True to his word, Chris, the Service Manager of Bloodworths' BMW Motorcycles in Nashville, TN. had one of their crated 2007 R1200GS Adventures uncrated to be cannibalized in order to repair my GS.
There was a snafu once all was uncrated; My 2006 GS Adventure has the Older Style ABS System which is incomparable with the speed ring configuration of the 2007 rear end.
Chris got on the Phone with BMW North America and the Dealer Rep located Three of the appropriate rear ends here in the states, so one will arrive Tuesday AM with a new speed sensor, rear brake rotor & pads and a fresh Two Year Warranty.
Chris hooked me up with a rental car company and I drove to James' house in Madison, AL.
I'll head back up Tuesday Morning to get the bike and James & I will continue on, just not with the same route.
We will head North East toward West Virginia to link up with two other riders to roam around in West Virginia and Virginia.
I can't say enough about the Outstanding Customer Service I have received so far from Bloodworth Motorcycles.
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I hated seeing her strapped down on the bed of the wrecker.
But 185 miles and $375 later we are in a motel room across the street from the BMW Dealer.
Quick, What's it imitating?
Hitting the sack.
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Today started out so wonderfully.
That was before the Rear-End of the GS decided to take a dump on the rear tire.
The 24k service was done last Friday and there was no sign of any issue at that time.
I started feeling a popping through the foot pegs, got off and checked it out and found nothing out of place.
10 miles on down the road the seal let go and it slung the lube all over the place.
I called the the AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) with whom I have a towing policy through
MoTow and a flat bed truck is on the way.
I'm in Somerset Kentucky and they will be hauling the GS and Me to Bloodworths BMW in Nashville Tennessee.
Scott the Service Manager has me scheduled for 1st slot in the morning and indicated he has a new GS Adventure on the floor they can yank the rear-end off of to get me back on the road.
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The first day of Ride-About 2007 is in the books.
I was so relaxed when I rolled out this morning, I caught a little shut eye here and there.
My morning riding companion in perfect formation/
The waterway between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.
Crystal River Nuclear Power Plant, DOH!
My other riding companions were here and there along the route.
Georgia On My Mind!
Alabama The Beautiful.
A rest stop North of Montgomery Alabama.
The showers and storms around Alabaster Alabama.
I got drenched several times and it felt great each time. I was dry within minutes as the Temps were 97 f. and above from Noon on to 5:00pm
The first leg of the trip was 645 Miles.
All the details are here! Pay no attention to the Max Speed, please :-)
Issues: The Speedometer Sensor is on it's last leg. The Speedometer is bouncing all over the place.
No major problem with that as I have the GPS that's dead on accurate.
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Late last week I fitted new tires on the GS. I then backed it out of ones side of the garage and pulled into the other side then backed out and drove away.
You can clearly see the Mold Release that came off the new tires on to the driveway.
The rain this evening, 5 days later, still made it visible.
This Mold Release is on the surface of new tires and served as a lubricant to allow the tire to fall out of the mold that formed it.
This stuff is the cause of a lot of crashes by new as well as experienced riders.
You lean into a turn and the bike Low-Sides as the Front and then the Rear tires break traction and ruin your day.
SAFETY TIP: When new tires are fitted ride slowly and carefully to the first gravel or dirt lot or road and ride a little.
The very abrasive nature of Dirt, Sand or Gravel scuffs off the mold release and makes the tires safe for street riding.
If possible, execute some tight radius turns left and right to help work the aggregate into the treads of the tires.
I'm packing up the Laptop with this blog post so I can get out of FlatLand early in the morning on my
Ride-About 2007.
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Ride-About 2007 begins early Thursday morning and last until Sunday July 8.
I'll be traveling North out of FlatLand to North Alabama, then up through Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio. We'll be visiting the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and then proceeding West to Extreme Northern Indiana to hook up with an Old Friend "Woody" and then it's North up the Western edge of Michigan along the Eastern Coast of Lake Michigan and up to the Upper Peninsula for exploration. Then we head south down through Wisconsin and Into Illinois and Chicago for a visit to Wrigley Field and then points South down through Indiana back through Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and back to FlatLand.
