Harleyrider, guess you know what your bike is, right? Not a harley at all but a collection of Euro parts brought together to sell to the armies.
The heart of the matter is the Rotax engine, a modern design with 4 valvehead, sohc,and full pressure lubercation with a filter.Good stuff built by a company with a good reputation. To their shame it has discontinued the air cooled 350-600 verision.
My personal experience is with a Can-Am Sonic MX 500. I bought it back in 84 to ride with friends in the hills of Ky.and Oh. Most of them rode 2 stroke bikes and gave me greif about my 4stroker , I would just shake my head at them and say that 2 strikes would never catch on!
I rode the C-A in the woods for 15 years and never had to push it out. Keep up with oil changes check the cam belt tension occasionally and you should go far.

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ride,smile,repeat as nessasary

I like the last sentence, meant to be kind of a put down I guess.
Water off a ducks back mate.
I expected similar replies before I even posted my thoughts.
The guy who started the thread wanted opinions, so I gave my honest one.
Like I already said, the singles vs twins debate could be debated endlessly.
You just have a different opinion thats all.
Doesn't make you right sport.
Not saying I am right either, just my personal experiences and observations.
I've been riding on and off road in Oz and many other countries for over 25 years now so I guess I've picked up a minor bit of knowledge here and there.
You know of singles that have lasted over a 100 thousand kilometers, almost trouble free. I do not.
You know of air cooled Boxers that have required major work, yeah so do I.
But I know of a lot of Boxers that have not as well.
I'm not going to argue about it.
If you took my post as a personal affront...well that's just too bad mate.
One can always expect differing opinions from ones own on Internet forums, If you can't chill don't chat.
There's no need to make personal observations about other posters.
I made observations about certain kinds of bikes, not the people who ride them.

LMAO mate...yeah I was checking out wheel sizes this morning.
I already realised the tires are a bit on the small side, my thought is with the longer travel suspension I'll obviously be able to change tire size.

Luckily my mate Brett has a brand spanking new GS 500, unfortunate he bought the one with the new fairing, he's not that keen to have me ripping bits and pieces off it to see if this or that works in regards to my design ideas. Odd but true.

I'll get back to you as the project progresses.

Later: Jaq.

Jag,
Yeah, I will be waiting to read of your progress. Nigel must be a nice person for hosting so many MC travellers over the years, but the attack sentence was not necessary. He must have had a bad hair day. We all do at times so no big deal I hope.
I have been pricing used GS500s over the weekend and there are some good deals out there, at least there seems to be. I have a terrible problem in my life and that is everything to do with motorcycles. Its a disease that I don't want a cure for. Ever since I read your comments about this bike and modification possibilities, I have had a high fever. I seem to always have some sort of riding bug.
Keep me posted.
Later
Terry

Well I'm thinking with a 20 litre petrol tank it's not really needed to install an aftermarket one with more fuel capacity, unless one intends to go right off the beaten track. Some people reckon they get up to 360 kilometers before reserve, I'm prepared to believe that seeing as how I get almost 300 kays out of my 650 Boxer Twin.
Those 17 wheels obviously limit dual purpose tire options, and certainly proper off road tires. So I think a larger wheel size is a must.
It would be nice to discover that the suspension from some other off roader would just slip right on hey? I don't think that's going to be the case however...lol.
I may just email Suzuki Australia and ask them their thoughts, failing that I've got a couple of mates who are mechanics at dealerships, bound to be a solution, just have to work on the six P princible.
I'll pm you my email address and we can continue this thread in private so as not to disrupt this one.
We can post up our findings at a later date in a new thread.
Perhaps Suzuki has overlooked another option for thier GS 500 motor?
Could be the start of something big...lol.
My mate's Brett brand new GS is very smooth, I rode it yesterday at about 120 kph for some kilometers, feels like the engine will sit at that speed quite comfortably all day.
Plenty of used GS's around, I am now looking at picking up a second hand one, say a 2000 to 2004 model for between $3000 to $4000 Oz. Many people buy them as a first bike to learn on then go up to something larger, which is great for guys like us.
There is a web site for GS lovers at www.gstwins.com
A wide array of info there, I already asked, no one had converted one into an off roader/adventure bike, but many there are also intrigued by the idea.
I'll keep you informed Terry.
Just discovered I have to make 15 posts before being able to pm...you can contact me at my username at yahoo.com
Make sure you put something in the title so I know it's you, otherwise it goes straight into spam and gets deleted.
Ride safe.
Cheers: Jaq.

I'll do it Jag and we'll see what happens. Meanwhile I just took my 97 BMW F650ST to a mc mechanic yesterday to cure its backfiring. I tried messing around with the idle screw and tight some bolts on the exhaust but to no avail.
Later
Terry

Hi Terry. If you find a fix for the backfire, let me know. I have two (F650 Funduro and F650GS) and the Funduro has always done it, even though I have tried all sorts of fixes. That one, very surprisingly for a single(!!) has done a sniff under 140,000km with only a cam chain at 80,000km, and a waterpump about 4 months ago. It had the head off when the cam-chain was done for a look-see but needed no work. The first 70,000km was for a hire company so it has had all sorts of riders.

Regards

Nigel in NZ

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The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with . -- 2200 BC Egyptian inscription

Really? So the bmw GS series (all with 17 wheels) cannot get "proper off road" tyres?

Which tyres are you thinking off? Possibly ones that would only do a limited distance on a world tour?

