G650GS - il-ħmar

[Buckaroo]

True, but you have to admire the sheer weight of perseverance and the bringing back to life of an otherwise doomed bike. Really like reading these type of threads.

[Bustaspoke]

I don't think I've ever heard anyone having quite so much trouble with a bike (not since the stories of dreadful 70s knackers I used to read about in the Used Bike Guide anyway)

I'm afraid my dreadful 80's knacker XT600 could give Il-hmar a run for it's money ...

[DefTrap]

True, but you have to admire the sheer weight of perseverance and the bringing back to life of an otherwise doomed bike. Really like reading these type of threads.

I had an old, quite poorly looked after (before me), Kawa z550d1 (an early gpZ) and, whilst I quite like mechanicing, when I started to spend more time fixing it than riding it I decided it was time for it to go. Especially bearing in mind it was my sole form of transport at the time. I think an electrical fault at 1a:m in Winter, necessitating a 5 mile push home, was the final straw. I've subsequently owned mainly Hondas.

[A_morti]

I don't think I've ever heard anyone having quite so much trouble with a bike (not since the stories of dreadful 70s knackers I used to read about in the Used Bike Guide anyway)

I think a lot of it comes down to the bike having been left outside, and a lack of maintenance on the part of at least one previous owner.
If you get one of these bikes you have to know it has a wet cell battery which needs topping up now and then, someone didn't bother, it boiled, and that's caused various gremlins.

[A_morti]

Drill a hole at the end of the crack, it'll stop it propogating any further

Finally remembered to do that.

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[A_morti]

I've ordered some used Bosch relays out of a Toyota. They won't click into the BMW's fusebox, but still, I'm about done with the crappy Tyco relays BMW specced for this bike.

I've made a hybrid. Or something?

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The relays fit perfectly and have identical function. The resistance across the trigger side is 78ohm where the original relays have 103ohm, but I don't think that will be a problem.

With any luck the bike will now be reliable (yeh right)

At least, I think I'm done spending money on it. Not sure what the next bike will be, but I do know this isn't the one I'll be buried with. Versys 650, maybe? I quite like the versys 300, too. It's not pretty, but there aren't many revvy-engined bikes with adv suspension.

[Supermofo]

390 Adv?

My brother had a older 650 Versys wouldn't say it had adv bike suspension. Was just like a commuter bike

[A_morti]

@Supermofo I guess what I really want is that magic carpet ride, including potholes, which the GS almost delivered. I'm not actually going off road anywhere. Could be that what I really need is a crf 300, although the road tax on a 250 is much less over here.

[Supermofo]

@Supermofo I guess what I really want is that magic carpet ride, including potholes, which the GS almost delivered. I'm not actually going off road anywhere. Could be that what I really need is a crf 300, although the road tax on a 250 is much less over here.

Can't remember a huge amount about the Versys but wouldn't have said suspension was a strong point. It's a pretty budget bike.

[Buckaroo]

@Supermofo I guess what I really want is that magic carpet ride, including potholes, which the GS almost delivered. I'm not actually going off road anywhere. Could be that what I really need is a crf 300, although the road tax on a 250 is much less over here.

Can't remember a huge amount about the Versys but wouldn't have said suspension was a strong point. It's a pretty budget bike.

Yes, that's my take on the Versys. Good engine, strong for a 650 twin, build quality ok, as long as you looked after it. There's worse bikes out there.

[A_morti]

Vee Strom 650 also good, but they're blimmin' massive, and I'm not. Better for motorway miles than round town, I should think.

[Supermofo]

Not ridden a VStrom would have assumed they were of a similar size. Didn't help that when I rode the Versys I owned my 690 Duke so the Versys felt like it weighed at least twice as much. Just lifting it off the stand was eye opening in comparison. MCN seems to say a claimed weight of 181kg but there is no way on earth it was only 20kg more than the KTM. It felt heavier than my GSXS which is 211kg.

[A_morti]

There is also the option to ignore the brief completely and buy a 600 Hornet. The older carby ones at least seem to have old school Honda soft suspension, and I do love a 4 cylinder engine. It'll be as thirsty as a sailor in comparison to a cb300r or g650gs, but it's not like I do moon mileage these days anyway.

[A_morti]

Today the GS was meant to take me and my daughter for a fryup with a mate. It's only about 5 miles, so you'd expect a RTW bike might make it. But no, at the first junction the speedometer stopped working, and a quick check showed the brake light and indicators had also declined to work on Sunday.

So instead of a morning fryup and family time at the pool in the afternoon, I got to hone my electrical fault finding skills. Again.

Turned out to be the 3 spade plugs on the brake light terminals were full of corrosion, causing a poor ground. That meant the brake light went looking for an earth up the wrong wire, and tripped the fuse for the 3 components mentioned above.

The back of the bike looks spacious and has a little cubby hole, but in fact it's a reverse TARDIS and you have to take the whole bastard lot apart to get at those connections.

It's not fun anymore.

Next bike will be either a 2004-09 Yamaha fz6, preferably the S model with fairing, or maybe a 2007-11 hornet 600. Depending which of the bikes on offer is in the best condition with least sign of having ever slept outside. If all the bikes available are shit boxes, I'll likely look into a new cb500x.

[Taipan]

I thought you'd be finished with the problems on this bike by now, but it seems its one of those bikes where everything is having its turn in succession. Deffo time to move it on.

If you can, get the new cb500x. Sounds like corrosion on the island is an issue from what you're saying. At least with a new bike you can look after it and prevent things from happening.

[A_morti]

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 310710439/
I'm going to take a look at this.
It looks ideal: low mileage, good condition garaged bike, I always liked the look and sound of those anyway, it's a pre 2009 locally registered bike which means annual license fee is about 80€ instead of about 200€ for the exact same bike which had been imported after 2009 which is a majority of used bikes, it has the same top box and cushion I already have and would fit anyway, grab rail looks really perfect for my kid, it has 4 cylinders, a bigish half fairing, and was made in Japan.

He wants 4,000€ for it, which is about what it's worth I think. I'd only try to knock him down if the low mileage means ancient tyres.

[A_morti]

Trouble with the cb500x is the new one has USD forks. They look nice but having sat on one, they feel really stiff. I hated that about my cb300r, give me classic wallowy ujm please!

[matt]

I don't know what the prices are like where you are mate but in the UK you can get a low mileage 2 or 3 year old cb500x for not a lot more money than that Yamaha.

[A_morti]

@matt prices of used bikes over here are somewhat silly. How about 5800€ (£5k) for a 2019 cb500x with 13k km (8k miles)?

Even with low mileage that's silly as the dealer is offering them for 7600 brand new, and that's a big model update in between.

I wouldn't be against a brand new bike, but there's a certain appeal to an older UJM from the late 4- cylinder era.

[Skub]

I'd be telling myself I deserve a new bike after the beemer saga.