GS Trophy Challange Bike Prep

A fellow ADV Rider and I will be competing in the 2012 GS Trophy Qualifying at the end of September and I wanted to hit up the knowledge bank that is the GSpot for some advice. I am looking for advice on tires, things to remove, things to add, etc....

Here is the fun part!! -- If you had to set-up a 07 GS1200 for 3 days of off road torture what would you do?

1. most aggressive tires -- off road only, mud, gravel, and woods riding
2. weight -- obviously the panniers are out, but what else should I pull off?
3. add on -- my bike is just about stock, I do have engine guards but that's it in the way of protection, should I add stump guards and the rest for 3 days riding?
4. misc off road prep -- I am sure there will be water crossing and the like, what are the known problem areas on the GS with this type riding?


-Thanks in Advance
Halfplate

And don't worry plenty of before, during, and after pictures will be posted.

I will take a stab. First I have the same bike. I have engine bars and that is it. However I switched to knobbies. I am considering going as well. I called BMW (in the East qualifiers) here is the deal. You will be traveling all loaded up on the second day to a seperate camp ground for the second night. That means everything you need for camping, you will need to bring along with you. 2nd point, they are inviting everyone and all levels of ability to join in. To me that means, they will not be putting you and all your stuff at too much risk. So I suspect the evaluation sections will be with unloaded bikes. I doubt they will want to be pulling a bunch of noobs out of rivers and such. I am guessing this will be mostly slow speed technical trials where you might knock off a mirror, but not much else. The canidate they seem to be looking for the most will likely be some computer geeks that live on facebook and such. In their discriptions the event looks like mostly GS fun, a little testing, and then they expect the chosen folks to be real good at the social media stuff. Meaning I am out of any contention there. But, I would like to just have the fun as they generally do it up right. PS. I have been their to the off road school and they tend towards the do everything right type of folks.

I asked when the cut off date is and they said when they hit 200 :huh. I am guessing they don't want 200 stranded GS's in the woods

Lucky bastard I wish could swing this

If it was me

1 TKC 80's - excellent all around off road tire and wil hold up to some Tarmac

2 put on the big BMW Skid plate you can glide over logs with it with no issue

3 GSA foot pegs

4 tire repair kit with either on board compressor or CO2

5 Camelback - hydrate or die

6 bark busters

7 strategic tie offs to haul bike out of stuff

8 rock straps and water proof bags to haul crap

9 low windshield - as I have eaten my windshield on an unexpected high side in soft sand

10 tool kit do do all major fasteners and tire change (front rear)

11 spare headlight bulb

12 padded bicycle shorts

Was looking at this too. I am kinda long in the tooth but like taking my GSA off road in pretty challenging stuff but probably not like this. Don't have any suggestions other than what is already here.

I am 58, are there any other old fools out there thinking of this?

Unscrew your turn signal indicators and zip tie them back. Loose your mirrors or upgrade to Double Take mirrors. Also rethink having a windscreen on the bike. Smile and have fun!

I am using bags for ski boots. Perfect size (length, width and height!) and low budget.

Don't dab!

By force of habit I dabbed with my left foot as I was getting a little front end slide

Save the bike but tore ACL MCL and PCL

If it goes doesn't save it

She is a torque monster and will go thru alot rather easily

Keep the tire pressure as low as you can - I use 22 up front and 25 in the back

Plan ahead as the bike has a lot of momentum

If you got ABS shut it off

And good for you!

Just because you're an old fart doesn't mean you cant finesse the big girl around a dance floor. Just remember to start slow an easy... Wishing I could make the challenge but a little timing with my 20th anniversary is getting in the way. Me? 55 and still playing in the dirt every time I can. Bring back a trophy or something better.

This is some great info. Thanks to everyone. I need to call BMW back and figure out what I need to be able to haul, I just figured everything would be at the training center.

Thanks Again and keep the suggestions coming
-HalfPlate

Ok, I am joining you HalfPlate! Registered today. Should be fun and educational (I am going to keep thinking that versus painful and expensive!)

DH

Maybe I will come.........and watch!


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Dark Helmet,

Sounds great we will see you there. I will be trailering (to get the tkc's fresh) so keep an eye out for an all black gs on a trailer and a yellow and silver gs in a pick-up that will be another advrider and myself.

I'm officially in! I took that Friday off, I sent in my application and have paid my entry fee!

Looking forward to having some serious fun! The $200 entry fee is very reasonable considering that it pays for two nights of camping, six meals, a GS trophy t-shirt and the costs of setting up and running the event. All I am planning on doing to the bike to prepare is having a fresh pair of TKC's spooned on, removing the Aeroflow, zip tying the turn signals up, taking an extra shift lever duct taped to the bottom of my seat along with some tools, extra levers and a tire repair kit.

