The Finished Product ( The Flying Brick)

Yup,I finished getting the 1988 BMW K100RS back together the other day.I dug out all the parts and totally cleaned everything and polished it as I put her back together. It was the perfect day to do this,not really raining but damp and sprinkling some .Not a good day to ride for sure but a great day to wrench.So,slowly things went together.I fixed any problems I came across as I went and by late afternoon she was all back together and ready to photograph for the insurance company.I just needed to go out the next day and get a set of new bar grips. Woke up to a beautiful day Thursday and headed out on the Moto Guzzi to get the grips and ride a while.Found just what I needed at this gem of a bike shop called " Two For The Road " out on RT 112 in Medford , NY ph # 631 289 8470 . He's the only independent bike shop left here in Long Island that I know of.It's sad,there used to be bike shops like this all over the place but like everything else in this corporate never never land called USA they are all gone.Squeezed out by the big dealers who sell stuff the owner can't work on . Guys like me and bikes shops like this are a dying breed .But,He's still here and so am I. Anyway,I got the grips and upon my return home put them on .Rolled out the bike to photograph and took her up and down the street a few times to test .She runs GREAT ! I LOVE IT !! Here is the photo of the finished product of my long project that seemed like it would never end.

I'm glad I took my time and did this job right.It really paid off in the end when I put her in gear for that first ride up the street and everything worked as it should.She's solid as a rock and runs smooth as silk. Bone stock and ready to ride .So the plan is to register her when I head up to my camp in a couple weeks. It's easier to deal with DMV up in the country than down here in this insane asylum .Once I register her I will take her for a short ride around town to test and then buy new tires and mount them.At that point she will be finished and roadworthy . It's been a good couple of days.Way better than taking a 400 mile ride in the rain and sitting in my camp in the rain .I was productive and also had fun. I'll get the work done on the stream in late September and after I put this bike on the road I'll get back to building the sellers to get the down payment money for that house out in Arizona.This bike will be my "Out West " bike . Water cooled ,fuel injected ,and capable of doing long distances fast in the heat of summer.The right machine for my next phase in this life.

Plans Change

Yesterday I was getting ready to head north to my camp on the Moto Guzzi and today I'm working on the 1988 BMW K 100. Yes,plans change.The weather made me rethink my plan to go work on the camp.It was raining up north and going to get worse as the week progressed .Today the entire eastern half of New York State from bottom ,where I am now, to the very top,where my camp is,is getting soaked with heavy rain.Tomorrow is not much better and same goes for Friday up north.So,I decided to not take this trip.It would be a waste of time and money and besides,we are going up in the truck with my Yamaha R5 in the back later this month anyway so I can do the work then.The money I save by not going now can be used to get the BMW on the road ! Back in the spring I made her run and also bought the stuff I need to fix the front master cylinder so the brakes work right.Now it's time to get this project moving forward again.So,today I put the body work back together and get her nice and clean so I can take some photos for the insurance company then I can call them and get insurance so when we go up to camp later in September I can go to the DMV office up there and get her on the road.It's so much easier up there than down here . Here is what I did back in the spring . I started with a bike that had sat for 14 years with old gas in the tank. Everything inside that tank turned to shit and needed to be replaced after the tank was all cleaned out.I ended up with a tank that was as clean as new with all the components replaced with the correct stuff right down to the fuel injectors on the engine.I reused the injectors after cleaning them,everything else above then has been replaced with new.

Here is a short video I made of the initial start up after doing all this work. My good friend Juan gave me a new battery.He bought it for his bike but after we filled it with acid and charged it he realized it was the wrong one.It was too large for the box in his BMW R80 . He couldn't return it once filled . We checked it against the battery that came out of the K100 and it was the same so he gave it to me.

I got this bike running right around my 68th birthday and decided that when I turn 70 in two years I am going to ride it on another long trip like I did with the "T" back in 2010.So ,plans change and that's a good thing as long as there is forward motion. Today I work on this motorcycle .Yesterday I got the garage all ready,cleaned it,moved my other projects into the shed so I have room to work,got the "K" into position , and then went out for a nice evening ride on my 1975 Moto Guzzi 850-T. She's running real good these days,even better now with the new battery,new rear tire,and clean oil.It will be good to have a second long distance bike.Now when time permits I'll be able to restore my "T" because I'll be able to take her out of service long enough to do it right. Of course,this won't be happening anytime soon as I have a million other projects in front of it like moving to Arizona and all the work that is required to accomplish that goal like building bikes to sell for down payment money on a house there.But,as time marches on I do make steady progress towards this goal .It's pouring rain now.If I would have taken the 7 AM ferry I'd be riding in heavy rain getting soaked for the next 7 or 8 hours.This was the right call for sure !

Trying To Ride North

               A photo from 2014 when I rode most of Nova Scotia in the rain

Been planning to head up to my camp to do some work on the bridge and the stream bed.It has gotten all silted up and the pipe that runs under the stone bridge has become blocked and now buried  causing a small lake to form when it rains and the bridge to act as a dam.It.s not a good thing.In spring when the snow melts and it rains it gets so backed up it actually flows over the bridge and is eroding it.So,I was planning on going up this week to dig it out.I wanted to take the old Dodge Aspen with my Yamaha R5 hung on the back bumper so yesterday I made it so the bumper will accept the better ,stronger rack I have but couldn't use when I went to retrieve my little Yamaha YJ1 back in June.I worked for a couple hours grinding out mounting holes at the underside of the bumper for clearance and everything worked out great.Got the racks on and they are rock solid. Tried using the bike lift to get the bike on the bumper,no good.It's too heavy for me to just hump it up into them and I don't have any help.Even if I did have help here I don't have any up at my camp  so for now this plan has been shelved.That wasted the entire morning.Then,I decided to take the Moto Guzzi,you know,ride up rather than use the car.Started packing then realized I needed to replace the rear tire.I had bought one the other day so I went out and did that. By the time I finished it was too late and I was too burnt out to finish packing and then load the bike so I could leave this morning. I decided to go on Wednesday instead and pack today(Tuesday). I get up this morning and look at the weather and all I see is rain in my 400 mile path between here and my camp.Now I'm rethinking when and how I'm going.I'm going on the Moto Guzzi ,this is certain , that is if I go at all.It's so frustrating .Looks like it's going to be real nasty until Saturday and who knows what will be happening then.Today they forecast sunny for Sat,Sun,and Mon but tomorrow ? So I pack and get ready and wait.You know,if it was just a rainy day I'd go.I'd put on my rain gear and go but it could rain for a fucking week the way things are going this year and that would be no fun at all and impossible to work in as well. On the bright side,I got my new tire installed and while I was in there I cleaned the rear brakes and also did an oil change on the motor  and cleaned the spark plugs so the bike is serviced.