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By the fall of 2007 I had begun thinking about a smaller,
easier to handle bike for commuting and doing errands around town. Plus, I had
done almost all of the maintenance, upgrading and farkelizing to my K1200LT and
R1100RS that any remotely sane biker would do. So I started looking around -
considered an R1150R, a naked, dual spark oilhead; another K75 (my first love);
or perhaps an F650 - the GS or CS. I finally decided on the F650CS because it is
smaller and lighter than the other two bikes I was considering, was good on gas
mileage, and had a very low maintenance belt drive. Plus, I was interested in
trying out a "thumper" (single cylinder engine), and I already had a "K" and "R"
bike.
I found the perfect F650CS in
central New Jersey in November 2007. We were planning a visit to our son Geoff
and his family over Thanksgiving, so I arranged to buy the bike and ride it home
Thanksgiving weekend. Something about visiting our sons on holidays that
sometimes leads to an addition to the stable... (remember the
R1100RS over New Year's while visiting Chris and his family in Minneapolis?).
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Here it is, a 2003 F650CS with
18,500 miles. It has ABS, something I decided I needed on all of my bikes,
heated grips, and a Wunderlich windshield - larger than the stock shield. That
brown bag you see in the "gas tank" is actually in the
"stuff bay." This bike has the gas tank under the seat to lower the center of
gravity, and the usual gas tank area has been converted to an open bay for
carrying things - very convenient! The butt pad from Alaska Leather in Anchorage
is perfect
for this bike, and makes rides on cool fall days more
comfortable. On the way home from New Jersey the bike got 54 mpg, averaging
70-75 mph. Not bad. I'm eager to see what it does around town.
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I sold the Wunderlich windshield and bought a
Parabellum, which I like much better - more protection for commuting and better
visibility. Also a cleaner look. The Givi E33 top case is
mounted on a SW-MOTECH Alu-Rack toprack which makes for a nice clean look, and
is strong enough for carrying items back and forth to work.
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I place a high value on conspicuity
so I added the Hella fog lights mounted on an RCU bar. I replaced the 55w bulbs
with 25w ones for less drain on the CS's alternator. That also allows me to run the lower
wattage lights all the time without blinding oncoming traffic.
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Although it's not visible on these
photos, I installed a SW-MOTECH centerstand which
makes working on the bike much easier and it also takes up less room in the
garage.
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