2012 BMW G650GS Sertao Owners

[Trane Francks]

Originally Posted by migo33

No Alpine air in Australia and many other parts of the world where this bike is designed to be in use. BMW shouldn't have called it Sertao then, maybe "Alpine" or "Arctic".... -)

"Feel the Desert Heat courtesy of the Sertão's innovative Reiterheizsystem (rider heating system). Guaranteed to put the Desert into your Alpine traverse.

BMW Motorrad"

[Lost.In.Hokkaido]

Greetings earthlings,

Picked up my Sertao in September 2012 and only had time to squeeze 1000 km on it before we were with our regular snow. 7.9m so far ....on it's way to about 15m for the year. Best snow and beer in the world can be found in Hokkaido, Japan !! (Food and women too !)

On a serious note, looking to possibly add some risers to the handle bars and upgrading the headlight (or adding a new sidelight and fog lamp).

Can anyone steer me in the right direction with recommendations ?

Thanks
Paul

[swamp]

yawn. this has turned into an accessory thread. someone post some pictures of their bike with knobby tires, covered in dirt or fallen over in the mud.

[AKRoadrunner]

Originally Posted by rey_s

Hi everyone.

New to the world of adventure bike ownership. Recently took the plunge and bought the sertao. Really happy with it. Had a bit of an unpleasant suprise this morning when I saw droplets of fuel on the left side of the bike. I reached under the black plastic gs tank and felt fuel underneath it. Is this normal? Does it do that because its over filled or should I immediately send it to the dealer? I heard its an old problem with Dakars, but have blnot heard of.fuel leak issues with the sertao. Thanks for the advise.

Not sure if you've resolved this issue yet, but my bike did the same. Mine was not an overfill issue as I never topped my bike off. It turned out to be a damaged gasket and the dealer replaced it under warranty. Hope this helps.

[AKRoadrunner]

These are some pics from my trip to Dawson City last summer. The bike has fared pretty well, besides for some manufacturer issues that BMW needs to address. The first being the oil fill cap that was machined with a flaw that allowed oil to weep out of the fill cap. Secondly, a faulty gasket on the fuel tank that allowed fuel to leak after being filled. I definitely will be investing in a lower front fender, fork guards (as I blew a fork seal on the way to Dawson), possibly the high seat (Is it that much more comfortable to justify the cost?).

I am currently in planning phase for a trip from Fairbanks, AK to Seattle, WA this coming August for a friends wedding. What upgrades do you recommend for the trip? Do you think the Sertao is a good choice for the 4,000 mile round trip? I definitely will be investing in a set of those highway pegs, where can you purchase those at? Any advice and/or recomendations is appreciated. This will be my first very long distance ride.

[SwollenCranium]

Originally Posted by AKRoadrunner

I am currently in planning phase for a trip from Fairbanks, AK to Seattle, WA this coming August for a friends wedding. What upgrades do you recommend for the trip? Do you think the Sertao is a good choice for the 4,000 mile round trip? I definitely will be investing in a set of those highway pegs, where can you purchase those at? Any advice and/or recomendations is appreciated. This will be my first very long distance ride.

I drove mine 1100 miles straight from the show room floor to my garage last year. Did it in 2.5 days as I had never had a single cylinder before and was unprepared for the vibration at speeds over 70. ( Now I know them to be "normal")

I'd never consider a ride that far again unless I had a high seat and lower/wider foot pegs and maybe some highway pegs just as an occasional way to stretch the legs. I'm 6' tall and I consider it a cramped fit for me in stock arrangement.

Hell, I just hit 1800 miles today with a hundred mile run and I'm pretty much over the hype of it and will probably sell it in a few months.

[africa twin]

Originally Posted by AKRoadrunner

Not sure if you've resolved this issue yet, but my bike did the same. Mine was not an overfill issue as I never topped my bike off. It turned out to be a damaged gasket and the dealer replaced it under warranty. Hope this helps.

I had the same issue with mine (and so have a few others). On mine it was the big gasket that seals the top of the tank where the fuel pump assembly is secured. The gasket was cheap so I just repaired it myself rather than going thru the warranty hassle. When fitting the new gasket it was very difficult to slide the pump in without folding the gasket over on itself so my guess is that the failure is related to assembly line error.

Heres a bad picture of the gasket

[africa twin]

Originally Posted by AKRoadrunner

I am currently in planning phase for a trip from Fairbanks, AK to Seattle, WA this coming August for a friends wedding. What upgrades do you recommend for the trip? Do you think the Sertao is a good choice for the 4,000 mile round trip? I definitely will be investing in a set of those highway pegs, where can you purchase those at? Any advice and/or recomendations is appreciated. This will be my first very long distance ride.

