I’m a little late on this post as this ride took place in September. But here it is complete with photos.

It was on! We packed it up and headed out of Mtn View at 2pm Friday afternoon. It was my first multi-day trip on the Beemer. It was great weather with the California Sunshine warming my spirit and promising that a fantastic ride on unexplored roads was ahead.

We used Pashnit.com to roughly plan some of the routes. This site is great for finding amazing roads around California. It costs 20 bucks to subscribe and it is well worth it IMO.

The Ride
Temps in South Bay were in the 90’s and as we headed towards Gilroy on Friday afternoon it got increasingly hotter. 96… 98…. …100…. 102…. we stop at the exit for Hollister and temp showed 103. So we decided to head towards the coast to HWY 1 and cool off. Off we went down thru Salinas and over to Monterrey where we instantly hit fog and cooler temperatures. Much cooler in fact. As we headed down HWY 1 the fog got thicker and the condensation was building up on my visor. At Carmel we hit dead stopped traffic and squeezed our way through the line of cars that was probably about 2 miles long. Once we broke free from the traffic we made our way down towards Big Sur and the fog and Sunshine played hide-and-seek.

We stopped off at a few pull outs and stretched our legs a bit and took in the scenery. The ocean was super calm that day – almost like a smooth lake. It is quite something to take a trip like this and to be able to experience the scenery like this. It feels raw and un-cluttered. It’s just you and the road.

We continued down the coast and past all those little tiny towns/pullouts with the really expensive food and lodgings. The Sun was getting low and as we cruised by Piedras Blancas we stopped to see the elephant seals. Not too many there right now but I guess it’s the off season for them.

We continued to cruise down with little traffic and we were able to keep good pace while enjoying the scenery. We cruised past Cambria and turned inland on 46 which was a great road and I regret not pulling over to get some pics of the Sunset and the tarantulas crossing the road. It was really cool to see them creeping across in the setting Sun.

It was full dark by the time we arrived in SLO and we gassed up and went across the street got a room (no camping for us, maybe next time). We thought we’d hit the town and find some cool nightlife to welcome us. No such luck, SLO closes down pretty early. It was dead. We walked for a few blocks and came across this great little micro-brewery that was still open and serving tastings for 5 bucks! Central Coast Brewery has some amazing beers.

Then next day went down to the Vintage Motorcycle Museum in Solvang and we snapped a bunch of photos of some rare bikes. They’ve got a Crocker and even one of those Brittons along with a bunch of old AJS, BMW, Ducati, Gilera, Matchless, Moto Guzzi, MV, Norton, Triumph, Velocette and a few Vincents. I’ve put only a few of the pics from the museum below.

Then we cruised through town and made our way to a bunch of roads all over the Santa Ynez hills. Really cool road up at top of Santa Barbara hills – don’t remember the name of it. Then down to 101 and back to Buellton where we stayed at the same hotel that the movie Sideways was filmed. The Windmill. Pretty cool, we sat in the hot tub and relaxed. Luckily my friend recommended the nicer motel than my choice of Motel 6. The hot tub came in real handy after day of riding.

Next day we awoke to a heavy drizzle and fog and we wiped down the bikes and hit the road. We took off north on 101 and it was pretty much clear sailing from that point to 198. 198 is an amazing road. Those beautiful wheatie hills with long straights and 90 degree, completely visible, turns. We took that to 25 where we headed towards the Pinnacles and Hollister. This is truly a dream road for bikes. The asphalt was brand new. Very light traffic and great landscape. After a bite to eat we continued on towards home and ended what was a great weekend.

This is addicting and now I can’t wait until the next adventure. Enjoy the pics!

One thing about the S is that for me my reach is just a little too far for my taste. So I went on the Pelican Forums, (great forum for R1100 and R1200) and I started searching for something that would work to bring the bars up and back. Lo and behold I stumbled upon these. Rapid Dog Bar Backs. On the forum I found a thread and noticed that there was one set left in the most recent batch, so I jumped on the keyboard and rattled away as quick as I could. Randy said he had one person ahead of me and that he was waiting for him to measure something. Luckily for me, the other guy dragged his feet and Randy could see that I was anxious to get my hands on them. I also had sent him an email through his website and bugged him about it.

He emailed me the next day and said if I get him the money he’ll ship them to me that day! Cool! So four days later I got them in the mail complete with a nice four paged detailed instruction sheet.

