Let’s have some fun with the silver accent trim on the front of the 1200gs with Plastidip.
Before:
After:
Ignore the pannier tape, of course, just playing with the front trim here. Could be a keeper.
The tipping point arrived after a drizzly morning commute: I dismounted the 1200GS, hefted it up on the center stand, and my gloved hand came off the frame with new layer of road spray that spread to my clothes. A little bit of wet scrappy dirt by itself is no big deal to a GS rider (right?), the wet Seattle roads were building a grime layer on suit and machine, and it was time to investigate added fender protection.
“Support innovation, buy the original”
After a bit of industry research, I realized that the fender protection product segment is occupied by an innovator specializing in BMW twins, and a lower priced product with virtually the same specs. The decision point for me was easy: I believe in supporting innovation in the industry, as well as design originality, much like a Kickstarter project. So I went with the MachineArt Moto front/back fender combo.
Front side
The front fender extension is called the Advant 12, and adds a little more than 5 inches to the back side of the front fender to reduce the spray coming off the front wheel. It installs in about 5 minutes with 3 clips and a Torx screwdriver.
Back side installation with a Jesse luggage high pipe mount
I have the Jesse Odyssey II with regular mounts, which means that the left side mount overlaps with a key anchor position on the MudSling MAX.
After a quick consult with Andrew @ MachineArt Moto, I decided to carve out the overlapping segment with a Dremel.
I performed a few back and forth fit/cut iterations before the left side lined up snugly. I attached the two upper screws, zip ties on the bars, and examined the clearance between the extension and the Heidenau K60 tire…about a quarter inch clearance while on center stand, no rubbing while on side stand.
Let’s ride
As timing would have it, the next day featured another drizzly commute, so I was able to get an early preview of the extensions in action:
Good stuff, glad I did this. Only wish I had these installed on my Alaska trip year, would have saved a bunch of Dalton calcium chloride from riding up on the machine.
Highly recommended.
The BMW 1200 GS sidestand is notorious for digging into soft dirt when deployed with a loaded bike, which can result in a bike tip over. Not fun putting a 600 pound bike back upright, even more of a hassle if you’re solo. There are several workarounds to prevent a sidestand dig in, ranging from free (coaster on a string) to $30-40 (manufactured metal plate extenders to surround the sidestand base plate).
Let’s go with the hockey puck approach – it’s cheap and easy. There are a few different ways to install, I went with the ‘sandwich’ approach:
1) Acquire a puck. They’re $3-5 new in a store, or perhaps you have one lying around.
2) Cut it in half like you would slice off a stick of salami, using a band saw or cross cut saw. No need to be super precise, helps if they are relatively even.
3) Select one half for the bottom, and the other for the top.
4) Center both pieces below and atop the base of the sidestand. Identify three locations where to bolt the pieces to each other without hitting the base. Drill holes through both pieces at the locations. This is what I used:
After drilling, taper the holes on the bottom of the lower pieces so that the machine screws will sit embedded within the puck. This allows the bike to rest on the puck and not the screws.
5) Attach screws through the bottom half of the puck, and align with the sidestand base. Place top half atop the sidestand, and fit the screws through the top half. This may take some juggling, as the screw hole size should be snug and tight with the screws.
6) Secure screws with washers and nuts. Tighten down. Add loc-tite.
There should be clearance between the puck and the center stand in up position as well as the muffler.
You’re good to go.
UPDATE July 2011: alas, this approach failed after a week of use. Cutting the puck in half reduced it’s durability, and it shortly broke apart. Moved over to the Touratech sidestand solution, works great.