TAG frame mods

[Ras Thurlo]

I am currently having my R100GS frame strengthened/modified with TAG in Italy.

Their strengthening is basically along HPN lines, their mods are more interesting.

Their basic package includes changing the rake by 2 degrees, through alteration of the headstock that will require a longer t-clamp stem.

They also move the engine position forward within a bandwidth of approx 5-10mm, depending on fork length and rear swing arm used.

The way this has been explained to me is that in most "unholy union" mods the front gets jacked up disproportionately to the rear, with the effect that the center of gravity gets moved backwards. The engine relocation is done to mitigate this effect.

I will be going for the rake change, but am still considering the engine move. Initially the move felt counter-intuitive for a dirt bike, but I get the argument about rebalancing mass.

At this stage I am also put off by the practicalities of the engine relocation on things like exhaust and swing arm.

I would assume that there is enough overlap on the exhaust pipe junctures that you can reclaim 10mm overall, the swing arm is a bigger problem.

TAG's make their swing arms specifically to deal with this issue, I assume by being +105-110mm. My issue is that I have a shiny new +100mm mono from Moorespeed that I got before focusing on the frame.

So my first question is whether there is an obvious way to use my +100mm swing arm for a repositioned engine while keeping shock mounting points where they were intended to be.

The two ways I could think of are either at the front or back of the drive shaft:

- on the front you could simply put a (10mm) spacer onto the front flange of the drive shaft. This seems easy enough in theory, but problems could arise given extent of movement on this juncture. Also the rotating section behind the flange would be sitting further inside the swing arm and I dont know if this is ok.

- alternatively on the rear you could just live with a less deep overlap on the rear coupling. There seems to be approx 5cm of depth there, so would 4cm be sufficient?


I would be grateful for any input on this.

if its all too much brain damage can live with OEM engine location, but its worth thinking through before ditching idea.

[One Less Harley]

I know this may be the easy way out, but why not just sell your extended SA and use the one that is engineered to work by the company that has engineered the product. I'm sure you could recoop your purchase price on the swing arm. You are already dropping some serious cash on the bike, so what's a little more??

It might end up saving you money and frustration going with what TAG has developed. They have worked out the fitment issues.

[Airhead Wrangler]

Originally Posted by One Less Harley

I know this may be the easy way out, but why not just sell your extended SA and use the one that is engineered to work by the company that has engineered the product. I'm sure you could recoop your purchase price on the swing arm. You are already dropping some serious cash on the bike, so what's a little more??

It might end up saving you money and frustration going with what TAG has developed. They have worked out the fitment issues.

I'd sell the moorespeed one and go with TAG's. It looks a lot cooler too.

[One Less Harley]

Originally Posted by Airhead Wrangler

I'd sell the moorespeed one and go with TAG's. It looks a lot cooler too.

AW would buy it

[Prutser]

Do both mods(more speed and TAG) end up with the same wheel travel ?

Could it be that the TAG mod with the U-joint further from the swing arm gives room for more swing arm movement ?

[AntonLargiader]

What does TAG say?

[chollo9]

Originally Posted by AntonLargiader

What does TAG say?

I'm gonna bet TAG says, "Buy our parts." "Sell other parts."

[Clay Spinner]

Hey Ras, does TAG make any fairings or other bits other than the frame mods, swing arm and tanks?

[gsd4me]

This thread is useless without pictures.

[Ras Thurlo]

Originally Posted by gsd4me

This thread is useless without pictures.

Goodies:

they make 3 types of tanks, two are variants of the stock g/s tanks, the third is a monster 56l made to work with their fairing kit.

All are made of kevlar and have internal baffles to limit petrol slosh. You will also see the front scoops so as to allow for USD forks.

I bought the 35l G/S PD variant, as this has the side steps brought forward by approx 40mm from the stock version, to allow for longer legs.

[IMG][/IMG]

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[Ras Thurlo]

As previously posted swing arm and fairing kit:

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[gsd4me]

Trust the Italians to get the styling right, check out the angle of the muffler to the rear shroud, perfect.

Would the tank on that have two filler caps?

[Ras Thurlo]

Originally Posted by gsd4me

Would the tank on that have two filler caps?

Yes two (BA) caps, and obviously two separate compartments in addition to the baffles.

I have to admit tanks of this size do it for me- the issue on this one is that it is really designed to go with their fairing, so the front portion is too 'cut-off' to look right naked. Am trying to persuade them to do a version for un-faired bikes....


[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[gsd4me]

So they are still available? Probably would be as dear as poison.

[Ras Thurlo]

yes all available

EUR 550 for the 19l, EUR 750 for the 35l and approx EUR 950 for the 56l (all pre tax)

my sense is that the 19l OEM is available at reasonable prices, but the 35l OEM is approx EUR 1,050 new and difficult to get secondhand- so cost is relative