Thinking about a dual sport/adventure Motorcycle

[Ted]

I ended up not riding as much as I'd hoped over the summer, but I still did a good bit. Most of my riding was in the evenings when it cooled off a bit (it was a typical hot Kansas summer), following the kids around on their dirt bike. We've gotten good use out of that thing so far. I split my time between the Morini, BMW, and Triumph, getting the Triumph past its 600 mile first oil change and now past its 1000 mile "full break in" meaning the engine can finally go up to its redline.

Mostly, I've focused on the BMW for my riding. I do like riding the Triumph, but mostly take it if I'm going on a longer highway ride because of its cruise control and being slightly quieter when droning down the highway. The BMW I really have set up better for under 65 with the gearing and the lack of front windshield (I can put it on in 2 minutes, but I leave it off mostly). It'll do highway speeds just fine, but it does get a bit buzzy with the shorter final drive I put in. Riding back and forth to the office on the dirt/gravel roads, the BMW is a real joy and works great. The MSD box really helps it run and behave well at lower RPM. I'll still do the high compression pistons and get both spark plugs firing, but I suspect the former will do more than the latter. Of course the latter is easier, so I'll probably get that going first. Both still probably over the winter.

The BMW GS trophy event is going on in Albania. I'm starting to think about trying out next year for the US team. The event is every other year with tryouts in the off years, so tryouts for the participants this year happened in October of last year. You have to bring your own bike to try out on, and so of course I'd be showing up with the old panzer. Somehow, though, this doesn't seem like a bad pick. I'll have to think about it some more as it gets closer. As I keep on riding the BMW I continue to get more comfortable with it, especially on loose surfaces, making it do what I want it to, and most of all at low speed maneuvering. Personally I still don't consider myself beyond a novice off road rider, but several friends who know better think I'd have a shot, and it the GS trophy is a competition for people who aren't professionals. So, I'll consider it some more and in the mean time, keep on riding.

 

[Morgan3820]

OK while we’re talking motorcycles, I’ve been really looking at a the Suzuki GSX-S1000 GT+.
At a little over $13,000 it seems to be bargain. The 150 hp is more than twice what my V Strom 650 puts out. 0-60 in 3.06 seconds. Please talk to me out of getting this.
https://suzukicycles.com/street/2022/gsx-s1000gt-plus

 

[Ted]

OK while we’re talking motorcycles, I’ve been really looking at a the Suzuki GSX-S1000 GT+.
At a little over $13,000 it seems to be bargain. The 150 hp is more than twice what my V Strom 650 puts out. 0-60 in 3.06 seconds. Please talk to me out of getting this.
https://suzukicycles.com/street/2022/gsx-s1000gt-plus

Someone at work has a GSX-S1000GT, and posted pictures of it at the Dragon today. I'd not heard of that model and had to look it up. I'd want to sit on it to see what I thought of the seating position and how much "sport" vs "tourer" it was. Sport touring motorcycles tend to lean more one direction vs. the other, and I think that the "touring" leaning is a better one. It seems like this has the ingredients for that, and the price is definitely a good deal for what it has.

I remain less of a fan of I4 engines as I find they tend to be sewing machine smooth and lack some of the visceral qualities. But, that's a personal thing and doesn't apply to everyone.

I'd want to know more about the rider modes, but these days the super snappy responsiveness that meant you had to have fractions of a millimeter worth of control of your wrist has been tamed with a much more linear power delivery thanks to drive by wire, and I think that virtually every new bike today has that, so while you can still get yourself into trouble, it's hard for me to say too much off the bat to talk you out of that.

 

[Morgan3820]

Yes, I have not seen one up close as they are spoken for as they arrive. It is probably a fantasy for me. I do really like my VStrom, but one always wants more. Just as in planes or any toy based hobby.

 

[Ted]

Yes, I have not seen one up close as they are spoken for as they arrive. It is probably a fantasy for me. I do really like my VStrom, but one always wants more. Just as in planes or any toy based hobby.