I have over 30,000 km (approx 20,000 miles) on my Sertao now and it has been a fabulous long distance bike. I have had all the same issues everyone else seems to have had, but it seems to be finally sorted out now. I did a 14,500 km from Toronto to Mexico and back last spring and it handled it well. I do have the tall seat on mine (although I added it after the Mexico trip). The tall seat is quite a bit more comfortable and provides enough additional spacing to the footpegs that I no longer felt the need for the highway pegs as my knees were a lot more comfortable (not just my butt). I will probably eventually install wider footrests but this is more for comfort when standing. The only other advice I would offer is if you haven't replaced the front fender with the new updated one yet I would do that before your trip as the original can break without warning and really mess up your trip. As an aside i have also run heated jacket, gloves and boots along with the BMW heated grips, GPS and cell phone charger without any problems. With all this stuff on high the bike will only discharge if the brake light is on and the cooling fan is on and the rpm are low all at the same time. Good luck with your trip you'll have a blast I'm sure.

[Bronson1]

Well I agree the Dakar high seat is much better. I recently installed one on my sertao and it made a Hugh difference.
I also installed the mk3 pivot pegz and here's some info I did not find anywhere before I purchased them.
They are longer by 1/4" which I like when standing. They are wider by 1 3/8" (1" compared to 2 3/8) this is the only problem I have found so far. I cannot get my foot in under the shifter because of the lack of space with the wider pegs and my size 11 boots. They are also lower by about 7/8" even in the standard position ( they can still be lowered even more by about 10mm) the lower pegs do not cause a problem with the brake leaver for me but could for some people.

My next upgrade will be going to a 15 tooth front sprocket and top fairing crash bars and of course now a longer gearshifter.

Anyone know of another producer of longer shifters other than tourtech or wonderlich?

[nomad5326]

Honda XRL shifters fit and are foldable

[AKRoadrunner]

So it looks sounds like the seat is definitely worth the investment. I've seen it for sale on the A&S Cycles website I'll have to order one up. I'm also considering buying one of those throttle locks, which would be great on long stretches of highway. Lastly, I think I will get some handlebar risers at the very least to make it easier to stand.

Canada to Mexico....Now thats a good long ride. How long did that take you? I'm a working rider, so I wont have an unlimited amount of time seeing I also have to take time off earlier in the summer. Although, I don't wanna make it a rush trip. My bike only has about 3,000 miles on it so far. Living in Alaska the season is not very long at all : /

Thanks for the responses and feedback!

[africa twin]

Originally Posted by AKRoadrunner

So it looks sounds like the seat is definitely worth the investment. I've seen it for sale on the A&S Cycles website I'll have to order one up. I'm also considering buying one of those throttle locks, which would be great on long stretches of highway. Lastly, I think I will get some handlebar risers at the very least to make it easier to stand.

Canada to Mexico....Now thats a good long ride. How long did that take you? I'm a working rider, so I wont have an unlimited amount of time seeing I also have to take time off earlier in the summer. Although, I don't wanna make it a rush trip. My bike only has about 3,000 miles on it so far. Living in Alaska the season is not very long at all : /

Thanks for the responses and feedback!

I did the trip in just under four weeks. I rushed a bit getting there and back (mostly Interstate) but took my time once in Mexico and did very little highway.

[studioe6]

How do you like those trax cases?

Originally Posted by africa twin

I have over 30,000 km (approx 20,000 miles) on my Sertao now and it has been a fabulous long distance bike. I have had all the same issues everyone else seems to have had, but it seems to be finally sorted out now. I did a 14,500 km from Toronto to Mexico and back last spring and it handled it well. I do have the tall seat on mine (although I added it after the Mexico trip). The tall seat is quite a bit more comfortable and provides enough additional spacing to the footpegs that I no longer felt the need for the highway pegs as my knees were a lot more comfortable (not just my butt). I will probably eventually install wider footrests but this is more for comfort when standing. The only other advice I would offer is if you haven't replaced the front fender with the new updated one yet I would do that before your trip as the original can break without warning and really mess up your trip. As an aside i have also run heated jacket, gloves and boots along with the BMW heated grips, GPS and cell phone charger without any problems. With all this stuff on high the bike will only discharge if the brake light is on and the cooling fan is on and the rpm are low all at the same time. Good luck with your trip you'll have a blast I'm sure.

[studioe6]

The tall seat is much better... add another positive to the pile!

Originally Posted by AKRoadrunner

So it looks sounds like the seat is definitely worth the investment. I've seen it for sale on the A&S Cycles website I'll have to order one up. I'm also considering buying one of those throttle locks, which would be great on long stretches of highway. Lastly, I think I will get some handlebar risers at the very least to make it easier to stand.

Canada to Mexico....Now thats a good long ride. How long did that take you? I'm a working rider, so I wont have an unlimited amount of time seeing I also have to take time off earlier in the summer. Although, I don't wanna make it a rush trip. My bike only has about 3,000 miles on it so far. Living in Alaska the season is not very long at all : /

Thanks for the responses and feedback!

[Durden]

+1 on the tall seat - saved my a$$ and knees.