As mentioned in another thread, I put a deposit down on this bike last weekend and picked it up yesterday. To my surprise there was enough space in the motorcycle garage so it only required minor shuffling to fit with a little room to spare.
I was too lazy to take both photos and video, but at least managed to throw together a quick video walkaround of what I bought.
Right, bike finally has a plate - sometimes I wonder why I bother trying to get appointments at the DMV here (which you're supposed to at the moment) when everybody else just wanders in, but it's nice to end up at the front of the line every time because you're the only person who bothered.
Also replaced the tool tray - somewhere in the dim and distant past, some genius had cut out the bottom of the tool tray for some inexplicable reason - and replace the missing battery strap. Hopefully the weather will clear up a bit in the next few days so I can actually take it out for a spin in the dry.
Lookin' good. Was riding my "new" K75S a bit today... was delivered Sunday. Yay!
Thanks!
I managed to use a break in the weather yesterday to get it inspected, so it's now fully road legal. I have to get used to a bike that tall again, and do need to find some setup instructions for the suspension as it feels like it's set up for someone who's potentially twice as wide as me.
Of course the weather has changed now and we had horizontal rain earlier, so no biking for me today. Have to put the BRZ together anyway.
As it was the first weekend without horizontal rain since I had the BMW inspected, I took it out for a bimble around some West Virginia back roads.
Tweaked the suspension a bit so it stopped impersonating a pogo stick, which was good. Turned out it was set up for someone of, err, lesser weight. Adding a tad more preload on the rear shock and increasing rebound damping a little does appear to have made a noticeable difference already. As usual I probably want slightly lower foot pegs and the bars a tad closer to me. The bike already has bar risers - not sure if those are stock on the Adventure or not - but they're of the "straight up" variety.
After about 150 miles and four hours, I've only got a mild posterior ache from the stock seat, which makes it the most comfortable "main" bike out of the last four (ZRX 1200, Tiger 800, GoldWing and now the GS).
Two cheers for mesh motorcycle gear though, it was in the upper 80s for most of the ride and it would've been rather unpleasant without.
Country roads, WV has them. Also, cell phone cameras are getting pretty good these days.
Just now watched the initial video.. great work on that, along with an awesome bike
Being a old chopper guy (before a K75 made a convert out of me), I'd have gotten a nose bleed, trying to climb up on that thing! I'd be on tipi-toes at a stop.
Hope ya keep good weather there for a while. My gas cap should be in today, so I'll be able to ride to work again tonight or tomorrow.
In reply to 03Panther :
Thanks!
Yeah, I'm on tiptoes on that bike as well, unless I slide off the seat to one side or the other so I can flatfoot at least one foot. It's a bit of an interesting experience, especially when the tank is full (all 8.7 gallons...).
How long ya been in Berkley Springs? I used to pass through there quite often when I was driving OTR in '99. Personal trips had always taken through other parts of WV. Including 60, before 64/77 was 100% complete. (that was a LONG time ago; travelin' sure has changed!)
I've lowered just about every bike I've ridden for more than a few weeks or so, but that is def. a good looking bike. A friend that hit a lot of the BMW rallies mentioned a girl he'd see at a lot of em - riding a GS. She was about 5'4! Could do a side slide on the seat to stop and make it look like the most natural thing in the world.
I just saw this thread. That's a beautiful go-anywhere bike. 
In reply to AAZCD (Forum Supporter) :
Thanks. Pity the rider isn't of the go-anywhere sorts, at least on something that big and heavy 
. I'm probably the poster boy of the mall-rated equivalent when it comes to adventure bikes. My excuse is that I buy them for the ergonomics.
03Panther said:How long ya been in Berkley Springs? I used to pass through there quite often when I was driving OTR in '99. Personal trips had always taken through other parts of WV. Including 60, before 64/77 was 100% complete. (that was a LONG time ago; travelin' sure has changed!)
A little over two years now. Moved here for my wife's job.
I've lowered just about every bike I've ridden for more than a few weeks or so, but that is def. a good looking bike. A friend that hit a lot of the BMW rallies mentioned a girl he'd see at a lot of em - riding a GS. She was about 5'4! Could do a side slide on the seat to stop and make it look like the most natural thing in the world.
A lot of it is technique, but that said I'm still being very careful, especially with the local assumption that roads are self cleaning. There is still a lot of gravel on the road at intersections which doesn't help when you're on tiptoes.
BoxheadTim said:Thanks. Pity the rider isn't of the go-anywhere sorts, at least on something that big and heavy
I'm with ya on that! Seen a "meme", back before they had a name, - .45: sometimes fat, heavy and slow, gets the job done!
