The most important consideration in preparing for a Round-The-World motorcycle trip is choosing a motorcycle that is up to the task of taking you to the far ends of the earth and back again. People have ridden all manner of two wheeled motorcycles around the world, from a 50cc Honda cub to a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
My BMW R1150 GS Motorcycle
For my RTW trip, I have chosen a 2003 BMW 1150 GS. This is the motorcycle of choice for many adventure riders. I have owned this motorcycle since 2010 and since that time have added some 75,000 kms to the odometer. The bike has safely and reliably taken me on journeys from my home in Ottawa Canada to Alaska and to numerous other places across Canada and the US.
I had given some thought to acquiring a newer model of the BMW GS for my RTW trip. The newer models of the BMW GS are lighter, have more horsepower and are equipped with the latest techno-gadgetry from BMW. But the thought of being broken down in the middle of Mongolia with no way to repair such a complex machine, led me to decide to keep my less complicated but easier to repair BMW R1150 GS. There were other considerations as well, a brand new 2016 BMW GS Adventure motorcycle fully outfitted with all options that I would need, would cost me over $30,000. Although not required for the countries that I will be visiting on my RTW trip, many countries around the world especially those in Africa and Asia, require that foreign motorcyclists present a Carnet De Passage for their motor vehicle before being allowed to transient across their country. The Carnet de Passage is a customs document identifying your vehicle and allows you to temporary import you motorcycle into another country. To obtain a Carnet, you must first provide a security bond with you local automotive association (CAA) or touring club. The amount of the security that you need to post, is based on the market value of your vehicle. Many countries require a security of 150% of the value of your bikes and some countries like Iran and Egypt request a security bond of upwards of 300% to 500% of the motorcycle value. So, to obtain a Carnet on a brand new BMW GS or other similar bike, can be a very costly undertaking, so that is once of the reasons I opted to take a 13 year old bike instead of a newer model.
As good a motorcycle as the BMW GS is, it still has a number of faults and limitations that would need to be addressed to turn the bike into a true adventure motorcycle. The following is a list of the modifications and enhancements I have made to my GS.
1: Suspension upgrade: One failing that is most often reported by BMW GS riders, is a failure with the bike’s suspension system. The OEM suspension on many dual purpose motorcycles are just not built to take the abuse of riding a heavy overloaded motorcycle over thousand of miles of bad roads that you will encounter on your RTW trip. To remedy this, I have replaced the front and rear BMW suspension with a set of aftermarket shocks from OHLINS. The OHLINS are regarded as being a superior
OHLINS Rear Shock
suspension system compared to the BMW OEM shocks and unlike the stock BMW suspension, the OHLINS can be repaired if any of the internal components should fail. Aside from the OHLINS being a more robust suspension system, I have found that they have improved the overall handling of my bike.
2: Upgrade for fairing: When I first purchased my GS, it was already setup with a custom aftermarket windshield, which did a good job of deflecting the wind and bugs off the rider. Over the years, the acrylic material began to discolor with age and the windshield became less transparent.I was looking for an excuse tp replace the fairing, I really wanted a fairing that was a bit taller giving me more protection from the wind. I had been to a number of BMW rallies and had seen other bikes
Vario Windscreen
outfitted with a Vario windscreen. The Vario windscreen is made up of two pieces allowing you to adjust the height of the fairing by sliding the top piece up and down along a set of tracks. I am happy with the new setup.
3: Upgrade to seat: There is nothing more torturous than having to spend extended periods of time sitting on an uncomfortable motorcycle seat. The OEM seat on the older BMW GS bikes are known to have a stiff seat with little cushioning. Happily the previous owner of my BMW GS had installed a gel pad giving the seat more cushioning. I could ride the bike all day with little or no ill affects to my posterior. The main stock cover was getting a little worn so I had that replaced.
4: Motorcycle Handguards: An adventure motorcycle isn’t an adventure motorcycle unless its equipped with a set of gnarly handguards. Handguards serve multiple purpose on a motor bike. They help to protect your hands from the wind, the rain and the chilling cold. They also help to protect your control levers from damage in case of a minor accident. And for those out there bushwhacking on a narrow trail they protect your hands from the errant impact of a tree branch or brush.
BarkBusters Handguards
My BMW GS already equpped with a set of handguards, the factory installed handguards did thier job of protecting my hands, but the stock BMW handguards looked flimsy and did not inspire me with confidence that they would really prevent damage to my brake and throttle controls in case of a crash or tip over. I therfore installed a set of handguards from Bark Busters. The Bark Busters handguards are made of a thicker more durable plastic material and have a thick rib of aluminum to give them more rigidity and support.
5: Oil Radiator Guard: The BMW 1150 GS motorcycle uses oil circulated around the cylinder heads to help in dissipating the heat from those two big horizontal cyclinders. The oil cooler is mounted just under the head light on the GS. Air flow across the protruding beak in front of the beemer, is funneled across the radiator, cooling the oil circulated through the radiator. The position of the radiator as it is located, makes it prong to being damaged if struck by flying debris. A piece of gravel or other debris impacting on the radiator at 60 miles an hour, will most likely puncture the radiator leaving you stranded on the side of the road, in some far away country surrounded by a pack of wild animals.
