Archive for BMW
Finally I got my map and other good news.
Posted by: | CommentsWell TomTom came through in the end although the communications through their web site still drive me potty. I had to create a new email address and set up a TomTom Home account in the new name, then the company switched my map authorisation to the new mail address and I was able to to download it. It seems like a needless palaver to me, caused basically by their desire to a) make their products secure from piracy and b) use a system that is designed for people who don`t have a clue about computers. Good intentions and roads to hell come to mind..
I also got a phone call from Chris at Adventure-Spec from whom I ordered crash bars and a bash plate. He says they were being sent off today so with a bit of luck I should receive them tomorrow. I ordered these as a replacement for the SW Motech bars that I had so much trouble with when trying to fit them ( and which I sent back to Nippy Normans for a refund). I sure hope the new ones fit! I do have a bashplate already – the BMW one but that has cracked as a result of some darn rocks jumping out at me and in any case I wasn`t sure if the new bars would fit around the BMW bashplate. Also the Adventure-Spec plate looks more robust than the BMW one. I shall try my hand at welding that up with my little MIG welder, it’ll make a useful spare for someone.
F800 Updates
Posted by: | CommentsI took the BMW over to South London Motorrad yesterday for a set of factory mandated checks and updates. These involved re-routing the ABS connections, checking various fasteners on the brakes, replacing the fuel pressure sensor and a software update.
Not unnaturally, I have not noticed any difference as the bike was running fine beforehand anyway. What I did notice was just how different the 650 GS loan bike I used felt (I had to leave my bike there for most of the day, and I needed transport). It seemed very low in the seat, rather underpowered, or at least lacking in the torque department and contrary to my expectations, the steering seemed very slow and the bike reluctant to tip in at corners. I didn`t check the tyres closely but they were road tyres, not TKC`s like mine – how much and what kind of difference this makes, I don`t know. I do know that I vastly preferred my own bike to the 650. Perhaps this had more to do with familiarity than anything else but the difference surprised me, I had thought the two bikes would feel much the same.
The weather was absolutely dreary and in the morning, cold with it. The heated hand grips are great but particularly my thumbs get cold even with them on. I guess it`s time to don winter wear.
Welsh Weekend with the Adventure Riders
Posted by: | CommentsWhat a great weekend it was too! It was a really sunny and lovely weekend weatherwise but I got wet, cold and muddy despite that. Probably that was because I rode my bike up and down Welsh mountains and along lanes that had been chosen by folk like me – in search of some wonderful off-road riding.
I signed up on the Adventure Rider forum for a so-called Equinox Rally Novice weekend and the results are to be seen here I have nothing but praise for the organisers who had gone to endless trouble to sort out routes that were suitable for a largely unknown and mixed bunch of riders coming from all over. The weather for the previous several weeks had been anything but encouraging and I was very doubtful that the event would actually take place. As I was in Italy with LOML until a couple of days before, I had only one day to read the forecasts and weather history and then to decide it was probably worth the effort and then to pack all the camping gear for the weekend. As this was to be on the 800 sans trailer, it was a new experience for me. Needless to say, I packed too much as usual. I used half the clothes I took and still felt somehow overdressed but wanting something different.
The riding was exceptionally good. A great mix of mud, rocks and broken bones – thankfully not mine but requiring two helicopter medevacs in any case. These were performed by the Welsh Air Ambulance service and what a terrific job they did. So much so that we are all now contributing to this charity organisation.
I am pleased with this picture that Timpo took of me. He really caught the water as it sloshed into my helmet!
See the rally pix for more of this sort..
One thing caught me by surprise – we were doing a route called Strata Florida and went past a load of wreaths that had been laid for the young girl who had died in a recent flood when the 4×4 she was in had been swept away by the river at a crossing. We crossed at the same point on bikes and there was no danger of being swept away (I think) but it is crystal clear that conditions can and do change very quickly.
We crossed the river many times and went through so many very deep puddles that I feel quite at home in the water now although I`d hesitate to tackle it by myself having found out just how easy it is to fall down and get a leg trapped under the bike. The trouble is the rocks under the water are unseen, slippery and odd sizes – there`s just no way of picking a way through them unless you can see them from well above – as we did on a couple of occasions when there was a bridge alongside a ford.
