A ride around Denver and my first oil change on a bike

Temps from low 40s to high 40s.

Rode to Morrison using the E-470/C-470 superslab, had breakfast with the ColoradoBeemers club at their regular 0830 time at the Red Rocks Grill. French toast with bacon on the side, mmmmm.

Afterwards I rode off before the rest of the group had finished, and headed to Foothills BMW to ask some questions of the Service dept and to get an oil change kit from their parts dept. Main question had been when was Maria due to have her brakes bled again and when the ABS circuits were due to be bled. I had previously ordered speedbleeder, tubing, special "mini stan" funnel and such to be able to bleed the brakes per a procedure I found on bmwsporttouing.com. The author had great pics and made it look easy enough for someone like me to tackle this job.

Turns out though that the brakes don't have to be bled till November of this year so I've got plenty of time to hopefully see the process done at a Tech Day locally and decide if I really want to do it. If I let the dealer do it, it'll cost $368 since it's the 12k service that is due next, when Maria reaches 28,000 miles(she's at 25.5k right now)! I am debating whether to go in and have her serviced or do it all myself when this happens. Perhaps I'll wait till she hits 30k. After all, she's out of warranty as of last September. Decisions, Decisions.

I left the dealer and headed North on Wadsworth Blvd till I reach I-70 which I took heading East till it neared the E-470 exit. I exited earlier and took Colfax to Picadilly South and from there to Gun Club Rd and home. So, pretty much a circuit of the Denver Metro area.

Once I got home I changed the oil on Maria after first scrubbing things down a bit with some engine cleaner. The oil change itself was very easy and not very messy. Took her out for a check ride afterwards and made sure there were no leaks. I switched from 10w40 oil to 20w50 oil on the advice of the parts desk person at Foothills BMW. Apparently BMW had put out a bulletin recommending the 20W50 for my bike.

The day was overcast and dreary looking, did not go out riding in the afternoon. I hope it'll be sunny tomorrow.