Beautiful sky and clouds today made for a wonderful ride!
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Category: BMW F650 GS
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Sunday Ride
Went for a nice Sunday ride a little north from my house. It’s a route that I enjoyed before and the weather was good, so I knew it would be a good little trip. The highlight of this route is from Maxdale Road, south of Killeen, heading west. Along the way, I took a small road that roughly follows the Lampasas River. After that, I found a gravel road which was a lot of fun to ride.
I got Kiki kind of dirty, but I think a dual-sport motorcycle should not be too shiny and clean. Kiki is getting a little grimy because of the ATF lube, but it’s not causing any damage or safety issues.
A fun ride, one that I will definitely be doing again when I am up in that area.
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Fresh Gas
Nice ride this morning! Lots of motorcycles out there. Probably getting ready for MotoGP!
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Lovely Afternoon
Kiki and I went out for an afternoon ride close to home. The weather was great, about 72°F and sunny and I saw plenty of other motorcyclists taking advantage. Such fun! The ride was 47 miles.
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My Baby
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Some Old, Some New
This morning I went on a ride, but didn’t really have a set route. It turns out I rode some new roads and visited a few favorites. Which is fine by me! The weather this morning was nice, starting out at maybe 78°F with some light clouds and a nice breeze. It was beautiful! I accidentally took a wrong turn and thought I was going to go down 2222 but it was actually Anderson Mill. Go figure. Oh well, that meant I could head south on 183 and take Old Spicewood Springs which I haven’t ridden for a while now. That would eventually drop me out at 360. Old Spicewood was fun as usual, with almost no traffic on this Holiday weekend. After that I headed south on 360 and noticed that the police were out in force pulling over speeders. I always try to keep my speed at or below the posted limit but you know with a bike it’s a little harder to regulate a consistent speed. But I did ok today and the police pulled over the giant SUVs and left the fellow motorcyclist alone. 🙂
After 360, I took Bee Caves out toward the Hill Country which was kind of the general plan that I wanted to go with. Vague, I know, but I had a morning pass from the familia! I thought about going down the road towards Hamilton Pool and Pedernales Falls, but kept on going up 71. As I passed over a couple bridges I saw that the water level was really low, if not completely dry. Therefore I decided to head to CR310 and do some light dirt. I figured I wouldn’t have to worry about any water-crossings today! CR310 was fun and sure enough, the water crossings were dry. It was a little sad because we are having such dry weather, but as I looked at the dried-up algae I thought I could live with it today. I continued on CR310 to a section I hadn’t been on before (CR308), and enjoyed it a lot. Riding on the gravel is so fun. I found my way back on the pavement at Farm Road 3347 for about 50 feet and then more dirt!
This road goes by the 3347, CR310, and the Althaus-Davis Road. It’s fantastic! And exciting too. I was riding along when a large snake, about a 2-footer slithered across my path and reared its head right before I ran over it. I looked in my mirrors to see if it was dead but I didn’t see anything! The thought crossed my mind that the critter could be latched on to the bike and/or my leg, so I stopped the bike, jumped off and had a look. It was nowhere to be found. I guess when I ran over it, the snake just got pushed into the dirt and kept on wiggling to the side of the road. My heart was still racing a bit as I continued on and was interrupted by a group of about 7 birds crossing the road in front of me. They looked like a cross between a turkey and a roadrunner. I stopped to get a better look at them but they had disappeared in the brush.
The gravel eventually gave way to pavement and turned into Althaus-Davis Road. This is a really fun stretch. Definitely a road I’d like to come back to. In fact, I thought about turning around and doing the road again from the opposite direction. I kind of wanted to look for that snake too. But I continued on to Willow City and since the sign for Willow City Loop was staring me in the face, I decided to ride it for the third time. No wildflowers this time of year, but still some great views of the Hill Country to be seen, and no traffic!
After the loop (which isn’t really a loop) I headed to Llano and then west on 52 to the small town of Castel. It was around noon by now and time to head back. It seems that I always end up on Hwy 29 for the ride back, and this was the case today. It’s a straight shot over to Reagan/Parmer and then home. Really a great ride and Kiki seemed to like the fresh engine oil and new battery. Boy do I love my motorcycle!