Installation was a breeze and these are really great looking pieces that aren’t bulky and annoyingly “aftermarket”. It took about 30 minutes to get them on. No need to get longer cables or extend wiring. This a completely bolt on situation. However, if your S has the clip-ons  mounted under the triple then you will need to buy a longer throttle cable. Rapid Dog has the scoop on that here.

Out of the package they are just simple well designed CNC 6061-T6 billet aluminum. I took them out and looked at them for a while.

Two stainless steel hex machine screws make sure to keep them clamped solid.

Here is difference between with and without. Left grip with and right grip without.

Right Barback installed.

Once I set the angles to the way I liked, I took out each screw and put a little Loctite blue threadlock for just a little more insurance. I torgued the screws down to about 14 Foot lb. After that I took a ride and basked in the glow of bent elbows and happy wrists!

Just found this great little clip of the Berlin BMW plant assembling a K1200. They build up to 540 bikes a day.

The first BMW car, was built in Berlin: on 22 March 1929 the first BMW 3/15 PS’s left the production hall rented by BMW near Berlin-Johannisthal Airport. The first BMW motorcycle, the R 32 featuring an air-cooled twin-flat engine and shaft drive, was presented a few years earlier in 1923 at the German Car Show in Berlin. The BMW Plant Berlin was part of the team almost from the start: the history of BMW AG started with the production of aircraft engines in Berlin.

The first BMW motorcycle built in Berlin – a BMW R 60/2 — came off the assembly line in 1967, but the motorcycle of the Berlin Plant in the former aircraft engine plant started much earlier back in 1949 with production of the first parts for motorcycles still built in Munich back then. Over the years, motorcycle production was shifted step-by-step from Munich to Berlin. And to this day, Berlin remains the only production plant for BMW motorcycles the world over. Nearly all parts and components required for this purpose were manufactured at the Plant, with a total workforce of not quite 400 employees working in motorcycle production back then. Apart from consistently modernising the facilities, motorcycle production as a whole was substantially expanded in 1983 upon the introduction of the K-Series, BMW AG investing some DM 500 million in an entirely new assembly building and system, as well as a highly automated production line for engine components. Ten years later the Company modernised and expanded the Assembly Hall and the Machining Shop for engine and chassis components upon the introduction of the new Boxer generation. And to assemble the single-cylinder F 650 models built at the Berlin Plant since spring 2000, an additional assembly line was installed to provide the capacity required.

How cool would it be to have a job building motorcycles! I can only imagine.

Last week I ended up buying a new tank bag. My old one was falling apart plus it uses magnets and the S has plastic body work around the tank. I searched around and found some great solutions such as the Big Mak Access which has a hinge and flips up really easy to gain access to refueling. A little pricey but they get great reviews and they seem built to last. I guess I could’ve gotten an official BMW bag but that was pricey too at $295.00! No thanks!

For my needs, I decided that I didn’t need it to hold much gear at all since I have the side bags and a duffel bag that I can throw on the back. I figured I would need the tank bag to hold a minimal amount of things; bottle of water; keys; tire gauge; and camera etc. I don’t need a 15+ liter bag to hold everything under the sun.

Some important factors when considering a bag:

• What kinds of trips will it be used for?
• What will you need to hold in it?
• Do you need it to be electrified?
• What type of weather will it need to withstand?

The bag that got my attention and the one that I ended up buying was the Bags-Connection Engage with the SW Mototech Quick-Lock. It uses the gas cap ring as the mount for the bag. The bag never even touches the tank. It’s a great little system and with the quick release it comes off very fast with a little tug on the release cord. There are two of these bags to choose from – the 7.5 liter and the XL which is 15 liters. I went with the smaller one.

The Lowdown
My first impression was that it would be a little too small. It looks small, but it actually holds enough and you can pack stuff in there easily. It is 7.5 liters in capacity and constructed of ballistic nylon. The zippers are heavy duty and have big rubber grips. The bag itself slopes downward to follow the steep line of the S tank. It has three pockets; a main chamber a small front pocket for change and small items and also a hidden pocket on the front of the bag. I’m not completely sure what that is for but I figure it’s for the rain cover.  Inside there are two compartments which are separated by a velcro wall.

