End of the Season

It was a sad weekend. The F650 finally made it to the basement storage area. That means the riding is done for the year. The roads have been getting icy and the salt has hit the streets. I don't like the resulting corrosion from riding in very hazardous conditions, so the bike stays in hibernation until the stuff goes away. To recap the year, I got the bike near the end of May and rode it into November. I put about 6k-7k on it commuting to work and weekend rides. I had the 12k service done and replaced the sprockets and chain. I had some great fun riding around Massachusetts as I only had a permit, not a license for most of the summer.
See you next year!

Sunday ride

Took a nice ride on, what might be, the last nice riding day of the year. But instead of disapearing, I decided to ride. I just went about 60 miles around the neighboring towns, through the back roads, as I usually ride. I like low or no traffic, minimal stop signs, some curves and some quick straights. The roads I discover, just meandering around the area, turn out to be interesting and fun. As the gasoline prices of late have curbed my tendencies to explore, the F650 makes this possible. I don't mind spending ten to twelve dollars, American, to ride for a little more than two hundred miles. And, those are execptionally fun miles! I hoping for another nice day!

Ride in Conn.

Went for a nice ride, perhaps the last of the year, with Mike and his Moto Guzzi, out through Rhode Island and into western Connecticut. We stopped at the Green Onion Pizza for lunch and continued north on RT. 169. We stopped at a nice little boat launch for a smoke break. We stopped at a resturant called the Vanilla Bean. There were many bikes there, but only four BMWs. There were two old R90s and an new 1150 and, of course, the F650, again the only of it's kind at a bike gathering. Most of the bikes were newer Harleys and there was a Can-Am three wheeler.

September 7, 2008

Last night, hurricane Hannah came through. My wife was up late and said that it rained hard. I slept through it. This morning, I went out for an early morning ride to check out the high waters. The first place I found was where the Blackstone River was bridged by Route 122. I stopped at a restaurant that went out of business, called The Riverside and observed high water flowing under the 122 bridge. I rode around finding many roads littered with debris from trees. Some roads were rather treacherous and extra caution was needed just to keep the wheel from slipping out from under me! One place was covered with wet old pine needles, that had puddled in the storm, which was extremely slippery. I had a little difficulty traversing it; perhaps if my tires were a little more aggressive, perhaps if I were traveling at a higher rate of speed, there might not have been an issue, but my tires are what they are and the road did not allow for a higher speed, so a quick stomp on the ground kept my bike from getting it's first scratches. I will chalk this up to inexperience and learn from my mistake. I should have had no problems, but I suppose that comes with the miles on the bike. Otherwise, the F650 performed great! I was a little hesitant, at first, when coming upon the sticks and small logs that were knocked down from the wind, but after unavoidably hitting some stuff, I found the bike to take the rough stuff well.

August 29, 2008

On my usual commute to work this morning, I stopped at Whitehall Res., as usual. There were a couple of older men setting up to take their boat out to go fishing. They were attempting to set up a Fishing Buddy. They bought it and the salesman set it up wrong, so I helped them get it right. The rest of the ride was uneventful. My back seems to be messed up, again. Fortunatly, riding my F650 seems to put me in just the right position for the least amount of pain. The ride was quiet this morning as many were taking the day off in anticipation of the long weekend. This means traffic in the afternoon will be heavy with all vacation traffic.

August, 2008

The end of the month is almost here and I've caught up with this blog. August started with a trip to the Cape. It was around 190 miles, round trip. I had a meeting to go to and it was a great day for riding; almost no wind and my travel time found very little traffic.

The following three days (Aug 16,17,18) are the first bad experience I've had with the bike:

August 16. Went for a ride to Bass Pro Shops in Foxboro. Riding down the highway at about 80 when the engine started cutting out. I pulled over to the slow lane as the engine lost power. I pulled off onto an exit and the bike died. It took a while, but, I got the bike running again.I tried the starter several times and it sounded like it wanted to start but 
couldn't.  After repeating the startup procedure several time I decided that I 
wouldn't waste the battery and proceded to push the bike about 100 yards.  I 
attempted to start it several more times and when I let it coast down a hill and
let the clutch out in third gear it started, running rough. I started going home and the bike started running fine so I continued on my quest for more fishing equipment. When I went to leave, the bike started fine and got me home.

August 17, 10874 miles. Went to a Yankee Beemers meeting in Westminster. It was a nice ride on a Sunday morning. About a quarter mile from my house, the bike died. It was hard to start and when I got it going again, I rode it around the neighborhood until I felt it was good to go to Westminster (about 80 miles). The ride continue without problems, there and back.

August 18 On the commute to work, the bike died about 7 miles from the house. I had put some fuel injector cleaner in, but it hadn't gone through the system yet. After getting it going again, I went to work, even stopping for a break, without trouble. On the ride home, before I left work, it wouldn't start. After getting it going, it ran fine.

August 19. Commute to work was fine, rode it to Gary's house and he suggested an electrical issue.  I still think that it's a fuel issue because after the 
fuel injector cleaner, the bike ran fine.   A couple of tankfulls later and it 
still runs 
fine.  

August 26. Met up with another F650 rider. He had a blue bike. I saw one like that at the Yankee Beemers meeting.

