The F800GS:
I blame Ewan Mcgregor and Charlie Boorman for my first choice of steed, the BMW R1200GSA. Having travelled by bus, car, plane, boat and foot in the past, the thought of travelling by motorcycle was thrust upon me by watching ‘The Long Way Round’ and ‘The Long Way Down’ series. These guys managed to travel from country to country with relative ease, albeit with a few hassles at borders. They were given BMW R1200GSAs to ride, so having no experience of motorcycle travel, I assumed that these must be the bikes for the job. I had to own one.
I found an immaculate example on eBay, a four year old bike in red. With a fist full of my hard earned cash we set of for Essex on a chilly February morning to collect it from a dealer, riding it back in heavy snow. Over the following months at great expense, I transformed my two wheeled thing of beauty with all the things I would need for long distance overland travel, so I thought. Most of which proved to be nothing more than pretty trinkets, the reality is any bike can do the job with little if any modifications.
Our trip around Europe in July 2012 taught me two things; firstly this is a very capable bike and second, that it’s VERY HEAVY! I have managed to fall off a couple of times – both stationary but had to take all the luggage off to pick it back up again. A friend of mine summed it up well, ‘That bike will dictate where you go, you will not dictate where it goes.’ Go figure. Our trip in 2014 will be a mix of off road and tarmac, I needed a lighter bike. Namely, it had to go!
My current bike is a 2008 BMW F800GS. As there is no such thing as the perfect bike for overland travel, I opted for this bike because it’s the bike of my heart.
The first thing to say about this bike is that it’s quite a lot lighter than the BMW R1200GSA – very noticeable in the bends with a lively engine and a top speed on par with the R1200GSA is loads of fun. The two complaints I have with the bike though are the iron hard seat and the less than useless screen. The bike already had a custom belly pan, a set of heavy duty engine bars when I bought it so saved a few quid there, but I needed to do something about the screen and the seat. I settled for an Airhawk Seat which is essentially an air cushion that sits on top of the seat, which gives me about twice the distance before my ass goes to sleep. The problem with the screen was solved with a Touratech fairing which is not cheap but does a great job of protecting me from most of the wind, I also think it looks great. The bike has recently been fitted with a set of Metalmule panniers that are made from 2mm thick aluminium and look up to the job.
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Pearl and the F800GS
Lisa’s support team:
Pearl
Lisa’s bike is a 2001 BMW F650GS having started out with 27,000 miles on the clock. Lisa spotted this factory-lowered bike on eBay at the right price so she took a chance. To be honest it looked better in the pictures than in the flesh, but with a few cans of spray paint and three days of hard graft I transformed her from an ugly duckling into a swan. Lisa finds her oodles of fun to ride but I personally find it a little under powered for my taste. I fitted Oxford heated grips because the originals had expired, plus a Touratech radiator guard. As well as an additional sump guard over the original belly pan and a set of Metalmule panniers.
She believes that more often than not, Pearl saves her from herself. She’s an extremely forgiving motorcycle, a great starter touring bike and I know Lisa adores her as much as anything else. Fusing like some mythical Greek creature: half woman, half motorcycle…or something like that!
Miles
Miles is our latest addition to the Two Wheeled Nomad team. His full name is Monkey Miles, and is the big bro of Monklet, who sadly went for unwilling walkies off the container ship, when we were in dock at Dakar in Africa on our way over.
September 9, 2013 at 9:34 pm
Nice write up guys! You already have quite a bit of content here. I enjoyed reading about the bikes. David
September 10, 2013 at 6:58 pm
Thanks David
September 9, 2013 at 9:35 pm
Nice write up guys! Looking forward to your articles
April 4, 2014 at 10:59 pm
Hi guys just here with Terry. Saw your trip with the dog Bob. Great camera work and great blog. Stay safe and Terry says hi.
Adrienne
April 5, 2014 at 6:45 pm
Thanks Adrienne, we are having a great time here in Patagonia, it’s beautiful. Tell dad we will ring him when he gets back home.
May 2, 2014 at 4:10 pm
Good choice the F800GS. I traded my 1150GSA in for an F800GS and am very happy with it. Changed the seat aswell for a Touratech, but haven’t changed the windscreen (yet). Good luck and lots of fun on your trip, Jules
May 2, 2014 at 8:22 pm
Thanks Jules and enjoy the F800.
May 8, 2014 at 11:23 am
I’m with you on the r1200gsa,love the bike to bit’s for mile munching its the dog’s danglies, but boy is it hard work on the soft stuff !
