FS 800 Gear

CavTrooper

Observer
Bought my 2013 FS800 a month or so ago and now looking to start outfitting it for next spring. Unfortunately, there are many suppliers on the market. So the big question is what is the most bang for my buck. I've looked at Touratech, Blackdog, and a few others. Any advice or would be greatly appreciated. Im focusing on armor and storage at this point.


Thanks,

Steve
 

Mechanical

Adventurer
As far as armor goes, everyone seems to love BDCW's stuff. However, I feel like they are a little expensive. Like you said, suppliers will be limited, but you might just check around on the ADVrider forums for people building skidplates. They are usually well built and should be cheaper.

Are you looking for soft or hard bags? Hard bags seem to be trendy, but I wouldn't overlook soft bags. Check out Wolfman's web site. They have every type of soft bag imaginable. I own a few of their products and they are very well built.
 

CDMartin

Suffering Fools
Armor

Regarding armor, I would highly recommend Altrider. Solid kit and very robust. Regarding luggage, specifically aluminium panniers; Touratech and Metal Mule are great gear, but pricey $1,400 -$1,600 range), Holans and Hepco Becker are a bit less ($800-$1,200 range), but still very high quality. On the bargain side, Happy Trails makes a very solid kit ($700-$1,000). If your looking to plastic luggage, Carribou makes solid gear from Pelican products ($800). For soft gear, look toward Wolfman, Kreiga, and Giant Loop.

That being said, you can always go with hard racks, and soft luggage. Keiga makes some nice products that can transition bewtween the two.
 
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goodtimes

Expedition Poseur
For crash bars / skid plates / bark busters / etc - I'm a big fan of Adventure Spec. Great products, great service, fast shipping (3 days from the UK to my doorstep in AZ).

For hard bags, it's hard to beat Jessie Luggage. For soft bags, Wolfman or Giant Loop is where its at.

Warn makes some great lights - but anodized finish on the brackets fades (to gold) pretty quick (at least in the desert sun).

Woody's has the wheel thing down, should you find yourself bending the soft OEM wheels (I'm running the Rad hubs, 4mm spokes in the Superlace pattern, and Exel rims, 18/21, & very happy with them).

The Scotts steering damper is a great addition if you find yourself needing one. It makes a big difference - particularly in sand & baseball sized rocks.

Take your pick of suspension component manufacturers - all the big names are building stuff for them. I used Race Tech & am happy with it - although it's an older system. Many MFRs have newer systems out that may improve upon what I currently have.

Just don't let anyone tell you that you need all that stuff before you go out and enjoy the bike. Modify it as you can, but if the choice is between a farkle and a trip - take the trip.
 

CavTrooper

Observer
Thanks for pointing me in the right directions. There are just too many vendors to deal with and they all claim their stuff is the best. As I get everything ordered at snails pace I will point the end result.
 

jamm

Observer
I didn't know BMW made cars until I passed one.

As stated previously, go to the ADVrider and check out the GSpot/Parallel Universe forum. You'll get first hand information from a bunch of riders. Check out the sticky thread for an index of various links.

I personally like Adventure Spec crash bars, Highway Dirt Bike handguards, Scotts steering dampener, Bestrest light guard, SWmoto bashplate and a power controller for the snatchy throttle. There are lots of good products out there by many companies AND there are a lot of products that command a premium price but offer little or no extra value. I would suggest you ride the bike and determine what your riding style is before spending a lot of money on farkles.

The last thing you want to be is a Starbuck's coffee sucking mall troller who has the bling but doesn't know what or how to use it. :bike_rider: Flaming of Noobs is common so don't take offense.
 

pyrate

Rollin' along
I rode a f650gs Dakar for years (predecessor to the 800) and started out with hard luggage. I found myself selling them and went with Andy Strapz soft bags. I was riding more dirt, preferred less weight and not having the hard side of a metal pannier against my body when I was in tight terrain or if I laid the bike over. The soft bags were very water resistant (open a hard or soft bag in the rain and both allow things to get wet) and better for me. Some worry about theft of items so think about where you ride or leave your bike. I actually found putting a cheap bike cover on was a better deterrent. One of my fiends Touratech bags had the lock bashed off and items rifled thru and the lid was missing. My bike wasn't touched. Coincidence sure but soft bags kinda say nothing's too important to worry about. I used a Wolfman tank bag that the electronics were in and that went with me.
Two guys rode Africa, one with hard luggage, the other with soft. Maybe a good set of guys to ask :http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=653492

Bash plates and such, I used Kildala from ADVrider. Not sure if he has f800 items but his stuff was top notch for less.
That's my $0.02. Have fun!
 

cchoc

Wilderness Photographer
I have SW Motech crash bars on my 2013 F800GS and a BMW skid plate and aluminum side panniers. I have a MOD side stand enlarger and top rack and I understand their skid plate is excellent, mine was put on by my dealer so that's why I have OEM. The MOD top rack is great and you can easily add a Rotopax mount if you want to carry extra fuel and/or water. The 2013 model is a bit different than the previous years so be sure to check for 2013 compatibility on any add ons.

Also great advice to check ADVrider and also the BMW F800 Riders forum.
 

CavTrooper

Observer
What did you decide on aftermarket tires? The skins they give you are nice, but keep you pretty limited to the streets.
 

cchoc

Wilderness Photographer
Mine has Anakee 2's and they are ok for some dirt road riding. I'm going to spend the summer in SE Utah and will put TKC 80's on for there.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

belstaff

belstaff
Tires

When it comes to tires for the 650/700/800 the answer is hidies K60 excellent mileage and are a true 60/40 tire about 300.00 for a set
As discussed before crash bars--- touretech are the ONLY bars that attach to frame mounting points all others are engine mount & that scares me off.
Touring & lite forest work Hard bags are fine, serious s/t soft bags---Jesse's can't be beat in hard & adv spec Madagan soft bags are proven the best.
One step at a time w/ lots of research before commitment will prove to be your best avenue to a "perfect bike" for you'
My 2 centoves
 

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