Some of the less common bikes are harder to find nearby in that manner. I'd still really like to sit on a KTM 1290 Super Adventure R or S (although I think the S would be more what I'd want), but you have to travel to find one. That said, one of my friends test rode one at an event a couple weeks ago, and he said he didn't really like it. Too buzzy for him, and said it wasn't fun unless you were riding it hard, which isn't how you ride on the street most of the time.

When buying <$5k bikes that are used and you can get your money back out of, I don't mind taking the risk so much of not liking the thing or it not being as much as I wanted. It's harder to do that with something new that depreciates immediately and you have to order.

 

[Morgan3820]

Some of the less common bikes are harder to find nearby in that manner. I'd still really like to sit on a KTM 1290 Super Adventure R or S (although I think the S would be more what I'd want), but you have to travel to find one. That said, one of my friends test rode one at an event a couple weeks ago, and he said he didn't really like it. Too buzzy for him, and said it wasn't fun unless you were riding it hard, which isn't how you ride on the street most of the time.

When buying <$5k bikes that are used and you can get your money back out of, I don't mind taking the risk so much of not liking the thing or it not being as much as I wanted. It's harder to do that with something new that depreciates immediately and you have to order.

I recently did a major cleanup in the garage. Hung shelving from the ceiling. Opened up a lot more floorspace. My wife suggested now I can get a second motorcycle. Maybe a cruiser, if a deal comes along.

 

[charheep]

Just did a 1100 mile trip around Lake Michigan in 3 days. Even with the couch on wheels I have in the HD Ultra, the last day and 400 miles was pretty rough. I dont know how people do the Iron Butt challenges. Maybe I just have a soft tushy.

 

[Ted]

Just did a 1100 mile trip around Lake Michigan in 3 days. Even with the couch on wheels I have in the HD Ultra, the last day and 400 miles was pretty rough. I dont know how people do the Iron Butt challenges. Maybe I just have a soft tushy.

Most of the time it involves some sort of seat modification to help with that. I'm not sure what seat you have, but I found the stock seat on my Ultra Classic was not comfortable for very long days. It seems that most stock bike seats are that way. I took a seat pad from Purple (which we'd bought for the MU-2) and added it to the stock seat, which made a huge difference. I have another (smaller) pad from Purple that I can put on the bikes now and that helps for longer rides.

The longest ride I've done to date was when I rode my VTX 1800 from Williamsport PA to Osh and back in... I believe it was 2008. That involved a 750 mile day followed by a 400 mile day heading out (we took the long way through Canada) and then 830 miles in one day when I rode home (through Chicago). I had a sheepskin seat pad I'd put on the seat, and even that made a big improvement.

 

[charheep]

. I took a seat pad from Purple (which we'd bought for the MU-2) and added it to the stock seat, which made a huge difference. I have another (smaller) pad from Purple that I can put on the bikes now and that helps for longer rides.

I didnt know they made stuff for bikes. I will take a look. thanks

 

[Ted]

I didnt know they made stuff for bikes. I will take a look. thanks

They don’t last I checked, I just used a normal seat pad.

 

[Ted]

I was in NYC over the weekend and went riding with my friends who have the G310GS and R1200GSA. We put around 250 miles on the things, and found some two-track off roading in New Jersey. They'd ridden the GSA down to DC and back the previous weekend, and so he felt like riding the 310, both for variety and also to see how it did on the off-road. His girlfriend always rides on back of the GSA since it's more comfortable as a pillion, so that meant I had a passenger including for the off-roading, and that was my first 2-up off roading.

The GSA is just such an excellent bike and so planted that, while the difference was noticeable, it wasn't hard at all. Having the extra weight over the back tire does help some with traction, not that a GSA usually has issues in that regard anyway. It was a lot of fun.

Also, when 2-up, it likes to get the front wheel off the ground in 1st gear, but is very controllable. That's always fun.

