Still plays with motorcycles

Figured I'll start a consolidated "me playing with motorcycles" thread as a continuation of my BMW R1200GS thread that was headed that way anyway.

As mentioned in the other thread, I managed to fall off my bike in early September with some help from the local wildlife. While doing so I noticed I didn't bounce that well anymore and promptly broke my collarbone. At least only the bike got totaled and I live on to complain about it . Given that this was the most serious accident so far in almost a quarter century of riding motorcycles, I'm not complaining.

I'll see what the latest X-rays will discover on Wednesday, but the last time I got irridated, I still had a custom three piece collarbone. I've started replacing and upgrading both my wife's and my safety gear and even managed to convince my wife that an open face helmet was a bad idea after she had a look at the state of my helmet after the low speed crash.

As I still can't really wrench on my vehicles and can't ride right now, I've entertained myself trying to figure out what I would get to replace the GS. That's actually not that easy as they are pretty much the do-everything bike. I still haven't quite made up my mind - I'm going back and forth between getting a cruiser that is comfortable for two up touring and another, older BMW Airhead to celebrate 'Entschleunigung'. 'Entschleunigug' being one of those German words that doesn't have a proper English equivalent, but roughly means a deliberate attempt to slow down the pace (of living and riding). It's kinda the opposite of 'Beschleunigung' - acceleration - but with some philosophical overtones.

Right, and now that I've confused myself and everybody who read this far, where are we right now?

Well, I did make a drive-by purchase of the answer to the question "when is a BMW K1 not a K1?". The answer to this riddle looks like this:

No, it's not a BMW K1100RS - this is the much rarer K100RS 16V (which is essentially a K1 with less quirky bodywork) that's been fitted with a K1100RS lower fairing. My understanding is that this was a dealer fit option on these bikes, at least in the US. I've owned one of these before that I rebuilt after a crash and when I decided that maybe I wouldn't mind another one, I found out just how rare these are. Anyway, the bike is currently in CO waiting for the shipper to pick it up.

Still doesn't answer the question as to what I want for the actual replacement for the GS. I've got a line on what looks like a decent, low-ish mileage R100GS in Jersey, but I also keep getting sidetracked by Ultra Glides and their Indian bretheren. I've never owned a fully equipped bagger before, and I keep noticing people selling especially early Twin Cam Ultra Glides for very reasonable money with reasonable miles on them. Main problem is that I'm not too fond of really heavy bikes, and they don't get much heavier than an Ultra Glide (well, a Victory Vision, but that one might be a weird bike too far even for me).

So for now I'm keeping an eye out for something that speaks to me and see what comes up. Oh, and in case someone was planning to point out the irony that I do like BMW motorcycles enough to buy their weird models, but don't like their cars, yes, I'm well aware of that .

I'm the opposite; I've bought several of their cars but have yet to find a roundel equipped motorcycle that I like. 

The open face helmet comment reminded me of my 'off' a few years ago. The first thing to hit the pavement was my chin guard on my full face. Had I been riding open face, I'd have needed some very expensive and decidedly uncomfortable reconstructive surgery. I'll never wear an open face again.

Open face helmets are big no no for me. Idk how true this data is, but seems to line up quite well with what I see. 

I've always gotten full face helmets...

In reply to docwyte :

Either full face or modular helmets that are certified as full face helmets (and not as an open face with a decorative chin bar) for me. 

I have done a thing.

No, not registered the BMW yet as it's still supposed to be picked up Any Day Now. I decided I wanted one bike made this century as the daily/tourer, but couldn't find anything that spoke to me. Well, until I found this thing:

It's a 2016 Triumph T120 that a previous owner accessorised into a mini touring bike. It does look like someone threw a lot of money at it - upgraded front and rear suspension, wheels supposedly have been converted to tubeless, Hepco & Becker luggage and aftermarket mufflers of the more fruity variety. Seat looks like a Triumph comfort seat to me, too.

I'll try to resist turning it into a project, yet I'm already thinking about a few, err, upgrades. I do want cruise control on it, which requires replacing the lhs switch gear with the cruise control version and then getting the dealer to load the appropriate map and then we'll see how long I can resist the temptation to not change out a few other things.

Welcome to Triumph ownership. My 865 Bonnie has been rock solid reliable.

And I just got confirmation that the BMW shown above has been picked up and should be making its way over to me.

I have to say, the condition report they sent me suggests that the driver is *very* thorough.

ddavidv said:

Welcome to Triumph ownership. My 865 Bonnie has been rock solid reliable.

Thanks! Not my first Triumph, but a model that I've had my eye on for a while now. Can't wait to properly ride it.

