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What you did on or to your bike today......


Firefight911

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12024156304_863abe2b35.jpg

 

 

Paul, in Flickr about half way down on the right is a square with an arrow pointing up 45 degrees to the right. click this 'share this photo' button. Once a new window pops up, click the push pin looking button...it's on the center right. Inside the URL that pops up, highlight and copy everything from the http:// to .jpg and bring it into here.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Oh, I like the tape. That should help folks 'see' you.

 

Mike

 

Edited by ArmyGuy
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Paul In Australia

As I was saying this is a really quite beautiful spot on a dam. a few water-skiers thats all on any occasion I have been. Cant figure it out.

 

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Edited by Paul In Australia
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Not really a ride tale so I put this here.

 

I took a short ride to a local bike hangout...only one other rider there. He was on a F650GS.

 

Came across this old castle on my way:

 

The tower on the right has a spiral staircase to the top. It is a really cool old site. I set my camera for panorama and I think the elevation changes and camera point of view caused a 'double exposure'.

 

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You can just barely make out the other side of the castle, now worn down and crumbling over time. Too bad time machines don't exist. I'd like to see some of these places in their hey-day.

 

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In this second tower (the one I'm taking the picture from) was a spiral stone staircase leading to the top. With all of my motorcycle kit on, it was quite a haul. Wish the sky was clearer

for the view....I may have to head back to this place on a better day.

 

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You can just see my GS at the bottom of the hill.

 

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In one of the pix at the castle, you can see a tower in the background. I rode over there to see what I could see and found this.... Here's a link to wiki explaining the history of this hilltop/tower.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feldberg/Taunus_transmitter

 

Had coffee and a bit of apple strudel. YUM! Met several groups of Koreans and kind of startled them when I started speaking Korean with them. It was a good day speaking Korean and riding.

 

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I had gotten my girlfriend's son the BRC for Christmas and he completed the course today. About 3 minutes after I congratulated him, he was calling me to ask if he could practice on my DR650.

 

Ride Well Jacob, ride well

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I put an AdMore light bar on the rear of the GS yesterday. Then rode 280 miles to Alabama and back today with my buddy Joel just to make sure it works.

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Lone_RT_rider

Put a new PC680 in the R1200RT. I managed to get almost 6 years out of the OEM battery, so I can't complain. I figured with the cold snap headed this way, I had better get one or there was a good possibility I would have to ask someone for a jump start at Cedar Key. lol.

 

Man that thing turns over fast now. :grin::rofl:

 

Shawn

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Today I picked up my brother's new KLR 650 from the dealer and road it home for him. 54 miles on the bike when I pulled into his driveway, and 53 of them were from me. Kept it under 4K on the tach which equaled 55 mph. Hard to go that slow when I am used to the ST going 80+ at the same RPM.

 

He is happy. Taking his refresher course this weekend.

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Short version: I changed the oil on the GS.

 

Long version: Have you ever heard of the guy that went hiking in the mountains and got his hand stuck between a rock and the mountain and had to cut his arm off to survive? (Movie: 127 hours. If you haven't seen it, it's pretty good.) That's how I felt today working on this freaking oil filter. It's a standard K&N oil filter with the 17mm nut on the end for "easy removal"... right.

 

That 17mm "bolt" quickly stripped into a round blob of aluminum and was completely useless. I tried to use some pliers and grab it to turn and it simply bent and peeled right off the end of the filter. Wait... that's not supposed to happen! I have no idea why the filter was on so tight. I put it on... I didn't torque it down as if I was trying to prevent the Hulk from removing it! It just decided to be fused to the bike for some reason.

 

At this point, I went into the house, very frustrated and told Danielle (my wife) about what was going on. She started to ask, "Are you going to need to get..." and paused. To which I interrupted and answered, "A NEW BIKE?!? YES!!!"

 

Anyway, I remembered a trick my dad showed me once. He poked a hole into a thing he needed to twist off and used that as the pry point, if you will. I did that, at the end near where the bolt used to be, but the hole just ripped further open and didn't turn the filter one bit.