After riding my friend's GSA, I always come back thinking how much I want one, and I do. But then I look at the old panzer and think about how much I like that, too. I always come back with some ideas for improvements, though. One day, I'm sure I'll end up buying a new GSA... hopefully they come out with a 1300 soon.

 

[Daleandee]

The longest ride I've done to date was when I rode my VTX 1800 from Williamsport PA to Osh and back in... I believe it was 2008.

Went to look at a 06 VTX 1800. It was a beautiful bike and I'm headed back to take it for a ride. I'm looking for a larger cruising bike (currently have an 800). Your impression of this large cruiser from Honda would be appreciated. TIA

 

[Ted]

Went to look at a 06 VTX 1800. It was a beautiful bike and I'm headed back to take it for a ride. I'm looking for a larger cruising bike (currently have an 800). Your impression of this large cruiser from Honda would be appreciated. TIA

So, I'm going off of memory and I sold that bike in 2010, so it's been a while.

I really liked it when I had it. I bought mine used but it was lower miles (something under 10k as I recall) when I purchased it. It had a windshield added which was removeable. In those days I liked having it on the highway although it did create buffeting, these days I would probably just run without it.

It's a Honda, so it did everything well and it had no bad manners. Handling was good, brakes are good, power was excellent. The power on that Honda was about the same as my Ultra Classic after I did the 110" big bore kit (keep in mind a VTX 1800 is right about 110 cubic inches from the factory, and it's a better cylinder head and valvetrain design). Water cooled, so you can sit in traffic in the summer forever and never worry about overheating. I did that waiting for customs heading to Oshkosh when we went the long way through Canada, and some other motorcyclists on Harleys had to turn around because they were overheating while sitting. Also sat in traffic in NYC more than once, again, no concerns.

I seem to recall mine had an aftermarket seat which was comfortable, I put a sheepskin pad on top of it for a little extra padding on trips, which helped. I added a throttle lock which was good for highway. I remember that it came with an aftermarket exhaust which was the most obnoxiously loud exhaust I've ever heard, even louder than a straight piped Harley, and especially bad if you were behind it. I seem to recall that I eventually put the stock pipes back on it and was happier.

Valve adjustments aren't bad, I did that once. It's a SOHC 3-valve/cylinder head but Honda had the adjustment figured out so you could do it without removing the tank. I don't remember the details of the job, but it wasn't awful.

Being a Honda, it has standard Honda/Japanese motorcycle buttons and ergos. If that's what you're used to and like, that's fine. If you prefer the Harley turn signal button setup, then that will be unfamiliar to you.

The one thing (and this is a big thing) is that it is a pretty top heavy bike. Between the larger tank and the SOHC valvetrain that makes for a bigger/heavier cylinder head up top. I got to where I could comfortably ride it at a snail's pace, but it didn't take a whole lot for me to get more wary at low speeds. That said, I've never considered myself as good of a motorcycle rider as I am driver or pilot (only recently getting my motorcycling proficiency and skill to what I consider a higher/above average level).

We bought our Harleys after that and while the Honda is better from virtually every technical aspect, I tended to feel the Harleys felt more solid and the weight was held noticeably lower, which was nice.

Was it good when I had it? Yes. Would I buy one again? Probably not, but that's mostly because it's not the kind of bike I want anymore.

 

[Tarheelpilot]

Regarding seats: my 1200 gs stock seat was not so good. Tried purple cushions, sheep skin and even one of the bead mats. Ordered up a seat concepts tall saddle. It was a noticeable improvement.

I’m still only good for about 500 miles before the hot spots are a mandatory stop for the day. I’m going to order up a Russell day long. Hopefully that will be the final solution.

 

[Ted]

Regarding seats: my 1200 gs stock seat was not so good. Tried purple cushions, sheep skin and even one of the bead mats. Ordered up a seat concepts tall saddle. It was a noticeable improvement.

I’m still only good for about 500 miles before the hot spots are a mandatory stop for the day. I’m going to order up a Russell day long. Hopefully that will be the final solution.