There is also a pocket to insert your cell phone with a window on top so you can view it. I fit my Blackberry inside and you can see everything pretty clearly. When mounted, the bag is solid and doesn’t rattle or shake around.

Installation was straight forward and easy. You just drill four holes in the bottom of the bag where the machine screws and nylon nuts line up. You have ability to position the bag more forward if you like. I positioned mine to be as close to the natural curve of the tank as possible. You can see the cord that pulls the locking pin and releases the bag.

The mounting ring comes with a bag full of new extended bolts for the gas cap. The ring doesn’t get in the way of refueling nozzles.

As an option, you can request to get the bag “electrified” which means that they attach wires to the ring and you hard wire it into the power system. Inside would be either cig power or BMW power plug-ins. I didn’t really see a need for this as I have two auxillary power outlets already elsewhere on the bike.

Includes:
Rain cover (2 close lines)
Shoulder strap
QUICK-LOCK upper

ring
Mounting instructions
Integrated mobile phone pocket

Options:
Mapholder
GPS / PDA / RAM Gadget Mounting Bracket

Dimensions:
height: 4.25″ tall (tapers down in a wedge at rear)
length: 14″ long
width: 11″ (front radius) to 5.5″ (rear width)

Capacity: 7.5 liters

The tank ring mounting  is sold separately so make sure you order the correct part number for you specific bike. The hardware is constructed of glass fiber polyamide and stainless steel, both of which are highly resistant to corrosion and degradation from sunlight (UV radiation).

Well, I’ve been a little MIA lately. Mostly because work is busy and I usually end up helping my wife work on her chocolate business in the evening. In case you want some absolutely amazing chocolate you can check it out here.

Rest assured I’ve been riding every chance I get. Mostly, Sunday mornings are my ride time. I wake up early and hit the hills usually by 7am. I tend to end up hanging out at Alices on Skyline and HWY 84. There, I met some really cool old guys that ride very old BMW’s, Triumphs, and one Brit that must be 75 years old that rides a Honda VFR! I hope to post more about them soon too as they are full of wisdom and I absolutely love talking to them.

Back to the ride! Last weekend I had an amazing first long distance trip on the Beemer. I rode with some old friends and met some new friends. It was a real good group and we had a lot of fun. Brian is on an SV-650 and Aric commands a BMW F800. We met up with Harry who has a really nice Honda Shadow 750. All of them really amazing machines and great riders.

The Route:
Some of the roads I’ve never been on and some I haven’t driven in years. In all, it was about 300 miles with a stop off for lunch. Here is the basic route as I recall it:

Aric and I started out in Sunnyvale and rode up to SF to meet up with two of the guys. Then it was over Golden Gate and into Marin up Mt. Tamalpias. From there we headed north to Point Reyes National Sea Shore. We didn’t stop and kept going all the way around Tomales Bay on HWY 1. We continued along HWY 1 and took Bodega HWY to Bohemian HWY where we cut East on HWY 116 to Guerneville. We stopped for lunch in Forestville and that’s where the group disbanded and went our seperate ways. Two of us continued to Santa Rosa and headed through some wine country along HWY 12. Then it was homeward bound from that point.

I have some new gear and everything worked great. I’ll post more about that later. I was most concerned about how comfortable I was going to be on the new ride. The longest ride I’d done so far was 120 miles in one sitting, so I was curious about how long I could stand being in the saddle before I was done.

Turns out the limit was 9 hours. But overall, this trip was a piece of cake on the S. I made some discoveries about Bronson that I will have to address at some point. Most importantly, the seat. After a few hours in the stock seat, I noticed some numbness and pain coming from my tailbone. From what I’ve been reading on the forums, the seat is gonna have to be replaced with something else.

My left wrist was really bugging me too. I’m imagining I just need to get used to longer rides and this will work itself out. Everything else worked like a dream. The bike ran great and was extremely comfy on the highway. The Throttlemeister Cruise Control worked fantastic and made the long freeway strips a little more relaxing.

I’ve got no pictures to post because we didn’t stop for anything other than lunch. I’m hoping to snap some shots in the future though because it’s kind of boring just reading about a ride without seeing the roads. You’ll just have to imagine what those beautiful roads looked like. Typical amazing California twisties.

