Gentlemen Please .....

I'm with Molly dog on the electronics. Once they work they keep working. I think the Tenere could do exactly what a remanufactured BM could do at a third of the cost and without hassle from vacuum carbs and other old technology?

Are the R80GS's still running points? I very much doubt it although they are the simplest, easiest to fix option. Electronic ignition arrived in the 60's, matured in the 70's and has now been standard for 20 years. No complaints that you can't open the black box and see the problem? No, because something else fails first.

FI arrived in the 80's matured in the 90's and should now be 100%. I had hassle with an R1100R a few years back. The FI electronics were not the issue, it was bad wiring. That should be sorted now. Same thing when I used to work on trucks, 80's and 90's ABS/EBS/EPS/ECAS and the like were all let down by wiring designed for the 1950's and technicians who wouldn't unplug when they welded. Now I'd rather face a 2007 Mercedes with a lap top than try and work out what the heck is going on with a 1970's Foden with nothing but a multimeter and gauges.

I guess it's what you are comfortable with.

Acetylene lamps anyone? You can use them to weld and they work fine when the battery is dead

Andy

Prices might differ but I paid the same for my rebuild as the price is for a new Tenere.

As I see it the Tenere is one of the best bikes for overlanding, and I’m sure most people will rather buy a Tenere then a HPN. But still there are issues like:

-Only 10-15 kg lighter then a HPN
-Lack of power and torque
-Short range
-Not suited for two up
-Short suspension travel

But the Tenere can get you to the same places, you just have to take it easier on the rough stuff and carry some additional fuel.
Loads of people don’t drive much 2-up, they don’t rate good suspension and they are happy with limited range. Then the Tenere is an excellent choice! It’s also possible to modify the Tenere to fit some of your needs.



There have never been a R65/R80/R100GS which have used points. They all have a hall-based system.
But you can get what you like… Some people have rebuild it to points, some people leave it as it is, some people use programmable systems with or without a TPS, some people run dual plugs.
You can keep your stock system (or points) and install a new digital system. If the digital system fails you switch back to stock (or points) in a few minutes.
In fact you can have three independent ignitionsystems mounted at the same time (the original (or point), crankshaft-mounted and flywheel-mounted.)

That’s the way it should be, people should be able to decide what system that fit their needs.

It would be nice if we could just stick to talking about bikes...

Same can be said of electronic ignition. Tried and tested plus loads of secondhand spares available so you can carry the necessary with as replacements. I was really referring to the Can bus which just seems like a complicated way of replacing some wire. ABS brakes are another unnecessary complication.

Electronics used in the right places are a good thing (replacing moving parts like cotact breakers, advance wights and carb floats).

Guys
Do me a favour, and IMHO most people on this forum: leave the personal insults and handbag swinging out of it. I've deleted a couple of posts here because of the personal insults. If you don't like each other, fine: swap emails or phone numbers, or even more manly, why not meet up in person to discuss your personal differences.

Talk about bikes, excellent, even criticise each others views or how you think the other person came about them (eg picture allegedly copied from another website), but leave out the personal insults.

Your humble, ever obedient servant,
Chris, the Beemer lover

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Now CAN bus I totally agree with. When a truck is 20m long, has two brake systems, an engine, a gearbox, an air con system, sat nav, tracker, 2 suspension modules, a load control unit, the dashboard and whatever else they choose to fit you can save a lot of wire. 50kg of extra load or fuel saved will sell the truck over its competitors. On a 2m bike with lights and an engine it does seem rather silly. The advantage there is to the bike maker who can check for blow lamps end of line with a computer link rather than a physical inspection, plus they buy less copper and can copy software from their car divisions. A CAN bike should be cheaper :confused1:

ABS I don't quite agree with. If it fails, so what, you have the same brakes you did on a non-ABS bike (take the red bulb out if it annoys you). If its working on a wet commute it does saves lives. Before anyone repeats the garbage about stopping longer, you don't. I know, I designed systems, but thats a discussion for elsewhere. For a dedicated off road or race bike I can see why you'd remove it, but for most riders it does more good than harm. It can have off road uses but they are yet to be really exploited on a bike. I think the R1200GS has a type of ASR? To go further you need EBS, which on a bike means the sort of power system the K1200LT had/has. That can ruin your day when it fails, so probably is for road use only. In time they'll no doubt spread, but I want to see the military use EBS before I'd say it was ready for all uses. On bikes, best guess is this will be in about 2020.

Andy

HPN in Namibia
YouTube - Moments in Namibia.m4v

HPN and soft sand
YouTube - Macasar Loop.mov