I agree. My friend's 1200GS stock seat I find gets uncomfortable after a while. He can ride it all day no problem, but if I owned one, I would look for something better.

 

[Ted]

A friend sent me this article on using the Zero DSR adventure bikes on the Colorado BDR:

https://electriccyclerider.com/2021/11/14/1000-rocky-mountain-miles-on-electric-motorcycles/

Reading through the article, it proves zero surprises to me. They seemed to have attempted the trip during what might not be the ideal time of year which were some of the problems. But it's also clear that electric, at least in this incarnation, is not yet ready for this sort of travel. The infrastructure isn't good enough, the range is too limited, and the charging time is too long.

I like aspects of these bikes, but... not yet ready for prime time or serious riding. I'm sure BMW will come out with an electric GS model at some point, and I'll be curious what that would look like.

 

[Bill]

My GS seat was fine up to about 15kmi, I replaced it with a Sargent. My butt is still happy, I have 35kmi on the Sargent.

 

[Ted]

My GS seat was fine up to about 15kmi, I replaced it with a Sargent. My butt is still happy, I have 35kmi on the Sargent.

That's what's on my old panzer, an old Sargent seat. I'm happy with it and have ridden as much as 250 miles in a day on it.

 

[Rico Burgos]

I love my bmw f800gs great all around bike. Lil on the heavy side but it’s fine

 

[Daleandee]

So, I'm going off of memory and I sold that bike in 2010, so it's been a while.

Thanks you sir ... that's a great answer. I appreciate it.

 

[FancyG]

Thanks you sir ... that's a great answer. I appreciate it.

The VTX 1800 makes a Softail seem nimble. Also seems to be feet longer, especially turning around on narrow streets. And the rear suspension felt like the stroke was too short.

I swapped bikes with my ZRX1100C and the VTX was amazingly quick, it pulled like a freight train. Almost a match for the 1100.

Did get into the rev limiter often, the engine sounded and felt so smooth there was little warning of overspeed. Amazing machine.

 

[Ted]

Took care of a couple little niggles on the old BMW. First one was that the horn had broken. I got a new one off of Amazon that advertised to be loud and put it on. It is loud and fits in the same space, so that does the job. I thought about putting some air horns on but the space those would take up wouldn't work well for packaging, so I stuck to a standard snail shell style horn.

The other one was going through and replacing the clutch fluid. I hadn't gotten to that, but decided to at least get the reservoir flushed and cleaned out, which I did. Oh my, that was dirty. Really dirty. So a bunch of fluid flushes later that's clean, although I stuck to only cleaning the reservoir and I didn't yet flush the rest of the clutch lines. Because of where the bleeder is located, that's more of a 2-person operation.

I have a feeling this bike will need a clutch before too terribly long. I have no idea how old this one is, but the disengagement is almost instant when you start to pull the clutch lever in. It's not yet slipping under power but I suspect that's coming at some point. Clutches on this require splitting the bike in half (it's more of a standard automotive style clutch with the flywheel/clutch located between the engine and transmission) and so it's not a bad job, but not something I'm in a hurry to do just for the sake of doing it.

And at some point, I also want to open up the tank and see if it has the original fuel pump and U-hose. The rubber U-hose in the fuel tank tends to break and leave you stranded. But we have a ride this weekend and I wanted to wait until I got back from that as I didn't really have time to get to it. And if it leaves me stranded, maybe I'll take that as a sign that I should go to the BMW dealer and buy a new R1250GSA.

Interesting note for people considering new bikes (@Daleandee this may be of interest to you), BMW is really trying to sell R18s. I liked riding it but it did miss the mark in many ways. They're advertising <2% financing plus $3k in "consumer cash" on their website. If I was in the market for a cruiser, I'd look at it. I've ridden both the standard cruiser and the touring versions and they are neat bikes, really neat classic styling cues. But they aren't selling well, and they seem to have overall missed the mark for what consumers want. Still, I'd buy one if I was in the market and the pricing was right.

