Well, the best laid plans never seem to pan out. It all started out with a simple plan to do a little solo camping in celebration of Fathers day Friday night, then head out early from the Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground to meet datchew to try to pawn off a Touratech solo seat on him. <o> </o> I noticed an intermittent faint glow of the gen light during my last ride and thought Id investigate while at datchews. The charging system was fully charging the battery as recently as Friday night, so no big deal, right? <o> </o> Thats where youd be wrong.
<o> </o> After packing up to leave on Saturday morning, I noticed that the gen light would not come on at all with the ignition on. I might not have even noticed it but I had recently put a new oil pressure switch in and was monitoring the oil idiot light. A sense of dread crept in. The bike cranked up fine and I was on my way. I stopped a couple of times coming down the mountain and the bike always cranked fine, but no gen light. No faint glow at any time, either. I figured I was in trouble but was just hoping to make the couple hour trip to datchew’s. <o> </o> About 10 miles north of <st1lace w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Greenville</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">SC</st1:state></st1lace>, my GPS screen starts dimming. At first I thought it was just the bright sunshine, but it ended up powering off altogether. Only a faint dimmer of headlight reflected off the car ahead of my at the next intersection. The bike was still running, but idling low. I hoped to make it just a few more miles. Nope, the bike stalled on me at perhaps one of the busiest intersections in north <st1:city w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Greenville</st1lace></st1:city>. <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--> <!--[endif]--> After pushing it to the sidewalk, I called datchew and asked if he was up for an adventure. Unknowingly, he agreed.
Not to make a short story long, datchew comes to the rescue and we get the bike loaded up and headed to his house. I guess you could say luck was on my side since I'd made it to within 10 miles of his house. We started pulling the bike apart and swapping parts off his bike to try to find out what the problem was. The bike had a new rotor, brushes, and Omega diode board within the last few thousand miles, so I had a false sense of security in what might have been bad. It turned out to be a bum OEM rotor. We called up the local BMW shop and what do you know, they had one in stock. Yes, a local dealer with an airhead part.:huh With a catch of course.... We were all set to jump in the truck until the parts guy casually mentioned the price. $ 488.00!!!! WTF! A quick call to Enduralast had a complete new charging system on order and it should ship on Monday. I hope datchew wants to buy that solo seat. Datchew is a standup guy and I really appreciate all the help diagnosing the problem. It was hot as hell and he had a sick child in the background, but did not mind helping a fellow airhead out. Not to mention one that was stinkily sweating out several New Castles from Friday night. The next cold one(s) are on me 'chew!
Welcome to sticker shock at the BMW shop,82.00 for rear brake shoes for my /6,the catch is its 82.00........................................Each! He! Ha! Laugh a minute I tell ya.
Instead of solo you should have gone over to the Gathering of the Clans at High Country M/C Campground near Ferguson, NC Friday nite. There were about 200 of us camped Friday night. The bike was just letting you know where you should have been.
Dat is a friend of mine that i have not yet met in real-time. It surprises me not at all that he fitted you in around his fam-stuff to help. Props, Matt
It was great to meet ya Jamie, despite the circumstances. you picked a good place to break down. Don't worry, we'll squeeze out a camping trip yet! I got all my electrical parts put back in tonight and she's working just fine. Putting out the standard amount of juice. Are you sure you saw sparks?? :eek1:huh I did 40 miles on that solo seat tonight. Will chat with you offline about it. Lemme know when your new kit comes in and we'll get you back on the road.
The victim. And don't worry about your baby. I've got my best girl looking after it until you return.
save this pic, Dat. Print it hardcopy. Put it in the fam-album. She'll dig it one day when the only airheads left are in your garage. "What's a 'Bing'?"
First they shall learn to crawl then they shall learn to ride then they shall learn to dance then they shall learn to walk
she can already be an able assistant in crawling underneath and looking for oil pan and pushrod deal leaks, something many of us can no longer do!
+1 on that. I do this all the time with drum brakes - not only because it's significantly cheaper than the BMW parts, but also because the bike suddenly has a rear brake instead of that sluggish deceler-o-matic
I just put an enduralast charging system on my bike this spring. Not only do I have unlimited reliable power, it makes that cool whine like a supercharger.
Funny (not) my GS that was the twin to yours has the rotor fail as well.... I went with a replacement rotor from motorradelectrik for something like $90?
I just packed up a spare rotor and diode board for my trip this summer. Rick (from moto e.) said that's the only way to ensure that the ones I have on board will NOT fail.
One of the biggest reasons I went with the Enduralast instead of ordering another rotor from motorrad is that this is the SECOND rotor that has gone out on this bike in 33K miles. Luck of the draw or is something more sinister going on? Anything I should address while installing the Enduralast so that it doesn't get crapped out?
Crap. We tried to call Rick (on Saturday) and just got the machine. And I couldn't find anything about these on his website which also seemed like it was taking the day off. Just checked it. No pics, and links don't work.
