Dirt_Mom's next bike - F 750 GS, 790, or 950 ??

Dirt_Dad

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Congratulations to Dirt Mom for her new bike. That's a beauty. My wife has a 2017 F700GS and the Madstad adjustable windscreen made a huge improvement in the wind noise and helmet buffeting she experienced with the stock windshield.

On the topic of BMW reliability. I just finished a 17 day, 2900+ mile ride in Alaska with Compass Expeditions. Our route included the Dalton Highway to Prudhoe and a number of other dirt routes. There were 13 BMW GS bikes (a mix of R1200, F700 and F800 bikes) and three V-Stroms in our group. Other than five flat tires on the Dalton Highway, none of the bikes missed a beat. After doing the Dalton Highway and the 70 miles of dirt into Kennecott from Chitina, I can tell you that those rental bikes take a beating. My rental bike ended the trip with over 30,000 miles on the clock so it definitely has had a hard life. The bikes were procured from Motoquest in Anchorage. At the end of the trip, I asked the shop manager at Motoquest which bikes in their rental fleet were the most reliable. The answer was, "hands down, the R1200GS and the 650 V-Strom." Obviously not a huge sample set but if a BMW is what I had my heart set on, I be less concerned about buying one than I might have been before.
Thanks, we have the Madstad on order. Long lead time right now. Hoping it makes it on time for the trip.

That's a lot of flat tires. When we did the Dalton back in 2017 it was the nicest dirt road we've ever ridden. Good feedback from the fleet manager. I can say after installing the crashbars yesterday the fit and finish on this bike is the best I've ever seen.
 
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You're going to have to update your sigfile for reflect the new addition to the stable. That is ALWAYS a good thing....

From what I have seen on my wife's two BMWs (and the 4 I have owned), the fit and finish are always very good to outstanding. The add-on parts are expensive but everything always bolts right up with no trimming or prying.

You are right about the Dalton having some good dirt. There were sections where my wife and I were doing 70 and thinking nothing of it. Other sections had potholes but nothing too bad. It was the paved sections that were bad. Big, sharp edged potholes, sinking blacktop, and other surface defects. I think I rode faster on the dirt (on average) than I did on the paved sections.
 

Dirt_Dad

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Sounds like the the Dalton has deteriorated since we were there two years ago tomorrow. There were some pot holes on the pavement that were easily missed. Overall the road was a great surprise at how easy it was.

I continue to be impressed with the design of this bike. Easiest bar riser install ever. I have to give them credit, it seems very well designed.

I do need to change the signature line, but not sure when I'll get the time for minor stuff. It's a real scramble getting this bike's parts ordered, installed, making a short 500 mile trip over the next two days, getting the bike in for the first service and auto oiler installed on Saturday (yes, I'm letting them do it), and planning the Colorado ride. Oh, doing the quarterly taxes... Heck, it even took me three interruptions to finish this post. The signature line may end up waiting until I sell DM's bike hopefully in August.
 

Dirt_Dad

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CW - I like it. My one garage does resemble a poor man's used motorcycle dealership at the moment. I remember telling Kevin (owner of Romney Cycles) I was building a second garage. He didn't ask the size, he just said. 'It's not big enough.' He wa so right.

FRR - we'll be out at the Ouray Tenere event on that Friday and Saturday night. Are you heading over to that? Otherwise I don't have any plans or know what day we'll be anywhere. Do want to see my green beret nephew and family in Colorado Springs at some point.
 

Dirt_Dad

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It's amazing what 2 weeks and a credit card can accomplish.





All set, and, for the first time since 2012, the Dirt family will take a trip that will not include 2 Super Teneres.

I have to admit, this bike is exceeding all expectations and trashing preconceived notions I had about BMW.

I'm going to have to start a new thread specifically for the F 750 GS. Now, if I could only find the time...
 

EricV

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I hope everything continues to go well. Get DM out riding that thing. :)
 

Nikolajsen

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Have a nice trip.
And I believe that the parralel twin from BMW, is not the worst they have made, and no problem with their failing shaft drive on this model;)
 

Dirt_Dad

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Yes, it's been deemed ready for the trip. Windscreen tuned to near perfection, oiler dripping away on the chain. Wife did an empty bags test run up to a sustained 80 MPH test run yesterday. Smooth as can be. Looking forward to seeing how this bike does on the trip.

Next up, spending the day getting my wife's Tenere back to a near stock condition to ready for sale. That includes removing her E-07s and putting the rear E-07 on my bike for the trip. That K-60 can be run out some other time.
 
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