 

[Daleandee]

Interesting note for people considering new bikes (@Daleandee this may be of interest to you), BMW is really trying to sell R18s. I liked riding it but it did miss the mark in many ways. They're advertising <2% financing plus $3k in "consumer cash" on their website. If I was in the market for a cruiser, I'd look at it. I've ridden both the standard cruiser and the touring versions and they are neat bikes, really neat classic styling cues. But they aren't selling well, and they seem to have overall missed the mark for what consumers want. Still, I'd buy one if I was in the market and the pricing was right.

I appreciate the heads up. Great looking bike. I've all but completed the deal on the VTX (it's in really good condition & no financing required). Not sure I could get the cost of a new bike past the CFO ...

 

[cowman]

Chatroom people already have seen this but I went ahead with the KLR. Tried a bunch of dealers looking for a base model and they were all price gouging to a ridiculous degree. Our local tractor/Kawasaki dealer was willing to sell me the top trim model with all the goodies for less than what the big bike dealers want for a base so… here she is. It did come with the side boxes but I generally leave them off.

Put around 800 miles on it now around my area, mostly 2 lane and a few gravel roads. At first it was a little tall and heavy for me but I’m used to it now. Plenty fast for the n00b riding it, I’m pretty happy so far but of course I don’t have much else to compare it to. It’s nice to be able to go run around all day on 2-3 gallons of mogas though.

 

[Oldmanb777]

You will love the KLR. There is a reason so many are sold. You can load it up and head out all over the world. I have riding freinds who have ridden to Prudhoe Bay and turned around and gone to Tiera Del Fuego. Check out ADVrider. Or KLR world for lots of support.

 

[Ted]

I've been continuing to look at and think about things for the 1150. While I think I'm going to end up with a new adventure bike at some point, I still am wanting to continue to improve this thing.

I found a cheap Amazon backrest that I can adapt. I tend to have a harder time for longer seat time without some kind of a back rest. The key is something easily removeable since you don't want something like that on road. So I want to mess with that, probably this weekend. I also want to get the dual spark going, and have all the parts for it, so hopefully this weekend I'll get to work on that, too.

I put on EBC organic brake pads on the front. It had genuine Brembo pads which were pretty worn, but weren't down to metal on metal. Still, time to replace. The organic pads are supposed to have less initial bite and have more feel/modulation, which is important for off road riding and control. So far, I'm happy with this, and we rode 350-400 miles this weekend (over 1500 miles on the Triumph now, and over 96,500 on the BMW).

While reading a book on racecar design last night, it brought up a point that I thought would apply well to the BMW. One thing with how they designed this bike is that there is excellent low throttle modulation. However in doing so, you have a really long twist to get full throttle out of the engine. I love the low throttle modulation and I'd say it's about perfect. But, one thing that they suggested in this book was having a decreasing radius wheel on the throttle body. This makes it so that low throttle you have a lot more modulation, and then towards the top it opens quicker.

I did a bit of Googling and the oil-cooled R1200GS/RT throttle bodies were this way. They don't look like they'd bolt right up and they aren't cheap. But, I may be able to look at getting something made up or otherwise modifying these to get something that works better. Something to look at for the future, maybe when I have the throttle bodies removed anyway for putting in the high compression pistons.

 

[cowman]

Its now aviation related.

 

[TCABM]

…
I did a bit of Googling and the oil-cooled R1200GS/RT throttle bodies were this way. They don't look like they'd bolt right up and they aren't cheap. But, I may be able to look at getting something made up or otherwise modifying these to get something that works better. …

I’ve seen the reverse…cams on the twist grip that are supposed to do the same thing. I think.

 

[FastEddieB]

Airhead BMW’s had a bevel gear/cam working via a small chain to the throttle cables to achieve a progressive throttle. I think they even boasted that that was the only chain you’d find anywhere on a BMW!

