The good, the bad and the ugly

Our reward for a hard day of work on our motorbikes. No not the movie, but Sander's favorite dish (consisting of chicken wings, spareribs and ribeye) at rib and steakhouse the Longhorn in Oirschot. Whenever we are in the neighborhood we try to dine over there. This sort of a tradition started somewhere in Sander's DDC years.
And boy were we hungry after servicing Marianne's motorcycle.
The day started at 6.30 a.m. and at about 9 o'clock we were already working on the motorcycle, after a two hour drive. First we drained the oil, removed the tank and upper airbox to give access to the sparkplugs and valves. We checked the valve clearance and replaced the sparkplugs as they were pretty black. It turned out that the airfilter also hadn't been replaced and the wrong oil filter was installed. So much for the service the bike was supposed to be given after we bought it.
Next we worked from the rear to the front of the bike. Sander did a failed attempt to remove the rear tire by hand. But even the automated tire changer had problems getting the wrong tire (that was fitted to Marianne's bike) from the rim. After the wheel was re-installed, the chain tension was adjusted and brake calipers cleaned. A centerstand was installed as the bike failed one. The original footpegs got replaced by Pivot Pegz. The steering (ball) bearings were replaced by conical ones. Something that is recommended, but in this case was also necessary. A new front tire was fitted. And finally the carburetors were synchronised.
So that's quite a lot we did on just one day, and still the bike isn't finished. And although we had a great lunch with soup and some tasty rolls, it had made us very hungry. However NOT hungry enough to deal with the good, the bad and the ugly it turned out. :P

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Madagascar

Turns out the R100GS will be shipped to Madagascar, to join some of it's brothers and sisters. All modified the same way. The bikes are used by Touratrek a motor adventure travel agency (http://www.touratrek.nl/madagaskar/bijzonderheden-madagaskar.html).
So it's going on a worldtrip after all. And maybe we should make a little detour during our RTW trip. :)

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Mixed feelings

Today I (Sander) sold my R100GS. The bike I initially bought for offroading, with a RTW trip in mind. Although I had some issues with the bike in the early days (gearbox and starter motor issues, leaking gaskets, and some small problems like a broken gear lever and speedometer which decided not to be part of the bike anymore), I still really love it for its simplicity and character. Above all I'm a huge fan of its driveshaft and tubeless tires. For a 23 year old bike those features are quite unique.
But as you all know the choice of bikes for our trip turned out to be a different one. And with four motorcycles in the shed, at least one had to go. Besides we really could use the money for our trip.
Hence the mixed feelings... :(:

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Spring

While we'll have to wait a little bit longer for Spring to arrive, we got ourselves some new springs. Thursday HyperPro finished working on our bikes, so today it was time to pick them up. And I must say; they did a very good job on both bikes.
Marianne's bike has been lowered substantially, without making sacrifices to the driving characteristics and shock travel. Sander's bike is a little bit higher due to the (firmer) progressive springs and shock adjustment. And above all the purple coil just looks brilliant!
Unfortunately, as it feels more like autumn outside we decided to skip the test drive and bring the bikes to Pharaobike by trailer, where we will be doing a full service on the bike next week.

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Jabbed

Serious business; we got our first jabs. Marianne got 2 shots and Sander was lucky to receive 3. We're not finished as some need to be repeated and others only offer protection for about 3 years. But at least we are safe from: Hepatitis A, yellow fever and DTP for the next 10 years.

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Tight schedule

Just before noon the welder called, our pannier racks were finished. We directly went to pick them up and Marianne's motorbike aswell, as for the afternoon we had an appointment with HyperPro. They are going to fit our bikes with a new set of spring. To do so, we had to take some extra weight that we will be carrying during our travel. So we loaded our panniers with a couple of old books.
Due to this tight schedule we did not have any time to fit the pannier rack to Sander's bike. As with most handmade stuff, the fit wasn't entirely right. Some effort was required, to get the rack on the bike in a way that it could carry our heavy cases. For fitting the new springs, it will be alright, but before we take our bikes on the road the racks will require some extra work.
Unfortunately the person who is going to work on our shocks turned out to be ill. Just lets hope this won't be any more trouble for our already tight schedule. As our plans are to bring the bikes next week to Pharaobike to do a full service.

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Finished the first mods

Today Sander finished the modifications he started working on last sunday.
First the footpeg mounting plate has been replaced by another one, as the pivot peg was facing forward in a funny angle. Now the footpegs on both sides have similar angles.
Next Sander finished mounting the Renthal handlebars. The handlebars had already been installed last sunday. But the throttle control needed some attention, as it wasn't running smooth. Turned out Sander bolted the housing too tight.
As that issue had been resolved, it was time to install the Daytona heated grips and Acerbis Rally Pro handguards. Installing handguards is always a fiddly job and case of trial and error. The heated grips only required some cutting of the rubber ends. Though they still need to be connected.
Finally Sander installed a SW-Motech topcase rack, he ordered on the internet. According to specifications this rack is only suitable for the XL650, Africa Twin and Varadero. But Sander discovered the racks for the Africa Twin and the XL600 from African Queens are the same. And because we still have a SW-Motech topcase laying around, Sander decided to give it a try. And it turns out the rack fits. However it only has 4 bolt holes instead of 6 and they require larger (M8) bolts.

Here's the pictures last sunday and today:

Removing the original handlebars

Barless

The new Renthal handlebars installed

End result from the front

and from the driver seat.

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One giant leap

One small step closer to our main goal. Yesterday Marianne sold her house! Well that is she accepted the offer. So now we'll have to wait for the buyers to get their mortgage and the house to pass. Sander isn't very happy as it will be his third time to move in about 6 months time.

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Yesterday

All our trouble seemed so far away... Well not quite.
Finally we had time to do some modifications on Sander's motorbike. The welder is still fitting the pannierracks to Marianne's bike, so that one will have to wait a little longer.
We started the day by removing the Touratech pannierrack from Sander's 1150 GS, as it was sold to a club member and he was coming to pick it up.
After that Sander started working on the handlebars. Removing the old one wasn't really a problem, but fitting the new ones was a little tougher. Just as the new Renthal bar was clamped down, Michael arrived to pick up his 'new' Zega cases.
We started by removing the original luggage carriers from his bike. But as the bolts had never been removed and had been out in the elements, one of the Allen bolts failed. At first we tried to remove it using quite an array of tools. But finally we had to drill the head off. After which we used a pair of pliers to ruin the thread. Just as the damage was done, Sander thought of putting two bolts on the thread, lock them together and use a pair of spanners to remove the stud.
Next we had to hacksaw the damaged thread off the stud. Putting the two bolts on was kinda fiddly, but once we succeeded removing the remaining bolt end from the frame was like a breeze.
Fitting the Sondersystem pannierracks to the bike, also was a bit challenging, as Michael had an aftermarket exhaust on his bike and the original long flashers. But we managed. After that job was done; Sander could continue his work on the handlebars, which included filing down some notches in the original controls and removing the end of the throttle control. There still is an issue with the throttle response we will have to fix.
Meanwhile Marianne removed the front fender and tried to mount the Pivot Pegz to the bike. But when mounting the leftside peg to the bike, we discovered someone probably dropped the bike as the bolt had been deformed and also the peg is facing forward in a funny angle. Luckily a member of the Transalp club, has a used footpeg mount that we will pick up next wednesday.
2 B Continued...

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