Airhead for the adventure

[hootch]

I have that a "74" R75/6 that I got super cheap. It runs, but will need a some TLC. How can I set this up for dirt/long haul adventuring considering my 29" inseam? HPN's are nice, but they are super tall! Does anyone know of a way to get 8-9 inches of suspension travel and still have a seat height of under 32"? I currently ride a 02 1150GS, so am no stranger to heavy tall bikes. I'm hoping to make this bike have good suspension, reliable, and at least 60 hp. Hopefully the day will come when I can take this bike and see the world. This will be a 2-3 year project as I'm finishing my Bachelors right now. Lots of time to gather parts. I just need some ideas of frame modifications or replacements that will work for my application. There are some awesome bikes in the dirt bike section here, but I couldn't touch the damn ground with them! Thanks

[hardwaregrrl]

Check this thread out for some ideas, as you will soon be bombarded with opinions. There are a lot of things that can be done if you have the budget. My personal opinion, get the bike running like a top and throw some dual sport tires on it, then ride the holy shite out of it. You've got to figure out what you need by exceeding the bikes limitations. It's cheaper that way No way to keep it on the short side if you want to increase your suspension travel. You can always dish out the seat. Good luck and keep us in the loop.....and post a pic of the bike.!

[Rob Farmer]

Something like this wouldn't be too hard to do. Husky front end and an extended swinging arm



or

I think that this was the laverda built prototype of the original G/s looks a very useable machine.

[Beater]

Originally Posted by hootch

Does anyone know of a way to get 8-9 inches of suspension travel and still have a seat height of under 32"?

Yep ... it's a DRZ400, made by Suzuki.



My '85 Monolever has 9" up front and about 7" in the rear ... and my seat height is at 34". I removed an inch of foam, and designed my own rear swingarm. It will be very difficult to get 8-9 inches of travel without doing some serious frame mods. Now, you can get 5-7 inches of travel (still a great trail rider) without going big on the mods.

Edit: Meet the Dobber.

[Mark Manley]

It depends what you mean by long haul adventure, if you are talking about riding around the world I would suggest that you overhaul the bike and take it as it is. When in developing countries you will rarely be exceeding 50 or 60 mph so don't need 60 bhp, I have travelling in South America with a friend on his ex-police R80 twin shock and it went everywhere my GS went without a problem. Unless you partcularly want this style of bike a standard /6 will go anywhere with a pair of knobbly tyres and some GS handlebars.
Here is a link to a write up about a friend of mine who rode around the world on her R60/6 in the 1980's which may be of interest.

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/fe...d/viewall.html

[Prutser]

Originally Posted by Mark Manley

It depends what you mean by long haul adventure, if you are talking about riding around the world I would suggest that you overhaul the bike and take it as it is. When in developing countries you will rarely be exceeding 50 or 60 mph so don't need 60 bhp, I have travelling in South America with a friend on his ex-police R80 twin shock and it went everywhere my GS went without a problem. Unless you partcularly want this style of bike a standard /6 will go anywhere with a pair of knobbly tyres and some GS handlebars.
Here is a link to a write up about a friend of mine who rode around the world on her R60/6 in the 1980's which may be of interest.

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/fe...d/viewall.html

And for a long time she has been traveling together with a good friend of mine on his standard 75/6.
That bike did 400.000 km on that trip.

[bikerfish]

Originally Posted by Mark Manley

It depends what you mean by long haul adventure, if you are talking about riding around the world I would suggest that you overhaul the bike and take it as it is. When in developing countries you will rarely be exceeding 50 or 60 mph so don't need 60 bhp, I have travelling in South America with a friend on his ex-police R80 twin shock and it went everywhere my GS went without a problem. Unless you partcularly want this style of bike a standard /6 will go anywhere with a pair of knobbly tyres and some GS handlebars.
Here is a link to a write up about a friend of mine who rode around the world on her R60/6 in the 1980's which may be of interest.