 

[Ted]

I’ve seen the reverse…cams on the twist grip that are supposed to do the same thing. I think.

Interesting, I’ll need to look into that!

 

[Daleandee]

I appreciate the heads up. Great looking bike. I've all but completed the deal on the VTX (it's in really good condition & no financing required). Not sure I could get the cost of a new bike past the CFO ...

Just wanted to quote myself and give a shout out to Ted for his info on the VTX 1800. I did the deal and now have a beast of a bike. Put about 500 miles on it and this is the bike I should have bought long ago:



It is mechanically in excellent shape but some changes are in the works. Those nasty bags have gotta go and some nice hard bags put on. Fairing still needs match painting and pinstriping. Front tire is new but rear tire could use replacing pretty soon so a matched set is in the cards. Oh and ... more chrome!

 

[Ted]

Glad you like it! I certainly enjoyed mine the time I had it. Even after all the work I did to my Harley, I think the VTX was faster and had a better power band.

 

[Ted]

This weekend I've got the goal of a couple of projects on the BMW (along with some other efforts on the Ram, but that's another thread).

One goal I have for the weekend is getting the dual spark to work, and so I'm thinking about how I want to wire that in place (I've talked about planning this on previous pages). As a reminder, I added an MSD 6300 (which is basically an MSD 6A but labeled as being for "Sport Compact" applications). This has done a good job of improving running of the bike, not surprisingly. But since I have a dual spark engine I want both plugs to work. My guess is that it will make the response a hair snappier still, and that it will also have the effect of effectively advancing timing a hair by creating two separate flame fronts at the same time instead of one single flame front. We've all observed this in our piston aircraft engines.

I have a few options:

1) Leave the existing ignition coil (0.7 ohm resistance), wire a second (2.2 ohm resistance) coil in series
2) Leave the existing ignition coil in place, wire a second coil in parallel
3) Remove the existing ignition coil from the system, and wire the two 2.2 ohm coils in series
4) Remove the existing ignition coil from the system, and wire the two 2.2 ohm coils in parallel

Originally, I had planned option 4 as that would keep the total system resistance to 1.1 ohm. The MSD can handle the 0.7 ohm coil just fine, so there's a question of whether reducing the resistance (and thus increasing the current through the coils) would be a problem. Option 2 would give me a total system resistance of 0.53 ohms, which is less although granted not much less. I've done a bunch of searching and not found anything that lists a limit for the minimum resistance of the ignition coil(s) wired to an MSD box. 0.7 to 0.53 ohm would result in a ~30% increase in current draw at whatever the input voltage is.

By the way, I did measure the voltage coming from the MSD. When not cranking/running it's only on the order of 1.5V, but I was seeing on the order of 45V during cranking. From what I read, the MSD will increase voltage going to the coils by a very significant amount, so that doesn't sound out of line to me, and basically means that no matter what I do, each coil should be receiving at least 12V.

Nobody seems to do what I'm doing here (is anyone surprised?) so I can't find a reference for what others have done/recommend doing. I'm also a mechanical engineer and not an electrical engineer, so I know enough to be dangerous with electrons. Normally when converting something from a single spark to a dual spark plug setup, it seems coils have been run in series, and then gone from "12V coils" to "6V coils." What that really is is going from a 6 ohm coil to a 3 ohm coil (standard resistance values). My guess is that this is really to prevent from increasing current draw from the electrical system. I've addressed this via other means, so I'm thinking that as long as I don't get into a situation of pulling too much current from the MSD, I'm fine.

Any thoughts from the electrical engineers in the house?

 

[Ted]

I think I figured out my answer, and it's option 2:

2) Leave the existing ignition coil in place, wire a second coil in parallel

I found this:

https://documents.holley.com/techlibrary_coil_compability.pdf

Which lists a various approved coils. One of them is the MSD 8207 coil, which has a primary resistance of 0.355 ohms. Since the 0.7 ohm in parallel with 2.2 ohms produces 0.53 ohms, I think I'm fine.

