Farkles for the GS-W: Put 'em all in here

I thought it might be good to have a thread devoted to the various farkles/accessories that the new R1200GS-W owners put on their bikes.

What have you ordered?

What have you installed? Did it fit correctly?

Are you happy with it/them?

Any "must haves"?

Any to avoid?

LET THE FARKLING BEGIN!

So far, I've added a large CalSci windscreen, which I'm currently sending back for a replacement. It arrived warped badly. I installed it before I noticed it. After talking with them, they advised me to ride with it for a bit and make sure the size fits me well so they could swap sizes if needed all in one shot. Good service I'd say. The windscreen works well too, but isn't exactly sexy.

Just the other day, I added Touratech engine guards which installed easy and look robust. I also installed the Garmin Montana locking mount in place of the factory gps mount. Simple install and seems like it'll work well. However, it's a bit larger and hangs a bit lower than the factory mount so covers about half of the tach. I have plans to move it higher with a adapter if I find it bothers me too much. However, I've gotten pretty comfortable with the bike now tha I don't exactly have to stare at the tach either so I may just run it as is. We will see if it bothers me long term.

Any pics of your mods, Oz94tj?

I've found it extremely difficult to find anyone with accessories in stock. In Australia, BMW has bugger all parts available at this point. The same can be said for Touratech and Wunderlich. I've tried the US and the story doesn't seem to be better there either.

Anyway, I managed to get (1) A Large BMW Tank Bag, (2) BMW Headlight protector, (3) BMW Small Softbag (rear), (4) Hepco & Becker Pannier Removable Pannier Racks, (5) Black GlobeScout Panniers (45L + 35L) including carry handles and inner bags, (6) Cruisin Comfort Sheepskin Seat Covers, (7) Pivot Pegz (a version for the GS LC haven't yet been made, but the GS800 version seems to fit so far).

Oh and (8) I shelled out the extra $ to get the BMW GPS. I still haven't worked out whether I like it more than my Zumo 550 or whether the BMW integration is worth the extra money over the Zumo 660.

Lot's more to go - crash bars, radiator protectors, bash plate, side stand enlarger, auxilliary lights, probably higher windscreen, may be a 'rally' style seat, etc.

Yes, I expect that the aftermarket will take a little time to build up stock. Kind of wanted to get ahead of it with this thread.

How is the tank bag? I was looking for dimensions as well, but I could not find them on the BMW site.

Have farkles, don't have the bike yet.

Arrived:

* Wunderlich handlebar bag. I'm going to give this a try instead of buying a full tank bag.
* Holan Nomada panniers. I think they are the only one currently available with the muffler cut out.
* Hepco Becker crash bars. Should I be worried that they arrived in a box marked fragile?

On back order:

* SW-Motech light bar. I'm going to mount the Hella Micro DE lights I took off my old GS on this.

I'm sure there will be more.

Russell saddle, x-tall calsci windshield, OEM lowered pegs, gps and vario bags. Waiting for some bar risers to complete "tall rider" setup, Clearwater Darla lights on order. That will complete farkling for a while.

How does the Russel DL compare to the OEM??

Who is a good US-based source for SW-Mototech stuff?

Not much available yet in SA, but managed to get the following:

- SW Motech adjustable wide foot pegs: I like this, because my off-road boats catch my seat (which is set on high). You can drop them 10mm
- Touratech:
* rear luggage rack
* side stand extension (camel toe)
* rear brake reservoir cover.

Still needed (ordered from Touratech)
- crash bars
- bash plate
- head light guard

I fitted my Montana 650 with Touratech lockable bracket in the place of the BMW Nav unit.

Everything fitted perfect, no hassle.

The RDL is very comfy. It is taller, especially in the front and center of the seat. On my last GS, I made the mistake of riding the bike 5 years before adding the seat. Ordered this one in January so it was ready for production when I got the bike in March. It was tough parking the new bike for 2 weeks while the saddle was built.

I have the SW Motech light bracket on order too. Im impatient so im going to go make something today.

Ill post some pics of everything ive done so far later.

The only official one I know of is www.TwistedThrottle.com They are active on this site too, if you mention their name in a thread they have a habit of showing up. Like Biggie Smalls.



On their site they make the effort to separate their R1200GS LC farkles from the R1200GS Traditional.

Pics. You can see the lights mounted, the Touratech engine guards and the el cheapo JC Whitney top box...

