BMW R90/6.. TAT G/S Tribute
- Thread starter Hurco550
- Start date
Well, I'm looking to change things up a bit on the old airhead. I've pretty well decided that I'm going to take this thing across parts of the Trans Atlantic Trail this coming June on a ride from Chattanooga to the Ozarks in Arkansas, so there are some modifications in order to do so. All the upcoming mods will be bolt on and none of the O.G. BMW parts will be cut, so I can go back to stock road mannered Beemer whenever I want. Most of what I'm doing will be roughly inspired by early r80 G/S models, though I will be keeping the twin rear shock configuration in leu of the monolever setup.
The mod list will be as follows:
-DR650 front end (Forks, triples 21" wheel) with heavy duty springs and a fender brace
-XT250 front fender (Been taking up space in the shop)
-R80 G/S oil pan. (Identical to my factory pan, but with threaded lugs to hold a skid plate
-Custom Made Skid Plate
-Custom bolt on subframe to accept ZRX1200R rear shocks, DR350 rear fender and heavier built for panniers
-Tusk aluminum panniers
-Luggage Rack
-Solo Seat
-Dual Sport Tires
-Fatbars and bar mounted M/C (Thanks @irk miller)
-Bark Busters
Less the tires and oil pan, most of what's listed above I already have in the shop, so it should be a reasonably budget friendly build.
Mechanically, the bike will remain the same. Not that nothing can/will go wrong, but I've ridden somewhere around 15,000 miles on this thing in the last few years, some of which were miles of dirt and gravel in stock form, so I think it'll be up to the task, especially with some tasteful and forward thinking mods.
I also picked up a R90/6 roller that will be a parts/ mockup machine for this project. Hoping that this thing will never really be off the road, just short projects fabbed on the spare frame then bolted onto the bike.
Here are a few inspirational pics.
The mod list will be as follows:
-DR650 front end (Forks, triples 21" wheel) with heavy duty springs and a fender brace
-XT250 front fender (Been taking up space in the shop)
-R80 G/S oil pan. (Identical to my factory pan, but with threaded lugs to hold a skid plate
-Custom Made Skid Plate
-Custom bolt on subframe to accept ZRX1200R rear shocks, DR350 rear fender and heavier built for panniers
-Tusk aluminum panniers
-Luggage Rack
-Solo Seat
-Dual Sport Tires
-Fatbars and bar mounted M/C (Thanks @irk miller)
-Bark Busters
Less the tires and oil pan, most of what's listed above I already have in the shop, so it should be a reasonably budget friendly build.
Mechanically, the bike will remain the same. Not that nothing can/will go wrong, but I've ridden somewhere around 15,000 miles on this thing in the last few years, some of which were miles of dirt and gravel in stock form, so I think it'll be up to the task, especially with some tasteful and forward thinking mods.
I also picked up a R90/6 roller that will be a parts/ mockup machine for this project. Hoping that this thing will never really be off the road, just short projects fabbed on the spare frame then bolted onto the bike.
Here are a few inspirational pics.
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Deja Vu...
... I've been here before.
Deja Vu...
... I've been here before.
... I've been here before.
Deja Vu...
... I've been here before.
While yes you are staying in Bucyrus too much, you werent dreaming. I bought a KLR, but long story short, that bike excites me in no way whatsoever. Plus, another bike is about to come into the shop, so this is partially a consolidation thing too. Gotta free up shop space.
Understood. Yeah, I know about the different one coming into the shop... at least if you are talking about the one I think you are talking about...
thats the one
thats another layer of this. It takes this airheads place in the stable of the daily mule. I can more easily justify some modifications on the airhead now that its not my go to rider. Though once its complete, the airhead will commute just as well as before id suspect.
I suspect you are correct. It's a good, solid machine. Timeframe on the arrival of the other one?thats the one
Hoping early in March!
Soon, then, good. Don't know your plans to go and get, but if you are planning a quickie one day solo trip let me know maybe I can ride along and share the driving.
Yeah, they warned me in the military about COMSEC... should be more careful.
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It may be a shorter trip, only over to the Pittsburgh area. Love to have you along.
Might be able to do that. Sounds like fun!
I drug the mockup frame outta the shed and pulled the front end. The fork swap is pretty straight forward. The dr bearings fit right in the airhead neck. The dr stem is longer, so I'll have to turn up a simple spacer to go between the top triple and the top bearing nut. The hard stops will need a bit of slight modification to work with the stock airhead tab, but nothing a bit of tig buildup and filing won't remedy.
The forks are longer, but dr650 forks came with the ability to internally lower them from the factory. I can lose 2 " internally and another inch through the top of the triples and still have 8" and change of travel. That is more than ample.
The forks are longer, but dr650 forks came with the ability to internally lower them from the factory. I can lose 2 " internally and another inch through the top of the triples and still have 8" and change of travel. That is more than ample.
I made a voyage down to Lithopolis Ohio yesterday to visits Re-Psycle, which is always a good time. They are a huge bmw salvage/ parts place specializing in 2 valve airheads, 1959-1995. I picked up an oil pan off of a circa 1980 r80g/s which is identical to my factory /6 pan, but has the addition of 4 threaded bungs which makes the addition of a skid/ bash plate easier, which I will later fabricate. The sump and mufflers sit below the frame, so the addition of some protection is important when off the pavement.
I also picked up a new seat cover for a solo seat that @Tim found up in Canadia a while back.
The forks are now sitting where they are going to, and with the 21" wheel, nets a 1" lift over stock. Hoping to gain the same out of the rear with the zrx shocks. Starting to work out pannier location and figuring the subframe mods next.
I also picked up a new seat cover for a solo seat that @Tim found up in Canadia a while back.
The forks are now sitting where they are going to, and with the 21" wheel, nets a 1" lift over stock. Hoping to gain the same out of the rear with the zrx shocks. Starting to work out pannier location and figuring the subframe mods next.
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