Off to Northern California

[Deans BMW]

I plan to leave in several hours for points west, heading up to Utah, then across Nevada Calente, Rachel, Tonopah, 120 to Lee Vining and then across the Sieras to Hwy 49 and then work my way to Auburn for the 49er, then up to Wild Wills place on the coast, then to San Jose BMW to play on the new R1200S for a while. No particular route planned, just kind of go the direction that feels intresting at the time. Have all my camping gear, air mattress and Kermet Chair, thanks again BMWDave52, (Dave Waterman).

Intresting development, each time that I head off on one of these little trecks to who knows where, for how ever long, my heart strings pull ever more tightly to the incredable Mz Pam and our little place in the country. It truly makes me feel how very fortunate I am to be able to have such adventures like this, life is good, the "Cafe" has become a great sucess, a gathering of an ever growing community of great friends. A great building project is comming along.

All of this is simply amazing.

When ever I find a computer, I'll check in and post.

The open road awaits.

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/53466811-M.jpg

[arkline]

Dean,

Be safe. Have a good time. And call Mz. Pam frequently.

Oh, yeah, pics, pics, pics.

[DarthRider]

What Ron said Dean-O.
I am concerned about your & Wild Will's conduct but if you need it, I think we have enough in the Cafe Kitty to cover bail.
Great pic you posted, but try to remember that DJ rides on the left, we're supposed to ride on the right!
Have a great tiime buddy, I'm jealous!

[Deans BMW]

The bike is packed, I am packed, kissed and hugged Mz Pam, all is right with the world.......................

out the door.

I am not taking a map or one of those new fangled GPS things.....what ever they are.............

[Tipstall]

I am not taking a map or one of those new fangled GPS things.....what ever they are.............

Good for you, enjoy.

Ken

[Wild Will]

Worry not, my son; the appropriate county officials have been paid off and the highway patrol warned to stay clear of my ridge top. There are moonshiners scheduled to deliver the kegs the Monday after Auburn BMW rally, and the hippie dancing girls, all checked by witch doctors with unguents galore, are ready to entertain Dean and your 'umble Tool Ho' with ritual booty shaking around the campfire.

There are also several hunters who have wantonly slaughtered some of the 200 pound biker killer meat missiles (deer, for those among us who are ensconced within high city walls, in safety) for our culinary pleasure. A good deer is a dead deer. A really good deer is smothered in burgundy wine sauce with herbs (to be enjoyed after dinner with port).

Dean's cache precedes him and there are a virtual army of true believers in the sacrosanct BMW roundel awaiting his arrival with autograph books already opened. Wish you guys could be there. Photos will be taken, but DAMFINO how to post 'em.

[jamming]

Be good Dean, Godspeed.

Roger

[Wild Will]

You mean that high roller fella with the diamond cravat didn't buy that Smithsonian quality Commando? Damn! And I thought it was spoke for, and spent my wad on an Austrian hooligan tool in stealth black. Damn my eyes!
I'll bet that deal gone south is a story unto itself, Dangerous, and one prolly not going to be shared here, alas.

I'll bet if that bike'd had ABS...

[Bones]

Regarding your trip, we want:
Moto lit
Pics

Safe travels and good wishes for good fun and a safe journey home, as well.


Jeff

[Deans BMW]

Well, I am safely ensconsed in a cute little motel in one of my favorite towns, Kanab, Utah. Only about 350 miles in 5 1/2 hours. Hot as hell in Holebrook, then westwaed for 90 miles to flagstaff,cold as hell and drizzly with a 40-50 MPH wind from the SSW. North on 89 thru the Indian res, wind at my back, but the dust storm kept visibility to appx 1/4 mile, clear in Page across the Glen Canyon dam, Lake Powell is about 80' low. another 80 miles to Kanab, Utah. 40 MPH cross winds, spits of rain, dust, etc. Kept my cruising speed down to 80 to 90 MPH.

All in all a truly fantastic day, a good day to be alive, just called Mz. Pam on the cell phone, all is right with the world. In the morning, work my way west thru Cedar City, another favorite. I was told a little while ago by some riders from Germany that all the pasases thru the Mountains in eastern Ca. are still burried under many feet of snow. Will work my way to Reno and then across to Auburn.

Can't wait to meet up with Wild Will and visit his ridge top abode.

Does it get any better than this.............................


Worry not, my son; the appropriate county officials have been paid off and the highway patrol warned to stay clear of my ridge top. There are moonshiners scheduled to deliver the kegs the Monday after Auburn BMW rally, and the hippie dancing girls, all checked by witch doctors with unguents galore, are ready to entertain Dean and your 'umble Tool Ho' with ritual booty shaking around the campfire.

There are also several hunters who have wantonly slaughtered some of the 200 pound biker killer meat missiles (deer, for those among us who are ensconced within high city walls, in safety) for our culinary pleasure. A good deer is a dead deer. A really good deer is smothered in burgundy wine sauce with herbs (to be enjoyed after dinner with port).


I think not.

Will post whenever I can.....................