Radiator Guard
As to best to avoid such a circumstance, I have installed a metal screen in front of the oil radiator, now I feel secure, no chance of being attacked by a pack of angry wolves.
6: Shield for Throttle Potentiometer: On the left-hand side of my BMW motorbike, attached to the throttle body is a 3″x 3″ plastic encased piece of electronics. This electronic unit monitors the
Potentiometers Shield
position of the throttle, it senses how wide open the throttle body is. For such a critical component it is susceptible to a side impact either by an errant boot swung over the seat of the bike in a minor accident. Once again leaving our hapless rider stranded in the wilds of Siberia – food for the bears. To prevent this from happening, I have attached a metal shield around the sensor, hopefully that will protect the sensor from accidental mishaps. BMW engineers what were you thinking! when you designed this item?
7: Upgrade to Brake System: The BMW GS comes equipped with Brembo brakes, so it has a superb braking system. The only fault with the brakes are with the rubber brake lines. Over time the rubber brake lines start to detoriate affecting your braking performance . Stainless steel braided lines do not suffer from line swelling, as the inner line is encased in a pvc material surround by steel braided covering this improves your braking ability. After installing the new brake lines, I at once noticed an improvement in how the bike stopped. Money well spent.
Stainless Steel Braided Brake Lines
8: Head Lamp Protection: This was one of the first enhancements I made to the bike in preparation for this trip. The headlights are fragile little things, a tiny pebble flung at you are 60 or 70 mph can crack a headlight or worst shatter it into a million pieces. The replacement cost of the headlamp assembly on the BMW GS is obscene $$$ so I installed a protective shield from Touratech.
Protective shieled for headlamp
9: Crash Bars and Engine Sump Protection: Its inevitable that when you go off on a long extended motorcycle trip you will be involved in a tip-over or minor crash which could result in damage to your precious vehicle. On every motorcycle that I have owned over the last 40 years, I have always installed some form of crash bars or other device to protect my motorcycle in case of a crash.
Crashbars and Sump Protector on My BMW GS
My bike is outfitted with a set of crash side bars and sump protector. I have also attached a plate to the centre stand for extra protection from all the nasty stuff you may encounter when out on the trail.
10: Improvement on Riding Ergonomics: Motorcycles are a joy to ride but the experience of riding a motorcycle for prolonged periods of time can be physically demanding and stressful, diminishing the riding experience. Motorcycles come in many shapes and forms just like people. A motorcycle that one rider may find comfortable to ride on, another may find agonizingly to sit on for more than 30 minutes. Riding ergonomics looks at a number of different factors, how far the reach is to the handgrips, the thickness of the hand grips, wrist angle when grasping the controls, the seat width, seat height, the position of the foot pegs, how your gfeet are positioned on the pegs. I have learned over the years what works for me, I like riding with my torso in an almost right up position, with my hands just a few inches below the height of my shoulders, and with my feet position directly under my hips. And most importantly is having enough real estate on my seat to allow me to shift my butt around when needed.
My stock BMW GS already has fairly good ergonomics, but for all day riding comfort, there were a few tweaks I wanted to make to improve upon the riding experience. First change I made, was to add a set of handlebar risers to increase the height of the handlebars and to bring the handlebars back a bit for an easier reach.
Handlebar Risers
The second thing I did, was to replace the footpegs with a set of Raceway Pegs. These foot pegs are wider and providea better grip, especially when standing up on the pegs which you need to do when navigating sections of gravel or dirt roads. I was able to install the Raceway pegs in a lower more comfortable position than the stock BMW pegs.
Raceway Pegs
11: Auxiliary Lighting: I remember an incident many years ago on a motorcycle ride down to Central America, I found myself riding in the dark along a rural mountain road. It was a moonless night and the illumination from the headlight of my old Suzuki 380 GT barely lite up the road ahead, it was a sphincter clinching experience, riding through the darkness, avoiding rock falls and stray farm animals wandering about the road. It was then I realized that a priority upgrade for any future touring was a better lighting system on my bike. I normally try to avoid riding at night but sometimes you will find yourself in a situation where it can not be avoided. On my BMW GS I have installed a light bar with a set of auxiliary lights to augment the lighting from the main BMW headlamps.
Set of Auxiliary Lights
12: Luggage System: Motorcycles generally do not have a lot of capacity for carrying luggage. When I first starting touring back in the late 70s, your luggage setup consisted of finding a backpack or duffle bag and lashed it down to the back or you bike. With enough bungee cords you could mount practically any to your ride. Motorcycle manufactures now offer better options for carrying your gear. Most motorcycle companies now offer bike models with fully intergrated bags built into the design of the bike. Other 3rf party vendors offer a selection of both hard cases and soft bags that can be custom fitted to just about any model of motorcycle. My preference when touring, is to use hard cases or panniers for transporting my gear. For my RTW trip I have outfitted my BMW GS with a set of
Bike setup with set of Sw-Motech Trac Panniers
aluminum panniers from a German company called SW-Motech. The SW-Motech aluminum panniers comes with a set of their EVO racks for attaching the panniers to the side of the bike. I love these panniers, they are top loading for ease of use, the panniers can be locked to keep all but the most determined thieves from stealing your stuff, the panniers can be easily removed from the bike in just a matter of seconds. I have done a number of trips with these panniers and can attest that they are a 100% water proof after having ridden for a couple of weeks in increment weather.
