Strange Days

This week I have been working on getting my GS Adventure bike ready for the Bonzai Road Rally on Memorial Day weekend. Nothing seems to be going on time. I also had a couple home repair issues which have taken some my attention away and other activity.

Started Sunday (after helping Al wire his Sat Radio), and did my first oil change on "Pig" which I completed Monday evening. Oil changes are pretty simple on this bike, but I needed to work through it and learn it the first time. I had to purchase the $40 oil filter wrench (old wrench doesn't fit new new hex heads), and the $19 filter for the dealer (Bak BMW). Not that I'm complaining about the cost (yeah right), but I better buy a 6-pack of filters online before the next change.

Tuesday Leta and I rode 2-up down to the BSR meeting in Salix. Afterwards I took off my rear wheel and hauled it over to Big Johnson's garage to try the new No-Mar wheel mounting contraption. Jim (Big Bird) and Stan (Little Bird) walked me through the process. It seems like there are a lot more steps then my old system, but I didn't put any new scratches in the rim so that's cool. I went with another Metzler Tourance tire. I also have a used one at home for the front to put on after this coming weekend. If these tires don't last, I'm going to be paying the $80 additional expense and put on the Marathon 880s full bias tires. Folks on the LDR list and older rally sites say no problem, they run just fine in gravel and dry dirt.

I hung around Big Bird's garage after the tire was mounted. The Bird Crew was trying to get the farkle wiring into Big Birds new K1300GT. I tried to help out, but its really kind of a two bird deal I guess. I asked a few questions about why they were using this or that and why. I'm always looking for ways to improve my farkling skills. Big Bird had a nice fuse box which I really liked. I may have to give that a try on the GSA. As usual, Little Bird seemed very concerned about the appearance if his wiring job. I'm guess I'm more of a function over form type. I get concerned about wire gauges, tie-downs, water, corrosion , and rubbing. The appearance of things which is not visible externally is my last concern.

The Japanese seem to be the kings of motorcycle layout and getting everything in the perfect and most accessible places. It has always seemed to me that they must spend an inordinate amount of time and resources on design, while the Germans apparently seem to focus on the mechanical aspects and tweaking stuff to make it last forever. The layout inside the new K1300GT with the skins off however looks better then anything I have seen on a BMW motorcycle before (in my limited experiance). The K1300GT seems to Japanese quality layout and design with a high-tech German engine, electrical, and suspension system. Very nice.

I took my wheel balancer home Tuesday about 11:30 PM and found the hub adapter which Terry W. had loaned to me (I got to return it soon). I tried to put my axle into the adapter, but the axle was too big!! So the next morning I ordered my own hub with the axle ($50 total including shipping) from Marc Parnes website. Jim had ordered the cones a day or two ago, but I sticking with what I know. My balancer is very accurate, I am familiar with it, and the concept of trying to get the cones in just right and then balancing on saw horses just seems a bit off to me. I put the wheel on unbalanced for now. If I have time today (Friday) I may go try to use those cones.

Wednesday I was too tired to do anything. I fell a sleep in my comfy chair with the TV on. Leta woke me up after a few hours to tell me the shower faucet was leaking water and it was dripping in the basement. We did a quickie fix to get the water to drip into the tub. Leta had to call a plumber Thursday morning.

Thursday I started taking panels off the GS Adv. Ended at the tank with even the nose pulled off. I spent 4 hours on it. I got my $5 switch from BMW which I paid $102 for into the switch housing and got the cable for it routed. Next I cut the expensive, but unneeded can-bus connector end of the switch off. I tested it and then spiced it in near the ballast for the HID high beams. I found a place to mount the relay and sodded a heavier gauge wire to the other 22 ga. wire from the switch. That wire will go the the relay. I used some new insulation black liquid stuff which Adv Auto recommended to make connections water-tight. After that I wrapped the connection in water tight tape which bonds to itself just to be sure.

Thursday night I found out one of Steve M's friends and co-workers at Tyson was one of the two people killed on I-29 earlier this week in a crash which ended up shutting down I-29 for hours (http://tinyurl.com/omdy2q). Strangely I took a picture of Steve and his friend at Bronson last Thursday. It may be the last photo taken of him. Steve asked for a copy of it, so I got some printed at Walgreens.

Friday afternoon at home we had a power outage. Our old PC serving as an IP Cop/Router died and never came back. Replacing the power supply did not resurrect it, it must be the board or peripherals. I put the wireless router which was connected to it in to replace it temporarily. Leta was happy.

After that I got working on "Pig" again. I had to wire up the power leads from the lights to the battery and then hook them up to the relay. I had hoped to be packing and practicing maps and routing Friday. Instead I was up until 4 PM getting "Pigs" wiring in. The pieces which I purchased with the light bar to relocate the flood lights did not fit with the Checkers HID lights on the light bar. I had to the zip tie down the connectors for now. I'm hoping I can get Paul to fabricate me something to get these on later.

I got up at 7:30 Saturday morning and went to breakfast. Randy and Chuck were there. We talked about lights and bikes. Afterward I showed my new light setup to them. Randy is thinking about a pair now.

After breakfast, I went home and packed. I was on the road to the Bonzai at about noon on Saturday. I got to the campground at Caladona, MN about 5:30. More about that in my next post.