Motorcycle Journeys Trip Logs

Category: Motorcycles & Gear

  • A good sign? Fort Worth BMW Motorcycle Dealer

    I haven’t had good luck with the local BMW dealers since they tend to treat me like I’m a stupid female — tell me I want the wrong motorcycle, ask me when I’m buying parts who is doing the work for me and scoff at me when I tell them I’m doing the work myself.

    My F650 has about 40,000 miles on it and I have a bad water pump and radiator fan right now.

    The water pump is a known failure on the F650 suspected to be caused by the low quality of BMW coolant and solved in the future by using Honda coolant. Evidently the BMW coolant gets gritty as it deteriorates and breaks down the rubber seals on the water pump impeller shaft that seal off the coolant and oil so they don’t get to meet each other.

    The radiator fan is a mystery. I looks likes something dropped down into it so the fan blades dragged across it and ruined the fan. Who knows.

    Both should be covered by my extended warranty I bought prior to leaving on the Canada trip.

    I took the motorcycle in today to the Fort Worth dealership and was really impressed with Stacy Smith the service manager. I really nice young man who didn’t make one negative remark to me as a female rider and treated me like I actually knew what I was talking about. What a nice change.

    I went to the parts counter and ordered a couple of small parts and was treated with courtesy by the good natured man behind the counter.

    I’ll post more as I find out more…

  • Difficult maintenance decision

    After the motorcycle overheating in Big Bend I took off the plastic when I returned and found a slightly mangled radiator fan. I’m not sure what happened — it almost looks like something got in the fan and damaged the blades, but I can’t imagine what could have dropped down in there. I don’t have much doubt that the overheating issue is a result of the fan being damaged.

    The good news is my extended warranty covers the fan — which is a $300 plastic piece from BMW — so I can take it in and have it replaced.

    The bad news is the forecast is perfect for this weekend, the blue bonnets are at peak bloom in the hill country, and there’s the Texas Rally in Llano, Texas that I’d like to check out.

    So do I take the motorcycle in so they can start working on it or do I head down for bluebonnets?

    I ran the idea of going by Jean-Francois and since the temperatures are supposed to be in the 70’s he suggested disconnecting the fan so if it has seized it can’t cause any collateral electrical damage and go ahead and make the trip.  Since this is a Saturday to Sunday trip, hopefully there won’t be any stop and go traffic.

    After a lot of vacillating I decide to go. I want to see blue bonnets, I want to go to my first rally, and I want to camp.

  • Aerostich Roadcrafter 40k maintenance

    Such a little thing — whoa, what a project.

    On my ride to Big Bend National Park I had the right leg zipper pull on my Aerostich 2 piece Roadcrafter suit self destruct on the way to Granbury, TX. I went to the hardware store in Alpine, north of Big Bend, and got a ring to thread throw what was left of the pull, but it was extremely difficult to use. I initially thought I’d have to send the suit back to Aerostich (at great expense) but was able to order zipper repair parts for $10 instead. So today I needed to install the replacement parts to repair it.

    I speak as someone who unhesitatingly tackles motorcycle maintenance (okay, so I’m a girl) and have sewn pretty much every thing and anything I’ve wanted since I was  five years old and, without saying, this had involved a lot of zippers. So I thought no big deal. I’ll replace the blown out zipper pull.  Good lord.

    It starts with the instructions to use a needle nose plier to get the zipper stops off. Okay — needle nose pliers are a pinching instrument — how does this get the stops loose? This is the first call to Aerostich. I don’t know Aerostich’s experience with needle nose removal technique, but after discussing this with them I was able to insert a very small screw driver blade under each side of the zipper stop and loosen it enough for it to pop off the zipper tape without tearing up the zipper tape.

    Next comes the zipper pull itself. Which of course will not come off because the zipper tape is turned under so abruptly after the zipper teeth. Second call to Aerostich. Their suggestion is to pry open the zipper pull without damaging the zipper teeth. How does one do this when the metal zipper pull is firmly lodged over the fragile zipper teeth. No explanation.

    I look at the replacement zipper pull and see that one end is open so I work on opening that end of the existing pull. About 30 minutes later the broken pull comes off. Hallelueah.

    Now to get the new pull on. The recommendation is to also pry open the new pull and then close it after it is on the zipper. After a lot of struggle I am able to get the new pull started on the zipper tape — only to find out I’ve picked the wrong  pull. Groan… Their instructions don’t mention that the zipper size is clearly noted on the back of the zipper pull, which would of course tell you which one needs to go back on. I get the 1o zipper pull off and start working on the 8.

    About 30 minutes later I have the zipper pull on but when I get it all the way to the top, the teeth don’t quite match and it leaves a little gap for air and rain to get into. If you think I’m starting over, you’re out of your mind. I’ll live with it and if it ends up leaking too much I’ll.\try this again.

