hi darryl
are you back from the polland motorbike trip?
regards
dieter
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hi darryl, are you back from the polland motorbike trip?
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bmw-mechanic
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Darryl.Richman
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Just got back Tuesday night,
Just got back Tuesday night, and I think my head is finally back in the Pacific time zone. My trip involved two things: attending a group rally in NE Poland, and getting parts and advice on my 1928 R52, which I am preparing for the 2014 Motorcycle Cannonball that runs from Daytona Beach, FL to Tacoma, WA in September.
The trip to Poland involved me meeting a couple friends at the ferry docks in Travemünde and taking an overnight ferry to Ventspils, Latvia. There we met two Swedes who were joining the event as well. We travelled for 4 days through Latvia and Lithuania, finally looping east around Kaliningrad (Russia) into Poland.
The rally was based at Hotel Zamek Ryn. Zamek is Polish for castle and the place was a ruin of a Teutonic castle before being restored and converted into a hotel. The Polish countryside in this area is beautiful and there are a lot of buildings/churches/castles that were not harmed by WWII bombardment. We also visited the nearby Wolfschanze ("Wolf's Lair"), the complex of bunkers built by the Germans during WWII as their eastern command headquarters and where the plot to kill Hitler with a bomb played out.
After that, I spent 3 days running up 2500+ kms/1500 miles, mostly on the autobahn, to see various people about parts, in places like Meissen, Giessen and Dingolfing.
I came back with some parts and shipped some more for my R52. I got a reproduction of one of those cool strap-on supplemental gas tanks for it. This should give the bike a range beyond 180 miles/300 kms.
The 1993 R1100RS I keep at a friend's place in Karlsruhe continues to rack up the miles. I did have a couple problems with it, but nothing that I wasn't able to deal with. The front brake master cylinder developed a small leak and had to be replaced. And the rubber part of the front tire valve stem had become rotted and cracked through while I was riding across Poland, resulting in my having to ride about 4kms on the flat tire to get to a small motorcycle shop. (Tubeless tires are *the best*!) The bike now has more than 225,000 miles/370,000 kms!
The trip to Poland involved me meeting a couple friends at the ferry docks in Travemünde and taking an overnight ferry to Ventspils, Latvia. There we met two Swedes who were joining the event as well. We travelled for 4 days through Latvia and Lithuania, finally looping east around Kaliningrad (Russia) into Poland.
The rally was based at Hotel Zamek Ryn. Zamek is Polish for castle and the place was a ruin of a Teutonic castle before being restored and converted into a hotel. The Polish countryside in this area is beautiful and there are a lot of buildings/churches/castles that were not harmed by WWII bombardment. We also visited the nearby Wolfschanze ("Wolf's Lair"), the complex of bunkers built by the Germans during WWII as their eastern command headquarters and where the plot to kill Hitler with a bomb played out.
After that, I spent 3 days running up 2500+ kms/1500 miles, mostly on the autobahn, to see various people about parts, in places like Meissen, Giessen and Dingolfing.
I came back with some parts and shipped some more for my R52. I got a reproduction of one of those cool strap-on supplemental gas tanks for it. This should give the bike a range beyond 180 miles/300 kms.
The 1993 R1100RS I keep at a friend's place in Karlsruhe continues to rack up the miles. I did have a couple problems with it, but nothing that I wasn't able to deal with. The front brake master cylinder developed a small leak and had to be replaced. And the rubber part of the front tire valve stem had become rotted and cracked through while I was riding across Poland, resulting in my having to ride about 4kms on the flat tire to get to a small motorcycle shop. (Tubeless tires are *the best*!) The bike now has more than 225,000 miles/370,000 kms!
--Darryl Richman
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bmw-mechanic
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ups, didn`t recognize that there`s response for me
hi darryl
sorry, but i didn`t recognize that there is response.
that was definitely an impressive trip, probably you know now more about german histroy than i do
370tkm is very impressive.
but flat tires i know as well but i have the ones with tubes.
it is easy to repair the tubes, but the dismantling (even if you are alone on a trip) is a nightmare
for tubeless tires i wold suggest the tubeless repair kit from "louis motorrad zubehör shop". this kit works well.
regards
dieter
sorry, but i didn`t recognize that there is response.
that was definitely an impressive trip, probably you know now more about german histroy than i do
370tkm is very impressive.
but flat tires i know as well
but i have the ones with tubes.it is easy to repair the tubes, but the dismantling (even if you are alone on a trip) is a nightmare
for tubeless tires i wold suggest the tubeless repair kit from "louis motorrad zubehör shop". this kit works well.
regards
dieter
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Darryl.Richman
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Dieter, I have the contents
Dieter, I have the contents of two or three of those tubeless repair kits. I've used them before and they are great. You can be back on the road in 10 minutes.
OTOH, I *hate* dealing with tube tires. Although I understand how they're supposed to work, I can wrestle with them on the ground for an hour and not get the job done. My biggest fear in the Cannonball is that I'll get a flat tire and have to patch it. There is a time limit for coming in each evening and I can easily see me blowing past this while trying to fix a flat.
Anyway, I'm leaving for Daytona and the start of the Cannonball on Thursday next week. I just put on the first 100 miles of break in for the new top end in the bike yesterday. Things generally went well, although my electronic speedo has decided not to see the magnet on the wheel... The generator is working well and the lights and brake light also are functioning.
OTOH, I *hate* dealing with tube tires. Although I understand how they're supposed to work, I can wrestle with them on the ground for an hour and not get the job done. My biggest fear in the Cannonball is that I'll get a flat tire and have to patch it. There is a time limit for coming in each evening and I can easily see me blowing past this while trying to fix a flat.
Anyway, I'm leaving for Daytona and the start of the Cannonball on Thursday next week. I just put on the first 100 miles of break in for the new top end in the bike yesterday. Things generally went well, although my electronic speedo has decided not to see the magnet on the wheel... The generator is working well and the lights and brake light also are functioning.
--Darryl Richman
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bmw-mechanic
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wrestling with tires
hi darryl
yes i like that too, the wrestling with broken tires.
last year in alsace we had one broken tire. 4 people working (wrestling) with that thing, one hour terrible busy.....
no food, no beer, no wine... only work...
you`re riding the distance from santa cruz to daytona beach (this is near cape canaveral, is that correct? - i`ve been to cape canaveral once but never to daytona) with the r52? that sounds great!!!
i wish you a nice trip
regards
dieter
yes i like that too, the wrestling with broken tires.
last year in alsace we had one broken tire. 4 people working (wrestling) with that thing, one hour terrible busy.....
no food, no beer, no wine... only work...
you`re riding the distance from santa cruz to daytona beach (this is near cape canaveral, is that correct? - i`ve been to cape canaveral once but never to daytona) with the r52? that sounds great!!!
i wish you a nice trip
regards
dieter
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Darryl.Richman
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Actually, I'm driving with my
Actually, I'm driving with my crew from California to Florida. The Cannonball starts in Daytona (yes, near Cape Canaveral) and runs over 17 days to Tacoma, Washington.
"no food, no beer, no wine... only work..."
Sounds like slavery to me.
"no food, no beer, no wine... only work..."
Sounds like slavery to me.
--Darryl Richman
