Fun Ride today.

Fun ride today. Weather did not go as planned - a lot wetter than expected. Klim Badlands suit did it's thing and kept me dry. The first set of Revit gloves got soaked through and the handlebar heater keep those useful until the last 40 minutes. Ended up at my brother's place in Caledon to warm up and change gloves and plug in the heated jacket - ahh, now there's riding luxury. Klim keeps me dry, Gerbings keeps me warm. It got cold - the freezing warning activated a few times. The helmet visor stayed fogged below 60km/h and the rain was so heavy, I couldn't track the road at times. Thermometer was indicating 3C and there was snow at the side of the road at the top of the escarpment.

Go into the Caledon dirt roads, which felt like a slick skating rink with the heavy saturation of water. The bike got real dirty, slipped around a bit on the 90/10 tires (90% paved road, 10% off road), but the spinning at least took the nibs off the tires. The bike actually feels solid as it goes sideways a bit or the front end chooses the best path through the ruts and loose stones. I'm not ready to take it sideways yet, but indicators are good (although it never went really hairy - there is a lot of momentum in that bike).

There are some beautiful roads along the escarpment and moraines. Hopefully those areas remain undeveloped.

Can't wait for the next ride - but I would like some better weather.


(sorry if this shows up twice in G+)

Impressions from the first ride.

Spent 74 km riding the bike home from the dealer to establish first impressions with the bike.
First of all, I was a bit anxious about the first part of the ride since it has been a long time since I had ridden a bike this size. I could imagine many bad things - stalling on the roadway, dropping the bike in a turn, getting distracted and running a red light, any form of crash on the ride home … Cray (the sales guy) advised me that the tires are new - they need 500km to rub off the hold compound and get full traction, plus since it was 6C, the road was cold - drive the bike like you are in the snow. Great, first ride and I should drive like it's in the snow.


Not a problem. Let the clutch out, moved to the roadway, made my right hand turn (a bit wide) and started home (whew - survived the first challenge. Cray said I wouldn't be the first if I dropped the bike leaving the parking lot). First gear is tall - that will increase the challenge during off-pavement riding. The bike actually feels smallish - not 250cc enduro small, but it's definitely not a big bike. The weight feels top heavy so it can't be thrown around like an dirt bike. That makes the steering much slower than a my prior steeds - probably not bad since a dirt bike is not designed to do 160+ km/h. It didn't take long to get into the groove with the bike which means not proficient but also not a danger to myself or others on the road.
The throttle is really sensitive. A couple of times, when adjusting the temperature on the heated grips (standard on the Beemer), the slight twitch of the wrist cased a major surge in power. Others have reprogrammed the ECU to eliminate this feature - I can see why. Driving through a curve takes concentration to ensure that the throttle does not blip - felt that happen in a minor way. A real blip would cause a low side.


I was surprisingly warm in the Klim gear - warm in fact, for the entire trip. There was a tiny air leak at the top of the collar where it meets the helmet - not a problem, just noticeable. I'll need a neck gaiter for future cold rides. The handle bar warmers worked magnificently. In fact, the high setting was too hot. My hands never got cold in the 3 season Revit gloves. That's good for all but the warmest days - then, they will likely be too hot. The Shoei Neotec helmet is very comfortable and has excellent visibility. It does fog very easily and the pin lock mounts are very noticeable during side glances for lane changes. 


Close to home, I took the bike around the neighbour hood to practice slow driving. Street speeds keep the bike in second gear LOL. I'll need many hours to get full proficiency in quick manoeuvres. This first year will focus on gaining basic bike skills on the heavier machine. The traffic calming bumps on Shaver Ave North helped demonstrate why this bike is a favourite off pavement. While the street is rated at 30k and any car taking a bump at that speed risks scraping their bumpers, the BMW didn't even notice them. I bet that standing, combined with a blip of the throttle at high revs on approach (wheelie factor), the bike could hit those bumps at 100km/h no problem. Let me get a bit more practice before testing that hypothesis.
The bike reluctantly went into the garage, hooked up the battery tender so that the alarm system does't drain the battery and Julie and I jumped into the car for a weekend with Brian and Harriet. Can't wait to get back to TO, install the basic farkles and spend monday (day off) riding all day. That will test the common complaint of the 800GS, that the saddle causes major ass pain. 

Yeah, getting the bike

Finally. Picking up the bike today.

The bike was supposed to be ready on April 14th but apparently, there was a problem with the shipment. Then, I was notified that the bike had arrived at the dealership in a container with 10 other bikes and would be ready June 25th. It turns out that wasn't good either and Cray, the sales guy advised me that it might take another week because the dealership changed ownership and somehow the bike was in the original dealers name, and the new dealer couldn't register it for licensing purposes. He was apologetic and mentioned that his hands were tied by "the back office". I had booked friday and monday as vacation days to get in lots of km in order to break in the bike and this news was disappointing to say the least.

It's easier to blow a guy off (that sounds a bit weird) over the phone, but it's harder to do that face to face, so I decided that it's time to visit the dealership and discuss the topic with the "guy in the back office". This was my first visit to Serpa BMW (nee Open Road BMW) and since I bought the bike over the phone, Cray had never met be before. I got a small chuckle when approaching him, after obviously looking at the bikes and parts on the showroom floor. He greeted me with his patented high energy greeting "you can have one in any colour that you want". When I responded with "I already have one - and it's black. Hi, my name is Mike May", his energy drained, he slouched a bit in defeat (knowing that he was about to have an uncomfortable conversation with no safe harbour to ride out the storm). We sat at his desk and he provided a more detailed version of the story that was provided on the phone, and then we got to the point - I wanted to meet the back office guy and discuss the steps needed to get the bike. Long story short - it was promised for Friday (April 27) or Monday the latest and... they delivered on the early date, which is a good way to make borscht out of beets.

The issue was caused when the dealership was sold, management tried to save as much money as possible so it delayed inventory transfer to minimize carrying costs, and reduced staff to 1 mechanic and 1 sales guy. They got caught with their pants down when the weather turned nice, and myself and probably 10 to 18 other guys were disappointed.

Next, I need to get some parts on the bike and then, depending on weather, ride it to a friend's cottage on Rosseau. Cold weather may be a problem, so let's see where that goes.