The 650 Dakar Thread

I think we can all agree it's not the best thought out design without getting our backs up.

Change oil: Start by removing the indicators!!!???
Remove RHS engine cover: Start by loosening and move backwards the ABS pump and remove the oil return hose because we couldn't be bothered working out a proper route for a rubber hose!!!??

Once you do all that and get it back together things don't tend to get back together like it came out of the factory. Ie the front plastics. But they only fitted to begin with because the bolts holding them up weren't tightened to begin with. So I lost one on the way home from picking it up from pre-delivery.

Who's stripped out the plastic thread holding the snorkel to the battery tray? Can't be just me. Or maybe I clean my filter more than most. The plastic thread clips holding the dashboard don't stay in. The electrical wiring rubs the pre-load adjuster and can set the bike on fire!!. The ignition wire is strained at the key switch and is known to break. The wet battery was put in the hottest place on the bike with a breather hose hanging above the beautifully designed (by Rotax) motor. The front fender doesn't keep the water off ya. No fork gaiters because of the concern of overheating. So just let the bastards change their seals. Should be ok because we didn't actually lube the swingarm and linkage bearings.
Can't change the handlebar to a better version or put proper handguards (6mm bolt is not enough. Should be an 8mm.) on because some fairy didn't like to see the heated grip wires. So instead they come up with the most time intensive handlebar around. But no, there's no money to beefen up the front axle mount. She'll be right. Oh no, she aint. So we'll change the part numbers without anyone knowing. No one will ever know, because we're BMW and our customers are like groupies.
Did I miss anything.

Don't get me wrong. I love my Dakar, but BM doesn't have much to do with it. I think Rotax, Hella and Tyco did a great job.

Ask around - you sound just like me

How about a luggage rack without any place to fasten luggage straps ?

And don't you just love torx. And the fabulous torx keys provided with the bike ....

Or the skidplate mount which, if actually used, can never be taken off again..... unless ofcourse you don't give a shit

I forgot about that. How crap is that bashplate. It doesn't extend to the rear of the motor so is pretty useless. Plus the mounting for the BM accessory isn't strong enough. I've bent mine to. Not as bad as that though. It's also too heavy and complicated the checking of the motor mounting bolts which is pretty important when you go on the dirt a lot.

I'm actually working on my own bashplate. Something that you can leave on, protects the whole motor but still provide access to everything.
This is the prototype made out of 2mm. Apparently you can cut 4mm with a jig saw so I'll have a stab at that. Than just get it bent and welded.





Not sure if I like the sharp angles. It's really difficult to round that off.

How about the steering head bearings? Or the water pump? Or the EFI on the early versions (fixed by putting the second spark plug back!)?

Those waterpump and steering head bearings are difficult to pin down a cause though. What's so different about these to other bikes?

Shifts like a combine. If I stay off my Hondas I don't notice. One of them is a 1963 and shifts markedly better than my beloved Austrian farm implement.

The whole motor is like that though, eh. Kick me, Kick me, Kick me. Ooh yeah, more, more. It almost comes with a complimentary whip with a picture of the Kaiser on it.

But we're not criticizing Rotax now are we?

Nah, hard to criticize a company that makes THE engine of choice for ultralights going on 25 years.

You asked "Did I miss anything?" so I thought I'd chuck those in there too!

I agree that the SHBs are an issue with any bike - not just this bike. The water pump, not so much. Yeah, water pumps fail on lots of other machines, but this particular water pump seems more prone to failure than most. Poor design? Poor material choice? Take your pick...

I think my Dakar is the best bike I've ever owned. It's a joy to ride, anywhere, anytime. But I do get a little cheesed at how "textbook" the list of issues I've had in two years of ownership is.

1. Oil Pressure Switch
2. EFI ("fixed" by Iridium spark plug)
3. Water Pump
4. Side Stand (kicky thing - TM Xymotic)
5. Snorkle retainer thread
6. Replaced Handlebars
7. Failing switchgear
8. Pin hole in radiator (manufacturing fault)
9. SHBs
10. Bent rear susp link bolt.
11. Jamming lock on Variocase (manufacturing fault)
12. ??

it's the 12. ?? that keeps me awake at night. Is it going to be the loom catching fire or is my front fork slider gonna fly apart?

Still love the bike though - wouldn't swap it for anything (well, maybe a 800GS but only if it's a gift!).

