How to choose an adventure motorcycle to overland South America
I simply love my adventure motorcycle “Fury”, the BMW 700 GS! A lot of people asked me regarding my adventure motorcycle choice and I decided to write a short article about my reasons.
Weight
Fury is with around 200 kg (dry weight) a “light-weight” compared to other big trails in the same category which makes the handling way easier. Furthermore, it does not stop with the dry weight… you need to further take the petrol, the panniers and other luggage into account. In the dessert of Guajira in Colombia or Baja California in Mexico I dropped my bike several times and had difficulties to pick it up again due to sand and consequently a “non stable ground.” Well, I am glad I “only” had to pick up the 700 GS and not a heavier bike :p
Distribution Network
I am absolutely useless when it comes to motorcycle maintenance. Lubricating the chain and possibly adjusting it is already my most important achievement. Oh yeah, and I can also exchange the light bulb and detach the battery. Well, that’s it!
BMW Motorrad has the best distribution network of dealers and mechanics across the Americas, making it easy to arrange maintenance almost anywhere without being worried. Furthermore, I had a 2 years warranty on my motorcycle and could exchange broken parts for free.
In Merida, Mexico I could not start my engine anymore. Fury would just not wake up anymore even though the battery seemed to be working. I called BMW Merida and no 45 minutes later they came to pick up my bike for repairmen. In the end, my gasoline pump did not work anymore and it had to be replaced with a new one.
Alternatively, my battery went dead in Guayaquil after I visited the Galapagos Islands and had to drive to the local BMW Ecuavia dealer who organized a new battery for me.
In Florianopolis, I had issues with “oil spilling out of the engine” after a heavy rainfall. BMW Florianopolis came to my hostel, picked up the bike and repaired it for free. By the way, This was also my favorite BMW motorcycle dealer all over the Americas… besides the one in Merida, Mexico and in Lima, Peru.
BMW Gildemeister in Lima offers even free taxi transport back into town. I had 2 motorcycle services in Lima and I was always super satisfied!
Tank Volume & Distance
The 16 litres tank volume are sufficient to bridge a range of 320 km and only in deserted areas I need to carry spare petrol with me.
Engine & Performance
The parallel twin engine makes the ride super smooth and the 75 horsepowers @ 7000 rpm are absolutely sufficient. Sometimes though, I wished to have had some horsepowers more… especially when fully loaded and trying to overtake a truck in the Peruvian Andes.
General Performance
Even though the 700 GS is more advertised as a street going GS, the bike has all the potential to go “off-road” (With “off-road” I refer to easy going terrain like gravel or sand – no huge obstacles).
The cast aluminum wheels were not the best fit and I wished to have had a wire-spoken wheel. My wheel got deformed several times…by either hitting potholes or stones on the road – luckily I could always fix it again without replacing the wheel.
With a personal height of 1,72 m, I am not really a giant and appreciated the fact to have a stable stand with both feet on the ground. However, This comes with the disadvantage of having a low clearance when going off-road and consequently a risk to damage your bike (My advice is to ride your motorcycle of choice without and with luggage to experience the difference).
I liked the heated grips with two options – warm to BBQ hot (well, the later mode does not work anymore in Patagonia or Peru with 0°C and rain but better than nothing, lol).
Other blog posts