    I attach the zipper stops and after 2 hours of stuggle the zipper pull is working.

    I should mention that I’m a scuba diver and know the wisdom of zipper maintenance, so I wax the zippers regularly to keep them in good shape and also to hopefully seal out moisture. A good dry suit zipper wax would be good for all motorcycle gear since the zippers take so much abuse.

    The next time I need this done I think I’d adjust my valve clearances (a horrible job on the F650) and let someone else fix the zipper.

  • My weekend with Murphy’s Law

    If anyone is wondering where Murphy’s Law went since their luck has suddenly returned — not to worry. Murphy’s Law is staying with me for a while. I’m going to stick with equipment problems — this would be an extremely long post if I included people problems too.

    It started with a ride that just didn’t feel right from the start (previous post) and continued from there.

    On Wednesday we stopped in Granbury to get lunch and after I get off the motorcycle I realize the zipper pull on the right leg of my Aerostich suit has self-destructed into pieces. That should make it interesting to get in and out of my suit for the remainder of the trip.

    90 miles later I’m in Brownwood, Texas and my motorcycle hesitates, dies, and won’t restart. Perfect. But not to worry — it took a little while but I found the faulty fuse and I was back on the road. I am just really concerned about what short or other problem caused the blown fuse. Okay I’m also concerned my riding buddy stood by and did nothing while four other guys showed up and actually helped.

    Thursday I get from Brownwood to Alpine without any events — other than riding into a 35-40 MPH headwind behind a riding buddy who thought 88 was an appropriate speed for those conditions. I felt like I was about to be lifted off my motorcycle and started to experience muscle fatigue across my collar bones from holding on so hard. At least my new Ztechnik windshield didn’t rip off…

    On Friday I’m headed down to Santa Elena Canyon and am watching the temperature rise on my thermometer. On the last 2-3 miles before the canyon I get stuck behind an extremely slow moving truck and as I’m crawling along in near 1o0 degree heat the overheating warning light comes on. I have ridden in 106 degree heat at painfully slow speeds in deep gravel and I have never seen that light come on. Again, perfect.

    I tell my riding buddy to go look at the canyon and I remove the plastic from my F650 and check the coolant level. I add may be less than 1/2 a cup of water and it dumps onto the pavement. It is NOT a low coolant problem despite the fact that my water pump was replaced improperly and I’m dripping coolant every time I stop.

    Oh, did I mention that? I had told the guys who helped install the water pump that there should be a gap between the seals, but they installed them hammered together. So now I have dripping coolant all the time and will need to drain the coolant and oil and redo the water pump installation. I’ve got that to look forward to, but that is not the cause of the over heating. You want to know how irritating it is to see coolant dripping every time you stop your motorcycle?

    Saturday was a low mile day due to high winds so no motorcycle problems (only people problems).

    Sunday is the long ride day to get back to the Dallas area from Big Bend. About 4 hours out from Dallas I notice my battery gauge isn’t working. Shortly after that thought I realize my heated clothing isn’t heating. Right after that it dawns on me that my music is missing in action too. Peachy. That means my accessory fuse block has completely cut out.  That means two shorts in one weekend — not a good sign.

    Okay — I said I would leave people problems out. I lied.

    I stop and tell him I’ve stopped because I’ve lost my heated clothing and I start taking the bike apart to get to fuses to see if I can solve the problem. He folds his hands, leans back against his back rest and settles in for a nap. I’m struggling to pull fuses with no fuse puller and he sits. I can’t get the fuse out that protects the Centech AP-1 and ask for help. He reluctantly and slowly dismounts his motorcycle and a pulls the fuse.

    I get a snotty “You’re not going to figure it out until your remove the plastic” (lengthy check) and he gets back on his motorcycle. Screw it. I make the ride home in high wind with no heated clothing.

    My next post is what I consider a good riding buddy.

  • Ztechnik windshield + new Nolan N-103 helmet trial 3

    Got to ride back from Big Bend for a few hours with good conditions and I have to admit I’m pretty happy with the Ztechnik/Nolan combination.

    The helmet is definitely quieter and I can hear my music much better than ever before. Another plus is that prior windscreens were insect delivery systems to my helmet visor. I realized on the way home my windscreen was a mass of bug splats and I had few if any bugs on my visor. That is an enormous improvement.

    About half way home the wind picked up and became very gusty from the north and since I was heading northeast I alternated between and side and a head wind. The helmet and the windshield provided a pleasant ride.

    I would recommend both. The helmet is very quiet and comfortable on my head — bear in mind I wear earplugs at all times. The windshield deflects the air from helmet and does a good job making a fairly quiet ride.