Here is the Touratech Montana mount on the factory bar. Can also see the back of the lights mounted...

Here is the home made light brackets. Very simple but they seem to do the trick. I looked under the beak and their isnt much there to mount to so this looked simpler. Besides that, the lower mount would put the lights in line with the air intake funnels. This way doesnt. That has to be worth 10 horsepower. Now the brackets will get powdercoated...

I see you have put the led turn signals on. Did you get a download so they work properly?

I'd like to get a closer look at how you mounted the GPS to that small OEM bar.

As of now I'm looking to use the ram mount that you have on your handlebar clamp. Do you remember which length bolt (3 supplied) you used for that application?

Yeah I forgot about those LED signals. I have them front and rear. No update yet so they still throw the LAMPF code. Dealer thinks they should have the next update in June but its unsure if the retrofit option will be in it.

As for the gps mount, it uses the straps that came with the kit. All Touratech gps mounts are designed to fit a 1/2inch bar which the factory bar happens to be. Convenient.

I dont recall what bolt it was. I can look and let you know.

Thanks!
I'm not familiar with the Touratech mounts but I now see that they are a near perfect swap-out for the OEM GPS mount.

A GPS wiring questions if you don't mind:

Can the power cord connector points be accessed so that a different GPS harness can be installed in it's place? (I just need a switched hot and wouldn't use the thumb-wheel control wire that I assume it has.)
OEM GPS wiring - OUT
Streetpilot wiring - IN

FWIW I take detailed pictures of every step when I do stuff like this so that I can put it back to stock when/if the time comes.


Don't sweat the bolt size question because it isn't an issue the needs to consume either of our time.

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As to the primary point of this thread:
The only things I'm adding for now are the BMW engine guards and the top box, the mount plate and the back pad for the wife.
I'll certainly be adding Panniers but which one's is yet to be determined.

Here is a photo through the windshield of the back of the gps mount. Nothing special.


As for the wiring, here is a photo of the connector. Anything is possible but I dont like cutting into the factory harness any more than needed so I just ran the wire from the Garmin rugged mount (used as part of the Touratech mount) direct back to the battery. Eventually, ill wire it in so its switched hot (when I wire up the lights) but for now I chose direct so its always powered. I doubt the gps would kill the battery overnight anyway but simply removing it from the cradle will ensure I dont have any problems.



Im leaving for a 6 day trip in two days so I didnt want to start splicing wires and then have something go wrong on the trip. Ive found its always better to never do any mods to a bike just prior to a trip if you can avoid it. Less problems that way. The light mounts need powdercoated anyway so when I get back I can take care of thw wiring for both the lights and gps. Ill likely tap into the accessory socket as its the least likely to throw some code due to a current draw.

As for the ram mount, I checked the bolt. Im using the shortest one. It engages about 3/4 of an inch which is similar to the factory bolts. You could probably use the next size up as it appears there is plenty of room before it bottoms out but it just isnt needed.

As for the photos at every step thing, I usually return things to stock too which is why I try to run everything independent of factory systems as much as possible. Isnt much to remember with no harm done to the bike. Honestly, the photos I do tske are to help others or to just show off online.

Eventually I will be adding panniers as well once more become available. I actuallt had some Jesses ordered as thats what I had on my previous GS but after getting the run around (again) I cancelled the order. They arent worth the hassle. I want a set with the exhaust cut out as I like the look better. So far, that leaves Holan. Globescouts also appear very nice except both brands have one importer only. This concerns me a bit if something is needed down the road. Not to mention long lead times if you do order a set. Truthfully, if I could get a set right away I probably would have ordered one of those but the delay has me wondering if it wouldnt be better to wait for some Touratechs as they are supposed to have an exhaust cut out option mid summer. At least then I can count on service down the road. So for the time being ill use the cheapo top box which works surprisingly well and some Twisted Throttle Dryspec bags ive ordered. They will give me sufficient storage for now. The wife is preggo so she isnt riding with me at all this summer so I dont need the passenger seat anyway so it works for now.

Thanks for the pics and the info.

For now I'll use the Powerlet plug to GPS harness I have with the GPS mounted on the 1" ball mounted on the pinch bolt.

Eventually I'd like to find that socket (from a dealer or Newark Electronics or ??) so that I can use the Powerlet plug for other stuff.

Enjoy your trip!