fog lights which are 27W each




Comes with aluminium heat sink and all metal body unlike the ones currently available in Indian market




Dry Fitted




and Checked before installation. Very high brightness with good focus and spread




The installation starts by removing the Fuel Tank Cover. Quite a simple job once you go through the online videos and is just a matter of removing a few torq screws.




The Beak was also removed for better accessibility




Main 2x 13mm Nuts were attached (circled in red) on either side of the headlight in proper grooves already provided in the bike. This mount is a exact replica of the Denali one and hence these fitted perfectly.






The Mount properly secured in place finally. It is designed so well that it looks like a part of the bike and not a added accessory.




And it has got proper clearances all around




Attaching the Fog Lights was just a easy job after the mount was in place. Next job was to wire it all up in place.




A dual connector was made to tap into the already wired Ignition Power Supply. Please refer to my previous Fog Light post for the detailed wiring diagram which was again replicated.




High quality Relay and Wiring in progress




The Final Result



Switched On. The stock fog lights look puny in comparison.




A Waterproof Minda Switch was added for these lights to the right side of the handlebar




A broader view of the switches and cockpit




Road tested yesterday on a 100km ride for checking all parameters. Zero issues.



cont...

[dkaile]

Air Filter Cleaning Process


Now since the Fuel Tank cover was already off to gain better accessibility for the fog lights project, the air filter becomes accessible under the fuel tank cover. So I decided to check it up and have a go.

The Air Filter Housing on the front side under the fuel tank cover. It is secured by 4x Torx 25 screws (circled in red)



The Torx 25 screws removed



Filter Housing Cover removed. Requires a little wiggling to remove from under the blue side panel housings.



A closer look at the Air Filter inside the housing



It is further secured by a plastic mesh grill which just slides out with the air filter



All the 3 Air Filter components



A closer look at the Air Filter. Very Similar to the Air Filter in my Skoda Superb in build quality or any other German car.





Made in Germany and the part#



Given a nice but soft cleanup by blowing air at low pressure through my reversible vacuum cleaner which also serves as a air blower



It was fitted back in reverse order and this completes the air filter maintenance.

---------------------------

Did a nice little Father-Daughter Ride yesterday as she had just returned from Ireland recently.



She too gave a big Thumbs Up to the ride quality and comfort



The Top Box in place



Wishing a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all TeamBhpian's from my Christmas Tree... Lolz



Cheers...

[dkaile]

BIKANER RIDE - 4th to 6th March'21 - 1100 kms



Starts a few days earlier with some off-roading preparations with the Top Case in place







D-Day and all preparations done



Early morning 5.30 am assembly. 3 Bikes in total including mine, a Triumph Tiger 900 XCX Pro and a Kawasaki Versys 1000



Sunrise by the time we hit the Eastern Peripheral Expressway. Route Taken was Meerut - Eastern Peripheral - Western Peripheral - Rohtak -Bhiwani - Sadulpur (It was Rohtak - Hisar on return which is a better option. This one was also good as roads were much smaller, isolated and a little broken in patches) - Taranagar - Sardarshahar - Shri Dungargarh - Bikaner



Fuel up en-route somewhere near Sardarshahar



Reached Bikaner by Lunch around 2 pm. Our hotel, The Lakshmi Niwas Palace and it's brilliant courtyard



Our upgraded room



Time for Lunch with a Traditional Rajasthani Thali with Lal Maas, Dal-Baati-Churma and Kair Saangri



The brilliant property. A blend of the new and the old...





The period era Bar



And the 'Billiards Room'. I have never seen so many hunted 'Big Cats' in one single room. More than 30 in this room alone!! Make what you must but it was repulsive and fascinating in the same breath...



Sunset in the Palace Gardens



The Courtyard at Sunset had it's own allure



The morning Cuppa with the Sunrise, the next day



Our bikes after a nice wash



Local trip to the Junagarh Fort



which also houses a fascinating museum. The day was topped off with a visit to traditional Bikaneri markets for the world famous 'Bhujia' and a drink of the vast variety of 'Sherbets' at Chunnilal's



Photo-shoot of our bikes at night with the Palace as the backdrop, was mandatory... lolz





The Return Trip was quite eventful as there was road blockage due to the Farmer's Protest and we couldn't enter the Western Peripheral and we had to take a detour from Rohtak to Sonepat - Ganges River - Baghpat - Meerut. Now this 150 kms stretch was totally dug up and broken with a 20km jam on the Ganges River Bridge and it was a true test of our bikes in the most demanding conditions. The 'current' road from Baghpat to Meerut was the 2nd worst road I have encountered in my life after Tso Moriri. But 'Enduro Pro' mode really worked and it was a smooth blast for bike's like mine. We still made this 150 kms stretch in 4 hours with a lot of off-roading and into farm-land with no roads at all, and it was FUN... A deserved feather in the cap to our day!

The bike was covered with mud on reaching home with the under-body bash plate having at least 3-4 inches of mud stuck to it.





Bikaner'd



The bike ready for a nice wash



Trip Details. 1073 kms, done in just 13 hours travel time, with an average speed of more than 80 kmph (78 due to the fiasco at the end) and 'Kitna Deti Hai' was 17.2 kmpl



The Performance. Touching nearly the bike's red lines.



Sweet Memories. Another one for the log books of my traveling life.



Cheers...

[alphadog]

Happy X mas indeed. You might need to name your bike - the Daymaker, with the amount of Lux that is available with those Aux lights.

The love for your motorcycles comes through in the amount of detail that you go into with every one of your bikes. The pictures of the three bikes with the Lakshmi Nivas in the backdrop is simply too good.

Keep riding and sharing those fantastic pictures like you do.

Cheerio!

[hema4saran]

All the 2019 and 2020 R1250GS and GS Adventures were recalled for brake caliper changes here in USA. Many of my friends who owns these bikes got theirs changed free of cost from dealerships. BMW switched the brake calipers to Brembo from the Hayes brand as it had reported oil leak issues which leads to brake failure in some cases.

I am not sure how they are planning the recall for India. Please check with your dealership about this and try to get it replaced free of cost.