Let's see those bikes

Yeah, I should have added that the bike needs to have the stuff on my punch list for needs and strong wants. Or, be able to be gotten there for not much more $$ than original cost.

 

That is the only reason I posted about it- some people, being new to forums perhaps, might take this stuff seriously and I have seen some folks get really upset thinking they voided their warranty, ruined their bikes, etc. I just wanted to inject a little calmness for those people- othewise, by all means, carry on about oil, tires, whatever.

I live in RI and found a fix for missing motorcycle riding: we ride all winter! Heated gear from neck to toe, literally, and we ride as long as the roads are clear. We commonly ride for hours down into the 20'sF. The coldest was one night ride at 11F, but between the electrical draw of my aux. headlights and both full electric clothing sets running at 100%, managed to pop the main fuse about 10 miles north of home on Rt. 116. Not good. We were not dressed for open- ended time outside at those temperatures WITHOUT electric heat and so got a bit chilly waiting for the tow truck.

Funny story: tow truck guy shows up, backs up to the front of the bike, gets out of the truck and says hello while starting to rig for a tow. I made my 'surprised' look and asked if he was sure WE were the people he was supposed to tow and not the OTHER people stuck on a motorcycle? Should have seen the look on his face! Yeah, it was a pretty safe bet that we were the only ones out that night on a bike.....

The one and only time this bike has not brought me home in 100K miles:



Brian

 

Isn't it great to have first- world problems like this though? Standing in the 'motorcycle store', trying to decide which one(s), in which color(s), with which accessories we want?

I love America! The place full of Japanese, Italian, Germans and English motorcycles!

Brian

 

And for good reason

 

My current bike "spoke" to me in 1994. I started riding in 1993, an 86 Yamaha Radian, rode that for a year. One day in 1994 my wife and I were out for a ride on the Radian and just happened to stop in to the BMW dealer, honestly had no intentions of stopping at the dealer that day, had no intentions of test riding or even buying. The guy "convinced" me to take a test drive, I didn't even know they allowed test drives, he insisted that I take my wife with me on the test ride. First we tried a K75, it was just OK, then we tried my R100R, it had 4 miles on it. When we got back, my wife says, "I don't even need to ask", we left with it that day, I don't even remember what happened to the Radian. I put a small aftermarket fairing on it later that summer and some factory hard cases, been that way for the next 23 years and 250K.

 

Dave, that's an awesome amount of miles! Sounds like a match made in...
I had a very similar experience in 95 at a car dealership. Drove in to admire the new model and ended up driving it home. Huge buyer remorse not shorty after the monthly bill started rolling in. Turns out I still have it, and it taught me a valuable lesson. In all the years of ownership the only part failure was a clutch slave and one turn signal bulb. Aside from some normal maint items (still using the OE front brake pads!), cost of ownership has been super low.

 

Have you had to do much to it in 250k?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

One I nearly took home. BMW S1000R Ahhh what an awesome bike, and the deal was stupid. I'll probably kick myself from time to time until I'm dead about not buying "this" one.


Now, I recall why I didn't. It was a "base" model. So none of the crazy options, from the factory. You can add them on, but as y'all know Bring My Wallet. So it had rain mode, standard drive modes, and ABS. No traction control, heated grips, wheelie control, or the other ride modes. At that point it wouldn't have been such a bargain as it's cheaper to buy a unit with these on it already.

 

I rode up to NH to test ride one of those when they came out! A most impressive bike, especially when turning just over 14K RPM and living to tell about it. Outstanding power. There are videos of those thing stock (other than strapping the front end down) pulling low 9's in the 1/4 mile.

Unfortunately both by wife and I are too old, and I am too, ahem, 'drought and famine resistant' to ride those anymore. After we 'unfolded' ourselves, we had to walk around for a half- hour before we could stand up straight. I might be able to ride one alone but not for long and they are just too much money for a 'three to four short ride per year' motorcycle, at least for me.

Brian

 

Besides the usual wear stuff
Two top ends
One tranny rebuild
Used up a couple of rear oem shocks, then a Wilbers that has been rebuilt once
The oem front end gear was replaced with aftermarket at 100K, that's ready for some attention now.

 

Yeah, I really like that one myself- and I can say that 'cause I stole it from Homer.

The episode when Homer had a plan to gain weight until he weighed 300 (or was it 350?) lbs., which qualified him for special work assignment to work from home. Marge questions him about these 'changes' (he is going from really fat to gigantic) and they end making a Pro / Con list regarding his weight gain. Marge says 'Con, you are endangering your health'. Homer says 'Pro, I am drought and famine resistant'. I think I wet my pants a little watching that one like 25 years ago. Way back when, whoever wrote / directed those episodes were absolute geniuses and I never missed an episode. I can still sing the song from 'The Stonecutters' episode, and remember some of Homer's mnemonic rhymes:

Leaves of three, let it be.
Leaves of four, eat some more. (how to spot poison ivy)

If a fire starts to burn, there is a lesson you must learn;
Something Something, then you'll see, you'll avoid catastrophe. (fire safety)

By the way, Homer did eventually gain enough weight to work from home, sat at a computer and ran the nuclear plant. After a while, he notices that all of the correct answers to all of the questions is 'Y', so he puts one of those 'drinking birds' on the keyboard to keep striking 'Y' and goes to see a movie (Honk if your horny). He comes home only to find the bird has fallen over, and the screen says something like 'Overload: Explosion Imminent!' and remarks to the bird, 'I never should have left YOU in charge!'.

Brian

 

This BMW is the single R, not the double R. So no clip ons, and regular bars. Pretty much the same for the rest the package. I'm 6'4", 250lbs and this bike was comfortable for me. It simply needs a small screen and it has enough for me. I don't ride cross country, more like cross states

This is my bike that I ride, and have for 15+ years. 97 Suzuki TL 1000S/R

It's got driven brand riser clipons, had helibars ( absolutely crap quality- I'll explain if anyone wants to hear), taller bubble screen, and a Corbin seat. I had to replace the TLS motor with a TLR (there's a thread here) but I've ridden it on as many twisty roads and race courses as I can.

 

Yeah, I was on the RR. I am 6'2", 235 lb (although going to Chinese buffet later on today so that is subject to change) but it seems I am unusually long in the torso. Pants are either a 32" or 30" but I sit really tall in the saddle. To get my helmet out of badly buffeted air, I had to increase the windshield height on my C-14 by 10" (6 3/4" on the 'screen itself and then a ~4" MRA visor on top of that. The BMW absolutely killed me just getting into riding position; I really needed the bike to be about 6" longer in the chassis. As I said, I <might> be able to ride one alone but even then, not for long and in my old age, I ride for long, usually.

I can ride a ZX-14 comfortably, as well as some of the more relaxed, liter 'sport bikes' but not the full- blown, true sport bikes. Just too small, low and short.

Brian

 

I hear you about most of the full on Superbike not fitting taller bigger guys. I've got a 34" inseam, so I understand about the bike ergo thing. The riders that race these bikes are small. There's no advantage to being a bigger rider in racing. There's only disadvantages with weight and aerodynamics. So the racing literbikes get smaller, most of them at least. Aprilia and BMW get it though by making the Tuono and the S1000R.

I know I don't fit on a Yamaha r1, for more than 40 minutes at a time( race or track time), but the same chassis and motor on the fz10 with regular bars and a different rear subframe allows it to fit me well.

 

I'm amazed that you have not done more. So you are still on the original short block?

 

Wow, what oil you use? Must be good stuff!

 

Crisco, certainly.

 

I was leaning evoo. Haha!

 

Bet it rhymes with Nutella !

I apologize in advance...