old-timer Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 those beemer singles look a nice bike i might try one sometime Brilliant idea ! I can recommend a BMW F650 single cilinder; they are really 'multi functional allrounders'.I used them for my daily commute (before I retired), ride outs with the Mrs, holidays, biker weekends and occasionally a 'dirt road'.They are not too heavy and not too light. And the 650 single is still strong and fast enough to carry heavy loads and score speed tickets...My first one was a 2002 F650 GS Dakar. My current bike is a 1999 F650 'classic', nicknamed 'Funduro'.Though they are both 'allroads' in the true sense of the word, the Dakar had a bit better off-road qualities than the Funduro or the standard F650 GS.It has a longer front and rear suspension, and a larger front wheel (21 inch) than the standard F650 GS and the Funduro (both 19 inch).They are very durable, I sold my Dakar with 100.000 kms on the clock... No problem.And... and this is not unimportant... they are FUN to ride.On the road and offroad, with or without luggage, with or without pillion... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 [mention]skyrider[/mention] Still haven't even ridden mine yet but I will one day https://www.themotorbikeforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=87&t=72377 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-timer Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 I hope that my little plea above can be a stimulant for you to take it up again, [mention]Stu[/mention] My suggestion would be to start at the last pic of your post, and work towards the previous pic, and the one before that... and so on, until your bike looks like the first pic again... Easy peasy... ! You can do it ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 [mention]old-timer[/mention] its a piece of cake to sort out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyrider Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 those beemer singles look a nice bike i might try one sometime Brilliant idea ! I can recommend a BMW F650 single cilinder; they are really 'multi functional allrounders'.I used them for my daily commute (before I retired), ride outs with the Mrs, holidays, biker weekends and occasionally a 'dirt road'.They are not too heavy and not too light. And the 650 single is still strong and fast enough to carry heavy loads and score speed tickets...My first one was a 2002 F650 GS Dakar. My current bike is a 1999 F650 'classic', nicknamed 'Funduro'.Though they are both 'allroads' in the true sense of the word, the Dakar had a bit better off-road qualities than the Funduro or the standard F650 GS.It has a longer front and rear suspension, and a larger front wheel (21 inch) than the standard F650 GS and the Funduro (both 19 inch).They are very durable, I sold my Dakar with 100.000 kms on the clock... No problem.And... and this is not unimportant... they are FUN to ride.On the road and offroad, with or without luggage, with or without pillion... Dakar-1.jpgDakar-2.jpgDakar-off-road.jpgFund-1.jpgFund-2.jpg thanks old timer for the info, how easy is it to service them (change the oil) i have heard it is a bit tricky as you need a pump to get the oil out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-timer Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 thanks old timer for the info, how easy is it to service them (change the oil) i have heard it is a bit tricky as you need a pump to get the oil out Frankly I don't know...I'm not capable of servicing the bikes myself; no space/workshop, no tools/equipment and no clue... So maintenance is done by some local bike shop.Not an official BMW dealer, they only want to do maintenance 'by the book' and they're very expensive. From what I understood, the engine doesn't seem to be very accessible...So it is not easy to, for instance, adjust the valves or remove the carburettors.But I don't know if that's any different from other modern bikes.They all look pretty complicated to me... Last bike I did any maintenance on myself was a 2-stroke single-cilinder... But I never heard of needing a pump to change the oil on a F650 though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyrider Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 i have heard that they dont have a sump plug wether that's true im not sure it seems a bit crazy if they don't Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyrider Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 right i have just posted a question on the f650 gs forum about oil changing so see if i get a reply Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share Posted April 24, 2020 right i have just posted a question on the f650 gs forum about oil changing so see if i get a reply https://faq.f650.com/FAQs/Oil_Change_FAQ.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggie Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 Definitely got a sump plug!