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Regards Frank Warner
motorcycles BMW R80 G/S 1981, BMW K11LT 1993, BMW K75 G/S

Nigel,
You bet I will. I took it to a local HD mechanic and as of yesterday he seems perplexed. He called a BMW shop in Tallahassee, Florida to get some advise so I'm on "wait & see" today. I have a feeling I will be riding it down to Tallahassee (2 hrs) and leaving it with them for a couple of weeks. I am thinking of replacing the chain and sprockets anyway. With only 8020 miles on the 97 ST some of the teeth allready have a fine edge or pointed. At the 6000 mile service they it ran so well it didn't appear to need a valve adjustment, but now I am thinking maybe it does afterall. I'll get back to you.
Thanks
Terry

Nigel,
I just a few minutes ago rode my 97 650ST back to my office from the mechanic's shop. NO BACKFIRING. NO POP POP POP. The first thing he did was to make sure there was no intake leak, which there wasn't. Next he checked for leaks in the exhaust, loose bolts, etc., and all was good. Next he starting adjusting the IDLE MIXTURE SCREEW. 1/4 turn, 1/2 turn, 3/4, 1, 1 1/2 turn, and finally 2 turns did the job. He backed off to see if 1 3/4 turn would, but there was still slight popping. Two turns was the answer.

Nigel, all of this information can be found on the BMW Chain Gang web site, under FAQ's. Go to FAQ's, choose Classic site, then look under "backfiring".
I printed this all out for the mechanic in case he needed it, and he said the info was wonderful.

I hope this helps you with your problem.
Later
Terry

Good on you for pointing that out Frank...I was looking around at what size tire jap trial bikes and motocross bikes use and completly forgot the GS 1200 uses a 17 tire.
Stock tire sizes are 110/80 19 front and 150/70 17 rear.

I'm still wondering if the mags on the GS 500 will take much punisment off road?
I know mags take a hell of a lot more abuse than most people realise but obviously the preffered option would be spokes.
Something else I'll have to look into.
I shall continue to research.
It would be nice to find an off road spoked wheel of the same size that would just slip right in...

Jag
I once jumped a curb to avoid a car, went airborne, and landed in giant hedgebush. Missed a pinetree to my right by inches. Bent the mag wheel enough that it had to be replaced. I was amazed at the damage for such a minor incident. Spokes all the way.
Terry

Was thinking more of the R100GS R100GSPD R80GS and R80GSPS... 21 on the front, 17 on the rear.. 130s IIRC. Think a 150 might be a bit large for a 550?

I know that the DR650 uses 17 rears .. but then you don't like that bike.

Again I ask, What tyres are you thinking of?

__________________
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Regards Frank Warner
motorcycles BMW R80 G/S 1981, BMW K11LT 1993, BMW K75 G/S

Terry...yeah I hit a bit of raised road surface once, like an edge, and blew a tire and bent a rim on the Kawa LTD. I was going faster than I should have been however.
The old R 650 Beemer has mags and I've taken it places it just wasn't meant to go, they have held up superbly.

Frank...I have not looked into actual brands of tires as yet,
Do you have a suggestion for dual purpose tires that will fit on the front and the rear of the GS 500?

Obviously a dual sport pattern would be best, the question is will anyone make one that will fit on the front of the 500? I dare say the rear tire will be easier because it's wider.

I think I need to find if longer travel suspension will be possible first, then once I've got that sorted I can pursue wheel and tire options.
My mate who works at a Suzuki dealers near me is keen to explore the GS 500 Adventure idea, but he's just left for a few weeks holiday up on the Gold Coast.
He did say maybe we should leave the suspension alone and just look for dual purpose tires and raise the height of the front mudguard.
He also pointed out that blokes have toured the world on every kind of road bike imaginable. And I agree with that, but as you know it's almost winter here so it gives me something to muck about with over the next few months.
The research costs nothing after all.
It would be nice to design a bike that would be capable of doing really well off road, as opposed to a bike that it's possible to take off road.
I thought about contacting Mick Roony up north in Lismore, as you may know he has built some unusual off road touring/racing bikes over the years.
Actually converting a road bike to an all roads tourer is fairly simple if you are extremely intimate with the specifications needed and know which parts are compatible with what bike. My old Kawa LTD was much simpler because it already came with longer fork legs, and had the simple dual rear shocks on the back. In those days most bikes had spoked wheels also, I simply upgraded to a custom spoked wheel built for me by a guy who used to have a spoke repair/ wheel replacement business in Peakhurst.
I know I have only scratched the surface with my ideas so far but I shall continue to pursue this project.
Just because I don't like the DR 650 does not mean I would not pinch the wheel and tires if they turn out to fit on a GS 500...LMAO.
As an aside, I've been looking up on the Net the KLE 500 (uses the ER 500, GPZ 500 motor) and you know apart from a few water pump malfuntions (after a goodly amount of miles and normally on pre owned models) I cannot say I have found any major problems reported by owners on a regualr basis.
Corrosion is a bit of a problem in the UK, due to the fact they salt the roads in winter. Everyone says you have to use lots of Solvol spray (whatever that is?) The tank could be bigger seems to be the only complaint, heaps of parts around because the motor is used in the other two models.
For someone who wanted a ready to go twin cylinder dual sport bike I think the KLE might fit the bill perfectly.
I lament the fact we never officially got the Africa Twin here, I would dearly have liked to tour on one of those. The Super Tenere did not last long either.
If anyone else has ideas about the GS 500 Adventure project of mine, feel free to chime in.
Cheers: Jaq.

Jag,

This is getting very interesting. Keep us posted. I am not super mechanical so I have a dependence on riders like yourself. I will be asking around though and I have posted on the GS500 site seeking information, so if I come up with any brainstorms you will be the first to know.
Don't give up man.
Terry