So I think I’ll take some more long distance rides before I commit to any ergo purchases, although I can see that I will most likely want to get a set of Rapid Dog Barbacks which will put the grips up and back to make for a straighter back and less stretched arms. Otherwise, there really isn’t anything to complain about for long distance riding on the S.

Next post will be a review of a cool tank bag, riding pants and hopefully the installation of a power socket wiring…

Well I’ve been riding the new bike as much as I can that last few weeks. So far it’s proving to be a great bike and I am really happy with it. It has a great power band and the boxer motor is smooth and even. The riding position is like heaven to me.

It’s an interesting bike because when you first start it up, it’s got a lot of vibration at idle. The windshield shakes, the turn signals shake and it seems like something else is rattling somewhere that I haven’t discovered yet. Sometimes you just have to listen to the bike and learn all the sounds and quirks that it has. It’s like getting to know a new friend. But once you get going it all evens out and it’s smooth as butter when you’re rolling.

That reminds me. I never did name the Hawk, but this time I’m going to come up with a name for my bike. I’m going to take my time and see what fits the bike best. I’m sure it will become clear at the right time.

I spent a weekend just taking stuff apart and cleaning it, all the while learning about where everything is. I found the air cleaner and discovered a bunch of small size pebbles trapped in it. I cleaned the battery terminals and checked spark plugs etc. I found some broken pieces ( mainly the cylinder protectors) so I removed them and epoxy-ed stuff back together. It was a good time just chilling out and learning about what an amazing machine the boxer is. I’m hooked. I had doubts about the famed, “sewing machine” sound that people were complaining about. But to be honest, I don’t really mind that. It still has that twin cylinder sound to it. It’s certainly not as cool sounding as a v-twin but I’m okay with that. I’ve had the v-twin sound for a while and I don’t mind giving that up. Besides, I could always get a Remus exhaust if I win the lottery.

I was really looking forward to getting it on the freeway and opening it up. The first time I did I was amazed at how smooth the bike feels. 80mph is nothing for this machine. Compared to the Hawk which only has a 5-speed, the beemer has lots of gusto.

There is an interesting sound that I couldn’t figure out at first but then realized it was the air flowing into the front air dam. You don’t always notice it but when you get the right conditions and the freeway walls are reflecting it back to you, it’s very noticeable. The owner before me had melted the hand grips and instead of removing them, which I hear is a pain in the ass, I bought some Grip Puppies and slipped those right over the old grips. The heat still comes through perfectly and I like the wider feel to the grip better. I highly recommend them and for 10 bucks you can’t go wrong.

The front brake feels very touchy. I’m still trying to get used to being a little gentler on the brake. The ABS works very well too. I didn’t think I was going to like it much after hearing other bikers talk about it. This system is very unobtrusive in my opinion. I did test it out and was shocked how the bike didn’t dip at all when I applied full force to the brake.

This weekend I’m going to work on evening out the flat spot on the rear tire.

Well it didn’t take very long after all. I was expecting it to take most of the summer. I considered a few different bikes and this one was by far the best fit for me. The previous owner took excellent care of it and Now it’s all mine. This is a great kick-off to Summer for me.

I’ve been glued to the shop manual and trying to figure out all of the details of maintaining a BMW. Seems pretty straight forward and I’m actually looking forward to working on it. Valve adjustments look like a piece of cake on the boxer motor. Oil changes are incredibly simple too.

I’ll be either adding a new blog or just changing this one a little bit. But I’d like to keep up the Hawk stuff for sentimental reasons. I may just keep it the same and change the flavor a little.

2004 BMW R1100s
ABS, Pacific Blue, heated grips, saddlebags – big, alpine white, power supply, throttlemeister cruise control

Wow. This has been a crazy thing selling my bike. I feel like a piece of my soul has drifted from me. It was the good part of my soul. The part that sticks around inside you and holds all the memories. I know it’s just a motorcycle in the big scheme of things. It’s not like it is a 1944 Indian for god’s sake! But it was on my mind a long time. I took a lot of care in keeping this thing clean, maintained and safe from thieves. When my brothers stopped riding and when I was in school, I didn’t really ride it enough and I knew it. I wasn’t ready to give it up at that time though. It was my only “new” thing. I had to keep it and I knew I would eventually have time to ride it.