June, July 2008

Started off the month with 7421 miles on the odometer. I didn't ride as much as I wanted in June, the weather wasn't all that great. In July, I did some longer rides and finished July with 9953 miles. I had an oil change done a Wagner Motorsports, which cost almost $80. I wanted to have the dealership look at it before I start driving on long trips.

Tools for maintenance

This is the starting list of tools needed for the care and feeding of the BMW F650GS.

1. Metric socket set (six point) including:
   
   • a pair of 22mm sockets
   
   
   • 26mm socket (or 1-1/16")
   
   
   • 30mm socket
   
   


2. Metric Wrench set including:
   
   • 8 and a REAL 10 mm combination wrenches
   
   
   • 13mm box end wrench
   
   
   • 17 and 19mm combination wrenches
   
   
   • 30mm combination wrench


3. Metric Allen wrenches including:
   3-4mm Allen key
   ball-end 5mm Allen key


4. 6, 8 and 10 mm Allen sockets


5. Torx T25
   Torx T30
   Torx T40
   Torx T45


6. "T"-handle / ball end allen tools (about 10" long w/ red handle) in #3, #4, #5, and #6
   #10 and #13 wrenchs with ratchet built in on one end.
   


7. Countersprocket puller, BMWNo.88886 00 8 400 = $52.25 available in US.
   


8. Oil drain guide, BMW No. 9088611 7 511 = $61.50 available in US.
   


9. Hose pliers, , BMW No. 9088617 5 500 = $115 available in US.
   


10. Valve-clearance adjuster, BMWNo.9088611 7 501 = $235 available in US.


11. Thruster, BMWNo.9088611 7 503 = no longer available.


12. Shaft, BMW No. 9088611 7 502 = no longer available.


13. Clamp block, BMW No. 9088611 7 504. = no longer available.


14. Magnetic holder, BMW No. 9088611 7 505 = $44 not in stock, Germany may have it.


15. Hose clips, BMW No. 9088613 3 010. = $10.40 available in US.

May 2008

May 17. This ends my first week of riding. I put 126 miles on the clock. Got the bike inspected, and did a fuel fill up. Rode around the local area on the back roads.
May 24. Got the odometer up to 7116. Went to visit Mike, got it up to 60 mph down Rt. 122 in Uxbridge. It was windy and sometimes raining returned through Mendon and Upton.
Took a ride to International Motorsports in Auburn. Came back by Rts. 20E to 122S; some was a little faster ride 45-50mph, some was back roads.
Took a ride to Maynard. Went through Hopkinton to Rt 85 then picked up Rt 62 then 117 to BikeWorx. Bought a tank bag. Returned the same way.
May 25. Rode to Singletary rod and gun club for the British Iron club
bike show. I had the only BMW never mind the only F650. Saw a lot of great old and new bikes, one was even set up like it was in the war.
May 27. took bike to work. went by 135E, then 16 to 9E into Newton. A little chilly; need pants.
May 30. Took the bike to work. Took 16E almost all the way in. Was a nice ride, not too much traffic.

The beginning

I bought the bike May 5 of 2008 for $7400.00. It had 6799 miles on it. Due to title issues, I didn't get it registered until May 13 when I took it out for my first ride. I was a little shaky for a while; it has been quite a while and most of my riding experience was on dirt bikes. For the first few rides, I kept it local, slow, and stayed on roads with little or no traffic. I had taken many practice rides before I felt comfortable enough to take on the 35 mile commute to work. I put about 300 miles in the next couple weeks and then I tried my commute. I found an almost direct line from home to work and sort of rode around it. The route was very busy and I prefer to continue moving, even if it's slow going, so I took side roads around the traffic. I found a pleasant route and now travel it quite regularly. The regular route that I take with the car totals out at about 70 miles per day. The bike route averages out around 100 miles a day. The route varies greatly for the different traffic conditions and time of day. It still took me a month of riding before I got out on a highway. And even then, it was a small (two lanes each way, 55mph in some places), low traffic road. I selected a day with almost no wind, so I could focus on a simple ride.

My new bike

I just got back into riding after a 25 year hiatus. After discussing and discussing with friends, family, neighbors, etc., I came to the conclusion the the BMW F650 is the machine that I wanted. My friend Mike told me about this model and after considerable research and a lot of phone calls and emails ending with "sorry the bike's sold", I finally found one! It is a 2007 F650 GS with ABS (so does that make it a GSA?) and heated hand grips (they are really nice when it's chilly). I was initially concerned that my back trouble would prevent me from enjoying my new toy, but I have discovered the the bike puts me in the correct posture and my back has never felt better! The bike gets great mileage, about 68 miles to the gallon. I've only had it a few months and I'm still getting used to it; but I'm having a great time learning. I rode a lot of miles in the dirt with various motorcycles, but the is the first road bike I've had (with the exception of my first motorcycle, a Honda CL -175, a two cylinder road bike I brought home in boxes and converted into a dirt bike).
I have several reasons for choosing this particular model. First, my style of riding is on/off road, some highway but mostly low traffic back roads. This bike is great for that. Second, I wanted something that will get me the longest distance for the least amount of fuel. The F650 has the reputation of getting between 60 and 70 mpg. My bike, after almost 4300 miles, it averages 68.06 mpg.
To sum it all up, I got a machine that is great on gas, fits my riding style and is good for my back (great extra perk!) and it was just in my budget.
I will make an attempt to make this a true web log. This will serve to document my experiences with my F650. Stay tuned here for more of my adventures with my new toy!