Procrastination...

How does the saying going? "If it weren't for the last minute nothing would get done?"

So okay, the concept of organizing and packing is taking place slightly early. In preparation, as it were. But some things have woefully been left to the last minute. It is amazing how many things you think of that you want or need only when the last minute comes along.

Granted, a major service isn't quite something that is forgotten about. We saw it coming on the horizon. Oilburner wanted to get them out of the way two weeks ago. I wanted to hold off a week to try and get a few more miles on the clock. Sure a service is needed. But if I can get it 500 miles early instead of 1200... Unfortunately with my illness and the 108F/43C temperatures the miles didn't quite rack up the way I would have liked. So the GS is 900 miles early and the RT is 1200.

Oilburner really wanted our regular mechanics to take on this service and not leave it to another dealer along the road. So our shop is being gracious and squeezing us in, even though the shop is full and some mechanics are sick. They originally said to drop them off today and they would have them for us by Friday. When we explained the timeframe they offered to get them back to us tomorrow.

Little did they know what they were getting into.

I don't know about the RT. The GS will require brake fluid change, valve check, final drive fluid change, gear box fluid change, and regular ol' oil change. Sshhhooottttt. A couple weeks ago the GS went through an astounding amount of oil on a very long, hot, pushed ride. Oilburner was concerned because his bike hasn't used any oil in 12,000 miles. How could the GS be such a lemon that it used half a quart in 356 miles (573 km)? So he was considering requesting a leak and compression check during this service. However, in the last 600 miles (965 km) she hasn't been using any. So we will keep our eyes on it.

I don't think the RT requires anything special. The only non-standard issue to assess is a stalling at take off from idle. (Guess my GS isn't quite the damn lemon someone thinks it is. Hehehe)

So there really wasnt anything too out of the ordinary here...

 

until...

 

...someone started worrying about the rear tire on the GS. The bike is currently wearing the Metzler Tourance tires that came with it. With only 5,100 miles (8200 km) the rear tire has decidedly flat topped. I guess she has seen more highway than I would like. :(

Mind you, she could probably make it to Maine on the tire. There is decent tread left, but with at least 1000 miles (1609 km) of interstates ahead of us, history shows us it would probably be gone by Maine.

So what do you do? Do you replace on the road? Or just replace now so that you don't have to worry about finding a tire and fitting it into the schedule on the road? I understand if you are definitely putting enough miles on during a road trip that you have to change the shoes mid-trip no matter what. But this instance was squeezing another 1000 miles out, and then try to find an unusual tire.

Yesterday I started calling around just to see about availability of the tire locally. Hmmm...none to be had. I was leaning towards just making an appointment with the BMW dealer in Maine and have them get a tire in, in advance. But we also decided to see what our dealer might have. They have surprised us in the past.

Yep. They just made more work for themselves today. They had the stock Tourance available. They might even have had the Anakee. The problem was that they brought out the Heidenau... It was love at first sight for Oilburner.

We had to sit there and discuss economics versus practicality with everyone! Economically we should just put the rear Tourance on. Practically we should put the Tourance on since it is a street tire and will have less road noise.

Since when did economics OR practicality EVER mean a thing to us?!? At one time or another down the road those Heidenau's were going on that bike. It might as well be now. As one guy said, "They are sexy!". I know that I've been drooling over them since before I even had the GS. One gentlemen said that his experiences with them have been great, offering great traction in rain in the [paved] twisties, even being quieter than street tires. Who am I to argue with that experience? It wasn't like I was going to listen to the truth anyways. ;) Others chimed in that the longevity of the tire rivals the Tourance.

You can probably guess the outcome. :)

In addition to impulse tire purchases, we have also been fitted for ear plugs. I have tiny ears that don't tolerate foreign objects happily. I can't wear ear buds without severe pain within 30 minutes. The foam ear plugs are out. Literally. They won't even stay in my ears. Hoping that the ear plugs will reduce the wind noise and associated fatigue that it can cause, I pushed for an appointment last Friday.

It is a vicious cycle outfitting ourselves and motorbikes. Where's that winning lottery ticket??

Posted with Blogsy