2012 BMW G650GS Sertao Owners

[qcridgerunner]

I decided to go with TT panniers. Does the Sertao handle the 38 L panniers well, performance wise and (ahum) style wise ? This will be to travel in Europe 2 up next summer. I understand that the total width will be 40 inches or 1000 mm. I am planning to span a dry bag across the panniers over the tail rack to carry the tent and two Thermarest pads. A tank bag completes the kir. Any thought and comments appreciated.
Ride safe.

[pasomonte]

I would think about upgrading the front and rear springs but otherwise it sounds fine.

[qcridgerunner]

Thanks for your input. It sounds like a good idea !

[Kainic]

Originally Posted by qcridgerunner

I decided to go with TT panniers. Does the Sertao handle the 38 L panniers well, performance wise and (ahum) style wise ? This will be to travel in Europe 2 up next summer. I understand that the total width will be 40 inches or 1000 mm. I am planning to span a dry bag across the panniers over the tail rack to carry the tent and two Thermarest pads. A tank bag completes the kir. Any thought and comments appreciated.
Ride safe.

Need to see some pics

[mimo523]

Originally Posted by qcridgerunner

I decided to go with TT panniers. Does the Sertao handle the 38 L panniers well, performance wise and (ahum) style wise ? This will be to travel in Europe 2 up next summer. I understand that the total width will be 40 inches or 1000 mm. I am planning to span a dry bag across the panniers over the tail rack to carry the tent and two Thermarest pads. A tank bag completes the kir. Any thought and comments appreciated.
Ride safe.

Here is a link to some pictures with the 38 litre TT . The top case will hold a full face helmet. It rides and handles fine with the cases, of course if its really windy you'll feel it more but that would be the case with any panniers.
http://s838.photobucket.com/albums/z...rrisey/Sertao/

[qcridgerunner]

Thanks a lot for posting them. Nice setup indeed! I finally went for the 31L panniers. What footpegs and lights are those ?

[mimo523]

Originally Posted by qcridgerunner

Thanks a lot for posting them. Nice setup indeed! I finally went for the 31L panniers. What footpegs and lights are those ?

TT footpegs http://www.touratech-usa.com/Store/P...air-and-G650GS
Vision X 10 watt LED 20 degree narrow beam lights and they are awesome. I bought them from the guys at the link below and had trouble because they shipped me differnt harness and switch than what was pictured and after I complained they eventually made it right but were complete asshats about it. It looks like they fixed the pictures since I bought them but be careful if you use them. The lights seem indestructible and really light up everything and draw less than 1 watt per light.
http://www.visionxwholesale.com/2-so...e-atv-package/

[kdennan]

Originally Posted by slider162

Let me know how that goes. I still haven't called my dealership. I'm afraid they will claim stupid and not have ever heard of the issue. Grant it, mine is probably the only Sertao they have sold this year.

They replaced the decompression lever and all should be well now. I am very happy with the warranty and with Max.

[MadVenTur7]

So apparently the mid-Atlantic isn't a hot spot for Sertao's, as I called Bob's in Guildford, MD and they didn't have any in stock, and had no plans to order any more this year. However, they did look into transferring one in, and were able to find me one. I signed the papers on Friday, and hopefully it'll be here this week!!

The first add-on I'm going to do is the centerstand, and I'm leaning towards the Touratech stand, and wanted to see what anyone who's installed one thinks.

Thanks!!

-MadV

[biscuit000]

I put the TT center stand on last week. I'm happy with it so far seems pretty sturdy and up to the task. Make sure you check the TT website for the directions as the online ones have some good tips on getting the springs attached that aren't included in the directions that ship with the stand.

[SwollenCranium]

First Sertao crash !!

I was blasting around the yard, amazing myself with my awesome riding skills and the bikes ability to swing around in grass effortlessly.

Well during a fairly low speed whip around the front wheel went out from under me when I stupidly applied the front brake for absolutely no reason at all.

I bent my bar ( and my leg, but I'll recover). I'm kinda pissed at how the handlebar was seemingly easy to bend, the ground was soft, the speed was low and the angle of impact was not one that would obviously cause the bend. I've dropped other bikes, I've never bent a handle bar before.

