Still plays with motorcycles

BoxheadTim said:

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.

My wife moved the SV and was so mad when she saw her hands after the slimy grips. 

In reply to Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) :

I've never had this issue on a motorcycle grip before. But yuck...

Put together a video of the deer huntin' Harley. The intro would've been a lot better if it hadn't had to be reshot because the original had been narrated by someone who's head had been partially removed. Note to self - do a better job checking the framing...

Never really created a proper introductoriy video for my "daily" Bonneville, so I turned into a combo of introduction and year in review:

I'm usually wearing atgatt, although it changes depending on a street ride vs off-road.  Different boots, pants, jacket etc.

Every so often I chafe a little at wearing the pants and boots for a quick ride around town but road rash or a broken ankle would suck more

A little over the top there motohack.  Nothing in ddavidv's post suggested anything except "I wear a full face helmet".

I wear all my E36 M3 any time I leave my neighborhood (I idle my track bike up and down the street with just a helmet the day before an event).  I imagine the last thing going through my mind as I fly over a car or whatever being of any gear I left behind.  Then I put it on.

Triumph channels its ancestors:

Oh well..

My 2008 is still on the original master cylinder. I've only flushed the fluid once. 

In reply to ddavidv :

The odd thing here is  that I have not touched the brakes on this maintenance wise. Apparently it just decided to start leaking one day, presumably because it was a day ending in 'y'.

I wouldn't be too upset. It's the lowest point in the system, so that is where the moisture will wind up. I had a brake caliper start weeping on my '06 Mustang a year or two ago. Will confess I've never flushed the fluid in that one since I owned it. Turns out the car had that same caliper replaced once before after browsing the PO's service records. They have seals. Seals go bad. 

My RE Bullet has mechanical brakes. They always work...as good as terrible old school brakes can. 

Good point regarding it being the lowest point. The remaining brake fluid didn't quite look as fresh as the brake fluid for the front brakes, maybe someone forgot to change it as the reservoir is well hidden behind the side panel. Combine the moisture in the brake fluid with the bike being parked right next to the cold garage door and I can seen why it might start leaking after a few freeze/thaw cycles.

At least this should allow me to take a peek at the front sprocket as IIRC the rear brake master has to come off for that anyway.

Finally wanted to figure out what parts I needed to order for the Triumph, only that now I can't really determine where the actual brake fluid leak is. Guess I'll have to top up the reservoir and see if more of it leaks out anywhere. Either way I probably have to remove the master cylinder to get a good look at the front sprocket. Somebody decided that having the front sprocket behind a bunch of plastic and then bolt the master cylinder to that would be a really good idea. As the PO did use chain lube rather liberally, there is caked on lube everywhere anyway that I should clean up.

Oh, and the other interesting part is that I can't just buy a shop manual. I either have to buy a Haynes manual, or subscribe on one of Triumph websites to get access to an online version of the manual. Ain't progress great?

Some updates on the Triumph shortly, I finally completed what must've been the longest basic service ever and it wasn't because I needed to get an appropriate OBD-II reader from the UK.

In other news, because I can resist anything but temptation, I just put a deposit on another motorcycle.

Another BMW, because apparently I'm not really capable of buying anything else these days. Something a little bit special, too. More tomorrow when I either find out it's been overdescribed (don't think so, it's at the same dealer I got my Bonneville from and they're good at describing bikes accurately) or I've bought another GS.

About to take off - I guess the prize questions is, do I come back with:

• The GS I put a deposit on
• One of the Moto Guzzis that caught my eye
• Something else I didn't even consider
• Just some Thai food because nothing really appealed

Hoping for the Guzzi because BMWs just don't float my boat.

Comes down to - do I want another collector's piece (which the GS I'm talking about is) or do I want something with a warranty?

They do have a barely used V100 in stock and I'm probably going to look at that one, too, plus multiple '23 V85TTs.

Both Guzzis and older BMWs tend to float my boat, so that part is really a toss up.

Well, the BMW was of the "too good to walk away from" persuasion, even though it's essentially Bat money. Photo to come when I get home.

As to what it is, it's a 1992 BMW R100GS (not PD, so it's got the smaller tank) "bumblebee". 

Picture at the dealership, as promised:

As mentioned, this is a bumblebee R100GS, with about 5900 miles on it. Condition checks out - it's not 100% pristine but fairly close. It still has the CO2 cartridges for the tire plug kit in the toolkit, that's how pristine it is.

It'll be a few weeks until I actually get the bike as I've asked the BMW dealer who sold it to me to change all fluids and also put new tires on. The ones on the bike are dated 2000 so despite them having plenty of tread left, I have no intention of finding the limits of the grip that's left. Plus it looks like the last service it had was over ten years ago.

Hopefully I'll manage to be able to use it a bit over the summer and autumn, and then address some of the small issues I already found over the winter. Frankly, there isn't going to be much, other than a couple of areas on the pannier frames and the gearlever where the paint has chipped off. Plus, I need to check what the deal with the sidestand is as it's self-retracting.

This was one of my bucket list bikes as I've owned a non-bumblebee one in the UK that I ended up selling when I bought my first house and I've always wanted a bumblebee one. Unmolested examples with reasonable mileage are pretty hard to find these days, and when this came up it was time to scrape together the pennies.

As an aside, it did make me wonder why adventure bikes got so big. This used to be considered a big bike, but when it was parked right next to some R1250GSs it looked like it you almost put in the the top box. Yes, I realise some of the required features on newer bikes require additional space that a frame like this wouldn't accommodate, but still, this thing feels about as big as my Triumph Bonneville compared to the ocean liner anchor sized newer adventure bikes.

The original ADV bike, before they ballooned into what they are today.

We like what we like. I have always found BMWs--as a friend once put it--too 'bovine'.  I like British bikes, which aren't without their character flaws, and Italian bikes, which too often remind me of the dozen or so Fiats I used to play with. German, Soviet and Japanese bikes just aren't my flavor...though I have been tempted by Yamaha's Tracer GT as a possible touring bike in a few years. 

BMW at least dances to a different beat and are generally unique. Too bad they have succumbed to saddling their new bikes with endless technology that will inevitably break...and not be fixable by the home mechanic. Much respect for these old girls, though.

In reply to ddavidv :

Well, the airheads are called "Gummikuh" (rubber cow) in German motorcycling circles. I think like an aircooled 911, they're a bit of an acquired taste, and they don't necessarily do one specific thing very well. Yet, if you had to grab a bike to get you across the country tomorrow, it'll just get you there, in reasonable comfort and at a surprising average speed.

While they have a reputation of being "simple", they're still full of German engineering, but hey, at least they don't have a check engine light...

People love the paint scheme on these but it's never been my thing.  The 1250 in particular is a huge bike, far more than I care to ride.  I've mostly drunk the orange Kool Aide and ride/own KTM's.  I've owned 1 BMW and 1 Suzuki, both were good bikes.  The Aprilia Toureg catches my eye but I don't care to try and pick up the 450+ lbs it weighs compared to the 350lbs my KTM weighs...

Well, Triumph got some actual asphalt (and some dirt in this parking lot) under its tires, but right now working on the Elise takes priority.

Just realized I never posted the "proper" shots of the GS now that it is in my possession:

In reply to ddavidv :

Me on my 3 1/2 at the Volusia 1/2 mile 2019ish