[BobFV1]

Dean-O -

Had I not turned off of I-40 at the Badlands (Grants, NM) I would have probably ridden along with you. Man oh man - the wind was fierce back here where you live - good day to be departing the area!

Have a great trip, ride safe!

[Deans BMW]

As the sun lights up the sky in the east with a chrystal clear sky, temp 40F and stunningly beautiful out, just had a glass of OJ and away we go. The road becons, talked w/Mz Pam this morning.....Life is good.

[DarthRider]

Dean-O...no more posts! You're killin' me!
Man, I want to be there so bad.
Let's see now...retire Jan '07, finish house in Canyon Jul '07, Miz Betty & Beezer move in in Oct '07, unpack boxes, Nov '07.
Hmmm...road trip Spring '08...damn that's a long time off...

[Ed K]

Ride safe Dean; a warm welcome to Northern California!

[arkline]

"unpack boxes, Nov '07"

Who unpacks all the boxes anyhoo? Just unpack them as things become needed. Any unpacked boxes at the end of the year, Salvation Army, eBay or the dump. Less is more...

[Wild Will]

I've got your confirmation stamped for Spring/Summer '08. Hope they still sell gas then. I'll arrange for La Tigressa to come and dance for you (around the obligatory campfire, of course), and finally you'll see those choice nipples swing with abandon oh, so close to the ground, and your soul will scream, "more firewater, and quick".

[DarthRider]

"more firewater, and quick".

Groundlooping nipples would do that for you I expect...

[Deans BMW]

Made it to Auburn, the only other person here is Doug Hubbard, we have known each other since '76 or '77, in fact, he and his lovely wife bought a matched set of brand spanking new R100RS's from us in '77.

More reports tomorrow.

[Heado]

then to San Jose BMW to play on the new R1200S for a while.

Dean,

I'm a new member on the cafe, been living it up over at Advrider.com and just discovered this site to go with my new 1200GSA. Seems like a great board and I just wanted to say hello to everyone out there (shout outs?).

Anyway, I'm a former '04 R1100S Prep owner. It was a great bike and I rode the wheels off it for a year and a half. Sold it for a faster Japanese twin (Honda RC51) and bought the 12GSA for my adventure thrills.

I'd be very interested in what you think of the R1200S once you get to play with it. It sure looks beautiful in the pictures online. But with BMW all their bikes look good in photos and sometimes they just look, well, funny in person.

Remember the K1 from the early '90s? I always fantasized about owning that bike then one day I saw it in person and almost choked.

Don't remember the K1? Here's a jogger:

http://www.bikez.com/pictures/bmw/1990/11865_0_1_2_k%201_Image%20credits%20-%20Joe%20Conway.jpg

Cheers!
-Heado

[bmwdave52]

When I grow up I want to be Dean.
I'm heading to A&S for some new tires for my RR.
Deano I'll try you on your cell.

[Deans BMW]

Road 680 miles yesterday, killed two birds and one rabbit, also ran thru about 50 miles of grasshoppers. Only one hit my faceshield, but they were hitting my boots and the lower part of the bike faster than I could count. It is impossible to describe how filthy my bike is, a gooy coating of grasshoppers on top of the dirt from the dust storm, parts of two dead birds and rabit parts, yuck.....off to the quarter car wash shortly.

This has been a great trip so far, will need a new rear tire when I get home, also found that riding from Caliente, Nev to Tonopah, Nev, 211 miles used 5.8 gal of gas, only took less than 2 1/2 hours though including a brief gas stop in Rachel, cruising over 125 sure uses the gas.......................but too much fun to stop.................

Will post more later.

[Deans BMW]

Had a great lunch today with Dave Waterman, (BMWDave52), currently I am at A&S BMW just a short distance from Auburn getting a new Airfilter installed, filled with Grasshoppers and dust from the duststorm.

Note to Bob NTGM, change the air filter in your Adventure after that dust storm.

A&S has a computer that customers can use, an amazing BMW dealership, would you belive 49 employees.

[Deans BMW]

They just showed me my old air filter, filled with grasshoppers and absolutely filthly from the dust storm, keep a clean A/F in your bike and most importantly, do not use a K&N on the new Beemers. You may disagree, but do not use a K&N on the new R1200 series Beemers.

[BobFV1]

Dean-O - thanks for the tip - my bike is in for the 6K service now and I will make sure they ceck the filter. I agree - stock filters on these bikes. i ran a K&N in my R1, which was almost exclusively a track bike, but would not run them on my street/road bike.

[Wild Will]

are K&N filters inferior to the stock paper filters? Inquiring minds want to know.

[BobFV1]

are K&N filters inferior to the stock paper filters? Inquiring minds want to know.

Will - when they are clean and oiled they allow more airflow. Problem is, if the bike sucks particulate dust, it combines with the oil in the filter element and restricts the airflow significantly. My R1 had an ECU map that included the K&N filter, I would assume making an allowance for the enhanced airflow.

Running a K&N and then getting into conditions Dean-O described would leave you much worse off than having the stock paper air filter.

