2012 BMW G650GS Sertao Owners

Alright, my trilogy:
Wednesday - I went to Jackson TN (1.5 hrs away, 45°F) to buy a new phone off of guy from Craigslist. I got there and he didn't show up. He said he'd show up later, and trying to believe that not all people from Craigslist are horrible human beings, I hung out at the Harley dealership for awhile, chugged coffee and bought a CrampBuster. I'm still trying to get that to stay on right.

On the way back I ran over a groundhog and stopped at the Finger Store for chips. They didn't sell fingers. Bummer.

Thursday - Memphis TN (2.5 hrs, 38°F, raining). For future reference to others: If your BMW dealer asks you to drive three hours in the cold and wet for an oil change, never speak to them again. Were they not supposed to do a valve check? They didn't. It was just an oil swap and a check up. With the right tools the valve check doesn't seem that intimidating. i think I'm just going to buy a torque wrench & the repair manual dvd and do all the future work myself.
I had a long conversation with one of the mechanics while I was waiting, about who makes these motors. I've heard a thousand different stories about this including a guy from the horizons unlimited forum that said all but the first batch have Kymco engines. He was certain that because of the way the motor was set up that it was a Rotax. I've decided to go with that opinion and stop concerning myself with it.
I also sat on the standard R1200GS and liked the feel/weight of it. Depending on how I end up using the Sertao I might look into one of those a few years up the road.

Friday - Corinth MS (45 min, 68°F). The rain stopped!
I rode there, ate food, bought stuff, came home and built this:

I carry a camera anyway so I just fabricated another quick release thingy & glued it to a laptop pad.
Dual purpose camping table, a little shaky but it works.

I also bought and mounted these to the wolfman racks:

Forty-dollar panniers mounted with wing nuts and carriage bolts.
That thing on the seat is a memory foam pillow strapped on with a bungee cord, my temporary solution.

Sweet!
Definitely a rotax from Austria

Hi DeserDav, I also took a while before I could find the stupid number, hope this picture helps:

What did you get?

Couple observations;

Your bike is too clean

Why does BMW make a new "Dakar" and package it as a street bike?!
Look at those pegs, eh?! And the position of the shifter!
Tires?!!!!
WTF?!!!
But I can't leave anything alone, so I changed the obvious anyway.

Conspiracy with Touratech(?) Kickback

Hmmm:eek1

And I'm sure it has a price point element to it all. It is the most expensive 650adv bike in the U.S. by quite a bit. I'm sure it scares many away right off the bat. Price it any higher and bmw would shake off a few more customers. Not me. BMW for me all the way.
Getting back to the importance of finding a good dealer; Getting a better deal by a few hundred bucks isn't worth it. Service and dealer support make the deal for me. Max BMW in Troy, NY is great. Tim and Tony in service, Gregg in parts and Steve in sales. Yup, even the salesman is cool
I would have paid full MSRP to buy a bike from those guys.
I'm gonna run my sertao into the f@#*% ground!

Price; Sure I'd love a pair of real forks with technology not dating back to the 70's, but imagine the price? Maybe I'd pay it though. But again, for me, the bike serves it's purpose.... Dirt roads and back slab, mostly at a moderate pace. If the dirt road becomes a jeep trail, fine. My skill can handle it, and the bike can too, at an easy pace. The progressive springs did a huge thing imop, and that is good enough for me. Next year I am definitely throwing in the Ohlins shock. Washboard and hack on the dirt roads really upsets the back of the bike. Gregg says the asphalt bumpies will get better too.
And when Nuetech releases their DOT approved tubliss at the end of the year I'm all over it!

Now THAT'S more like it....

This threads been moving too slow, I got bored.

Anyway, kdennan, Twisted throttle sells 20mm handlebar risers and claims that you don't need an extended brake line for them so they're a good bit cheaper. would I regret not paying for the extra 14mm? I'm 5'11".

I'm just about 6' and find that I can just about stand perfectly upright with the 34mm risers. Any less would not be much help imop.

You don't need the extended brake line for the 34mm risers. I've been running them for almost a year now without any issue.

Do they make any that fit? I emailed them and was told no...

Dose any one make a serviceable shock for the Sertao?

Even with the front wheel off the ground and forks at full extension?

(Stump jumping and such ..etc)

A hearty greeting fellow Sertao riders! It's great to see this thread alive and well. I am starting my riding year out on my '12 Sertao, as of today 8700 miles done 50/50 street/dirt. Some pics to follow. https://drcornelius.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/motopics/26306

I've had the front wheel off the ground 50+ times and haven't run in to a problem.

Which risers are you referring to please (make etc)? I am currently shopping risers. Thanks

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Well alrighty then !

Touratech risers. I spoke to someone at TT before I ordered mine and they advised me to install with the stock cable and order the extended cable if I needed to. The only issue I ran in to was the throttle cable catching on something which would cause the bike to rev when the handle bars were turned full to the right. A couple of strategically placed zip ties took care of it.

Could you get a picture of those?

Love this thread. I've been going back and forth between Sertao or Terra.
Down here, they both are similarly priced. To me, the biggest advantage Sertao has over Terra is it can use regular gasoline.... Anybody knows a link where I can read some head-to-head comparison between the two bikes?