Between the two side panniers I have a total of about 75 liters of storage, enough to store all my camping gear, rain gear, spare parts and much more for the trip. In addition to the side panniers I also have a GIVI top box installed on the rear rack. One of my favorite items, one that I have now been using for several years, is my BMW seat bag. It is a 55 liter viny bag . It is a 100% rain proof, has two large side pockets and a set of handles for easy of carry when not attached to the bike. I have used this bag on a number of my preious overseas trips, it can double as normal luggage when travelling. I can store all my clothing, computers, electronics etc in here.
The last piece of luggage that I will be taking with me on my trip is a tank bag. I have a number of tank bags that I have been using over the years and they work well, but I was looking for something that could double as both a tank bag and as a backpack. I finally came across a product from ICON called
the urban tank bag. What I like about this bag is that it will convert from a tank bag for use on the motorcycle to a normal backpack for hiking or everyday travels.
My ICON Urban Tank Bag/Backpack
How Not To Pack Your Motorcycle
13: Side Stand Enlarger: Why do all motorcycle companies build motorcycle with such crappy side stands. I do not know how many times over the years I have parked a heavy overloaded motorcycle on its side only to return later to find the bike with its side stand buried into the ground or dug into the soft asphalt. To the owners of the Denny’s restaurant out in Flagstaff Arizona, I am truly sorry for leaving that great big hole in you newly paved parking lot.
The footprint on the stock side stand on the BMW GS is very narrow and placing a heavily loaded motorcycle on it side stand on a soft surface, is an accident in the making. To ensure that this never happens again, I had a puck pad installed on my side stand. Aside from now preventing the bike from accidently tipping over, it also keeps the bike in a more upright position when parked. What’s more Canadian than having a hockey puck attached to your bike.
Hockey Puck as side stand pad
14: Replacement Battery: The battery that was installed on my bike was the original OEM Gel cell battery that came with the motorcycle. The battery was close to 12 years old and way past the time when it should have been replaced. I read a number of reviews by other BMW GS owners on the best replacement battery for the BMW 1150 GS. Many of them recommended the Odyssey PC680 battery. This is a dry cell AGM battery. It is deep cycle battery with a lot of instant cranking amps. The battery does not have the exact form factor as the original OEM so there was some refitting of the battery to get it sit correctly in the old battery tray. AGM stands for Absorbent Glass Matt. The fibreglass matt material in these batteries contains the electrolyte chemical sandwiched between the rows of lead plates. AGM batteries are designed for harsh environments where vehicles are exposed to a lot of vibration, many off-road vehicles, ATM etc, use this kind of battery. The manufacturer claims that their batteries have a much longer life span than normal lead-acid batteries. My experience so far has been positive. The battery seems to have a lot of starting power and works well under cold weather conditions.
15: Final Mechanical Preparations: The most important step in preparing a motorcycle for the rigors of a round-the-world motorcycle trip is to ensure that the bike is 100% mechanically sound before starting off. I brought my bike down to my local BMW shop for a thorough inspection.. I am pretty anal about keeping my bike maintained so there were only a few maintenance items that needed to be attended to. The biggest of these was performing maintenance on the rear wheel drive assembly. The bike has nearly 90,000 kms on it. BMW recommends that some of the drive components be replaced after 75,000 km, so following the manufacturer’s recommendations, I had the main rear bearing replaced along with the swing arm pivot bearings. I also replaced the oil sight glass which I know on the 2003 model could be problematic as it is just press fitted into place and has been know to blow out at the worst time possible. The mechanic also performed a full tune-up, flushed the brake and clutch lines. All is in order.
Many of the other basic maintenance tasks I have completed myself
- Oil change ✔
- Change oil in gearbox ✔
- New alternator belt ✔
- New air filter ✔
- New brake pads front and rear ✔
- New set of Metzler Tourance tires front and rear ✔
- I have replaced many of the critical bolts on the bike with newer stronger grade fasteners ✔
- Replace head light bulbs with new bulbs ✔
- Retorqued many of the nuts and bolts on the bike ✔
- New set of spark plugs ✔
- Checked the tightness of spokes on both front and rear wheels ✔
- Replace both the left and right side ignition stick coils. The old ones were looking a bit suspect.
Some of the spare parts I will be taking along with me on my trip
- Spare bulbs for both head light and signal indicators
- Spare alternator belt
- Spare brake pads for front and rear brakes
- Spare stainless steel spokes for (4 each) for front and rear wheel.
- A couple for spare stem and core valves for tires and tire patch kit
- Spare oil filter
- Spare air filter
- Spare seals for front forks
- Spare speedo cable.
- Collection of spare fasteners
- Spare spark plugs
- I have my old set of OEM shocked labeled and ready for shipping from Canada in case I need to replaced my OHLINS.
Ride4Adventure 