WOW!, That was a mouth full.
You may follow along with us on our trek and actually view our route and location(s) overlaid on a map.
Star Traxx is hosting my trip data and it's available for your enjoyment.
Name: rideabout
Password: rideabout
Once on the site and logged on, select
Recent Positions from the Right Side Menu.
On this screen select the data range to view and Select SHOW
Ride-About Starts 06/27 and ends 07/08.
Our progress along our route will be displayed along with other items like Speed , Elevation, Lon/Lat etc.
So, if you get bored and want to play Big Brother, drop in on us here on Star-Traxx.
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It was another great ride in to the office this morning.
Very light traffic and only a few Gendarmes to be aware of.
I tend to work my way to the lead of the pack so my photos tend to show little to no traffic ahead of me.
What's the old adage: "If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes!"
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That's right boys & girls; I roll out of FlatLand in the morning and won't return until July 9.
The CB is installed as is the antenna. The
Star Traxx Transceiver is fitted and functioning.
I'm going to rifle through the side cases removing any un-needed items this afternoon so I can get as much as possible in the cases instead of strapped on the back seat.
My mobile blogging studio; aka Laptop, is ready with a
Verizon Broadband Wireless Access Card so I'll be able to update this blog in the evenings with some of the daily photos and commentary from the road.
I'll be posting a link to my
Star-Traxx Report Page so you may follow along with us on the trip.
Tic-Toc-Tic-Toc this is going to be a long day.
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A very nice morning for a commute in FlatLand.
74 degrees f. and calm air made for comfortable ride this morning.
FlatLand smells like it's burning again!
There is a lot of smoke in the air this morning.
I came in early again today and will again tomorrow.
Ride-About 2007 Starts Thursday morning!
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What a nice morning for the Commute!
Cool temps and relatively high humidity made for some early fog that just added a nice texture to the landscape.
I came in a hour early this morning as I have arranged training for my engineering team on some Open Source technologies we will be implementing.
Traffic moved quite well and there were several Cruisers out on ambush / patrol all along my route.
I'm 3 days short this morning!
Thursday O-Dark-Thirty I head to points North for Ride-About 2007
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Yes, the gold Ole' days!
Click the image for the large version.
LATERTechnorati Tags:
Europe,
Year1000,
Map
I came across a cool site that will make a mosaic of your photo by using photos hosted on Flickr.
On the Left are the original images and on the Right are the rendered Mosaics.
Click these images to display the full size images.
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Saturday Night was perfect for a ride down to St. Petersburg to hang out & kick tires with some buddies from the
Adventure Rider Board.
The night was lively and the band was kicking at Biff-Burger.
With several kinds of food available, there truly is Something for Everybody.
Vendors of great variety setup around the lot and bikes park everywhere.
They hold free contest in several categories and award Trophies to the winners.
You can hear the band everywhere on the lot and folks move in & out of the open-air restaurant eating & drinking and enjoying the sites.
You'll see everything from scooters to custom built choppers and everything in between.
As I wander around looking at all the bikes I notice the odometers. A lot of these bikes are only ridden to a bike night here or there.
What a waste,
The BMW's tend to huddle up in one area on the front side of the lot. A glance at the odometers of these bikes revels who rides the roads.
It is fun just hanging with friends and watching the eyes of on-lookers as they scrutinize the bikes and ask question after question about everything on the bike.
One thing I have never seen in the numerous times I've visited Bike Night here was a Police Presence.
Just up the road at Quaker Steak & Lube where they hold a bike night there are police everywhere.
It was a very nice night out and I had a great time just talking with friends and people watching.
This custom chopper was immaculate, all but the Fiberglass wrap that completely covered the exhaust system.
To each his own I guess.
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