R1200GS Forum banner

New Member

662 views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  Candubrain 
#1 ·
G'Day from the Land Down Under,
First of all thanks for allowing me to join the discussion board from what I have read I am joining an elite crew with a vast amount of knowledge. Now to the introductions, I am Shane, a retired Aviation Engineer, who has had an interest in anything mechanical from as far back as I can remember mostly centred around Bikes and Cars. I have been restoring Bikes and Cars from about 13 years and have owned some very unique vehicles in my time and have a small collection of 15 bikes and 5 cars. I recently acquired a 2004 BMW R1200GS from a deceased estate and am in the process of preparing the bike for registration. The previous owner was a well known Australian Mechanical Engineer by the name of Don Halpin. Don was the protege of Phil Irving of the Irving Vincent fame. The bike has a bit of history so I am trying to get everything right, not only for myself but for Dons memory. Don did practical maybe not pretty but it was sure practical, Don would of been the guy at a race track that got the Bike/Car going again where everyone else would have written it off. A lot of my work is finishing off the mods that Don started before his untimely death.
I am under no illusions that if I take the GS off road I will come off so I have been making the bike a bit more robust to plan for the inevitable slow speed drop. The bike came with crash bars so I have added upper ones to suit, Don had not completed the fitment of driving lights so that is almost complete. I believe in if I am riding at night I want to be seen so I had a set of lights here and they have found their way onto the bike as well and I have high intensity LED brake lights fitted.
The standard tool kit was missing from the bike so I have been scrolling the internet for any specialist tools but so far I have seen what is required and made my own, it worked out cheaper and I really enjoy making these sorts of things. My wife says I am the typical Engineer I will spend 10hrs and $10 to fix a $10 item but I did it myself and sometimes I even improve it.
One of the things I am half way through is a rear wheel stand using the hole in the diff to support the bike during wheel removal. Maybe it is not necessary on the normal bike but Don lowered the bike, shortened the centre stand and lengthened the side stand, when on the centre stand the rear wheel is less than an inch off the ground. I am no giant so the height suits me for now but I can see once I have a few more miles on it, it may grow back to a normal height. Don had another set of front and rear shocks of standard height there for fitment when I see fit but I am happy for now.
That's enough from me for now so I'll sign off but I will add photos at a later stage.
Cheers
Shane
 
See less See more
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top