03Panther said:I've lowered just about every bike I've ridden for more than a few weeks or so, but that is def. a good looking bike. A friend that hit a lot of the BMW rallies mentioned a girl he'd see at a lot of em - riding a GS. She was about 5'4! Could do a side slide on the seat to stop and make it look like the most natural thing in the world.
In reply to Mr. Lee :
WAY COOL! I'm glad you found/posted that!
Mr Post (N. N. VA) told me that story about 15 years ago, or so (I hope the cool old guy is still kickin' 
) , so might not be the same girl, but she sure does match his description to a "T"
I ended up in love and married to a wonderful lady, that can't even ride with me, much less ride her own - so I don't ride as much as I used to. Otherwise, I'd have needed a side hack fo the furry kids!
Anytime. She makes it look waaay too easy. Apparently she's a riding instructor somewhere.
Funny you mention the side hack... been thinking about one for the "Giant Chihuahua" we've got so he can ride with me. (note, not a chi, bull terrier. He just acts more like a chihuahua than a terrier. Ever seen a big dog cry cause you won't let him under the blanket?)
Right, a log of problem free ownership...
I noticed that this bike brought a whiff of petrol with it into the garage. I finally decided to look into this a bit more (by asking Google of course) - turns out there is an open recall for a fuel pump issue that can lead to fuel leaks. Oh well.
BoxheadTim said:Right, a log of problem free ownership...
I noticed that this bike brought a whiff of petrol with it into the garage. I finally decided to look into this a bit more (by asking Google of course) - turns out there is an open recall for a fuel pump issue that can lead to fuel leaks. Oh well.
I sent a customer's GS in for this recall last year. It was all pretty painless.
The fuel pump quick connect fittings failed on his, causing a lovely fuel spray.
nice... I test sat a few of them at the BMW dealership a few weeks back... I really like how upright they sit even over my versys... big bikes but I understand why people like them...
that being said... I could easily flat foot them... part of the fun of being 6'4 with long legs... I can see some weird things happening on uneven surfaces...
added the video to my YT play list :)
In reply to ShawnG :
For me it's mostly the distance to the closest dealer. I'll have to phone around if anybody can accomodate this work on a Saturday, otherwise I'll be looking at another PTO day I have to take to get this addressed.
I haven't check if mine has the plastic or metal quick disconnects. I've got bad memories of a Triumph with plastic disconnects that did its best to ruin a vacation.
In reply to donalson :
Thanks! I do find them fairly easy to balance. I'm not able to flat foot the bike with both feet as I'm "only" 5'10", but generally one foot down is good enough. Being on tiptoes on gravel with a bike like this isn't fun, though.
More ownership log plus some riding footage. Had to install lowered pegs to get a better knee angle - massive comfort gain, especially with the seat on the higher setting.
Good news - the largest BMW dealer in the vicinity (for large values of vicinity) happens to have a couple fuel pumps left on the shelf for the recall, which is good because apparently there is currently a shortage of them. As long as I can get my behind to them early this Saturday or next Saturday, they'll be able to do the recall as a walk-in.
Guess I'll be getting up unreasonably early tomorrow morning then.
I did a test ride on a 2012 MY of this BMW bike. I'm 6'3" tall and 32" inseam and couldn't flat foot it. It had slightly over 2800 miles. Seat was nice, suspension very plush, and wind protection was great. Climbing on was a challenge with the panniers and rear case. I enjoyed the short test ride and can definitely see the appeal for a long distance ride as the fit was great for me.
They make great touring bikes, once one gets over the concern of heights.
Looks like the recall work has somehow grown into additional work, bike needed new tires as it was getting a bit iffy to ride at speed. And the notorious fuel strip (fuel gauge sender) gave up the ghost on the way to the dealer. Fortunately the work to get at the fuel strip is almost identical to the work getting at the fuel pump, so all I end up having to pay for is the part and the additional work.
So I guess this was pretty expensive as "free" recall work goes. Obviously the fuel pump recall was free, but adding set of tires and the fuel strip - which on its own is about $240 - added up. OTOH, being able to actually see how much fuel is in the tank and how much range you have left is rather useful. The tires also made a much bigger difference than I initially expected. The front tire especially wears somewhat different and usually quicker than on a "normal" bike - not quite sure for the exact techinal reason behind this, but it's basically a feature of the Telelever suspension these bikes have.
Either way, at normal highway speeds on the way down the bike was weaving a little bit, dependent on the road surface. Never to the extent that it was really worrying, but as someone who's had a rear tire deflate at 50mph and still remembers the resulting tank slapper, it was a bit annoying. Now with the new rubber, the bit was rock solid as it should be.
Also, I haven't checked this morning yet but when I checked last night, there was no fuel smell in the garage anymore. That alone was worth spending 3h+ in holiday traffic on I-70.
Well, I checked after coming back from picking up more BRZ parts - no fuel smell in the garage, just smells of regular old bikes. Yay.
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