Gremlin's Tall Stories

I think the week of 10-14 January is one of the slowest on record. After two painful days, it felt like Thursday. I wanted the week over as fast as possible, yet there were not enough hours to get everything done at work, that needed doing.

If I wasn’t working, I was thinking about the new bike. If I wasn’t thinking about the bike I was finding cool pics on the internet or looking at parts (if anyone reads this… let it be a warning to you… its expensive and addictive, regardless of bike). Rinse and repeat… the week dragged on.

Saturday morning finally dawned. I had worked a bit late the previous night, only getting to bed around 2am, but dragged myself out of bed at 9am and was on the road to Mount Maunganui before 10am. It was odd going down with no GPS for guidance, or music from the GPS, and especially having no clue if there were cops about. Still, the bike felt fantastic, and I was a little sad to be dumping her, but unfortunately, bikes cost, and I don’t have endless funds.

I reached Mount Maunganui just after midday, and met Darryl. We’d kept in contact during the week, and I gave him a check-up call on Friday afternoon, to make sure everything was going according to plan. I needn’t have worried. Darryl had everything under control, but did admit that after the parts arrived on Wednesday morning, if he wasn’t behind the counter sorting out stuff for customers, he’d spent the rest of all three days of the week with the BMW stripped down, fitting all the accessories. He reckoned 8 hours had been spent on getting the wiring right.

All the accessories (GPS, Radar, Baehr, CB Radio and heated vest) plug into a Touratech Accessory Hub with a 15A fuse. This means you don’t have 5 sets of wires running to the battery, so much neater and the accessories are only live when the bike is running. Darryl did a great install, except the toolkit has suffered, and won’t fit inside the bike any more

He gave me a run down on the rest of the little items, like how to remove each seat and the panniers. I also got a spare bottle of oil, as it will use oil (like my KTM). At less than half the price of the oil for the KTM (the BMW uses mineral oil, while the KTM uses fully synthetic) I hope this is the beginning of slightly cheaper running costs. I provided him with my last 350ml of oil for Katie, so he knew what she was currently running on.

I asked him how to remove the tank, as I wanted to re-locate the baehr audio feed to helmet, and I was advised in no uncertain terms “Don’t”. As the manual states, its best to take it to your nearest authorised Motorrad dealer. Little bit scary to be honest, that effectively you can do bugger all to the bike, but I suppose it’s not supposed to break. Isn’t it? Nevertheless, I’ve had a good run so far, but I’ll join AA Plus for safety, as I do like being in any part of the country at any time of day. It seems if the BMW does break (reasonably rare) that its then going to be major, so AA Plus will get me back to Auckland, so a much better option that the insurance one (up to $100 in expenses) or standard AA (nearest place of safety, with workshop etc).

There wasn’t much more to do, so paperwork was finalised, I ran through with him what was in the pouch and he gave me my keys. To the benefit of readers (all one of you stand up heheheh) I have attached the typical photos of poor old bike sitting lonely at the dealer, and the shiny new one. The extra height handguards hadn’t arrived, so they will be sent to me when they do.

After saying my thanks to Darryl, I rolled out of the dealer gently, getting used to the increased size, and went off to annoy Dmntd, who was still open to receive my pipe and slipper jokes. Once he was satisfied I tootled to the BP nearby to have another feed. The following piece can only be a BMW thing?

Gearing up outside, I notice an RT (R1200RT for those that don’t know) filling up. When he comes part we nod to each other, and he comments nice bike. I grin, and reply I’ve only just picked her up. That prompts a discussion, and it turns out Ray is one of 17 who completed the Rusty Nuts Super Tour (10,000km in 10 days) so I congratulate him. We mention we’re both doing the Southern Cross, so I say I’ll see him in March.

Tootling back to Auckland, while getting used to the bike, I take Old Te Aroha Rd. Darryl has mentioned the bike will feel very odd until I get used to it, so I need to rack up a few thousand. Well… if I have to? The Telelever means no dive into corners, but the throttle is a bit more relaxed out of corners. More mileage is my recommendation. Bugger? Not really

Once home I spend an hour or two carefully fitting the Givi universal plate, so I can have the top box again. It’s only when it’s parked that I realise how large she is. Seriously, the tank and front end create an enormous bike. The top box is actually necessary to balance out the appearance a little. I’m affectionately referring to her as the truck of motorcycles, and a name has not yet been decided.