[Promethean]

Welcome. :)


Dean,

I'm a new member on the cafe, been living it up over at Advrider.com and just discovered this site to go with my new 1200GSA. Seems like a great board and I just wanted to say hello to everyone out there (shout outs?).

[DarthRider]

Hey Heado, welcome aboard!
Post early & often...

[Deans BMW]

On the newer BNW's, like the ST, the airflow goes thru the A/F backwards from what you are used to seeing, thus much harder to clean, WW I'll show you this weekend.

[Ed K]

Does anyone recognize this bike?

I could not find the owner, so I took it out for spin in the Gold Country, and got it back before he noticed.

Great bike this red ST, but I can't figure out where all those bits of rabbit, grasshoppers and bird came from.

http://s70.photobucket.com/albums/i103/efkeiser/th_115_1503.jpg

[DarthRider]

Is that the infamous Hoon Flyer?
The Geezer Rod?
The Geriatric Blaster?
The Coot Bike?
The AARP Special?
I think I've seen it before somewhere, often from the rear...

[Wild Will]

This is Dean again on Wild ( Will here, while Dean gets his nuclear coffee worked on... - he's an absolute animal on a motorcycle. But he's pretty polite when he's around Miss Vicki...we're gonna have some more backwoods fun today; hope we are left unmolested by the state revenuers. The Valentine saved our running asses yesterday on 128 on the back side of Lake County, hauled our bikes down with one finger, waved like patriots to the man in blue and was back to speed in a minute again. Finger on the (lever) trigger worked to save precious feet (length of macadam) and dollars again!).
We passed some guitar playing yayhoo hanging out over infinity on a thousand foot Pacific bluff and thought of Dangerous...) Back to Dean:

Speaking of taking my bike to A&S to replace the A/F that was full of grasshoppers,.......the tech noticed that he did not see any oil in the window.........so he with out asking.....added a quart........

On the R1200 series, the oil stays up in the larger oil cooler until the engine is fully up to temp. After being parked in front of A&S for about 30 min. the tech started it up and road it into the shop, the engine never warmed up after setting for the 30 min. thus, oil cooler full and not draining back into the crank case resulting in a clear sight glass. I road my bike back to the rally and of course hitting the rev limiter several times on the trip back, parked the bike and checked the oil level as I keep a close eye on it. The oil level was above the sight glass and as it turns out, the tech added a full quart when in fact the level was just before the center dot. I use synthetic, he added dyno oil. So here was my ST with 5 quarts of oil running along hitting the rev limiter, proper riding technique, you know.

Called A&S and they said to bring it back, did so and the gave it an oil and filter change at no charge with BMW Synthetic, road back to the rally, parked it until yesterday to ride with the Wild one to his house in Nor Cal. We were blasting thru the sweepers, rev limiter in 4th speed shift to 5th at 8K RPM and WTF, the engine stays at 8K....slam it into 6th and stays at 8K*&$#@*%%***, clutch is slipping........ Running at 8K's with 5 qts of oil must have blown a seal and oiled the clutch....

I'll call Chris at San Jose later today to find out what to do, the bike still rides OK, seems that the oil may be burning off the clutch.....

[BobFV1]

Damn! Bad luck about your bike!

If I were the King of France, I would build my own bike shop with lifts, lights, climate control, and do all my own maintenance. So many techs nowadays are such shit-nozzles!

[DarthRider]

Damn Dean-O, that's a shame.
I think techs should be required to ride & maintain the bikes for a year before they are allowed work on those of customers.
Same for design engineers and some of the shite *they*come up with...like BMW turn signal switches.
Get A&$ to buy & install a new clutch but request a different tech...
Bummer.

[Ed K]

Dean... Bummer! Hate leaving my bike for maintenance with anyone... Always wonder in the back of my mind, what they might have screwed-up. :021:

[TorqueMonsterMT-01]

That sucks Dean. I hope you get it sorted out.



If I were the King of France, I would build my own bike shop with lifts, lights, climate control, and do all my own maintenance. So many techs nowadays are such shit-nozzles!

While you are at it Bob, please tell Voxan to...
STOP DOING THAT!!!

http://www.voxan.com/voxan/images/photos_statiquesblack_1.jpg


It hurts my eyes.

[socalrob]

Dean,

You think they changed the oil without getting the bike hot? Maybe you still have 5 quarts. Maybe grasshoppers are clogging up oil lines.

How can a BMW tech not understand about oil levels in boxer engines?

Not knocking A&S, but maybe bad karma for you to go anywhere other than San Jose BMW. The multiverse can only take so many shocks.

[bmwdave52]

So Dean...what is going on with your bike?
All better?

[Deans BMW]

Just found out that the counterbalancer seal was blown out with the over fill of oil, not blowing out anymore but still oil soaked.

Might have to leave it here and ride Chris's R1200S home...........HMMMMM.

I am very pissed with A&S ......................... F ing with your bike is like F ing with your wife.

[Heado]

I am very pissed with A&S ......................... F ing with your bike is like F ing with your wife.

Agreed. I think it is worse. Take the R1200S home, SJBMW won't mind.

-k

[bmwdave52]

I hope you had a long talk with Randy.