Today, I wanted to install a few things on the new bike so it could move from sitting in the corner of my garage to being my daily driver as I start to dismantle the old rally bike.
The first thing to install was the new Hepco-Becker engine and tank guards. I had these same bars on the old bike so the installation went pretty smoothly. The instructions were in German so it took me a little bit to remember which bolts went where but once I got everything oriented the installation went pretty quickly.
While I was working on the tank guard, I decided to pull off panels and look into the plumbing situation for my auxiliary fuel tank. Hmmm… the first thing I discovered is that I can’t remove the side panels with the tank guard installed. Well that was a problem. Not yet, but it will be when I start wiring up lights anyway. I’ll have to remember to install a plug near the top so the wiring can be easily disconnected when I need to move the tank guard out of the way.
Next thing I discovered is that the new tank only has one access plate and real estate on that plate is pretty scarce. It does look like I might be able to splice into the return line though. Due to height issues though, I think I’ll be using a transfer pump again on this fuel setup. More research and planning will be needed before I get to the actual plumbing stage of a new fuel cell.
After I put everything back together I turned my attention to the rear of the bike. I moved my Givi topcase over from the old bike. This will give me enough waterproof cargo space to carry my laptop to jobsites. If I can find the old parts I took off the old bike I’ll put them back on the tail section, otherwise I’ll move the now useless tail parts from the new bike.
Next I removed the BMW side bag mounts as they won’t be needed for the Micatech cases. I think I’ll install the BMW mounts on the old bike to add an extra bonus when I sell it.
I wanted to install the new HID bulbs I had purchased but time was running out for the day. So I turned my attention to the Fastway pegs. At first I thought it was going to be as easy as popping off the releases and moving things from bike to bike. Well it turned out the spacer situation between 2005 and 2012 changed. In 2005 they tack welded the spacer to the mount on the frame. In 2012 they tack welded the spacer to the foot peg. Hmmmm, that meant I couldn’t use the 2012 stock pegs on the 2005 bike and it also meant I needed to figure out something for a spacer to use the Fastway pegs on the 2012 GS. Washers to the rescue! I had a bag of washers that were just the right size when I stacked two together. So I cleaned up the old Fastway pegs as they still had crud on them from the Haul Road in Alaska. A little dab of grease and they mounted up just fine. I was able to find the stock pegs for the 2005 GS so it has pegs again.
So that’s it for the day. I installed new crash guards, foot pegs and a rear top case. That’s enough to move the bike into my daily driver. Now I can start disassembling the 2005 Rally bike to harvest things like the cruise control, riser bars, GPSes and J&M CB. I’m starting to have second thoughts about the J&M equipment though. Currently I use my phone connected via bluetooth to the Garmin GPS and then it’s hardwired into the J&M. I’ve finally determined the bluetooth stack in the Garmin devices is the problem so a bluetooth helmet solution may be in the works next. Sena is getting great reviews and I can get a set up that will work with earbuds. More research is needed.
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