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Um ,Hans ,Tenterfield to Byron in the rain we had that weekend is a bloody epic on it's own! That's a lovely ride , one of my favorites , but the rain that weekend was like none I've ever tried to ride in before !! Tilly didn't like it ,she stopped every 10km ,if only for a few seconds ,it was a bit like riding underwater !

My gloves were sodden within 10 km ! I've been thinking of making up a waterproof version of Hippo Hands ,just something i can keep in my panniers but quickly wrap around the grips and velcro in place .

Is that the kind of thing you have Charlie ?

BTW ,here are those ''hotbox''panniers I mounted on Tilly ...down at Brunswick heads today .They're pretty good , cheap ,waterproof and enormously ugly !

Ooooh,
looking good Peter! I like them. They are big by the looks. Do you know how many liters they are?
I am loosely planning on doing the same for my 80G/S unless something else similar- aluminium and top loading and large - and cheap - turns up.

And yes, OK. Tenterfield to Byron was VERY wet. Just after Tenterfield (Christmas eve) was where John had his bad off. After the repairs we made it to Casino and an early cloud-imposed dusk. The rain was so heavy, as in a good inch of water on the road, or more, that we camped that night in the Casino showgrounds in the grandstand. Christmas day was a little less wet, though we had a few heavy patches. In full light and given the terrible road surface conditions along Casino, Lismore, Clunes, Bangalow, etc, we were very very glad we didn't attempt it the prior night in the heavier rain.

All up though, given the amount of flooding that was going on all around me, QLD, NSW, VIC, I think I got pretty lucky with wet riding- that is, I got lucky in that I picked or chanced upon some good dry windows to do some serious Km's, and was able to sit out permanently wet periods in relative comfort in Byron, Grafton and Bellingen.

Anyway, time for some thread degredation- the 80G/S.
I am pretty broke right now, but am starting work proper tomorrow morning. Funds should be flowing again soon, and then the rebuild will start. I am spending a lot of time in the pondering chair in the shed, looking at and tinkering with the G/S.
I am going to start a thread on adv asking a few questions about all this, but so far I am leaning towards:
- swap on 100/80GS forks (40mm Marzocchi, better but a bit longer), using the G/S front wheel with a custom made axle bolt (to fit G/S wheel to GS forks)
- compensate for longer forks by moderately extending swing arm and driveshaft (keeping the same bike geometry)(all this is pretty far beyond my current skills to work out engineering-wise, but 'the path' has been pretty well beaten out by others already)
- replace my shot rear shock with something nice (and expensive) like an Ohlins- taking advantage of the good US exchange rate- and once I settle on the plan and the specifics, buying this ASAP.
- sandblast and repaint frame (probably not doing any frame mods/restrengthening- ala HPN- though not certain about this)
- Lowering footpegs a little
- Single seat, pannier racks, panniers eventually,
- Possibly ditch the crash bars and find/fit another sidestand
- 100GS tank (like yours)
- buy and fit Tacho and possibly the clock add-ons
- and of course rebuild everything that needs rebuilding... timing chain, wheel bearings, final drive (probably), check out the gear box, etc, etc.

basically attempting to do a full job on it with some mild modifications/improvements.

Anyway, I can't wait to get started. It is going to be expensive by the end I am sure, but it is going to be fun and I hope satisfying and worthwhile.

Cheers,
Hans.

They're about 40 litre Hans . Kind of bulky and there are other ways but these things are not too heavy and I've got the watertight seals worked out OK .I have a quick detach /attach system stolen (ideas wise ) from one of the really expensive systems .It works well .30 seconds to take them off .It would be east to mount a smaller set on matching boards too and use them locally .

Ian has a couple that i don't think he'll be using as he has a soft set on his new KTM .

I've got a 1000GS seat that the PO cut in half to make up a single .It needs work and the help of an upholsterer but it will be more comfortable then the current seat ....which has the progressive hardening option . I'll weld up a rack to go behind the single seat .

The G/S rebuild is going to be an epic ! We look forward to the series !

Good Luck .

Sibbo wrote:BTW ,here are those ''hotbox''panniers I mounted on Tilly ...down at Brunswick heads today .They're pretty good , cheap ,waterproof and enormously ugly !

Hey, a BMW ute! They look great, Peter. You'll be able to carry a bunch of stuff in those - I know that was an issue with the Enfield. The white paint job really works, too. Well done, mate. I'm sorely tempted by the sheer volume of carrying capacity to do the same but Brunhilde seems to like being naked most of the time. She'll happily wear a few items of soft luggage when I coax her into doing a bit of travelling, of course.

They drop off in 30 seconds Charlie .I'm thinking of making up a couple of little soft bags on ply backing boards to drop on in place of those ones for every day use using the same frames .The hot boxes are about 35 litres each ...cavernous but good for touring !