COFSTA

Beachy, PRB, 007, and I had a nice romp in the hills north of Burnsville. Prior to that we met brick and Gary Lackey at Christa's for lunch. Sorry, I didn't take any pics at lunch, none until later in the day. The loop turned out nicely, running a lot of roads "in reverse'" from the way we seem to always ride them made it more interesting. Here's the route--except we ran the loop starting and ending in Red Hill in reverse from the way it shows in Basecamp.

Good to see all y'all today. Obviously I would have loved to be riding today. [THUMBS UP SIGN]


Let's Ride!
Brick

Better day there than in Charlotte. Cloudy and drizzle until lunch. Cloudy after that. The mtns were the place to be. Hate I missed it.

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Destroyed the rear S21 on the way home. Such is life.

From way back in the day, (said like a real old fart) a friend once said to me... "We will need new tires soon if we are lucky!" That, of course, meaning that we would be lucky and get to ride enough miles to wear our the current tires that were on our bikes st the time. [THUMBS UP SIGN]


Let's Ride!
Brick

Sorry I couldn't join you fellas. Bike is still in the shop. The dealer claims to have diagnosed the battery drain issue to the keyless ignition. Hopefully I will be back on the road mid to late next week.

Well I'm glad you're hopefully getting some results!


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nice route Bob. had a great time

Broz wrote:Sorry I couldn't join you fellas. Bike is still in the shop. The dealer claims to have diagnosed the battery drain issue to the keyless ignition. Hopefully I will be back on the road mid to late next week.

What kind of BMW dealer doesn't give you a loaner for a new bike under warranty? That was a saving grace of the Greensboro shop when my bike had down time, and my bike wasn't even under warranty. Heck, it was 8 years old the last time I took it in, and I took the RT loaner on one of the COFSTA rides (400 miles that day and probably about 1000 miles for the week I had it). I prefaced the loaner agreement that I would be putting a lot of miles on it and they assured me "ride as much as you want." I brought them an extra Pilot Power tire I wasn't going to use as thanks. Surely, they have a brand new RS that has your name on it.... Tell them you are looking to trade the GS anyways because you need a sportier ride to keep up with some punk on a CB500X

Maybe your dealer will "fix" the keyless ignition by turning it off intermittently, especially when you want to ride it most, say after we stop to take a break 50 miles from civilization. Make sure they at least give you the latest software update.

One topic of discussion on this ride was actually why two of the younger schmucks on this forum have reverted back to VFRs. They're generally heavy and under-powered in comparison to other similar bikes. They are complicated for no good reason. But they run forever if you monitor the sorry excuse for an electron conduit they installed. But you will learn to love them, too, if you drink the Kool-Aid. This one might be calling your name, Broz:

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/mcd/5752088024.html

Thats a lot of bike for the money no doubt. Seems like that dealer is always selling a "New 2-year old" VFR for 1000's under MSRP. When I was shopping for a "Get me-the-hell-away-from-cruisers" machine in 2005, I almost pulled the trigger on a VFR, this same dealer, a new-old bike for around $6800 if I recall correctly. The only reason I didn't was the riding position wasn't great for me. I bought a 2004 Vstrom 650 instead. It served the purpose (got me off the cruisers lol).

007 wrote:http://charlotte.craigslist.org/mcd/5752088024.html

I'm amazed that they still have that one sitting in the showroom... we had a total of three when I worked there (two red, one white) and they were just about giving them away even then.

Great styling, IMO and a nice all-around "GT" machine.

.

I have Heli-bars on mine and not sure it will stay that way for long since I am not quite young enough to ride it all day before neck pain creeps in. I am always debating on making it my grand tourer but like the contrast between riding positions for different purposes. I might trade in the girl's bike since she doesn't ride it at all and every time out is like she just stepped on a bike for the first time. She isn't really naturally inclined to riding, either.

I would like to have two VFRs that have some interchangeable parts, but are setup for different purposes (one for touring and 2-up with all the farkles, one that is barely road legal for get the F out of my way before I stuff you up the inside). The new 8th gen is almost too different for that purpose, but at that price is hard to pass up.

The unfortunate part of having a legitimately fast bike is I wind up going silly fast and there is no need for that. Plus there is incredible satisfaction when you reach the limit of the motorcycle and the speeds are only somewhat ridiculous.

The VFR really is a good bike, there's no denying that. I like mine. It won't be my only bike though. It needs suspension and some slight ergo tweaks like seat, bars etc. but it really is pretty sweet once dialed in.

I really like my BMW too, and expect it to be downright nasty with the Wilbers suspension installed. I'd like to add a Russel day long sport saddle as well. Otherwise though the bike is great. And a good all around sport tourer especially for where I like.

The R1200RS is probably the ultimate all around bike though for those of us who don't want to go offroad, in which id say the GS is the best all around bike.

I'm sure the dealer can get Broz fixed up, it does seem shameful however he wasn't provided a loaner.




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PirateRiderBen wrote: I'm sure the dealer can get Broz fixed up, it does seem shameful however he wasn't provided a loaner.
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The dealer's policy is they only provide a loaner if you bought the bike from them. And not always then.