I was delighted to find such a nice group of folk who like off-roading. They were very kindly disposed to all the newbies and helped me countless times in picking the bike up and in encouraging me up various routes that I would nt have had the courage to tackle on my own.
I was pleased with the performance of the F800GS, it performed very well and only sustained one broken mirror as a souvenir of three days of abuse. It seems to love dancing over rocks (or at any rate, I do) whilst the mud slogs are not such fun. To be honest, I have never felt so tired as when paddling the darn thing trough some of the two feet deep ruts that we had to contend with. Still it went through several where the bigger 1200`s got stuck on their cylinder heads and had to be picked up and pushed through such sections.
One tip I learnt from Robbie C was to use second gear and spin the rear wheel fast, so that it flung off the mud clogging the treads. This helped a lot in gaining traction in the really boggy bits.
Fantastic Wiltshire Ride
Posted by: | CommentsA member of the UKGers forum had laid on an invitation ride for big trailies and novices over some of Salisbury plain and anxious to try out some new territory and also to see how my Metal Mules performed on the rough stuff, I was keen to sign up. I became rather less keen as I traveled down yesterday to the meeting place in pouring rain and at one point, practically no visibility. I stopped at a Little Chef about 20 miles from my destination for a warming cup of coffee and dithered about whether I should turn back or not. I am so very glad I didn’t because I had a wonderful day. The rain eased considerably and for the rest of the morning it was intermittent showers and grey clouds but in the afternoon, the sun came out and we had a lovely wamr bright day – as one should at this tie of year I feel!
Our guides were all local to the area and knew the plains like the backs of their hands, including the ranges and when it`s safe to cross them!
The rain ensured we had some nice puddles to play in..
We also forded one river that was quite deep and I wondered if the panniers would lifet the rear of the bike high enough to reduce traction! Evidently not enough to prevent me getting through and the panniers stayed totally dry inside. However, the topbox was a different story. I had put a full bottle of water in it and all the bouncing around destroyed it and all the stuff I had really wanted to keep dry and had therefore carefully put in the topbox, was suddenly not so dry! A valuable learning experience. Another was the fact that a road atlas made with a spiral binding can become a loose collection of pages as the spiral unscrews when subjected to a lot of bouncing around!
Non-Fitting Engine Bars
Posted by: | CommentsI bought some SW Motech engine bars for the GS from Nippy Normans. They were a good price compared with other makes and they arrived swiftly. Both left hand and right hand bars went on the bike easily enough although the lower bolts must have been made from putty as the hex key started to cam-out of the mushroom headed 8mm bolts as soon as any torque was applied (In fact it was at about 10NM torque -19NM being the amount specified in the BMW service manual for fitting BMW crash bars to the same mounting points) I replaced these bolts with decent socket head bolts.
Problems started when I tried to fit the cross piece between the side bars. Brackets welded to the cross piece and designed to bolt to the front of the engine were too close together with the result that the bolt holes in the brackets and the threaded holes in the engine did not align. I telephoned Nippy Normans to explain the problem but was taken aback by the tone of the response which suggested (a) it was my fault and that I had to use the correct spacers and (b) if I sent a photo they could diagnose the problem. I explained that it was not a problem of spacers and a photo would only demonstrate what I had said. NN then said if I returned the cross piece, they would check it against their stock and if it was faulty, they’d send me another. I bit my tongue because it is obvious the thing is faulty and I don’t expect that checking against their stock will alter the fact. I really don’t believe my BMW engine is at fault!
This is what I am supposed to bolt together…
I posted the darn thing off to NNs with this photo and will have to wait and see what they say.
Getting Serious!
Posted by: | CommentsGot down to Metal Mule today and had these beauties fitted. It’s two 38l side panniers and a 45l topbox. To get the balanced set-up the standard exhaust was replaced with a slimmer Scorpion exhaust. It is no noisier than standard but sounds quite different – better I think.