Odometer: 229.73 Miles
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12,000 Mile Maintenance
Changed the oil this past week as part of the 12,000-mile maintenance. Everything went smoothly. This was the second time doing it for me so it went pretty quickly. The process is to remove the bash plate, loosen the drain plug a bit (makes it easier to remove later when the engine is warm), remove the left side cover, then warm up the engine for a bit. Loosen the top drainplug a little, then remove the top oil container thing, then fully remove the drainplug and tilt the container to empty out the oil into a jug or something. After that is done, replace the drainplug and put the top oil container back into place. Next, remove the bottom drain plug and empty out the oil. Clean the drainplug and any debris that the magnet may have trapped. Put a new crush washer on, and tighten the drainplug. Next, remove the front sprocket cover, and get ready to remove the oil filter cover which means to make sure and have your makeshift funnel ready. BMW will sell you the funnel for $65, but I opted for the beercan method (see photo above). Remove the old oil filter and replace with a new one (put a little fresh oil on the rubber seal first). Put a new gasket on the cover, and put it back together. Next put 2 liters of oil in the top, then let the engine run for 30 seconds. Add .3 more liters. Replace bash plate and side cover and you’re done. Easy peasy!
In addition to the oil change, I bled the brakes and put in some fresh DOT-4 brake fluid. Now the brake action feels a lot more solid.
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Four-State Ride
So I decided to go on a nice long ride this past weekend and visit (briefly) a few states that I’ve never ridden in before. In fact, it was my first time ever to visit Arkansas and Oklahoma! You know, Texas is so huge that it takes quite a while to reach any border if you live in the center of it, which I do. However, I love long-distance riding and since I had two days free I figured I would do it!
My route took me east on Hwy 79, and actually continued the length of it into Louisiana. From there I continued north into Arkansas and to my stop for the night in Murfreesboro. The next morning it was off to the Ouachita National Forest and Oklahoma before heading back south and home again. All in all, I traveled about 1,040 miles, 30 of which were because I missed a turn off to Hwy 79 on the way back. Doh!
My favorite part of the ride was definitely the forest area in Arkansas and Oklahoma, and Talimena Scenic Drive in particular. There were lots of nice vistas and plenty of clean air and I wish I could have spent more time there. And the riding around there was super! Lots of twisties and elevation changes to keep things fun. Not everything went smoothly, though, but at least it was nothing major. The USB to cigarette lighter adapter connection came loose and wouldn’t stay tight which meant I couldn’t have my GPS running all the time. I blame that for my 30 mile detour. I have batteries in the GPS, but they ran out of juice quickly. Secondly, one of my earpieces on my earbuds went out which meant no music on the way home. Lastly, when I arrived home I dropped my bike in the driveway. Ouch! I bent the handguard and the bike suffered a few scratches (adds character to a GS) but no real damage. I did manage to lift the bike up on my own so at least I know I can do that.
At any rate, it was a really fun trip and I can now put on three more state stickers on the bike! I’m up to five: Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
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Spark Plug Change
Kiki is nearing the 12,000 mile mark which means a bunch of service needs to be done and I’m trying to do most of it myself to save a bit of cash. One of the things I haven’t done before on the GS is change the spark plugs. Although my bike is a single-cylinder model, it’s a “dual-spark” which means there are two spark plugs. I decided to use the stock NGK DR8EB plugs as replacements and the price for these were about $4.50 each as opposed to an Iridium plug which goes for upwards of $20. Too pricey for me and the performance difference is debatable.
For a nice guide on how to change the spark plugs, you can check out the FAQ at the Chain Gang site. However, there were a few parts of the procedure that could use a little more detail. For my 2007 model, I’d recommend taking off the plastics, removing the snorkel, the battery, and the battery tray. By doing this, you can access the tops of the coil/caps. There is a grey rubber sleeve that secures the coil to a metal mount, and you’ll want to turn the coil so that the sleeve comes off of the metal mount. After that, you can pull the coil/cap up off of the plug. It’s easier if you have small hands. For the coil/cap on the side, you might be able to push that up from the side, rather than pull up from the top.
Click on the photos below to view at Flickr where you can see highlighted notes.