I'll contact you soon about transportation.


Unfortunately, no riding down and watching your friends compete, I just confirmed with BMW that "No outside spectators are allowed! You must be on a 650cc or larger BMW GS and must sign up/pay the $200 fee to ride along, camp, eat and have fun..."

Link for more info: http://bmwmcmag.com/2012/08/gs-trophy-2012-be-part-of-the-usa-qualifying/ <!-- / message --><!-- sig --><!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Great Halfplate. I am undecided but I think I will be riding the bike up. I live a lot closer and figure I will put on a rear TKC before I leave. Its less than 200 miles to Spartenburg for me. I will be on a silver/black GSA, black helmet (of course) and have a RP2 suit on. Will also have a slipstream on the front instead of a windshield.

Bummer about no spectators.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Some things that are likely to break when you go down:

1. Windscreen - take it off
2. Front blinkers - buy a set of rear mounts and swap them out (you have to drill out the hole on the stem a bit, easy) or remove them while your off-road
3. Side mirrors - remove them (at the last Roaming rally the trail I must have ran across have a dozen broken mirrors)
4. Handguards - get a set of bark busters

When it comes to weight there is not much that you can really do other than bring minimal gear. I guess the biggest weight savings I can think of is to swap out the stock exhaust...maybe throw in a lithium battery. That might knock off 15 pounds.

As for protection:

1. Upgraded skid plate (despite having the well made BMW upgrade on my current GSA, I still have a ding in my exhaust cross pipe from gravel)
2. Cylinder guards (the OEM are good, but my Adventure design extensions have saved my ass several times)
3. Headlight guard
4. TPS guard
5. Snorkel ? (One of those things that you don't know if you'll need it until it's too late...it's an easy mod. I have a post of my system on a thread around here somewhere)

Performance:

1. I've found the air temperature mod devices useful for slow technical maneuvering. Low speed throttling is smoother.
2. Steering damper (didn't know what I was missing until I picked up a brand new hyperpro here for $150)
3. Tires - the TKC has been the go to tire for most GS riders off road, but the Mitas E-09/dakar is a much better tire for the riding it sounds like you are going to be doing. I just got my first set this summer...wish I had them for the Roaming Rally in June...they are true dirt tires and since you are trailering up...that's the way to go in my opinion.

Gear:

1. I always use MX boots when I'm taking my bike for relatively serious off roading. I think Ankle support/protection is critical when you are riding a moto off road...particularly a big heavy bike. Also helps when you're standing on the pegs all day.
2. Ditch the knee pads in your pants and get MX style knee protection, I have a set of Thor something or another and they are much more comfortable and protective.
3. Knuckle protection. I don't use the MX style gloves, they are light weight and airy, but they don't offer enough protection. My Rev'it dirt gloves, have plenty of scratches on the knuckle guard to prove their point.
4. I actually don't have one, but a compression suit/roost guard etc. probably offers the best protection if you are riding exclusively off road.
5. MX goggles (if you have an MX/DS helmet). They let more air into your helmet and tear-offs make them easier to keep clean.
6. hydration pack. Amen staying as cool and hydrated as possible is critical. Forget the in the jacket crap and go with a backpack.

Equipment:

Above what you need normally, so things that I have found to be useful and don't take up much space or add weight:

1. JB Weld
2. bailing wire
3. Duck tape (they make it in black)
4. 18" inner tube? Rumor is it will get you out of a pinch and works with both rims, but I have thread on this an no one every confirmed it, I've personally usually carry two tubes, but they are bulky. The rear wheel of the BMW spoked rim has an off set valve stem, but I have confirmed that the last tube I used (for thousands of miles) was a centered stem tube. If you dent a rim or rip a tire, your plug kit will be useless...it's happened to me twice and it happened to at least one at Roaming Rally in June.

Just thinking out load here...

Have fun!

How old is your suspension? Hardly used suspension will take a lot of the fatigue out of you, replacing those hits with a plush ride. It may be worth shelling out for new shocks, not necessarily Ohlins ($$$), but even a stock set hardly used will be better than a older stock set with high miles. Also you can buy a stock set hardly used very cheaply.

Very nice

$200 ????? :huh:huh:huh:huh:huh

The one in the Western half (MOAB) is over $500 for the event. WTF?

One of the main reasons I decided not to try out this year. :huh

From what I find online the Moab qualifier is a $49 add on to a 4-day (or 3-day for less $) Rawhyde event. The SC qualifier is $200 for the BMW qualifier only, no guests, no spectators and no other activities. Probably not fair to compare the two events on price alone as they seem to be different formats / events.

Which one's better That probably depends on you. I'll bet they'll be more at Moab. YMMV

I'm registered and paid up! Going to our training course every other day to torture myself!