Changed the SatNav
Posted by: | CommentsI got fed up with not being able to sync the Tomtom Rider 1 with my Scala Rider bluetooth headset and also with the somewhat flaky track recording that depends on a third party app that I installed to the Tomtom. So after swearing to avoid doing business with Touratech if I could avoid it, I went back to them for a bracket and cradle for the Garmin 2820 that normally lives on the Goldwing. Initially. following the TT instructions I found that the 2820 competely obscured the speedo and the rev counter from view. However, after reversing the handlebar brackets I am now able to see the speed and the top half of the rev counter which is acceptable.
Now all I need to do is to get a pair of specs that will enable me to see the thing clearly. After some experimentation using reading glasses I am going to get a pair of bifocals with a smallish area devoted to the near focal length – large enough to cover the instruments and nothng else basically and have booked a sight test for tomorrow.
Metal Mules and a Movie Cam
Posted by: | CommentsI ordered some of these for the GS quite a while ago – in late April if memory serves – at which time they were awaiting delivery of the new Scorpion exhausts which are needed if one wants a balanced pannier set up with no exhaust cut-out, as I do. As I was going off to Italy, I reckoned I could happily wait for the exhaust and on my return I had fixed up to go down to Hassocks last week but then Paul at MM phoned to tell me he is still waiting for the exhaust. OK, I rearranged the date for tomorrow but then this afternoon another conversation with Paul took place – déjà vu all over again as they say..still no delivery date on the Scorpion.
I shall go for a ride in any case. I got myself a little Action Cam today and have fitted it to the bike, so I hope to have fun tomorrow recording some nice lanes
It came with a mount designed to fit something like a bike’s handlebars plus a couple of straps to fix it around a helmet or one’s arm. I couldn’t use the handlebar mount as it was so made up a fixture to sit in my RAM mount (good job I had a bit of ally rod and plate as well as a lathe handy!)
Another neat thing I have come across is a plugin for my Tomtom Rider – I did not even know it could use plugins! This one is called Event Logger and amongst other things, it can record a track log on the Rider. The program is free and on a short test seems to work as advertised. I shall try a longer test on my ride tomorrow.
This is a Green Lane!
Posted by: | Comments
It just happens to be blocked by a rather large tree root..
Turning six bikes round in a lane narrower than the bike is long necessitates some rather hard work..
It was a brilliant day, organised by Mike Wilson at South London BMW. Six brave souls, including Mike – bravest of all for looking after us! – took to the Surrey hills and encountered most kinds of terrain from loose rocks to deep pools. Here is Mike showing the rest of us wimps how to do it..
I only fell off once which is a great improvement on my last outing! I had taken some precautions such as removing my mirrors – this made me realise just how much I use them as I felt completely blind for a while – and taking some spanners and the Torx keys on sockets. As luck would have it, the only thing that was right was the spanner for the mirrors. I could have done with a couple of other things after my “little off” but naturally, they were at home in the garage..
Getting Ready!
Posted by: | CommentsFor some greenlaning tomorrow that is. Recalling my last outing, a few precautions have been taken, such as to have had a bashplate fitted and I have removed one mirror from the bike – the other will come off before we hit the dirty stuff. One problem is deciding where to put stuff like an essential toolkit and the mirror. The F800GS’s toolkit is like a poor joke and there is no room under the seat for much extra although I have managed to secrete a tupperware box of torx keys there. The mirror and a ratchet spanner for the torx bits will have to live in a tool roll strapped on the back seat.
The problem with stuff on the back seat, as I found out last time, is that in my riding suit and motocross boots, I can’t easily lift my leg high enough to clear the extra height – I am not Darcey Bussell! – still I think I can just about manage to clear the tool roll. This problem is of course much amplified when one can’t stand on a piece of level ground or is up to the knees in mud. Both these situations also preclude use of the sidestand and then the problem is compounded by having to keep the bike upright and by the time this becomes necessary, the bike weighs a ton because one is absolutely knackered. At least, I am knackered. This is partially due to my advancing years but mainly because I am out of condition and haven’t yet been back to the gym since my Italian trip – or if I am honest since Patagonia, apart from a few forays that didn’t translate into peak condition… Only those who have ridden off-road know how much hard work motorcycling can be!