BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

Glad you brought that up, Tundra. I installed a 2.5 W solar panel from a company called NOCO and modified the connector to fit the wiring running from my battery. Under a clear sky it would put out 18 volts; I thought that was sufficient but that wouldn't charge the battery. Maybe it wasn't sending ...

What drains my battery is the usual: motronic and the clock. Plus.... what exacerbates the parasitic drain is the Kisan signal monitor I installed. When I leave town I pull the motronic and clock fuses and the Kisan unit; the battery stays charged for over a month. Nice of those genius German engine...

My R1150R lives in an inclosure that has no electrical outlet. Each week my battery loses .6 volts. In my experience if it reads even a little below 12 volts the bike may not have enough juice to start. I ride most weekends, but if I can't, I run a cord to the enclosure and plug in a charger. This w...

I'm devilishly pleased with my Pirelli Angel Gts. ( Remember...Lucifer was a fallen angel ) Anyway... Michelins came with the bike; they worked well. They were back ordered when I needed rubber. Cycle Gear had a sale on the Pirellis. Do look for deals. FWIW...did my first 2019 ride yesterday - snow ...

Yeah....cleaning the starter - I wonder how many of us have starters in similar condition. You say you're not sure about the battery...Unless I've missed it, you haven't check for load. 12.5 V sitting is fine. When you reinstall the starter, attach the leads to the terminals and push the starter but...

I wonder if you'll notice much difference if you go to 80 pavement - 20 gravel/dirt tires over street tires. In my 80K + miles on a kLR, I tried a variety of tires and combinations. Avon Gripsters (80-20} were popular. Some of us called them slipsters because they were not much help off pavement. Ki...

Many are not aware that in Colorado there are many warm winter weekends. Since I returned to motorcycling in 1990 there hasn't been a month that I' haven't been able to ride. That's not saying you can hop on every weekend but there's always at least one Saturday or Sunday that's warm enough every Fe...

Yeah......I'm trying to get away from doing stuff I don't enjoy doing anymore and maybe never did. For example: I gave away my tire changing apparatus....stand, weights, lubricants....all of it. Never did like brake fluid...first time it needed changing, I rode over to a respected, independent guy a...

When I looked around none of the after market stuff was of a good quality. I went with BMW guards made for a GS - not cheap but not outrageously expensive. These are better quality than the Moose brand I had on my KLR. I don't consider myself an especially talented mechanic even though I've been doi...

My youngest son was in the process of buying his first motorcycle. One of the bikes he looked at was a 4 cylinder 600 Honda Standard - maybe 15 years old; it was a carbureted model. The bike was very clean and the price was right. However....it didn't idle evenly. The owner monkeyed with the carbs a...

Much thanks...Kirby and Syko. I'll act on your advice next time this happening rears its' ugly head. Don't know when - of course - since it's been 2+ years between occurrences. Hopefully it won't be in some lonely spot far from anywhere. Many places are great to ride in but not great to break down. ...

It happened twice. First time, maybe 2 years ago. I hit reserve a mile from home and parked the bike. A week later my 04 wouldn't start - exhibiting signs of fuel starvation. I thought there was enough fuel but I poured in another gallon. After much reving - like when you add gas after running out -...

Maybe BMWs don't leak but these models often seep if you're using synthetic oil. The previous owner of my ride used dyno oil but I went synthetic after purchase - as that's what I prefer. Oil appeared in places along the large vertical seal. I went 5k miles before the next change and the seep/leak w...

When riding you use both legs and arms as well as your torso. It's still your body but you can do much more with it - specially go fast. The sensation of speed is more than in a plane or car because you're close to the ground and no barrie separates you from the earth you sense rushing by. I love ex...

I like happy endings.....ride on.

Whatever you decide, sign up for a beginning riders course. There should be some in your area. They usually provide the bikes- which are small and light. After first schooling him myself in clutch/throttle use and basic braking, i arranged this experience for my son; it cost about $100. He found it ...

Much thanks, Gentleman. That clears it up. It's that Occam's razor thing, yet again. The engine was acting like it was running out of gas because......it was running out of gas !! My last bike -a KlR- also had a punny reserve. I modified it to give me 1 1/2 gallon of reserve - simple with a primitiv...

Has anyone experienced this phenomenon? About 30 miles after my 2004 switches to reserve, the bike will miss for a while like it's starving for fuel. I turn from side to side, trying to slosh the fuel around, then it runs normally - until it does it again in a few miles. This happened on 3 separate ...

Just returned from my annual ride from Colorado to St. Louis/Chicago and back. Since the weather can be hot, I decided to buy a Hyperkewl vest. I'm here to report that it works. Looking up at temperature information provided by banks, I told myself that it sure didn't feel like 96F/35C. Changed my o...

My side stand switch got loose and is hanging away from the side stand. Needless to say the bike can't go anywhere - so much for meeting the guys for a 4th of July ride. I believe the switch is held on by a clip. Probably this clip bit the dust for some reason. Here's the strange part: I did the usu...