Riding in Sleet and more stuff for Maria

First the weather, the forecast was for showers turning to snow by evening so I figured I had plenty of time get home before then. I rode the motorcycle in and the temperature registered by the thermometer did not dip below 47 degrees on the way in. Not too bad at all actually.

The day got progressively colder and it was 40 degrees by 1030 when I went to get something from the motorcycle. By Noon it was 37 degrees, sprinkling and beginning to sleet so I made a dash for home by way of the bmw dealer where I picked up a set of engine cover guards. Got home safely in 40 minutes of slow and careful riding, wiping the water droplets from my helmet's visor and watching sleet accumulate on the motorcycle's windshield. Finished my workday working remotely and got to work on the new farkle by 5pm or so. Glad I left work at noon since it was snowing by 2-3pm!

First order of business was the engine cover guards, I had to remove the engine spoiler and the rubber cover on the fairing that protects the fairing from one's right foot. Since I left the fairings on and the instructions (cryptic and lacking in drawings) did not call for removing them as they did for RS motorcycles; there were some ackward angles to deal with. Some cursing and skinned knucles later I had the guards mounted finally. They feel quite secure and hopefully I'll never have to test how good they protect the engine covers. I'll have to check the bolts over the next few rides to ensure they stay put since the instructions did not say to use loc-tite to keep them in place.


So why did I not get these guards before so they would have protected the left side engine cover this past weekend you ask? Good question. I had ordered them online, not realizing to check with the local bmw dealer first. The online dealer got the order on 10/9 and failed to do anything with it till 10/16 when I got an email saying they were finally acting on the order. They claimed delays due to their recent "open house". So their lack of timely service meant no engine guards in place last weekend. Needless to say I canceled the order and they won't be getting my money.

Second order of business was the installation of the handebar risers or "bar backs" from moto-techniques that came via fedex today. They went on smoothly and with no hassles. I had to unhook one of the cables on the right side of the motorcycle to get some needed slack since I was moving the handlebars back and up about and inch or so.

Of course, timing is everything, there's 2 inches of snow on the ground as I type this so it's very doubtful I'll be able to ride Maria into work tomorrow in order to try out the new risers.

Pic from Vendor Site