New Tires

So let me say a bit about the bike.

When we left Saltspring Island she had 22,000km on her, now we have 48,000km on her we have done over 25,000km in four months, thats a lot of traveling.

We had a full service in Montreal and a new back tire then again in Lisbon Portugal another full service, we have been getting oil changes every 10,000km we also had the back break pads changed in Lisbon and now a full set of tires in Valencia Spain.

As for problems with the bike there have been no major ones but I had the fuel gauge replaced in Montreal which when I refilled in Dublin after shipping had a problem with a leaking seal and I had to get fixed. I have also got a problem with the tire pressure monitor giving incorrect readings and a low pressure alarm

(scary the first time) got it reset in Lisbon but it has gone wrong again so it can stay that way till I get to another BMW dealer. Other than that we just put gas in it and ride. And yes the big 33 liter tank means we can ride for a long time between fill ups.

Some things I love about the bike.

She is BIG people see us coming We are bigger than most cars here in Europe.

She has enough power even with us loaded and thats a lot of weight (I get told to slow down at least every day)

I do find it heavy at slow speeds but on the road at 100 kph + you would not know.

I have a throttle lock It was great in the USA and Canada but here I don't use it to much as we are of the motorways most of the time.

Our gear is fantastic. At the time of purchase it was a lot of money but when you consider it is getting worn every day it is very comfortable and having the rain liner on the inside means when it is out the suit is very well vented even in the heat of Morocco.

The GPS well that is a love hate relationship I would not want to be without it but sometimes I could throw it away. Now the Zumo 550 just gave it in as the touch screen went out and had a mind of its own I had to buy a new one so upgraded to the new Zumo 660. We will see how we get along with this one. Good thing was it crapped out in Andorra, well thats a little country between france and spain and its tax free so i only paid $479.euro for it which is cheap.

Two new tires in Valencia , the back tire was toast and the front didn’t have much left on it so we changed both. Funny thing was that when we were waiting for the BMW shop to open a guy drove up on his GS1200 and asked if we needed any help, we told him we needed tires and he said that this store dosnt do service but Ill take you to the shop that does so we followed him on his bike for about 2km to the tireshop. In talking with him it turned out that he was a local doctor and didn’t even work for the dealership, how cool is that, he was headed to Morocco in 3 days for a week himself so we were able to tell him all about it, funny hey, what a nice guy.

Chenty finishing her book while waiting for the tires to be done in Valencia.