My Last Pics

But I never really rode it more than some rides in the summers. In the early days, my three brother’s and I used to ride together every Saturday and Sunday. It was the best of times for sure. After I got out of school and landed a decent job, I had time and energy to ride again. However, the Hawk was itchin’ for someone else to be riding her. So I sell this bike gracefully and tip my helmet to the new leg of her journey.

My Last Pics

I’d like to congratulate Paige on being the first person to look at my bike and being the one to buy it. She has just the right kind of soul for this Hawk. And I guess that was more important to me than I had thought. She is a natural Hawkster and I think she will come to really love this bike if she doesn’t already. I’m happy to know they will be cruising on the HWY 1 in Marin. So good luck to you both and I hope to ride with you and Jason someday soon. Preferably soon!

Paige with her new bike!

As for this website, it will remain online. Stay tuned as I’m in the market for a new (used) bike. It will be either the Ducati Multistrada 1000 or the BMW R1100s as far as I know.

Well it’s been a good run with my old Hawk. 18 years to be exact. As much as I love the bike it is time for us to part ways. We have grown apart so to speak. I’ve always wanted a bigger bike that will allow me to take more adventurous trips. The little Hawk is great in the hills but spend more than a couple hours on the freeway and you’ll start to go nuts from the lack of the 6th gear. I actually haven’t even ridden it as much as I’d like just for that reason. While I was in school I actually didn’t even ride it at all. It was in storage most of the time, which accounts for the low mileage. This bike was meant for the curves of a race track or the curves of a mountain.

This is a bike for the person who knows what a Hawk is. In San Francisco, it’s a cult bike and people love them because they are small and easy to ride. In the race circuits it was an amazing performer due to it’s ability to modify easily. I’ve made some modifications on my own back in the day. Most Hawks that you will see online have been modified heavily and this is not one of them. I’ve made modest changes but unlike most modded bikes this one looks almost like it came from the factory like this. The Two-Bros fairing is painted with PPG paint and it is showing slight cracks around stress points. Keep in mind that the fairing is made of fiberglass and is a race piece. Therefore, it doesn’t hide cables and wires etc. It has a very raw feel to it. However, the paint on the outside of the fairing matches the stock color perfectly and you can see that in the pics.

I commuted on it probably less than 2 percent of it’s life. I really only rode it in the hills of SF Bay Area. Take a look at this blog and you will see what kind of rides I’ve done on it.

The bike is pretty damn clean. I’m proud of what great shape it’s in. Most people think it’s a new bike when they see it. Well, except for bikers cause they know the old bikes. I’ve always had the oil changed regularly. I keep it covered and it’s always hooked up to a battery charger.

Damage: After I had just bought the bike (1992), I had a low speed skid and ended up dropping the bike on it’s side after a complete stop. It literally fell over on it’s side and thus scraped the engine plate and bent the shifter arm. This happened while in “stock” mode and since then I’ve replaced the mirrors, front turn signals and clip-ons. No damage to body work or frame. All other blemishes on the bike are just part of what an 18 year old bike goes through in it’s life. All the rubber including hoses cables etc. is in great condition and last summer I had the Honda shop do a complete work over on it.

Why am I selling it?
I’m really wanting to start taking some longer distance rides and I’m looking to get more of a touring bike. The little Hawk, while is plenty powerful enough, just isn’t going to cut it for my old ass anymore. The ride position is fairly aggressive even by sport bike standards. Although, I don’t have rear-sets installed the clip-on position is quite low. Rear-sets would help but I’ve just never gotten around to getting them.

I will be posting detail pics very soon but in the meantime, take a look at the blog pics and if anyone is interested in taking this off my hands, let me know. I’m located in SF Bay Area – South Bay and I’ll entertain all serious offers. Test rides with M1 and cash in hand.

