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 Project GS In the same way as I started "Project 90" this is a "blog" for my BMW F800GS as I document the various changes and modifications I make to turn it from a very capable bike to a full blown overland tourer.
Purchased in September 2009, the bike started life as a completely standard 2009 model year F 800 GS.
The only addition from new was a set of BMWs own panniers (as seen above), these were part of a special deal from the dealers SBW Motorrad, in Hertford.
Not the first choice for adventure touring as they are not as strong as the alloy panniers available from the likes of Touratech or Metal Mule but are very versatile having their unique system to expand to almost double their capacity. And of course they were free!
Sat Nav
I looked at bike mounts for my Road Angel Adventurer 7000 Sat Nav but wasn't keen on their bulky design or price. The 7000 is not designed as a bike unit but as it also runs OS Mapping and is designed for carrying with you away from a car, it is waterproof. I then chanced upon a universal mount for the standard "four post" fitting that the 7000 cradle uses in Maplins for less than £10 so decided to try it. It fits fine except for the fact that the power cable couldn't plug in as it fouled the handlebar.
So after a bit of thinking I extended the mount. The mounting plate normally screws straight to the bar clamp but I fitted a longer bolt and then used a plastic knurled nut that I found in my box of bits, as a spacer:
 As can be seen, it looks like it was designed to look like that!
The power cable needs an adapter to use the auxillary DIN socket on the front of the "tank" so I needed a solution to keep all the cable out of the way and keep it weatherproof. This was achieved with:
Kriega luggage
A tank adapter from Kriega that allows their bags to be fitted as a tank bag. This took a small amount of adapting to connect round the head stock at the front and fitted at the rear to two loops intended for the standard BMW tank bag. It was necessary to reverse the fittings on the adapter so it is effective back to front, this prevents it from covering over the ignition switch and auxillary power socket mounted at the front of the "tank". It is actually an air filter and battery cover, as the real tank is mounted under the seat for a lower centre of gravity. Here is a Kreiga US10 being used, I also have a US5 if I want a small bag:
Metal Mule extended screen
 As can be seen from this photo, the standard screen is quite low and at 6' 1" it means the slipstream hits me full in the face. I had dried a demonstrator with the optional tall screen but this comes with a completely different mounting bracket and although it makes a bit of a difference, it's not much considering it costs a whopping £250.
Instead I went for a 100mm higher screen from Metal Mule that uses the satandard mountings and retails for a much more acceptable £80.
 As can be seen the difference in height is considerable.
Metal Mule Crash bars
Having used Metal Mule kit in the past on my Yamaha XT 600, I went for a set of their crash bars, normally £230 they were on special offer at £150 bringing them down to the price of alternatives. However despite the exellent quality, there was a problem with the alignment as can be seen in the photo:
 There's no way the mounting bolt is going in there!
Apparently there have been a few like this in the last production batch. Metal Mule were excellent in their service, contacting me as soon as the new bars were available and shipping them to me and collecting the old ones. They fitted in no time at all and this time fitted perfectly:
Page last updated 31st July 2010
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