The 650 Dakar Thread

Good one

Seriously !
1 mile is 1609meters or 1,609km if you will

or just google "145000km in miles" (90 098,8 miles)

Im too lazy to check that stuff lol!

well chrome makes life easy for us hard workers the adress bar makes the calc, you don't even have to search

I bet it actually took you longer to write that you didn't know the conversion than to google it
We're sporting -25C here (google it in F....) so the panels are just sitting on a shelf, but believe you me as soon as it warms up they'll receive a nice coat of candy apple red..... or something completely different

I really hate that you guys are such Metric Majors! Them's just big numbers to me!

cant wait to see them painted up!

Well I went ahead and bought this '05 with 12K mi today!!! I took this in for a safety inspection this morning and most everything checked out despite my concerns from the custom plastics/paint job:

There is an oil leak coming from either the shift shaft seal or oil pipe. Has anyone had a problem with this at 12,000 miles? I also need to replace the chain, links and sprocket. Any recommendations for long lasting replacements?

Looking forward to a long relationship with the Dakar! Next upgrades are a good luggage system. I wish I didn't need lockable luggage, but I live in the city... I was thinking of going with the Happy Trail Teton system. Any thoughts? I was told to check out links to Vendors on this site as well so I'll head there next.

Thanks in advance for any advice from seasoned BMW/Dakar owners!

Go NINERS!!

Great Decision :)

As for the Oil leak, it's the shaft seal. I have the same issue with mine since I bought it with ~ 12k miles. I already got a new seal, but didnt change it, yet. Not too uncommon issue, however the seal just costs a few bucks, anyways.
Take a look here: http://www.f650.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?12366-Oil-leak-from-clutch-gearbox-linkage.-F650GS-2000&

As for the Chain/sprockets, go for a RK or DID Chain, either O-Ring (good) or X-Ring (better) type and jsut egt normal steel sprockets, they are cheap and last long. I am running JT Sprockets and a DID VX2 X-Ring chain atm.

Thanks for the tip! Also, it feels a little sluggish coming off the line. The only thing I have to compare this Dakar with is my old XR600 and my Dad's Royal Enfield. The top end speed is fine however, I had plenty of power in the higer RPM's and higher gears when on the freeway. It's due for a valve adjustment, will that help out at all or do I have to get used to a bike with less "Blap" than my XR?

At about that mileage i had a major oil leak on my first big winter trip. The shop took it in under warranty and said it was the shift shaft seal or the head gasket leaking, not sure which. They replaced both but it has continued to blow out oil every winter for some unknown reason. It doesn't seem to do anything except get my pants dirty and protect the engine from salt related corrosion, so i've decided to live with it.

I'd go with at least an x-ring chain, i put an o-ring on last time and mileage has noticeably dropped and i will have to replace it sooner i'm told.

I've averaged 25K miles on stock BMW steel sprockets and DID Gold X-ring chains on my Dakar. In fact, the chains are still okay when the countershaft sprocket gets too hooked to run. This was lubing the chains with the old Teflon dry lubricant every other gas fill up (about 400 miles). Now that they've changed the formula I'm not sure I'll get the same service from my current chain.

That's insane milage

I've not had the shifter shaft seal leak, but I've had the drainplug form the oiltank suddenly start leaking middle of the season. Also have trouble with crankcase vent hose being loose and leaking up at the airbox and the oiltank screw to the airbox not being possible to fasten properly. Just wife clean and ride it and you'll see where the oil originates.

As for luggage; do you need luggage in the city ? What are you carrying ?
If you carry a laptop, suitjacket, black shoes and stuff running around town for business all day I can see the need (if that was the case I would proobably not choose to take the bike myself).

If you only bring, like me, a pair of reading glasses, a pair of thin/ thick gloves (depending on what I'm wearing) and your wallet it'd be parked with empty luggage anyway, so no need for a lock (which is why I ride with a small backpack instead of luggage on a daily basis.

You need for luggage may ofcourse be something utterly different

That converts to WAY TOO F'ING COLD!!! :huh Ha ha.

Damn, not bad!

We didn't get above zero Fahrenheit for a couple days this week here in Wisconsin . I think we're out of the woods for now.

This. Don't cheap out on the chain. Get the best quality you can afford. I'm running a JT front sprocket and whatever aftermarket sprocket Touratech could overnight to me when my chain/rear spocket gave up the ghost on the way to Florida last May. :eek1

Dam, hope so. I'm up there for a couple days next week. It has been very warm here- 60's. Packing in the moto and bicycle riding while I can

Took the dakar out for a ride in the PacNorthWet yesteday . Sun came out and it was beatutiful. I stopped by a river (Snolqualmie) to see how the fishing was. Went to start the bike and everything lit up and then died. No power whatsoever.. I checked all the fuses and they were good.

I called BMW and they said my battery probably imploded. Short story, bike was dead, and I couldn't get in touch with the misus, my neighbor couldn't help me until he got off work at 7 pm. I ditched the bike at a farm, after pushing it nearly a mile. I then hiked about five miles in the dark to a small town (Carnation) finally got a msg from the misus, she got the ramp the straps all loaded into the truck, closed the garage and then remembered that her keys, purse an cell phone were in there.. She was locked out . She used another neighbors phone to call me. In any event, I called a friend and he offered to come get me ... It was late now. It was foggy and cold, so I hung out in a library. They closed and kicked me out. I hung around outside the library waiting for my buddy to pick me up. The local sheriff drove by a couple of times and then stopped and told me he was going ticket me for loitering. I told him my story, he said I couldnt hang out on the street and he took me to the station. By this time my cell phone was dead. I had to use a station phone to get my buddy directions to the station. In any event got, home, the misus was sitting in her truck freezing and then it began to poor buckets. Just in time..

I got up at 6 am this morning and got the bike. It was still raining. Pain in the ass to load by yourself.

Once at home, I checked f650.com and got an AGM battery, per the majority of the opinion over on the forum, from O'Reillys auto parts. The parts store did a load test and sure enough there is short in the old battery. I installed the new battery, bike fired up and away I went to ride some Forrest service roads up to the snow. No problems.

I have never had a battery implode like this. Is this a common problem? I may have tried to start the bike with the heated grips on high and the Piaa lights were on. Maybe this did it in. If so, I must be more careful next time.

Just curious. I am now a bit nervous about remote trips on the Dakar.

Ok, Im now in need of new turn signals for the bike. Any suggestions on more durable ones than OEM??

Anyone by chance have a tall windshield, preferably an Ermax but tall OEM will work too, that they want to sell?? A sand wash on the right side and this mud slide on the left side has done in my windshield.

We're up to -5C today, but we had a couple of weeks with -18 to -23. Long term says February will be cold though. Hope my coolant has held up as the bike is stored just outside my front door... will be a few tense seconds when pressing the go button sometime in march