Took a Saturday ride to Miami. Left at 6:30 am, quick ride up to Miami BMW, then over to South Beach for a quick stop at the News Cafe. Back on the road by 1pm, and back home at 5:30pm. 340 miles in 10 hours, with about 2 hours total off the bike.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
old and older
1982 R100 in the background and the GS in the front. The R100 is the bike I sold to get the GS. An amazing bike that I am sorry to see go.
My friend Theo Glorie has it now. He started with a red paperclip and traded his way up to get the bike. Yes, seriously. You can read the full story here. Things like rubber balls, necklaces, fountains and even a coin from the shipwreck Atocha passed through his hands on the way to the R100.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Gas Milage
Last tank got 220 miles from about 6 gallons, or about 37 mpg. Should be better. I will be adjusting the valves soon and maybe that will make a difference. 90% of the mileage was on the highway, which helped a lot. It drops quite a bit around town.
Gas gauge was down to 0-1 bars, and the fuel light was on. It is an 8 gallon tank and it took 6 gallons, so conceivably there were 2 gallons left in the tank. BMW says that the light will come on with 1.1 gallons left in the tank. Everyone else says that the tank has two lobes that hang down on either side of the frame and that fuel is only taken from the right side, so that you have extra fuel in the left lobe that you can't get to. (Unless you lean the bike way over to the right.)
I don't yet know how low I can go before I sputter to a stop. I am sure I will find out.
Gas gauge was down to 0-1 bars, and the fuel light was on. It is an 8 gallon tank and it took 6 gallons, so conceivably there were 2 gallons left in the tank. BMW says that the light will come on with 1.1 gallons left in the tank. Everyone else says that the tank has two lobes that hang down on either side of the frame and that fuel is only taken from the right side, so that you have extra fuel in the left lobe that you can't get to. (Unless you lean the bike way over to the right.)
I don't yet know how low I can go before I sputter to a stop. I am sure I will find out.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
1787 miles
1,787 miles on the bike since Feb. 17th, 33 days.
Added 2/3rd of a quart of Mobil 1 High Milage 10w-40 today. There is a small leak coming from what looks like the seam between the case and the transmission and I am sure the engine, with 104,287 miles on it is burning a bit of oil. The leak is so slight that it dirties the case with residue, but doesn't leak enough to drip at all.
Still need to fix it. I don't like leaks, no matter how small. I had a chance meeting with Fred and his wife, owners of 441 Cycle, a BMW shop up in Ft. Lauderdale. Very nice people and I will be taking my bike there for service in the future.
Added 2/3rd of a quart of Mobil 1 High Milage 10w-40 today. There is a small leak coming from what looks like the seam between the case and the transmission and I am sure the engine, with 104,287 miles on it is burning a bit of oil. The leak is so slight that it dirties the case with residue, but doesn't leak enough to drip at all.
Still need to fix it. I don't like leaks, no matter how small. I had a chance meeting with Fred and his wife, owners of 441 Cycle, a BMW shop up in Ft. Lauderdale. Very nice people and I will be taking my bike there for service in the future.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
...bikes that could survive the apocalypse
Just found this posted on ADVRider:
Excerpted from "The Horse Back Street Choppers" magazine:
"I had gone over 50 miles and my fuel was running short. In front of me I saw a bike going a little faster then I was. I was keeping my speed down to try and squeak a few more miles out of my tank. The bike was steadily gaining distance and my hope of bummin' some fuel off him disappeared as he crested the horizon about a mile ahead of me. I was officially screwed.
I crested a hill and the smell of sulfur hit me like nothing I have ever had the dishonor of experiencing. There at the side of the road was the bike, a fully geared BMW, with its owner taking a photo of the stink ass lake! The guy was from Sweden and didn’t speak shit for English. Through some creative sign language I was able to convey I was out of gas.
Now you can make fun of anybody on any kind of a bike, but NEVER make fun of one of those BMW guys! They ride alone for thousands of miles on bikes that could survive the apocalypse and have everything that they will need for any catastrophe, including extra fuel! This guy was strapped with ten gallons of high test in small jugs all over his bike and he was more then happy to share. A goddam lifesaver this guy was and in the middle of hell on top of it! I finally made it to a town some 50 miles away and filled this guy up with gas, a total of 12 gallons of it!”
Excerpted from "The Horse Back Street Choppers" magazine:
"I had gone over 50 miles and my fuel was running short. In front of me I saw a bike going a little faster then I was. I was keeping my speed down to try and squeak a few more miles out of my tank. The bike was steadily gaining distance and my hope of bummin' some fuel off him disappeared as he crested the horizon about a mile ahead of me. I was officially screwed.
I crested a hill and the smell of sulfur hit me like nothing I have ever had the dishonor of experiencing. There at the side of the road was the bike, a fully geared BMW, with its owner taking a photo of the stink ass lake! The guy was from Sweden and didn’t speak shit for English. Through some creative sign language I was able to convey I was out of gas.
Now you can make fun of anybody on any kind of a bike, but NEVER make fun of one of those BMW guys! They ride alone for thousands of miles on bikes that could survive the apocalypse and have everything that they will need for any catastrophe, including extra fuel! This guy was strapped with ten gallons of high test in small jugs all over his bike and he was more then happy to share. A goddam lifesaver this guy was and in the middle of hell on top of it! I finally made it to a town some 50 miles away and filled this guy up with gas, a total of 12 gallons of it!”
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