 

I had to remove the exhaust to get to the side of the filter. Oh how much fun that was! At this point, I was able to poke a hole into the side of the filter and use a large screwdriver to turn the filter for about a third a turn. Then poke another hole and turn it for another third of a turn. Finally, it was at the point that I was able to turn it by hand.

 

I had planned on it being a 30 minute job and then go riding, but at this point, I just want to sit and have a drink or 10. I'm done.

 

 

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Short version: I changed the oil on the GS.

 

Long version: Have you ever heard of the guy that went hiking in the mountains and got his hand stuck between a rock and the mountain and had to cut his arm off to survive? (Movie: 127 hours. If you haven't seen it, it's pretty good.) That's how I felt today working on this freaking oil filter. It's a standard K&N oil filter with the 17mm nut on the end for "easy removal"... right.

 

That 17mm "bolt" quickly stripped into a round blob of aluminum and was completely useless. I tried to use some pliers and grab it to turn and it simply bent and peeled right off the end of the filter. Wait... that's not supposed to happen! I have no idea why the filter was on so tight. I put it on... I didn't torque it down as if I was trying to prevent the Hulk from removing it! It just decided to be fused to the bike for some reason.

 

At this point, I went into the house, very frustrated and told Danielle (my wife) about what was going on. She started to ask, "Are you going to need to get..." and paused. To which I interrupted and answered, "A NEW BIKE?!? YES!!!"

 

Anyway, I remembered a trick my dad showed me once. He poked a hole into a thing he needed to twist off and used that as the pry point, if you will. I did that, at the end near where the bolt used to be, but the hole just ripped further open and didn't turn the filter one bit.

 

I had to remove the exhaust to get to the side of the filter. Oh how much fun that was! At this point, I was able to poke a hole into the side of the filter and use a large screwdriver to turn the filter for about a third a turn. Then poke another hole and turn it for another third of a turn. Finally, it was at the point that I was able to turn it by hand.

 

I had planned on it being a 30 minute job and then go riding, but at this point, I just want to sit and have a drink or 10. I'm done.

 

 

Righty tighty, lefty loosy.

 

Just sayin'. :grin:

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Started to put my new Touratech racks on for the cheap ass used panniers I found on AdvRider. Turned out TT expected me to fit an M6 bolt in an M5 hole. Off to Ace in a hurry before they close. Grab what I need & back home in a time that would make Captain America proud. Feed the dogs (they're rather insistent on supper time) & all excited about having carrying capacity again. Only to discover in my haste I got M4's instead of M5's. Now Ace is is closed. :P

 

And that's why God made tomorrow.

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Righty tighty, lefty loosy.

 

Just sayin'. :grin:

 

You don't know how many times I got up and looked at the new filter's threads to make sure I was turning in the right direction. Trust me, that wasn't the problem.

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Righty tighty, lefty loosy.

 

Just sayin'. :grin:

 

You don't know how many times I got up and looked at the new filter's threads to make sure I was turning in the right direction. Trust me, that wasn't the problem.

 

I know, just trying to stay ahead of Matt. :Cool:

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Righty tighty, lefty loosy.

 

Just sayin'. :grin:

 

You don't know how many times I got up and looked at the new filter's threads to make sure I was turning in the right direction. Trust me, that wasn't the problem.

 

I know, just trying to stay ahead of Matt. :Cool:

 

I think I've been slandered...

 

I'm just thinking that Bob needs to learn how to use a BFH and a long flat blade to drive one of those filters in the desired direction.

 

And to stop using those cheezy K&N oil filters. It's a GS man, use 12 sheets of TP or an old sock like you'd have to do in the wilderness if Danny ever gets his poop in enough of a group to teach us a little bit about that offroad stuff...

:rofl:

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Found an oil leak at the drain plug yesterday. After further investigation I realized that I installed the wrong crush washer. Removed the 50 miles old oil (...) and rushed to advance auto parts to get something close to the right size crush washer. Bought an M16 drain plug and used the washer.

Went online and bought a pack of 10 washers from McMaster-Carr. &12 with shipping.

Note to self: make sure that you use the right stupid washer or you ***will*** get an oil leak

grrr...

