All-Weather Steed

The weather for the annual Gathering of the Nortons did not look good. It was raining and cold in the very early AM, and the forecast called for rain all morning. When the weather is lousy, there is no match for the BMW community when it comes to getting on with it anyway. However, on this occasion, the gang was planning to ride some pretty old stuff that did not see rain if avoidable. Todd was bringing a side car, and I was planning to take the R60 on its maiden voyage with the carbs still not fully sorted. We decided that more modern equipment was the wise choice, and the R100GS was a natural choice.

Once on the road, the weather forecast turned out to be wrong (surprise !!). The sun peeked out, and the morning steadily improved. We followed a circuitous route to the event, and the GS zoomed along with some much more modern and sporting equipment (K1200S, Guzzi Nero Corsa, etc). A nice ride that ended at a great event (see Norton Gathering 2012).  I am looking forward to some more miles coming up.

Dakar During Dakar

The truth is, I was inspired by watching the first stages of the Dakar on TV. It is true that the machines there bear no resemblance, now that they are 450 cc rockets, and it is true that there is no terrain like the Fiambala or the Atacama desert anywhere within a several thousand miles of here (I did find a little gravel ;-), but no matter. Once upon a time, the GS PD won that event more than once, and inspired the production version that I have. It says Paris Dakar right on the bike! So my ride for a series of errands around suburban America on this day was the R100GS PD. The contrast could not be more striking, but I had a good time anyway. Much as I love this bike, I am hard pressed to imagine how anything like it could have blazed across northern Africa even 20 years ago. I imagine that the bikes are so much better today, and that it took supreme riding skills and stamina to make it through that race back then. Much respect.

First Frost

Fall is beautiful in the northeast US. Cooler temperatures seem to suit air/oil cooled engines well and following the sweltering record-breaking heat of the summer, it is a welcome relief. Vibrant fall foliage creates Van Goghs and Cezannes everywhere. Just look in any direction, and add a frame. However, the beauty of fall is also the coming of much colder weather. You must enjoy fall because, as the name implies, things can go downhill from here for the riding enthusiast.

On this particular day, the weatherman said sunny with highs in the low 60s. I was headed out with a friend and neighbor for a few hours of riding starting early. In this case, early meant 40 degrees. And 40 degrees meant 30 degrees on the bike at speed. Standing outside it did not feel that bad; just a crisp morning with a little frost here and there. I had already committed to take the PD, and I refused to wear full winter gear as it felt ok, and it was still October after all. We of the limited riding season cannot admit defeat so early.

A week or two earlier, I had made a couple of adjustments to the rear shock aimed at improving rebound damping, and I had synched the carbs. The bike responded by increasing horsepower by 10 bhp and torque by 10 ft lbs. Or so it felt. What a difference, it was now more stable in the sweepers (relatively), and pulled stronger in the higher rev ranges. This made it a much better street bike. I am sure the cool air helped, but that would not be as exciting as unlocking double digit gains with cable adjustments! 

Once we hit the highway for a brief stint, everything felt fine, except for my hands. The hand guards on the PD are positioned to do a fair job against light brush off road, but they left fingertips freezing in this case. Cold hands are a weakness of mine, and I had just recently suffered the consequences of mis-judging the weather (see squandering the attention budget), so you would think i would be better prepared in the glove department. Well you would be wrong. What's that you say, turn on the heated grips? Well the switch had been rather finicky. The low position did not work at all, and on this occasion, the high position failed as well. End result, no heated grips. Note to self, always bring the heated gloves along.

The riding was glorious, and the roads were relatively empty. Sunlight filtered through the state forests as we rode, the roads were dry and lightly sprinkled with falling leaves, the riding gods were pleased this day. We stopped at a Diner in White Haven, and I adjusted the hand guards a little, and used fine sandpaper on the heated grip switch connections. Low remained non-functional, but high was now working. As we left, the temperature climbed into the sixties, negating the need for either repair. C'est la vie. We had a glorious return trip with the PD performing brilliantly, and being every bit the match for a Honda about 15 years younger. Fortunately, frosty ground and frosty fingers cannot detract from a great motorcycle.

The Pelican Transfer Pt2

As previously chronicled, the Pelican case has moved between a few bikes now, and when I put it on the Dakar, I used existing holes to mount it behind the solo seat. Since it is bolted on, I avoided making any new holes in the case, but it pretty much eliminates any pillion possibilities. I needed to take it off for some rack and wiring work, so I decided to investigate moving it back so that a pillion was possible. It turns out that this is non-trivial due to the "lip" on the rear of the Dakar rack. My first thought was just to cut off the lip and weld it back on horizontal to creat a flat surface. It is a structural piece of the rear and would make the bike non-stock, so I decided against it. 

There are many solutions out there in cyberspace and in mailorder space as well. They range from a host of home-brew solutions to commercial solutions from Boxerworks and Hepco Becker. After choking on the commercial prices for solving a pretty basic problem, I decided to visit the hardware store. The other motivation was that in my case, the Fox shock control lives beneath the rear rack, so I could not just clamp things on in one of the most logical locations.

The home-brew solutions all involved creating a platform to make the case level with the rear "lip". I found my solution in some 1.5" boxed channel. It is already full of holes. I then selected a couple of different U-clamps and headed home. $11.67 all told. Once back in the garage, I cut the channel to the needed width, drilled a couple more holes in the bottom of the Pelican, and test fit the assembly. With everything worked out, I took things apart and rattle-canned everything black. Looked ok, and is very sturdy. At some point I will affix a thin sheet of aluminum to the bottom to cover the couple of exposed holes in the case that now exist. 

Braking Bad

The stopping power of the R100GS single disc is legendary in how poorly it works. Even in 1990, the single pot Brembo, single disc, and forearm building lever feel, combine to make for less than desirable stopping power up front. The remedies range from easy/marginal improvement to extensive/dramatic improvement. Offroad, I found the brakes ok, but not great. Onroad, they were downright lousy and performed more like the drums on my /2.

I spent some time researching the various options for making things better. The cheapest and easiest is to get better pads. Descriptions of results mostly indicated a little improvement. Other improvements involved the always popular stainless steel brake line, replacing the master cylinder with a 13mm version, changing the rotor, and then complete caliper conversions and replacements. The most popular of this latter solution was the conversion to dual pot brembos from a later K-bike.

After lots of reading and thought, I decided to replace the rotor and pads. The reports are significant improvement, and the change is very easy. I did not like the idea of sourcing/rebuilding another caliper, using adapter brakets, and/or shaving caliper mounting bosses.

I went with the EBC rotor and pads. They are a bit lighter and semi-floating. After the 15 minute change, I took the bike for a ride to bed the pads in and assess the results. I can report that the difference is significant. The stopping power is increased such that front end dive is more of a problem. It is also much smoother, but that is probalbly down to new rotors. What is not improved, is the feel of the brakes. It still takes physical hand power to get the bike stopped. I suspect that only different calipers will change this. Meanwhile, I am pleased with the results and feel much better about stopping the bike on the road.