Once you get the coil/caps off, blow off the plug area with compressed air to get rid of any dirt. Next, you can use the spark plug socket included in the BMW toolkit to unscrew the plugs. For the center plug, you will have to drop the socket down onto it from by where the battery was. Then, use a big screwdriver and put it in the top of the socket. My plug was in there pretty tight, so I used some vice-grips on the screwdriver handle to turn the socket. Once you get the plugs out, just reverse the process and you’ll be done!
On my old Supercub, changing the plug would take only a couple minutes since it was so easily accessible. The BMW F650 GS’s plugs are tucked in there pretty tightly and there was plenty of cussing and sweating when I was figuring out how to do it. But now that I know how it’s done, the next change will be pretty easy. Anyways, I hope this post helps someone who might be unclear on what they have to do to change their plugs. You can always leave a comment here if you want me to contact you for more explanation!
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Saturday Ride to Regency Bridge
I was browsing around the Ride Dual Sport forums and I came across a short ride report and photos of Regency Bridge near San Saba. I’ve ridden around the area a couple times before, and I really enjoyed it so I figured I’d go again and see the bridge. I had the whole day to myself so I decided to take my time, ride on country roads and avoid the highway if I could. Just north of the town of Burnet I made a left onto County Road 106/San Saba Road and proceeded northward in the general direction of San Saba. This was a really nice stretch, with a speed limit of maybe 45. I must have ridden about 30 though, just taking in the sights and smells of the countryside. It went on for several miles and the only other vehicles I saw were two bicyclists out for a leisurely ride. It was great.
I kept wandering around the back roads, occasionally looking at my GPS to make sure I was headed northwest and eventually hit FM580 at Nix. I had never ridden on 580 and it was a fantastic stretch of twisty road with almost no traffic. I’d definitely recommend that for a Butler Map! I continued on past Bend and then spied a nice gravel road on the right hand side. I saw on the GPS that that road was a loop, so I caught County Road 420 on its north side, turned off the ABS, and took the road east. Riding on the gravel roads is a lot of fun and I look forward to riding on some each time I go out now. I stopped at Colony Cemetery to take a couple photos and had a drink of water, then proceeded on the small loop east and then south.
It was tons of fun standing on the pegs and putting the training I got riding off-road to use. The gravel got deeper than I’ve ridden before but my bike and tires handled it with ease. There were some small hills to go up and down, and a lot of really cool scenery to take in. There was even a small water-crossing. It looked a little slick but was pretty short and wasn’t a problem.
The hill after that was rutted with erosion for rains, but standing on the pegs made it easy and actually a lot of fun! It was great just finding a relaxed stance and letting the bike wiggle underneath me, while keeping a light touch on the bars just enough to control the throttle but letting the bike just do its job. After riding like this for a while, I have a lot of confidence on gravel now. I remember being semi-terrified of the stuff before, but that seems like ages ago! I’m no expert by any means but I have expanded the limits of what I know the bike can do safely and that takes away a lot of the apprehension.
Back on the pavement I continued on to San Saba where I made a quick gas stop then headed north on 16, then followed the signs to Regency Bridge northwest on Ranch Road 500. After a few miles there’s another gravel road (yay!) that heads north to Regency Bridge. I met a KLR rider at the bridge and we talked for a little while about riding, bikes, and the bridge. He lived nearby and had a lot of great stories and told me the history of the bridge. I think we were very different people but because we were both riding motorcycles, and specifically dual-sports, we had some things in common and I enjoyed meeting him.
The bridge itself is pretty cool. It’s one of the oldest suspension bridges in Texas, with wooden planks to ride across. The “railing” was pretty low and you can see through the cables so it’s quite a hairy ride Especially because you’re up about 75 feet above the Colorado River! I decided to just get across, the park my bike and walk back over the bridge. Much safer that way! The view from the bridge is really great and riding across this old bridge is something I’m glad I did.
I continued on County Road 433 north, then east on 432. It was all gravel, with plenty of soft spots and a few stretches of dried up tire tracks to add a little excitement. I rode this for several miles and many smiles before finding the pavement again. By this time it was getting on mid-afternoon so I headed back home thinking about having a nice meal and a cold drink. Regency Bridge is a nice destination and I imagine I’ll be back again, not only to see the bridge, but to ride the gravel roads which there seemed to be quite a lot of!
Odometer: 236.33 miles