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB61DX3YdHM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RantMachine Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 right i have just posted a question on the f650 gs forum about oil changing so see if i get a reply Oil change isn't too bad, but two considerations:You'll need an offset spanner for the sump plug, it's in a bloody awkward spotThe oil return line (hard metal one running from the sump up to the oil reservoir in the fake fuel tank) is a HUGE pain in the arse at timesBut honestly not too bad overall. And so long as you didn't get the oil get truly vile you can be horrifically lazy and just change the stuff in the tank without completely emptying the sump Of course, you can't do the lazy approach if you experience the classic oil pump seal feature. Noooo, that's a big old job - have to be prepared to enjoy being off the road for a little while I can speak with quite a lot of experience working on the F650GS single, lemme know if you have questions about any other bits of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyrider Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 have you heard of the fumoto sump plug no need to take the plug out just turn the lever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggie Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 I just wouldn't feel happy with one of those sump valves, I've seen different variations for cars & bikes and I couldnt cope with the worry of thinking have I knocked it open after going over that speed bump too fast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyrider Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 thanks Tiggie the oil change vid was worth watching thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyrider Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 just to change the subject i have just been looking on the f650 forum and a guy has been struggling with his indicators staying on so he looked behind the dashboard and there is two relays just for the hazard lights, have any of you guys had any electrical problems with your 650 beemers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-timer Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 just to change the subject i have just been looking on the f650 forum and a guy has been struggling with his indicators staying on so he looked behind the dashboard and there is two relays just for the hazard lights, have any of you guys had any electrical problems with your 650 beemers So you really consider seriously to get yourself an F650 to play with...Then allow me to give you some background info regarding the various 'generations' of F650's.I may be a technical nitwit in a practical sense, but I know one or two things about the F650's you need to know...First, there are 3 'generations' of BMW F650's.The original single cilinders F650 with the Rotax engine (roughly produced from 1990 up until 1999.These are refered to as F650 'classic' or 'Funduro' or 'ST(rada)'.Then, in the year 2000 BMW launched it's successor, the F650 GS.Still fitted with the 650 single cilinder Rotax engine, but significantly improved/updated .Produced up until 2007, when the 3-rd generation came out, but production was resumed in 2008.Both generations above were real all-road bikes and in spite of the differences, they clearly were 'related'... The third generation was a different bike altogether. A 100 % street bike.BMW gave it a 2 cilinder 'tuned down' inline 800 cc engine and a very different frame and everything.It was called F650 GS still, but it had nothing in common with generation 1 and 2.It shared the 800 cc twin engine with the F800, which was a real All-road again.Differences between the 1-st and 2-nd generation.The classics were still fitted with twin carburettors, where the GS's had fuel injection (and a motor management computer).The engine oil in the classic was kept in the frame, where the GS had a separate oil tank.The classic had the petrol tank in the traditional place, the GS had the fuel tank under the seat, roughly positioned beneath the pillion. As a result, the GS had a fuel pump (not needed in the classic) and both the oil-tank and the battery were situated in the 'dummy fuel tank'.The frames of both bikes were similar, but with different dimensions. The look of the GS was somewhat different from the classic; most significant feature being the 'beak' which is the identifying mark of the big boxer-twin GS's.There must/would be some more technical differences, but I'd better not talk about those.And... since the original F650 were designed in cooperation with Aprilia - it shares the Rotax engine with Aprilia's Pegaso 650 - the classics were produced at the Aprilia plant in Italy.As of 2000, production of the GS came back to Berlin Germany. Where it belonged...Now, one more tip, do not get nervous if you read in some Forum about a 'problem' that some individual owner might have had with the bike of your interest.Forums tend to expose bad things, and hardly ever make a list of what's good about a product. There are a few flaws in F650's, both in Classics and GS's. But there are not many general 'weak points', though of course Murphy never sleeps !Electrically I give away 1... In Classics the regulator is situated below the seat, and may overheat sometimes. When it does, it breaks down and you'll need new one...Or... some very smart classic riders found places/ways to keep the regulator cool...Regards. P.S. Maybe we should open a new topic on this subject.Before people get 'bored' with this talk about one particular bike... After all, this should be for Corona Projects... