The motorcycle ownership experience has completely changed how I plan my day, explore the roads, interact with others and overall it’s a bit of a pain in the butt. Of course, like most riders would agree, the experience of riding has many benefits that outweighs the inconvenience of living your day-to-day life on a 2-wheeled scooter.
“Can you pick up Porter?” is a text from Heather that I received within the last 2 weeks or “Can you grab some fire-wood on your way home?” or “I locked my car keys in the car, can you drive me home and we’ll carpool in tomorrow?” or recently from a co-worker, “We’re all going out after work, you should join us”. In all of these cases, the motorcycle gear I was wearing, the fact that I didn’t have a second helmet or a side-car or 4-wheels kept me from achieving these requests. It’s 45 minutes to my house from town so that’s a 1.5 hour round trip to go and get my car and do what is asked of me except the fire-wood thing, I managed to pull that off:
If I’m out for a solo ride with no chance of being needed to take care of something, the bike is a dream. Because I’m a new rider, everything bike related excludes my GF and anyone I know socially. If I go for a beer-trip, or go camping, if it’s on my bike, it will be a solo endeavor. This will change next year when Heather gets her own gear and I feel confident enough to have her ride with me but that’s a full year from now.
Since taking ownership of the bike in April, I’ve ridden 4,000 miles. The tires look great, the bike itself is in good shape and I’m taking it in for its first major check-up. I did have the brake-fluid flushed and new tires put on in April but those were necessary things to go riding. A few areas of the bike are troubling and I’m about to embark on a 4 day trip to and from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania which is 1200 miles excluding any detours that I take (for which there will be many). On my list for the BMW Dealer to review:
- Replace my fuel tank under warranty since the fuel strip has failed and my gas light is always on showing 0 miles range (an item known by BMW and warrantied for 12 years past the standard warranty)
- Inspect and replace battery if needed (Hard start w/ a battery icon is a daily occurrence and since I plan on charging my iPhone on this trip while riding, I need to have confidence in the bike starting after every stop)
- Inspect and repair some of the broken clips for my fairings and hopefully finish the season on these fairings before replacing them w/ red 2009 R1200GSA fairings next year
- Inspect Brakes, Clutch, Tires for any possible issues
- Do 12K mile service
- Replace both headlights since they’re reaching end of life given the Odometer and age of bike. These are still the original headlights
- Install my USB 3 charger that mounts on handle-bars
- Adjust clutch if possible to allow for a quicker grab when starting
- Inspect the vibration I get in my foot-pegs / butt when cornering. I think the vibration is from the rear wheels. I hope it’s not an expensive fix.
I think the total spend will be around $500. If it’s more than that, well I’ll have to pick & choose what I get done. I may just wait on the 12K maintenance and do it after Pittsburgh and do 12K + remaining things then. I can’t afford new fairings this year but next year will be a bit more improvements. Fairings, Lighter Brakes, more dirt focused tires, larger wind-screen, cruise control lock and LED aux lights so that would mean 2015, I put roughly 1K into the bike, next year roughly $1500 on top of the normal stuff like payments, gas, insurance.
The bike usage has been pretty good. On days Heather has other engagements in addition to work, I ride to and from work which is usually 3 days a week unless it’s raining then I drive. On other days, we carpool alternating between my car and hers. On the weekends, any thing that will fit in my luggage boxes, I’ll go on solo errands buying house stuff, fire-wood, deli sandwiches and things where she stays home and gets me time. Even after she gets full gear and I’m a better rider, I don’t think commuting together on the bike is in our cards.
I did the Yankee Beemers Rally, I’ll go to Pittsburg on my bike, I missed a motorcycle track day local to me because I was in Montreal but there’s another in August which I will absolutely go to. It’s $250 and the track is 3 miles from my house.
Barring any life events, I’d like to pay off the bike next year and own it and start saving for another bike to buy some time around 2020. The 1200 GSA is a wonderful bike. Decent on trails and great on the road but it has really shown me that I’d prefer to own a dual-sport bike (a real one) for trails and a sport bike for commuting. The 1200 GSA is a road-trip bike that takes on any terrain with good hauling capacity, great gas mileage and really good comfort so long as you run an aftermarket seat and get cruise control added via a handle-bar mod. It’s not fast and it’s not great off-road. I think a BMW S1000 and a KTM250 CC dual sport bike would be great compliments to the R1200 GSA. If I had to pick between those 3 though, I’d still go 1200 GSA. It is by far the most practical and that’s saying a lot considering it’s still a motorcycle.
This year, I still want to drive across to the mid-west and back on the bike but if not, I still plan on taking the R1200 down to Florida to leave with my Dad for storage and safe-keeping. I’d likely get the replacement fairings done there, ride on the current tires up to New Hampshire and replace them after that as they’ll be at the 10K mark by then.
A co-worker gave me the logical question that when you add up the $590 a month for my Golf R and $243 a month for my R1200, I essentially could afford a 55K USD car, I’d be in used Porsche territory by then but honestly, the Bike and Golf R are both equally as fun. The Golf R is a daily driver (for now) and is reliable along with a blast to drive. The R1200 takes me places the Golf R cannot. Riding it on my back-roads, it’s far better on my back and neck than the Golf R due to the Golf’s track-tuned suspension and if I’m by myself, the R1200 gets 20 more MPG and is actually cheaper the maintain.
I’m so happy that a year ago, I started reading and learning about bikes and I’m happy that I found a bike that works for me. The V-Strom and Africa Twin would be cheaper overall to own, the BMW is a total blast.
Next year, I’d like to buy some different gear. I’d keep my current gear for foggy rainy days below 70F and find some gear that I wear in temps that exceed 90F while still being comfortable and most importantly, protected.
…and that’s my update on the whole motorcycle thing :)
PS: If any riders are going through Canaan or Enfield New Hampshire, roll down the proverbial window and give me a wave.