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Supervised mini tech day in Cedar Key. :/

Thanks Chris and Ken.

First dedicated to a K bike around here.

 

When Marty showed up with the same problem but it was an easy fix with my new knowledge and a new fuse.

:wave:

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Not a darn thing. Never got over O degrees today :(. Garage is heated but still too cold and no inspiration. I did order tyres and other things just to make myself feel good. :thumbsup:

Now ask me what I did to my snow blower. :rofl:

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Today we hit the mid 40's for the first time in weeks. The sun was out and the roads were clear of ice and snow, so I managed about 75 miles of hills and twisties. Then washed it to get the road salt off. It felt good to be out again.

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Paul In Australia

300 Kim's up in the hills mostly today. Good weather, not to hot and a great ride.

Went about 5am, so back in plenty of time to go for a fantastic lunch at Sono Japanese restaurant at Portside.

Regards

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yesterday before the cold front came blasting through I jumped on the bike and went on a 2.5 hour hill country ride. Gas in Comfort - up to Fredericksburg - down through Luckenbach and back to the house. Very nice ride. No wind, temps were perfect. Put the cover back on the bike and this morning it was 20 degrees. You have to love Texas weather.

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Up early went out to the garage, grabbed the handlebars and pushed it out to the driveway. Started right up, got on my gear and opps, this isn't my RT, it's the *%^&%)@@ snow blower :cry:

6" more to remove from drive and walkways.Ahhhh !!!! :mad:

1 1/2 hrs later put said snow thing back into the garage next to a large black covered object. Lifted cover, "found it" :clap:

When will spring get here.???

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Rode about 250 miles on the KLR this afternoon (is that the same as 500 Bernie/RT miles?) : ) much of it at RT/GS velocity. Needed to double check some of the bonus stops and add a few roads on the East side for the upcoming Trans-Fla. D/S ride. (stock photos)

 

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Thanks Kevin, they aren't my photos, although the riders will have to photo-document these spots and others. Just enjoy showing peeps off-the-grid Florida.

Edited by roadscholar
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I suppose yesterdays ride is an acquired taste, we were to have a couple if inches of rain. I don't find a good rain storm un-nice. Midway in the ride I rode into a friends water soaked farm field. I guess the rear wheel went faster than the front because my ABS/servo brakes wouldn't reset so finished the ride with almost no brakes. By the time I got back to the beach the wind was blowing over thirty and still raining. This bike sits lower than my GS which hiked up my riding pants and all that rain went straight into my boots. A bit over a hundred and twenty five miles for the day. I wanted to stop at Deb's for pie but with the brake issue didn't.

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Couldn't wait any longer to work on my RT. :grin: Spent yesterday cleaning salt off garage floor so I had a clean work area for the yearly ck over and scheduled stuff.

Cranked up the shop XM and the heater and started with a full brake bleed. Used my new 7mm 90 degree wrench that worked perfectly on the circuts. No noticeable diff in fluid color but it's been 2 years sooooo. Had the wife help on the front caliper bleed just for some together time. :rofl:

Not wanting to have all this fun in one day I stopped and waited until today to install the AF-XiED setup. As I progressed I cleaned and cleaned everything until I ran out of muffler wax ;)

Before I reinstalled all the tupperware I fired it up to make sure I had done everything right. Even with sitting for 4 months less than a full crank and Zoom... What a sweet sound :clap: Too much ice and salt on the roads to test ride. :cry:

Buttoned it up, more wax shoved back to the corner until spring.

Finished in the shop with a quick fix on the snow tosser. 3-5" tonight. :P

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sunny day, but busy at work. 3:30 had enough and jumped on the bike to take some suits to the cleaners. Then ran over and helped program Mom's remote. The ride home for some reason was perfect. No wind to speak of, and the temps were spot on, so I took the long way home and it was just plain old nice ride.

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Finally finished the bike depot level maintenance.

 

Wilbers shocks are freshly serviced and installed with a completely new set of nuts and bolts.

Side bags have been resprayed (it was just cheaper having them done than buying the consumables needed) and the nasty scuff made by Gaerne boot has been touched up really nicely.

