Ramblings of a Singapore Biker Boy
Adventures and micro-adventures on a motorcycle
My R1200GS left me stranded.
I was on my way to office on morning, merrily rolling along the usual morning traffic when I suddenly felt my rear wheel disengaged from the motor. Blipping the throttle only produced a cringe-worthy rattle with no power transfer to the wheel. And so I pulled to the side of the road and called BMW Assist.
I had to tow.
Vesak Day was a public holiday in Singapore, and a couple of us decided to hit the dirt trails of Malaysia. It was an exhausting but exhilarating day riding through the plantation trails.
My Sertao is 6.5yrs old and have seen almost 60,000km. I don’t think the fork oil has ever been replaced. Not only the front suspension is beginning to feel like a pogo stick – bouncing around during brake dives, but my left fork has started developing a leak.
Yipes!
In fact, when it first started weeping, I didn’t even realise it. So much that fork oil dripped down the fork and ended up on the brakes, causing the brakes to squeal and the calliper to bind slightly. Not cool!
I love my G650GS Sertao. It’s frugal on fuel, lightweight and just about powerful enough for most needs. I take it on short tours and love hitting the off-road trails with this bike.
But… I hate the heat this bike throws out!
Don’t get me wrong. This bike has never overheated. But I think it’s just poor design that the position of the fan is in such a manner that it blows the hot expelled air from the radiator straight into – my legs! Arrrgh! And in the mean time, much of these hot air also gets trapped underneath the plastic fairing panels. So much so that it can sometimes get unbearably hot around plastics where the thighs grip the faux tank.
Continue reading “DIY Heat Shield on the BMW G650GS Sertao”What better way to spend the holiday than to hit the trails of Malaysia!
I took my Sertao out for a ride this #SunMorningRide. It was unplanned for me, as I gatecrashed an off-roading excursion organised by the guys ARS Off Road. But it sure was a fun, fun day!
Thank you guys for having me!
Immediately after a recent ride through the dirt trails of Ulu Choh, the G650GS started developing a horrible squeal in the front wheel area. This happens even while riding – and is especially notable at lower speeds. My initial fear was that the wheel hub bearing had gone bad. I have been taking the Sertao on some treacherous off-roading trips of late.
Like a resilient little pig that just refuse to die, the squeal was present when spinning the wheel while the bike is on the main stand. If it was the wheel bearings, that would have been not too good news – I’ve never done a bearing replacement before and probably don’t have the correct tools for extraction and, more importantly, proper re-insertion. But out of curiosity, I removed the brake calipers just to assess the damage – spun the wheel, and…. the squeal was gone!
Now that I have ascertained that it was the brakes, but not the bearings that caused the squeal, it was time for some brake caliper servicing!
Continue reading “Brake Caliper Servicing on my BMW G650GS Sertao”It’s Sunday Morning Ride again! This Sunday, we head to Yong Peng for some nasi briyani!
We rode up to Krabi! It’s always nice to go on road trips with friends.
As I’ve been pretty tied up with work lately – sorry, no writeup, only pics.
At 67,000km, my BMW R1200GS clutch switch failed. Symptoms include 1) not being able to start the bike while in gear and 2) not being able to switch riding modes while the bike is in motion.
You see, for either of the above 2 to work, the ECU must know that the clutch lever is FULLY pulled in. The R1200GS that comes with cruise control and/or shift assist pro use a set of dual microswitch instead of the typical single microswitch. The first part of the switch senses that the clutch lever is being slightly pulled in, and the second part senses if the clutch lever is fully pulled in.
