October 2006.
Gone and bought a second bike that is!
I hope that the one I've bought will not conflict with ownership of my Adventure. The F650GS I had last year..
and sold earlier this year was too similar to the GSA.
What I want is something quite different to the GSA. My problem is that the Adventure is too single purpose (the way I have it equipped for journeys). I feel a bit daft riding a few miles to the shops and I don't want to strip off the parts only to put them back on when I go away.
The other thing is that I really want to shove-off somewhere as soon as I get on it. I don't hate going a few miles and then having to stop but I do enjoy riding it most when I have the prospect of a longish trip ahead and it's all loaded up.
As I'm working a couple of days a week, it would be good to have something more suited to city commuting. The GSA can filter but it can be bit of a squeeze at times.
Then there's the Institute of Advanced Motorists observing that I do. The GSA is good for that. The handling and riding position are really suited to it but having something different wouldn't hurt.
So these are my (self) justifications.
My first thoughts were to buy an older BMW Boxer, probably an R80/100, not a GS but possibly an unfaired /7 or later model. I do love the Boxer engine!
One prospective candidate was offered by Proff, another UKGSer. The bike is an R80/7, an ex-police bike. It runs but hasn't been on the road for a while and would need some tinkering to get it roadworthy.
The photo's show some parts missing but it's complete, just not completely assembled in these pictures.
Obviously it has had the RT police-spec fairing removed but that was a plus in my mind.
The spoked wheels too are something I'd prefer on a bike of this ones age.
My real reservations were that I know I'd end up doing a similar job to the one we did on Greg's.
Then I'd have a bike that I would be loathe to use on an everyday basis.
The other problem is that Proff's bike is worth a fair sum in parts these days. Probably more than it is worth as a complete bike. I know that he doesn't want to see it broken for parts but I felt that his price was likely to reflect that and I doubt that I would be prepared to pay the asking price (not that I have been able to pin him down to one!) and then not totally restore it.
I also saw an R100/7 that was heading for the spares business. This bike was in a lovely condition and far too good to break-up. Again I couldn't seem to pin the vendor down to a price and it seemed as though his mind was pretty much made-up about breaking it.
It's a real shame. It was a perfectly good looking bike. I have no doubt that in the next ten years or so the /7's will start to attract decent money, much in the way that /5 models do now. I suppose breaking-up some for spares is inevitable and helps to keep others on the road but I really think that sometimes it's short-sighted to destroy a perfectly good bike for a short-term financial gain.
Here's the bike that as I type this is being "carved-up" with people putting their names down for various bits and pieces.
It is the property of the owner and therefore his to do with as he pleases but I just can't help feeling sad that something as good as this is being rendered into parts (and it seems, the parts are wanted for a 'project'. That doesn't suggest that it's to rebuild another, more for something different).
At least I know that the bike Proff has is likely to still be there in twelve months when I might be in a position to buy it just to do a full restoration.
Back to my recent acquisition.
A couple of weeks ago I called in to Ocean BMW Motorrad, Plymouth. Sitting outside was a K75C, fitted with BMW Motocases and a screen.
It turned out to be a trade-in and after some tentative negotiations, today 5th October, I have closed the deal.
After what I've said about BMW Boxers, a K-Series might seem odd.
If you've read my earlier entries here you'll be aware that I've owned K bikes and I also used them at work. I have a soft spot for a good K and particularly for the 750cc three cylinder bikes. The triple has a counter-balancer shaft and is turbine-smooth. Plus they can be quite frugal to run.
I doubt that I'll do much to this bike except service it and clean it up a bit. I need to ride it for a while to see what needs to be done mechanically but at a glance it seems pretty sound. The screen needs to be polished to see if the yellowing can be removed and Bill at Ocean thinks it could be in need of a new rear shock/spring strut.
It is a low seat model and feels a bit cramped but then after the Adventure almost everything feels cramped! (I took out Ocean's K1200GT demonstrator two days ago, that felt cramped too!). I won't rush to change the seat but looking on ebay there are some potential sources. I might see what one will cost bearing in mind that changing the seat will mean buying side panels too.
Well here it is...
after its first clean in my ownership.
I've had it a few days now. Riding it for every day since I picked it up has shown me that I can probably live with the low seat. Investigating under the seat has revealed that it would take more than a straight swap to put a standard seat on.
The standard seat is hinged at the right. This one removes altogether so I'd need the hinge mechanism too and more problematic is the release. On the standard seat it simply a keyed button that releases a catch, on this one there is a small lever that operates a rod to the front of the seat where it latches.
It's actually a better arrangement in practical terms. The hinged seat always makes getting at the rear cubby a little awkward.
It's not too cramped but then I've only done at most an hour on the bike at a time.
The eagle-eyed will spot that the wheels are different. The rear is the correct original black while the front is a replacement. I have lots of bills (and all the MoT's). The wheel was only replaced in July '06. Cleaning the bike I see that there are two slight creases in the front mudguard, near the front.
It looks as though it has been struck or has struck something that damaged the front wheel. There's no play fore and aft in the fork legs or headstock so it seems ok.
The bare aluminium gearbox and shaft/final drive casings have the usual marking from road salt. The front engine and the left hand side (cam cover) are a bit tired looking as are the fork lowers. It's only cosmetic but I'll attend to that in time.
Generally the paint is in good condition. The headlamp cowl shows some crazing but other than that it's tidy enough (for now).
Well apart from maybe replacing some scabby looking fastners from my supply of stainless, I'll pretty much leave it as it is for a while.
So what's it like to ride?
Surprisingly good actually. The engine is sweet and willing, the gearbox baulks a little on down changes but that might be me hurrying it too much. The brakes are effective (single-pot Brembo's front and drum rear). I have to remind myself that these brakes are not semi-linked like my GSA and I have to start using the rear brake pedal. Obviously they don't have the power of the ABS-Evo III brakes I've become used to and the lack of Telelever means that there is some 'dive' under braking but not as bad as I'd imagined it would be. No Paralever means getting used to shaft reaction again but it's something I coped with for years so it's no great problem.
It's a seventeen year old bike so it's not going to feel as taught as it once did (probably) and fairly narrow biased belted tyres mean that it does react to overbanding and studs etc.
The tyres are almost new; Bridgestones. Not a make I've ever used on a K-Series before. They seem ok in the dry, not brilliant and my one wet weather ride so far has been fine. In fact I think they are better in the wet than the dry!
I used the bike to do a couple of IAM observer runs with candidates the other day. It performed very well.
Apart from the above comparisons with the GSA, it's a colder bike to ride, not as much protection, particularly for the legs and feet. The tall screen is effective and provides some protection for the hands but I may invest in some Muffs for the winter. As the bike has heated grips, adding Muffs might enable me to get away with summer gloves all year round.
It does the usual K-Series thing and smokes if left on the side-prop. It does it more than I remember K's doing. I might investigate fitting new valve stem seals.
The rear spring strut does feel a little tired. The reaction to studs might be more down to this than just the lack of Paralever. I'll watch ebay for a secondhand unit or try James Sherlock and see what his prices are.
Well that's about it. I think at this point I've bought a decent bike that should make a good stable-mate for the GSA and a good commuter, local use bike. Something that I won't get too fussy about but in time might just be worth keeping and giving a decent rebuild to. After-all, it's pretty much the K-Series equivalent to Greg's R80/7!
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