Ah yeah. I love that fully threaded bolt going through a soft aluminium suspension linkage carving the crap out of it in the process. Well raised.

That loom fire thing is easily fixed. Just get a Wilbers shock. More than one reason to ditch that OEM one. Should be serviced every 20000km, but you can't. So just ditch it.

I can't believe I heard someone complain about Torx bolts. I LOVE torx bolts. They're alot harder to strip than an allen bolt. I've actually never even come close to stripping one. Gotta agree about the factory torx keys though...they'll chew up your hands and frustrate you pretty good. I carry handles as part of a core tool kit. With them I can get all the front plastics off in just a few minutes.

And a thought on the SHBs. These F650s get into higher miles than I see most any other thumper go. That's probably one reason so many get to change them. Another is that der Korp used inadequate lubrication from the factory on [it seems like] all the F650s. Mine made it about 24k. This set has 40k+ on it and they're just fine. I put lube in there . Furthermore, BMW doesn't manufacture bearings. I'd suspect that if you got in there and lubed them from the get-go and properly tightened it all, the stockers would go for a good long while.

64K+ on the stock water pump also.

Ya just gotta love the Rotax. They just go and go. Dailyrider (Black Belt Gang) has somewhere around 250,000k on his. That's miles, by the way . No major repairs...just a couple of preventative water pump replacements. Show me another brand with that sort of durability and I'll show you a bike that'll be in my stable someday.

Just saw a '09 G650GS with 520 miles go for $6079 on Ebay the other day and I was kicking myself for not trying $6101, but then you guys had me feeling a lot better for not bidding and had me thinking I needed to go back and start lurking on the DR thread again. No water pump to worry about over there.

Of course, no 400 watt alternator and no 40+ HP at the rear wheel, either. Then again, I was pretty comfortable ridng a Dakar all day through the Dolomites and autobahning it back to Munchen and my '97 Funduro was problem free for 10K+ miles, so maybe I could hang around a while longer.

Nah, get the GS - you know you want to!!

I don't know what people's fear of the waterpump is all about. It's piss easy to change if you have a water source and a flexible hose. Could be a simple rubber hose.

And it (with me anyway) doesn't blow right away either. Mine only leaked during the contractions time when the bike was cooling down. People have riden as far as 1000km with it being like that. Just make sure you have unblocked that weep hole and keep an eye on the water level.

Fact is that you get better performance and longer lifespan out of your motor.

I don't fear it - it's just that in NZ, BMW parts are TWICE the price of the US. The kit alone is NZ$100. Total job (doing the work myself) runs over NZ$200.
Cost of riding, I 'spose - probably a small price to pay for the privileged life of a motorcyclists!

When my Dakar had less than 20K miles on it I started reading on forums like this and over at CG how poorly the pump and seals were designed and that it was likely to fail at any time.

From that point on I watched that weep hole like a hawk until 50K miles, then went ahead and bought the parts to fix it and began carrying these with me on trips.

Around 60K miles I was sure I'd lost some coolant once, but a second check showed it had not.

At 70K miles and still not a drop of coolant missing. Weep hole bone dry

At 72K miles the bike was totaled, so I guess I'll never know when that darned pump would have failed.

It's par for the course that the Dakar caused me all that angst and then had the audacity to keep working, just to spite me! Bet it would've leaked before 100K though

Great to read your comments up here. Any luck finding a new F650 yet? I'm still amazed that you're up and about after getting smacked like that. How is the insurance thing going? New gear?

the Old Fart

Haven't had any luck with the other driver's insurance (good hands my ass!) and have been forced to hire a lawyer, so it looks like it'll drag on for awhile.

As you probably know, decent Dakars are scarce out there and I'm weighing my options. Everything I've seen advertised that would be comparable to what I had is 600 or more miles away. Of course the used market is always turning over, so who knows.

Won't have the money to do anything until some kind of settlement is reached - either in or out of court.

The wreck and injuries were the easy part of this whole ordeal, compared to dealing with those insurance adjuster leaches.

GSBS,

i looked for almost two years before I found my '02. I finally located one on the local Cragi's list in a small town 50 miles north of me! The price was right, the condition of the bike pretty good, and I am very happy. So my suggestion, if you haven't already tried it, is to look at all the Craigslists for communities near you. You may surprised at what pops up.

the Old Fart