Oddservation on GS noise

[joeb]

   I'm fairly new to the GS which I acquired last year after my 1150RT was subjected to " early retirement  " and therefore I'm still getting acquainted with my 1200 GS . Couple of things to note.

   Love the bike with 2 exceptions.

1 The seat , which should rightfully titled after a  famous Tchaikovsky  Suite.

2. The noise , it is painful , unlike the Tchaikovsky Suite.

  I put a Puig windscreen on the bike to eliminate extreme buffeting on my helmet at highway speeds and the noticed the engine noise , unlike any other bike I've owned.  I couldn't ride it without earplugs which I remember to insert about 50% of the time AFTER my helmet is on . It sounds like a bag of bolts and a squirrel are in a blender.

   I took it to a BMW shop to have a mechanic test drive it to see if something was wrong with the engine.  While he said the engine was fine he did note the bike was noisy.  We concluded that the windscreen was acting like a megaphone and directing the noise straight to my head.  Considered selling the bike.               Recently I changed the oil and filter after a long trip and left the skid plate off for the test ride.  The bike was silent by comparison to with it on. I actually now love the sound ,  ,painfree ! Needless to say , the skid plate is now protecting the bottom shelf of my tool box. 

    Now if I can only get rid of  that Tchaikovsky seat and swap it out for a more contemporary  composer like the Turtles. 

    Happy Together ?

Cheers

 

[DakarTimm]

I'm a long time RS owner . Bought my latest without so much as a test ride . The factory seat looked the part ...About an hour and a half was enough to have me looking for a gas station..

The Sargent seat changed everything . I was a long time Corbin fan . 

[joeb]

I've seen accolades for the Russell Day Long seat. Haven't looked into the Sargent yet. 

Incidentally,  I had a Corbin on my RT and hated it. It was 4 × heavier than the stock and not as comfortable, so I put the original back on and enjoyed about 70,000 more miles on it. But then again I do enjoy the smell of Skunk and the taste of Kaopectate so my taste may not be yours. Thanks for your input.

Cheers

[TEWKS]

I bought a 2005 GS coming from a 2003 RT. I couldn’t wrap my head around the freeway discomfort. Noise & wind mostly, maybe the seat too, yeah definitely the seat. 
 

Anyway I traded it back to an RT about a year later. Fast forward to 2012 I gave a GS another try. The only thing I added was bar backs and a Sargent Seat. 
 

There’s no denying the RT has better air management at higher speeds but I guess the love of exploring the “road less traveled” have made that trade off worthwhile.

 

Long winded to say, you’ll get more comfortable on it with time and the Sargent seat is a real decent second place. Russell is the LD king of seats.

[joeb]

Wind management is better on the RT but that isnt an issue since i stopped the buffeting on my head with the windscreen. Going into the GS i knew that more airflow wss in store for me . I also knew i suffer more from being too hot vs. too cold as i can put more layers on where as there is a limit to how many layers i can strip off.  I was surprised by how much quieter the bike is with the skid plate removed. Will definitely check out the Sargent seat.

Thank you

[Yuro]

Interesting that the skid plate, a fashion item for sure on my GSA, is contributing to noise.    I'll consider removing mine next oil change, which will be soon.   I'm near 24K on my '22 GSA with low suspension and Sargent normal height seat.  

 

Worth mentioning that the seat can be set high in front and low in back.  This makes it less willing to push me forward into the bars.   Also, something I didn't know until recently, is that the rear part of the seat can be inserted in two positions.  The forward position eliminates a big space between the front and rear parts of the seat when the front is set low.   Very nice!.   

 

I use bar-baks to allow me to sit in the sweet-spot of the Sargent (the wide part) without a need to lean or reach forward to the bars, which gets to my shoulders on a longer ride.

 

As to the non-wind noises....   I had a hellacious tire noise from the front, which I first thought might be "normal".   I put a Wunderlich handlebar bag on my bars to block noise coming up from the forks and then got a Wunderlich "dash cover"...a plastic piece that fits under the TFT area and around the top of the forks.   Both help noise and unwanted turbulance a bit.   The biggie for me was changing tires from stock Bridgestone A41 (80/20) tires to Continental Trail Attack 3 (90/10).  Get the cheaper V speed-rated TA3s, not the higher speed W's.  You get more rubber on the V.   I think the W is basically a shaved version of the V tires.  I have W on now and there is less tread.   I don't expect them to last as long....Still a great tire, though.  

 

I find these TA3 tires to be really sticky and confident.   I think they're ideal for a "street mostly" rider.   If I happen to hit an unpaved road because my GPS doesn't know the difference, I have a little more confidence on the puncture resistance of these over a pure street tire.  I got lots of punctures with Michelins "Road" on my RTs.    I think Michelin "Road" tires are made to be lighter weight (lower unsprung weight).  That's a good thing for pleasurable hard riding but it's not nice at all when it ruins your weekend with a nasty puncture.    So...TA3 for me.  They are quiet too.    

 

I'm 5' 10" with a long waist, so I sit like a 6' person.   I tried Aeroflow's GS touring screen.  It was too low for me.   When I bought it, I also got their "Aerowings and guards" setup.   I returned the screen but kept the Aerowing stuff.  I think it really helps with air coming in under and around the screen on the sides...which makes a lot of turbulence.  

 

I tried Wunderlich's pricey screen with the Aerowings...No buffeting but still too low and pushed a lot of air into my face.   I went back to the first screen I tried, the tallest of the 3 V-Stream screens.  Is that called "Deluxe Touring".  That with Aerowings is pretty good and still gives my arms some nice air-flow.   I'm not hot on the bike and I'm not needing earplugs except on long interstate stints above 75mph or so.  Not quite as nice as an RT, but it's a huge improvement over stock.  

 

Whenever you use a larger than stock screen, put on one of those reinforcement things. V-Stream sells them.  They keep the screen rock solid at any speed.  Worth the trouble of turning two extra screws to make a screen angle adjustment.  

 

I have a friend with a '23 standard GS.  He got the middle-sized V-Stream Touring (not Deluxe) and really likes it.   He's an ear-plug person.  Has custom molded ear speakers that somehow don't hurt his ears.  I've tried several sets of them and can't find any that don't have my ears hurting in a hundred miles.   I've spent many dollars on them.  Great sound, but...ouch!

 

When I'm riding locally off interstates and when on a back-road route with a group,  I don't like to wear ear plugs.   It's better to be able to hear people when we stop and I feel more connected to the group.   I have a Cardo Pak-Talk  The speakers use a standard plug.  I can plug in the helmet speakers or in-ear speakers at will.   

 

 

 

 

 

   

[joeb]

Good input. Thank you. 

On my 09, lowered GS, unfortunately the seat has no multi position option. I did purchase a cheap Puig windscreen that does a great job of keeping the helmet buffeting down. It is thin plexi and does flex a bit at high speeds but that doesnt really bother me. No more face shield flipping down and closing due to buffeting at highway speeds . I will check to see about the dash cover. See if it's available for my bike, or make something myself.

Tires. I removed my 80/20 tires and put on the Metzler Roadtec 01s as I liked them on my RT. Grip seems good but they do whine a bit.

Happy riding and Cheers