48k on the odo and commuting in NYC

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 9:05 pm

Rode up here yesterday afternoon from Northern VA to Queens via central PA, Northern NJ, and the George Washington Bridge. Man, New York City has the crappiest roads in the country. With the traffic volume it's understandable. But the City sure doesn't seem to repave roads very often. Contrary to popular belief, New York DOES sleep at night. Try finding a decent place to eat after 10 pm, so construction could be done in the early AM hours. Anyway, the Telelever sure gets a thorough workout. Riding in New York isn't scary - at least not compared to Chennai. This evening, I enjoyed riding over to the Village and eating a nice restaurant with two of my PMs. Had to get a salad since I've put myself on a diet/exercise regimen.

My R with 48k now on the odo is feeling like a nicely broken in instrument. With the Mobil 1 synthetic I put in the crankcase, I have to say the engine feels smoother than ever. She purrs along on the interstate and feels great to wind up in the city to avoid cabbies and other errant chauffeurs. You wind up lane splitting whether you meant to or not at times in Manhattan. When I first got the bike five and a half years ago, I felt the first gear was too tall. But commuting inside cities like NY and DC, I've come to appreciate the freedom from having to shift out of first too soon - it's actually great for stop and go traffic.

Once I ride back to VA, my next trip on the R will be riding down to Southwest VA in the Blue Ridge Mountains to the town of Blacksburg. I feel like I've gotten more than fair use out of my Roadster since June, 2002. The great thing is that given the durability of Beemers, I have more than that ahead.

Post by **mcooperstein** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 9:18 pm

Yong, I learned to drive in Manhattan, I know of what you speak! Prolly, the worst road is the west side drive. Sometimes I wonder why it doesnt just collapse, it's in such disrepair!

Hey, let me know if you want a riding partner when you get to Blacksburg. I'd love to meet up with you. My daughter is still at Tech so *any* excuse to get to southwest virginia and see her is good!

Mark

Post by **towerworker** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:14 am

I would like to join you guys as well. I live in Staunton so Blacksburg is just a hop down the road for me.

My 03 turned over 41K last weekend and it's running smoother than ever.
I'm a little hesitant to run synthetic in the gearbox due to a problem I had at 25K so I just use regular gear oil. Shifts smoothly enough for me.

Wayne

Post by **rdsmith3** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 7:44 am

It's maybe a good thing they don't pave the roads very often because they take forever when they do. Have you been near the 80/46/23 disaster in Wayne, NJ? That is normally a horrible convergence of bad roads, but they have been paving it for a few years, and it is even worse than usual.

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 9:31 am

Bob - that's something I've noticed in the Northeast where unions are prevalent. They drag out projects like there is no tomorrow. Southern states are a lot more efficient. Repaving projects in Virginia seldom take more than a week!!!

Pennsylvania seems to be the worst. Their roads stink yet they take forever to fix them. So you're always backed up on PA interstates. Quite honestly, I'm glad my primary residence is in the South. I can see my tax dollars actually amounting to something.

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 10:49 am

Rode home last night in the rain. 6 hours due to traffic south of Philly and especially in the DC area. I enjoy riding my Roadster so much that I found myself liking the ride despite the increased hazzards on I-95/NJ Turnpike.

As the years go by, my experience with Suzuki, Harley, and BMW is making me plan on purchasing mainly BMWs in the future as long as BMW sticks to its principles of offering durable, reliable, tourable platforms. Of the three makes I own, nothing gives me a greater sense of security than the Roadster when I'm hundreds of miles away from home. The $10k I paid for my non-ABS version brand new back in 2002 was a bargain, and I feel I have gotten plenty of return on my investment.

Post by **MikeCam** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 10:54 am

Hijack

Yong, Are you going to be in the stands tonight? I will confess, I have mixed feelings about favoring either team - I just know it will be a great game. BC Offensive advantage. VT defensive advantage. Fans - worthy evening pastime (ESPN2 HD//62" DLP//SURROUND SOUND).

On balance, I believe VT has the game, in the rain, at Lane.

Lane Stadium/Worsham Field is a stadium located in Blacksburg, Virginia. It is the home field of the Virginia Tech Hokies, a college football team. It was rated as the number one home field advantage in all of college football in 2005 by Rivals.com[1]. It's also #2 on the "Top 10 Scariest Places To Play" list on espn.com only falling behind LSU's Tiger Stadium.

End Hijack

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 1:11 pm

Mike - It's looking like I'm going to stay up in Northern VA through the end of the week. So no, I won't make it to the game - not that I had a ticket anyway. I think we have a decent chance of beating BC, but overall I think they are the better team. I have no faith in our offense.

Post by **MikeCam** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 1:29 pm

That's okay. VT defense scored more touchdowns [so far] this year than Notre Dame's entire team.

They average 5.3 per season over 21 years of Beamerball.

Post by **TonyT607** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 10:01 pm

Hey Yong, let me know next time you're up in the NYC area. You can come by and take a look at the Slash Five....

BTW I just got back from VA yesterday, was in the DC area (stayed in Crystal City) since Sunday. I had meetings in McLean and Bethesda.

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Fri Oct 26, 2007 9:43 am

Will do Tony. I will be up again within the next two weeks.