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyrider Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 thanks old timer on more info, i looked again last night on the bm forum and seemingly the guy had another forum buddy who lived reasonably close by so he went to have a look and they decided that a short while before he started having elecy problems he had taken it off road and through puddles so there was water in the electrics and just before his mate got there they had dried out, anyway i think i would be looking at the f650gs and even that model some of them are twenty years old and the one i would get will be the 650 single and not the 800 twin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RantMachine Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Never had a single electrical issue with mine, beyond a faulty abs sensor on the rear that really is as easy to fix as unplugging the old one and plugging a new one in. I can honestly say that the electrics seemed really solid on that thing, the routing of the wiring was top notch (nothing to get in the way while working on other things or anything that rubbed or pulled depending on the angle of the bars) and none of it ever misbehaved.[mention]old-timer[/mention] makes a great point that you shouldn't be deterred by the bad experiences one owner had with one specific bike, but there are a couple of common issues to be wary of on the F650GS single that it's worth being wary of before buying one, and most of them can be avoided by steering clear of the first couple of years of production:Surging and stalling (like 1/6th of all 2001 models, mine didn't do this)Fork failure (2001 and 2002 models, but most if not all will probably have had a fork swap with a 2003+ by now, mine had)Water pump seal failure (all models, and real nasty when it does happen)Biggest tip I can give you when looking at an F650GS is check the oil for any signs of contamination! You do not want to inherit a bike that needs the pump seal replaced, much less one that could have been running contaminated oil for an unknown length of time. And if the temp light comes on when you're test riding it, walk away.I don't mean to give the impression that there is a high chance of running into this issue, it's just more common than most and a real headache if you do run into it, so avoid buying one that's already gone awry A more serious consideration, though:Seeing as a bunch of your questions have been about working on the bike yourself, be aware that a lot of the jobs on the bike will require you to buy extra tools! Obviously it's a BMW so you'll need torx bits (and the torque values on some of those torx bolts, I would strongly recommend torx bits for your socket set over torx keys, Halfords do a really good and cheap set). But also a few of the non-torx bolts use somewhat odd sizes that you may not already own, as noted earlier the sump bolt needs an offset spanner, and you'll need BMW specific tools in order to dismantle the forks or steering head. And of course, BMW only sell those to dealers, so you'll need to eBay it or improvise your own.Aside from those tools for the forks and head, it's only cheap items! But oh boy do you not want to start a job then realize half way through that it needs some weird and obscure tool that you don't own.Oh, and I would 100% echo what [mention]Tiggie[/mention] said about the fumoto sump plug. At the best of time I'd already be worried about using an aftermarket plug that sits markedly lower to the ground (and protrudes way more therefore making it easier to catch on things), but on this type of bike? If you ever want to take it off paved streets, I would seriously encourage against using on of them.Aaaand if none of that put you off, they are gloriously fun and satisfying bikes to ride. Despite my truly terrible luck with mine, I did really love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyrider Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 thanks RantMachine i will see what comes up later this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RantMachine Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 Just stay the hell away from a red one with the license plate V969 EJM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggie Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 Scarily that plate is taxed and tested too!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RantMachine Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 Yeah, I check it every now and then To be fair I'd replaced most of it by the time I sold it off! But doesn't mean I'd trust that particular one - god only knows how much the current owner has spent keeping it on the road Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyrider Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 (edited) late last night i bought some bergen torx bits on fleabay the ones with the sockets and 1/2 drive 32 piece for £39.75 all in a plastic case so thats a start Edited April 28, 2020 by skyrider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyrider Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 Just stay the hell away from a red one with the license plate V969 EJM why is that one bad news Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggie Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 It was so bad he emigrated to get away from it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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