The BMW has arrived:

I just picked it up from the dealer it ended up getting delivered to. It's in rather good condition, in line with the mileage and seems to ride fine. Not the weather to find out, plus I suspect it's on its first or second set of tires and they're like a decade or two old.

I really like both the BMW and the Triumph.  2016 is the first year of the water cooled Bonneville series and I look forward to your thoughts on it.  Congratulations!

Guy in Orlando just posted up he's letting his '03 1150 GSA go, non runner, and he's not sure what's it's worth on ADVrider sandbox forum if you're still thinking about something for 2 up on.

In reply to Mr. Lee :

Thanks for the pointer. I really need to stop buying bikes at this point, I'm running out of places to store them .

Both the Triumph and the BMW should be OK for two up riding. That was actually the main reason behind getting a T120 instead of a T100. I might end up with a bigger bike sometime in the future, but I do generally prefer the somewhat smaller and thus more manageable bikes.

congrats

i added a triumph last year - photo in other Honda thread

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

Street Scrambler, nice! I was toying with the idea of getting a 1200 Scrambler as there are quite a few for sale around here, but the luggage options weren't that great as it looked like only one company in the UK offered a solution that mounted two panniers. They are very, very cool bikes though.

In reply to wawazat :

I've only ridden the Triumph to the local inspection station and back. First impressions are good, it's nice and torquey although the exhaust is a bit too fruity for my liking. Got to see if I get used to it, otherwise I have to check if there are baffles available for it.

It's already developed a few foibles - after the first ride, the rear brake is now squealing when I push the bike backwards, and the fork oink. I think the latter is a function of the temperature. When I shoot the intro video for it for my YouTube channel I'll probably dive in a bit deeper, there are some areas that need cleaning plus I want to do a basic service on it anyway before I start not modifying it further.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

thanks! my first non crotch rocket. going from a 1299 panigale on a monday to a scrambler on wednesday will teach you. 

still getting used to the slowness 

be safe my friend

I live three miles from endless desert trails. My Beta 5020 is street legal.  At 60 I'm still riding the same trails I was when I was 20....can't see giving them up any time soon.

They're GREAT bikes!  I had a 100rs in pearl white with Supertrapp and K&N.  A Corbin seat was my next purchase.   Traded it for an R-1150rt and that for a K-1200LT.   Still have the old R-90 but when the Prize Patrol finds my driveway, I'm buying a Monotracer.

Congratulations.

In reply to 914Driver :

Thanks. I really like that vintage flying bricks as they tend to be very long lived with reasonable maintenance and also reasonably well maintainable at home.

As the weather wasn't quite cooperating with me shooting a video on the Triumph, I decided to make a quick discovery video for the K:

Bonus points for the Moto Morini shirt.

In reply to ddavidv :

Thanks! One of my favourite winter wrenching shirts. I probably should drag one of my Morinis out to work on to go with the shirt...

It looks like I never linked to episode 2 of the BMW K100RS project, and now I've made it to episode three:

I already mentioned in the Minor Rant Thread that I have acquired a new motorcycle project, and hopefully one that didn't need a lot of work because it's mainly a case of getting back on the road after it mostly sat for several years.

A few friends of mine called this my "age appropriate" bike. Oh well. Anyway, here it is in all its glory, although about 1/2h before I went deer hunting on it:

2003 Softail Heritage Classic (kinda obvious) with a bit more than 91k miles on it. Previous owner used it to commute and for general transport for about a decade when the weather was nice and put about 10k miles on it annually until a health condition prevented him from riding. It's fairly farkled, although a lot of it is cosmetic. But it has  a nice comfy Mustang touring seat on it.

Fortunately the majority of the damage was to the deer (nope, it didn't make it) as this time I had at least time for a full on emergency brake maneuver. Need to work on my evasive techniques though. Main damage is that the windshield has some cracks now, and the front of the fender is a bit pushed in, although the big Harley emblem at the tip of the fender probably took the brunt of that impact. Haven't pulled the emblem off yet as I want to have a replacement first, although I did notice a little bit of crinkling underneath already. Hoping that I or a paintless dent person can take care of most of that as I don't fancy having the front fender repainted - that pearl white also has a color shift in it.

Managed to take the Harley out for another assessment/test ride, this time without trying to bring more venison home.

Runs well and rides much nicer than the miles suggest. Doesn't like crosswinds and grooves in the road, which reminds me of the Road King I used to own. Still going to check steering head bearings and the rear swing arm bearings just in case. Plus I'll get new tires for next year as well, especially as the front one is getting close to its legal limit.

Definitely have to get used to it as it's a bike style I normally don't ride, plus the back protector for my Klim airbag vest doesn't quite like the seat arrangement, but that's a minor quibble.

Oh, and I really need to get replacement grips, I don't appreciate getting sticky yucky black stuff on my hands every time I try to move or ride the bike.