Spouseafying my bike

My wife has decided now that our daughter is old enough to be self sufficient that she would like to come riding.  Now this in my book is great as i get to enjoy my riding trips with my wife, arbiet a little slower.  A bit of bike fitness is being worked on but 3 things that really stood out for the suitability of my bike and to tour was the rear suspension 2 up loaded or lack of, the height of the rear pegs and the top box hinge.

So i thought this might be a perfect opportunity to slip new bike in, the contenders where,

1. Yamaha FJR 1300
$29,000 ride away nah that aint gunna happen
2. Kawasaki Versys 1000
good price well packaged but still soggy suspension
3. GSX S1000F
yes its an amazingly good value package but still a bit too sporty for those longer trips and it looks like Sam the Eagle from the Muppets
4. 2nd hand Ducati multistrata
yep it ticks all the boxes but maintenance, electrics and that 50k engine issue concerns me
5 BMW R1200 RS
that gets me every time but price, oil leaks and being a slave to dealer crosses it off
6 Motor Guzzi Stelvio 1200
Love this bike but crap tyre choice
7. Yamaha MT09 Tracer
wow what a cracker of a bike but two up with luggage it will definitely suffer from asthma on hills being only a 800

So back to me old faithful GSX1250FA, bang for buck its still the best value. So i bought a back rest for the top box, some ebay 40mm lowered rear footpegs and a Ikon 3610 shock with correct spring rate total cost under a $1000.

So now miss Tracy is very comfy look out world here comes the Colemans

Great to hear mate (much cheaper than a Spyder!). It will be interesting to see how the lowered pegs go - my RHS looks like it would rest on the muffler if it was lowered by a small amount.

I found I had to play around with the top box mounting ( tilt the box back a bit ) & I made a thinner pad for it because the pad I bought was too thick & Sue couldn't sit comfortably . Half your luck if your set up worked first up . A lambswool cover also made her sit a bit higher and gave a bit more leg room .

Ewok1958 wrote:Great to hear mate (much cheaper than a Spyder!). It will be interesting to see how the lowered pegs go - my RHS looks like it would rest on the muffler if it was lowered by a small amount.

Dave the pegs actuallt sit a bit wider and can rotate 360 Degrees as per the pics









for some reason the pics are upside down from servimg but you get the info

Good to see 2 up with the Mrs is working for you, personally I've found "daughterfying" my bike, much quieter, much less stressful and far more rewarding, the daughter likes it for all of the same reasons

Jimcoleman wrote:
BMW R1200 RS
that gets me every time but price, oil leaks and being a slave to dealer crosses it off

Tell me more about these oil leaks?

This is currently on the top of my "next bike list"

Chook wrote:Good to see 2 up with the Mrs is working for you, personally I've found "daughterfying" my bike, much quieter, much less stressful and far more rewarding, the daughter likes it for all of the same reasons

Here here, When I'm out on my bike that's my time alone.
Once my youngest leaves home I'll be out one weekend a month, on my own or occasionally with mates.

Well done James on sharing your leisure with Tracy. Personally I'd rather ride solo but it would be nice to share occasionally. I've offered but Melody isn't into it. I've even offered to buy a Harley tractor 

Jim would you have a web address for these pegs?

Looking at them I wonder would a set of front f/rest rubbers from a Norton Commando fit over them.

madmax wrote:

Jimcoleman wrote:
BMW R1200 RS
that gets me every time but price, oil leaks and being a slave to dealer crosses it off

Tell me more about these oil leaks?

This is currently on the top of my "next bike list"

The final drive can't be overfilled with oil as it will blow out though the oilseal if its overfilled or the wrong grade oil is used, not cleaning the rear wheel where the balance weights are placed or indeed applying said weights in a proper fashion, and generally not following the torque values in various drain and fill plugs, reusing o=rings or crushwashers or gaskets.

It seems BMW don't offer great after vehicle care once the warranty is expired, maybe they want you to buy another new vehicle.

If you do your own work on these bikes and apply all settings according to the book, you can avoid oil leaks.

Baz wrote:

madmax wrote:

Jimcoleman wrote:
BMW R1200 RS
that gets me every time but price, oil leaks and being a slave to dealer crosses it off

Tell me more about these oil leaks?

This is currently on the top of my "next bike list"

The final drive can't be overfilled with oil as it will blow out though the oilseal if its overfilled or the wrong grade oil is used, not cleaning the rear wheel where the balance weights are placed or indeed applying said weights in a proper fashion, and generally not following the torque values in various drain and fill plugs, reusing o=rings or crushwashers or gaskets.

It seems BMW don't offer great after vehicle care once the warranty is expired, maybe they want you to buy another new vehicle.

If you do your own work on these bikes and apply all settings according to the book, you can avoid oil leaks.

Thanks Baz, So worth keeping on the top of my list?

G'day it looks good, do you have the link to the pegs, I had a look on ebay and could not see them for the pillion.

Thanks

Ebay GSX1250FA 40mm lowered rear footpegs

I still don't understand why you thought having Tracey's knees behind her ears was a problem.

#Tag wrote:I still don't understand why you thought having Tracey's knees behind her ears was a problem.

Considering most of time it is only a few minutes, she found anything longer was stretch