So, problem solved.

 

[Ted]

Got it all together, and it runs! I confirmed the bike would run on only the secondary spark plugs before hooking the main coil back up. We'll see if I notice any difference in operation when I ride it to work tomorrow. I was going to start work on fabbing up what's required for the back rest to work, but decided I'm going to think on it a bit longer first for what I want the total setup to look like so that it works the best and has the minimum interference with anything else. I'm looking forward to seeing how the bike rides with the twin spark working now, and specifically if I notice a different.

Also got some work done on the Moron's rear brakes. I've been gathering parts and today I decided to start putting them on. The rear master cylinder is now on and attached to the brake pedal, and the reservoir is also attached. I ran the brake hose and have it attached at the master cylinder. Have to fab up the bracket for the rear brake caliper and then it's hook it all together and bleed the system. But, I ran out of time and gumption today, so that part will be another day.

 

[Ted]

I rode the BMW to work yesterday and rode it again today. The dual spark setup working absolutely makes a very noticeable difference! Now to keep on planning for the next round of work...

 

[Ted]

I've now been thinking some more about what I want to do to the BMW engine over the winter. Everything I do just makes this thing run better, and given its age, miles, and low cost of a lot of the items I'm doing, it's also a fun thing for me to experiment with.

I'd already gotten the high compression pistons from an R1150RT and thin copper head gaskets to try to bump up the compression from the current 10.3 to something in the 11.5ish range. However while I have it all apart, I want to play around with a few other things, more than anything for the practice and to see the effects. So, with that in mind, I'm going to do the following:

1) Mild port/polish on the heads, mostly cleaning up casting flaws and improving general curves/flow/reduce turbulence

2) 3 angle valve job

3) Install lightweight wrist pins (I found someone who did this on another 1150GS and reduced the piston/wrist pin assembly weight by 10%)

4) Polish the connecting rods, which will reduce some weight from them

5) Make sure the pistons and connecting rods are balanced - as in weights of the assemblies equal side to side.

The goal with all of this is to free up some horsepower and improve revvy-ness of the engine, increase horsepower some throughout the rev band, increase natural smoothness, and just get some practice doing it all at home. It's a low consequence engine if anything goes wrong and parts are also cheap and readily available on eBay.

I have considered trying to do some lightening of the pistons, but I don't think there's anything much to be gained there. They're already quite light themselves and pretty minimalist. Mahle makes a good piston. The rods and wrist pin both have room for improvement, though, so I think that will be worthwhile, and who knows how equally balanced they are side to side.

At some point I'll do something to change fueling, but that'll be a future modification.

For something that a bit over a year ago I really didn't like, I have really grown fond of this machine. The engine runs very sweetly now and it just keeps on getting better. But I also have a feeling I'm going to continue ending up going through basically the whole thing by the time I'm done.

 

[charheep]

Is there different/bigger engines you can swap in? Since you will have the engine out/apart anyway

 

[Ted]

Is there different/bigger engines you can swap in? Since you will have the engine out/apart anyway

There's not really. The oilhead 1200s have a longer stroke (how they get the extra displacement) but the engine is part of the structure on the bike.

At some point I will get a newer bike that makes more power out of the box.

 

[Ted]

Is there different/bigger engines you can swap in? Since you will have the engine out/apart anyway

I decided to look at this a bit more last night out of curiosity, and there's really even less than I'd realized before as far as potential benefit displacement wise.

The R1150 engine is 1130ccs.
The R1200 engine (both oil cooled and liquid cooled) is 1170ccs.
The R1250 is where you start to see something significant, at 1254ccs.

Now, all of those engines make more power, but when you look at them as air pumps, the 1250 is the only one that actually is significantly larger. Of course all of the others still have other improvements that boost up their power output. However, that gives me a good desire to see what I can get out of these 1130ccs, and with what I have outlined, I think I can at least get to/past a 1200 oil cooled engine output, and maybe getting closer to the 1200 liquid cooled.