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/fe...d/viewall.html

exactly. there's a difference between building a dirt bike and building a bike that will travel the world. I think what you want is something bulletproof that will run like a tank. I'd work on bracing the frame, subframe, build good luggage brackets, bashplate,etc. a good pair of modern heavy duty shocks, fork rebuild and dualsport tires and that bike will go damn near anywhere. A dirt bike isn't always an adventure bike.
as for the mechanicals, go through the engine, compression check, etc. get to know that bike like the back of your hand, know how to take it apart using the tools you will be carrying. have the tranny rebuilt, new bearings, shift spring,etc, the tranny is the weak link on these bikes. upgrade the charging system, and make sure the starter is good. do a total rebuild on the carbs, and carry a spare rebuild kit, it doesn't take up any room. as for the ignition system, I'd leave the standard points, and simply carry a spare set, last thing I would want is for some fancy elec ignition to go up in smoke in east bumfuck, points work, and can be easily replaced. like said above, your not gonna be worried with absolute performance, BUT you will want the bike to be as bulletproof and sturdy and you can make it.
keep us posted on your progress.
while I have a garage of bikes, and usually ride my r100r/gs bastard, and plan on getting a new wee strom, it would be my trusty 78 /7 that would be bike I'd choose to do a trip such as yours, and it would get all the mods I've mentioned above, and a bunch I'm sure I'm forgetting right now!

[chasbmw]

Originally Posted by Mark Manley

It depends what you mean by long haul adventure, if you are talking about riding around the world I would suggest that you overhaul the bike and take it as it is. When in developing countries you will rarely be exceeding 50 or 60 mph so don't need 60 bhp, I have travelling in South America with a friend on his ex-police R80 twin shock and it went everywhere my GS went without a problem. Unless you partcularly want this style of bike a standard /6 will go anywhere with a pair of knobbly tyres and some GS handlebars.
Here is a link to a write up about a friend of mine who rode around the world on her R60/6 in the 1980's which may be of interest.

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/fe...d/viewall.html

I agree with mark, I travelled around the world in the 70s and 80s 2 up, on stock road BMWs, the only modifications were koni's on the rear, harder springs up front, thick base gaskets to lower the compression and electronic ignition. Not many real problems and lots of dirt roads. In those days dual sport tyres did not really exist, Dunlop K70s were about the only choice. Roads around rhe world might be better now, but you will still spend much of your time under 60mph, so economy and low speed performance will be important. By the time you have added panniers and stuff all that lovely long suspension stuff will be just farkles.

[DiabloADV]

Long suspension is really about speed -- it has trickled down onto civilian bikes from the race crowd. The faster you want to go on rough terrain, the more travel you need. If you slow down and enjoy the ride, you don't need 8" of suspension. You say you want to "see" the world, not "race" the world. So...see it.

[Rob Farmer]

Theres a German Lady, Brigit Schuenemann , who rides a 60/5. she's ridden Africa, South america and a lot of other places on a pretty standard machine.

I can't seem to find any decent pictures of the bike but theres part of an article here - http://www.adventuremotorcycle.com/i...s/page0044.pdf

kinda puts the blinged up monster traily thing into perspective?

[Mark Manley]

Here is another of Birgit with partner Sam, again it does not show her bike very well but suffice to say it went everywhere Sam's GS did on their travels together.

There are more photos of both bikes and riders here. http://www.sam-manicom.com/photos/#!lightbox[402]/7/

[bikerfish]

don't let the R1200gs guys see those pics, some of them think they invented adv touring!

[bikerfish]

not to derail the thread, but does anyone have any substitutes for dirt bike handlebars instead of gs bars? bmw seems to want a few bars of gold for a set of handlebars, while I can get a set of dirt bike bars for 20-25 bucks. yeah, I know gonna have to grind em down a bit for the controls, but 25 bucks compared to 162 bucks????? The bmw execs must want to drive mercedes!

I like the bend and height of gs bars, what dirt bike bend would be similar? lots of modern dirt bikes have rather flat bars that won't be comfortable for me, and yes, I already have risers, I run a heinrich tank that puts me about 4 inches further back in the seat.

[Airhead Wrangler]

Originally Posted by bikerfish

I like the bend and height of gs bars, what dirt bike bend would be similar?

There are a few dirtbike bars that have that much rise, but generally ATV bars are a cheaper substitute and have plenty of rise.

[chasbmw]

Originally Posted by bikerfish

don't let the R1200gs guys see those pics, some of them think they invented adv touring!

1978 R80, somewhere in Peru 1981




Prepping R90/6 in Australia