Tires and wheels

[trider]

Has anyone here or do you know of anyone who has made the change to spoke wheels and off road tires on a GS500?  Does anyone know if this is possible?
Reason for asking?  I like riding off road, meaning dirt, sand and gravel roads.  My bikes now are a Yamaha XT225 and a 97 BMW F650ST.
The XT is wonderful for how I use it but not enough power for long distance travelling.  The BMW is great for light gravel or dirt roads, good for long distance travelling travelling, but maybe not the best.   The GS500 has been discussed on an adventure forum as a possible RTW (round the world) bike if modifications could be made without too much expense.  The reason is because the GS500 has such an wonderful reputation mechanically.  The fear of breakdowns would be less.  Its not too tall, not too heavy, and a v-twin.  But the mag wheels would have to go for spoke wheels, and off road tires instead of street tires.   Of course there are many many fine bikes for long distance travelling including RTW adventures, but the possibility of a GS500 adventure bike is intriguing indeed.  Is was stated that couriers in Aus and some other countries love the GS500 for good reasons, its light, fast and most of all bullet proof, and needs very little attention.
I would like to get some feed back from some of you long term GS500 riders.
Thanks
Terry

[scratch]

Welcome!

Someone else was inquiring about the same thing (for off-road use), but I don' t know of anybody who's actually done it.

Anything is possible, it just cost $.

BTW, the front forks off a BMW F650 have the same fork tube diameter as ours (37mm).

[Egaeus]

It's not a V-twin, it's an inline twin.  Other than that, I have no input. 

[Codger]

The previous discussion tended toward the possibility of finding some 17" SuperMoto tires for loose tracks.  Not quite a knobby as you're thinking, but something a little grippier.  I had a DRZ400 previous.  The factory tires on it weren't much better offroad than the BT45s.  I always thought a tight sharp edged tread would be good, i.e. flat tracks, trials or the old universals.  

I took my GS on the side roads a couple of times at Big Bend.  Compared to the DRZ, the power and handling under the same conditions were pretty good.  The current factory GS suspension under those conditions is HORRENDOUS.  Take the paved suspension problems and triple them off pavement, but that is fixable.

If I was building an epic tour bike, I would use an older model.  Less emission inflicted complications.
I guess the GS could be a V-Twin, a 0 angle V-Twin.  That makes it a lot more compact.

[trider]

The previous discussion tended toward the possibility of finding some 17" SuperMoto tires for loose tracks.  Not quite a knobby as you're thinking, but something a little grippier.  I had a DRZ400 previous.  The factory tires on it weren't much better offroad than the BT45s.  I always thought a tight sharp edged tread would be good, i.e. flat tracks, trials or the old universals.  

I took my GS on the side roads a couple of times at Big Bend.  Compared to the DRZ, the power and handling under the same conditions were pretty good.  The current factory GS suspension under those conditions is HORRENDOUS.  Take the paved suspension problems and triple them off pavement, but that is fixable.

If I was building an epic tour bike, I would use an older model.  Less emission inflicted complications.
I guess the GS could be a V-Twin, a 0 angle V-Twin.  That makes it a lot more compact.

Codger,
Thanks for your reply.  Yes, I agree with you that an older GS500 would be better.  And if these bikes are as bullet proof as suggested, then thats all the better on overall cost.  I am not sure why, just maybe motorcycle mania, but there seems to be some growing intrigue on this project on another forum.  I am interested myself.

[Grainbelt]

I've been trying to figure this out for a while. The feedback I got was that more agressive wheels and tires would very quickly be made useless by the stock suspension, especially rear wheel travel.

For dirt roads and gravel, the metzeler lazertecs are the least sport oriented tires made in the appropriate sizes for the existing wheels. I have the stock bridgestones, and they do fine on gravel at moderate speeds.

I'm still hoping that Kawasaki updates the KLR with the 650 parallel twin motor from the ER-6F.  The wee strom is too big, heavy, and ugly.  I still really want a ducati multistrada 620, but it would be hard to risk dropping it in the dirt.

[trider]

I've been trying to figure this out for a while. The feedback I got was that more agressive wheels and tires would very quickly be made useless by the stock suspension, especially rear wheel travel.

For dirt roads and gravel, the metzeler lazertecs are the least sport oriented tires made in the appropriate sizes for the existing wheels. I have the stock bridgestones, and they do fine on gravel at moderate speeds.

I'm still hoping that Kawasaki updates the KLR with the 650 parallel twin motor from the ER-6F.  The wee strom is too big, heavy, and ugly.  I still really want a ducati multistrada 620, but it would be hard to risk dropping it in the dirt.

I had a wee strom and I also found it to be way too to heavy, especially with a full tank.  Of course I am only 5'5" 150lbs, so that of course shapes my opinion.  If I were 6' 200 lbs I don't know of a better bike.  Well, I guess if I were 6' 200lbs I would be riding a KLR 650.
Oh help us Lord in our quest for the perfect ride.

[Stephen072774]

i don't know... the GS is a great bike, but won't go half the places my DRZ will go even with slicks... ground clearance and suspension travel are integral to rough terrain...  Plus its not exactly a lightweight.  The avon distanzia's come in GS sizes and would help i'm sure...