Worked with finishing paper and cutting compounds to remove a few deep scuffs from a heel plate. Very, very pleased with the end result.

Put in LED running lights.

Had the freshly painted bags and the heel plates wrapped locally. Cheaper than buying ready made sets and I got to choose the material.

Plus many other small checks I made while I had the plastics off. It's unbelievable where dead bugs tend to end up. ;)

 

Now it's the other bike's turn. :)

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Finally got to bring the GS out of its 2 week hibernation. With all the snow and ice and freezing temps the past couple weeks the 5am commute was a little more slip n slide than I like. So, today's mid 40's at 5 am was perfect!

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After three months of missrible weather, got a break 52 degrees... Took the bike out for a short ride after I washed both cars and picked up the yard.

 

Accedently I got off the road (well, not really) and kept going right into some muddy field (yeeeehaaaaa). The farmer was laughing, I was covered in mud, and once again the wife had to hose me before I could come in the house. Bike was washed and back covered up - tomorrow crap day... Height winds, low temps, and snow. Yeay ohio!

 

 

 

 

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yesterday I had a lot of "chores" to do around the house so I woke early and had them all completed by noon. My wife and daughter took off to get their nails "done" so I grabbed my gear and took off. Rode up to and past the bat cave park, found the Bikini bar that is hidden up there, stopped in to check it out (nothing going on) and then road back over the the burger joint right outside the bat cave park. Burger not all it was supposed to be, but no big deal, good company with the 30+ bikers hanging out there. Shot back to Comfort to gas up then back to the house to park the bike for basically two weeks (business travel).

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After a honey-do list, I had time for a quick ride From Carson City to Virginia City and back. Couldn't find a spot that shows the nice twisties this road has to offer, but had fun enjoying the great 60 degree weather:

 

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I was checking the bike out on Friday when I noticed something in the rear tire. A small piece of copper was stuck in it...looked like a brad or tack. Uh oh. Less than 7300 miles on this set of PR3s. I resigned myself to getting a new tire and headed over Jim&Eds Honda rear wheel in hand. They had a PR4 on hand so I had them mount that on the wheel. I also asked them to save the PR3...I wanted to practice patching a tire. When I picked it up I saw that the nail or brad hadn't penetrated the tire. It was a piece of copper wire almost a half inch long that penetrated the tire at a 45 degree angle. I've decided to keep the tire...just in case.

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good call on the tire. You never know what internal damage there is, and the last place you want to find out is at 80 mph on a crowded highway, or in a curve.

 

 

R

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Rode hard through the canyon with the intention of wearing the sides of the tires evenly. Had to do it twice, just to be sure.

It's strange riding like this the middle of February in these parts.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

Finally got the bikes out again for a short ride. We checked on some of the local bird life, and found that the Great Blue Herons are returning to their treetop rookerie:

 

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Saturday I blew up a u-joint on the GS while riding the Cross Florida offroad trip. I was fortunate that I got the bike stopped before it completely came apart or locked up the wheel and it didn't happen deep in the woods.

 

the best part was that my good friend Huzband was right there to give me lift to the hotel.

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CoarsegoldKid

Over the weekend I rode down to Temecula to meet up with BMWST friends. My RT turned over 100,000 miles in the process. Hey Matt hopefully the u joint didn't render the swingarm useless. When mine let go about 6K ago it did.

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Yeah, when mine went on my 07, it ruined the swing arm also. Fortunately a friend found one on ebay that was in perfect shape for $250.

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I was lucky that I got the bike stopped before it did any damage I can see to the swingarm. I'll pull the shaft tonight and see what it looks like inside.

 

I hope I am only replacing the driveshaft!

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I got my new radio setup working with my Sena SMH10 and SR10. Mounted my Motorola MU350R on the rear of my tank bag. Didn't get to test any of it while riding because of an injured hip flexor (yeah, I know ... I'm getting old relatively young).

 

Maybe in a week or so I'll ride.

 

Also started ordering/buying parts to have the capability for changing my own tires.

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Rain decided to stop enough for me to get a nice country ride in. 115 miles all rural roads through Thurston and Lewis counties in Washington state. Nice short vid of the ride:

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