Here’s the details on the bike:
1991 Honda Hawk nt650GT
Clean title
original owner
purchased new in 1992 from Honda dealer
mileage: 13k
tires: 2k miles on these, very good shape

Modifications

Engine:
Two Brothers C2 exhaust system
Factory Jet Kit
Removed top of Air Box
AFAM sprockets, chain

Suspension:
Lindemann Engineering-forks re-valved, new springs

Accessories:
Corbin saddle
F2 clip-ons mounted under the triple clamp to accommodate RC-31 fairing
Goodridge steel braided brake lines
F2 footpegs
Two Brothers RC-31 fairing kit
Removed center stand
Fabricated shortened rear turn signal brackets
Fabricated exhaust hanger brackets
Fabricated lower fairing mounting brackets

I’ve got all original parts that were taken off including:
mirrors
clip-ons
exhaust
foot-pegs
pass foot-pegs
seat
front turn signals
other various pieces

Circa 1995:
As I recall, we were hanging out at Alice’s. It was a beautiful sunny summer day and my brothers (literal) and I had just ridden all morning and we were relaxing having a break before the afternoon leg of our ride. Stopping at the 84-35 intersection on a Saturday usually means lots of bikes and lots of talking about bikes. My oldest brother Chris, aka “Bearcat” had just gotten a new VFR and we’re standing around listening to him talk about it. This guy could go on let me tell you. It was a thing of beauty for sure. I honestly was starting to get a little jealous as he continued to gloat. My Hawk was like a tractor compared to that VFR.

As we were all looking at it and inspecting the details, I asked, “what do ya say I take it out for quick test ride?” Looks of dismay and a pause as he stared blankly at the clean red sheen of the tank. “Yeah…. sure”, he said with his eyebrows high and a look that says, “if you crash it, I will most assuredly castrate you”. “Great!” I say as I convince him that I’ll be very careful and won’t take it over 35 mph and blah blah blah. So off I go up Skyline. I couldn’t believe it. It was so smooth and luxurious! I was really enjoying cruising uncurling the winding road and wouldn’t you know it – there was not a single place to turn around. “Well, maybe I’ll just go a little further,” I thought. Sure, why not? It’s such a nice day and he won’t mind if I go a little further.

Finally, after about 7 miles, I decide that I’d better turn it around and head back before big brother starts to get worried. I whip it around and head off into the trees. My mind is full of thoughts about getting a bigger bike and how great my life would be with it. I come to a nice straight and open it up just enough to make me laugh, and that’s when I felt it. I had no idea what it was but the slap of it on my neck really got my attention.

It felt like someone took their thumb and middle finger and flicked me really hard right in the adam’s apple. I realize that I must have just ran into an insect and it bounced off my neck. I felt my throat and made sure the bug wasn’t hanging around and I continued back towards Alice’s. I drift back into my daydream. I think that maybe big brother will swap bikes for the afternoon. I’ll have to settle for my back-breaking ride on the old Hawk. It’s right about this time when I feel something tickling my belly. I stare down the road and think, “that’s odd, what is that?” Then I feel it again. This time more tickling but slightly more freaky. As the hamsters in my head come off the coffee break and get back on the wheel, I start to re-live the whole scenario in my head.

“Adam’s apple, neck, large insect, tickling…. buzzing… waking up in my shirt…. NEW BIKE… NOT MINE…. aww CRAP! So now I’m in complete panic mode and trying to desperately find a safe place to pull over as this large insect regains consciousness. The bug, which I have no idea what kind it is, is getting more and more antsy as I can now feel it completely buzzing and knocking back and forth against my sweaty belly. “Don’t drop the bike!”, “just pull it over and get off!” I try not to think about what the hell is in my shirt. I don’t think that it could be a wasp or a hornet. From the amount of wind that was blowing under there, it felt like a humming bird pecking my belly button.

Finally, I get the bike pulled over and gently ease down the kick stand, turn the motor off and ease my leg over the seat. Once off the bike, and completely away from it, in a frenzy, I rip off my jacket, throw in onto the pavement and pull up my shirt and a huge black bee falls on the ground. We stare at each other in dis-belief. I’m standing there cursing thankfully as we both get our bearings back. I sigh relief and he shoots off into the air. I’m drenched in sweat and my heart is pounding. I look up as a line of cars drive by with people and puzzled looks on their faces. I just stand there for a moment and take a breather as I relive the moments. I start to think what if that was a wasp… That would suck to get stung in the gut while test riding your brother’s new ride.

I get back on the bike and head out again. This time there is no daydreaming. No “happy summer day.” I just want to get this shiny new bike back to brother and get off it. As I roll into the parking lot, I see desperate eyeballs all over me. Well… not ME, but the bike. Brother had his usual big old frown on his face as he visually inspected the bike. I coast up to him and he seemed a bit disappointed and a little curious – but more disappointed. I tell him, ” I LOVE it, you barely notice the bugs hitting you!”