The Official Tour Photos

Setting Off and Meeting Up With the Group

There were 4 of us going on the first section and we were meeting another 2 from the US in Landeck, Austria.  It was to be an early start as the train was booked for just after 7:00 am and we needed to complete about 450 miles from  Calais to Karlsruhe in Germany where we were booked into the Novotel.

 

I kept up with the crew and enjoyed the motorway blast.

The next day we set off for Landeck in Austria. We had booked into a motor cycle hotel there called the Hotel Enzian.

Windshield On and Final Test Drives Before the Trip

After the suspension servicing, I took the bike for another high speed spin.  And the wallowing was still there, although with the thicker fork oil, it was reduced.  I came back and added another 25cc of oil mixture to each fork leg and took off again.  This time the wallowing was almost gone.  Much better.

My touring windscreen arrived and went straight on:

It has an adjustable section with about 5 inches of up and down movement so you can tune it to your preference.

And the new thicker fork oil is staying inside the forks.  I did do the seal cleaning trick with a piece of plastic.

Getting Ready to Ride

Only 2 days to go now before I set off for my 2,500 mile trip to France, Germany, Austria, Italy and home.  I'm just hoping that I will not have any failures that will hold up the rest of the group on their modern BMWs.  So a few more things to do.  First off was to drain the fork oil and replace it.

I was surprised to discover varying amounts of oil in the 2 legs.  One side had 290 cc and the other had 325 cc. But one side has always appeared slightly oilier on the stanchion, which may account for it.  New seals are clearly needed.

Firstly I replaced the oil with standard 10W fork oil.  I took the bike for a ride and nearly ended up with a serious tank slapper.  The handing had deteriorated considerably.  With some helpful advice I decided to change out the 10W oil for a mix of 50/50 10W-40W and ATF.  

This is what this concoction looks like:

I made absolutely sure the correct amount was in each leg.  It doesn't taste very good:

I also checked the springs against some others I had and they look good.  Still up to length:

I then also swopped over the rear suspension with a newly refurbished set of air shocks off a latter model GS1100G.

Mods For Long Distance Ride

I'm off to Italy on this little baby in September for a 2,500 mile round trip.  I want to make this machine as comfortable as possible.  So I got some rear sets (to make the riding position more comfortable) and some bar end weights (to stop the handlebar vibrations) and I added a fuel filter to stop the rusting tank gumming up the carbs again.

 

 In the good old days Rassk rear-sets where the bees knees.  Without reading any current reviews I ordered a set directly from Sweden.  Have to say the quality is very disappointing and the fitting was terrible.  Bit of a hash up really.  No proper instructions and all sorts of palava getting them set up.  But at least they put the pegs back enough to make a more comfortable riding position especially as the bars are quite straight.

 

The bar end weights were a delight.  It turned out that one of them was also engineered to be a cruise control as well.  I never knew that when I bought it.

And a cheapo Chineses fuel filter to keep the rust out of my lovely carbs.

Next up is a windshield and another set of exhaust pipes and headers.  Quieter ones without leaks.

Wiring Damage

And here is the wiring that needs fixing.  How far up does the damage go?

 It's the Black and White wire that ends up with a lug fixing on one of the battery box bolts.

New Meter Readings

With the new rectifier and some extra grounds installed, I re-tested the voltage of the battery under different conditions:

My results are:

1).  Key off: 12.78v
2).  Key on:  12.18v (headlamp on)  12.32v (headlamp off)
3).  At idle:   13.2v (at 1,100 rpm)
4).  At 2,500 rpm:  13.83v
5).  At 4,500 rpm:  14.05v
6).  Key Off:  12.90v

These readings are all within prescribed ranges.  And I therefore certify the bike as fixed for now.

I now need to look further into the wiring which shows some wires as burnt.