And .. there was literally no smudge or mark anywhere on the bike other than the tip of the handlebar and the foot peg where it caught the ground.


Lame.

Here you can see the misaligned bar in relation to the fork tube.



.

[Avner]

I want to thank everyone here for all of the info you shared about the Sertao. I actually read every single post, and I went thorough the same process as many did here choosing the right bike for my needs (used Dakar, KLR, Vstrom, F800GS), and decided that the Sertao will be the perfect choice. I currently ride a 2005 R1200GS as my daily commuter and weekend dirt-bike, and I push it way too hard off-road taking it to places it should't be, making it very hard to manage the size and weight. I'm not rushing to sell my 1200GS, but from what I learned in this forum, the Sertao might eventually replace it altogether. On the weekends I mostly ride on the road just to get to the dirt, but in our area, the "legal" off-road spots are about two-hours away in each direction, so I need a bike that can handle highway speeds comfortably as well.
long story short, I signed the papers last week, and I'll be picking up the new Sertao at Morton's BMW next week. That was the last Sertao in this area - as one other poster mentioned, there aren't that many around here.

The dealer agreed to switch the tires to TKC80 at no extra charge (not even labor), and I had them order some of the Touratech stuff for me and install it. They get lower pricing from Touratech, and instead of shipping I pay for labor, so it comes out the same price, plus I built it into the loan (less explaining to do to the wife when the CC statement comes in). The only thing I'm losing is the fun of installing that stuff myself. I ordered the ZegaPro pannier rack, and I'll be using my panniers from my existing GS. They are the 38 and 45 liter cases, so they will look huge, but I'm not ready to spend more on panniers at this time. I'll be installing the Rigid Industries LED driving light (only one) once I get the bike home, and I'll be posting photos and first impressions later.

Morton's assured me that the hot-start issue was related to specific serial numbers, and that it was already been rectified by BMW.

Again - thank you everyone for making this decision so easy!

[kdennan]

Update on the decompression lever replacement is good. I took the little beemer into some serious woods this weekdend that had the fan running constantly. I had no worries turning the bike off and starting again every time. I will say that the forks suck for serious off road. I put a question into my dealer to find out if the Wirth progressive springs for the Dakar fit the Sertao. Maybe the Ohlins rear shock is in order too. But otherwise no complaints. I love the bike.

[gus]

Originally Posted by SwollenCranium

First Sertao crash !!


I bent my bar ( and my leg, but I'll recover). I'm kinda pissed at how the handlebar was seemingly easy to bend, the ground was soft, the speed was low and the angle of impact was not one that would obviously cause the bend. I've dropped other bikes, I've never bent a handle bar before. Lame.

FWIW I bent my DR650 stock bar on a minor drop. The stock mild steel bar is pretty easy to bend, I replaced it with an alluminum bar with a brace. And I tweeked my stock alluminum tapered bar on a KTM 450 EXC I used to have on a minor drop. The KTM only weighed about 260 lbs. The Sertao is about 430lbs.? With a steel bar. I think there is a mathmatical formula that goes something like Velocity X Mass/sudden stop = $

[gus]

Originally Posted by MadVenTur7

The first add-on I'm going to do is the centerstand, and I'm leaning towards the Touratech stand, and wanted to see what anyone who's installed one thinks.
-MadV

I put mine on about a week ago too. Twisted Throttle claims their CS for the Dakar will not fit the Sertao. Touratech says theirs fits both. Installation is pretty straight foward. The pivot tabs on the stand mount offset of the frame tabs to the right instead of both inside or both outside the frame tabs. But it is obvious the springs have to angle to the right to clear the shock.

Touratech left me a voicemail saying in their last shipment of CS's some were missing a pivot bolt bushing but mine had both, one for each side. The web instructions just state to hook the springs then install one bolt at a time with no bushing. Then install the bushings wiggling the bolts through. You will get enough leverage on the springs this way. Unless you have a lift and a sturdy spring stretcher you will not be able to stretch the springs in place after installing the bolts and bushings. Quality wise it is better than the Triumph accessory CS I bought for my 955i Tiger I had. I had to put on nylock nuts and replace the hardware with quality shoulder bolts on it. I think Triumph left designing the hardware to the intern. It was an accident waiting to happen.