Have you fitted bigger fuel tanks ?
Live the dream,
Vernon
May 19, 2014 at 9:01 pm
Hi Vernon, thanks for the message – great to hear from you. No, we haven’t fitted bigger fuel tanks but have acquired a couple of extra fuel canisters for peace of mind when going rural for miles on end. Know what you mean about the soft stuff, Jason’s F800GS is not exactly light…hey ho! Cheers Lisa & Jase
June 11, 2014 at 2:40 am
I think you’ve chosen well in bikes-I have a GS1200-great bike but a handful off ride.Good luck with your adventure and I look forward to your updates.If I may ask what kind of a daily budget,if any,are you sticking too?
June 11, 2014 at 11:21 am
Hi Ralph,
We are trying to stick to a budget of 1000 pounds a month all though this is pretty tough in Argentina/Chile. Thanks for following.
Jason
June 26, 2014 at 7:29 pm
What a nice trip guys! All the best!! Regards from Valparaiso, Chile
July 25, 2014 at 1:48 am
You folks are contagious. All i want to do is ride :). Thanks for taking the time to include all of us in you travels.
July 25, 2014 at 1:50 am
You are quite welcome, glad you like our blog.
August 15, 2014 at 2:22 am
Thanks Mike, super of you to say so!
August 8, 2014 at 8:41 pm
have a safe and enjoyable trip.my heart rides with you
August 8, 2014 at 10:12 pm
Thanks so much Liam, moto hugs L&J
August 15, 2014 at 2:21 am
Thanks Liam, kind words L
December 31, 2014 at 3:03 pm
hi guys,looks like you are having a blast , re budget are you camping every night or b and b . I am in the process of planning a trip from uk Alaska and then south to chile , I have ridden around asia for two years , Thailand and Laos , I am looking at buying a BMW gs ,and there lies my dilemma , 1200gs adventure ,great bike but heavy , 800gs adventure great bike ,but runs on tubed tyres , 700gs nice bike, and as you say , most bikes today can do the job , re tubed tyres how do you do repunctures ,do you use slime in the tyres or finilec type foam or just wheel off repairs on roadside ,
best regards
gary
December 31, 2014 at 5:15 pm
Hey Gary, great to hear from you. Wow, great biking history! Would only say don’t get too bogged down with tyres, no drama to fix them by the roadside when you need to. If you go for tyres with inner tubes, carry a spare for front and back, that way you can quickly replace on the roadside and repair the old one at your leisure. The right bike? That’s very subjective and a toughy. Depends on what kind of riding you want to do, off road and, or tarmac? More of the former, go light and simple, a bike that a bush mechanic can fix. Prefer more road riding then perhaps opt for comfort over trail riding performance. Totally up to you although in our case, we both should’ve gone a lot lighter and smaller. Hey ho, you live and learn! Happy New Year, all the best L&J
December 31, 2014 at 7:07 pm
Hola , i hear what you say re tyres and bike size , makes you wonder why the 1200gs is so popular .
Are you guys camping on sites , if so are they ok , or wild camping . Are there b and b type places there ? And approcx cost , hopefully similar prices to Asia
Best regards and happy new yesr
Gary
December 31, 2014 at 9:24 pm
Hi Gary,
We use camp sites, hostels, B&B’s and wild camp. A hostel in Argentina per room for us is as little as 150 pesos
Regards and a happy new year.
Jason
January 11, 2015 at 1:19 pm
Cracking video Work Jason. Can I ask you what tyres you are using, rough mileage and ease of finding replacements? Cheers Steve
January 12, 2015 at 8:52 pm
Hi Steve,
The tyres we are currently using are Heidenau k60’s Really long lasting tyres, Lisa’s front tyre has 15000 miles on it and it’s only half worn. Tyres for our bikes are no problem to source if you don’t mind fitting whats available.
February 9, 2015 at 8:51 pm
Good feed back, thank you. I too always wanted a 1200GSA. Bought one, love it, but it too will have to go before I set off on the back roads of Africa. As you rightly said, too heavy to pick up, and a handful in the mud and sand. Although, I have just bought a Warn motorcycle winch, will report on its usefulness to pick it up and pull out of the mud etc.
March 31, 2015 at 9:47 pm
absolutely love ur adventures fatherest I ever road was from phoenix az to stugis south Dakota disabled now sure miss riding used to ride every chance I got (not enough was overroad truckdriver me and wife we ran about 20,000 miles plus a month.