25 Year Hiatus

I never planned on giving up riding motorcycles when I was in my twenties but when planned children came along, I put the bikes away.

My wife at the time said, “you’re gonna want to sell that motorcycle of yours now that we have kids, right?” The pain and the suffering associated with that suggestion still reverberates, but it was the right thing to do at the time, and I said, “Yes – absolutely, I was just thinking that myself too…errr...honey”. So, off to a good home my beloved Suzuki GSXR went, and I wholeheartedly partnered in the raising of my two girls.

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Having girls was awesome, and I did things with them that I think parents should do with any child, we were rough & tumble. Christmas presents were racetracks, racing video games, trucks, guitars; we even built a downhill ice track in the winter for sledding, and we wrestled. They got dolls too, and easy bake ovens and the stuff they asked for; the motor racing stuff and guitars was always my idea – and they loved those “surprise gifts” we called them. 

I the following years would go to bike shows with my friend Dave all the time and I swear we were the only two people there without bikes. It was kind of like looking into the corner bakery window as a kid, and   you’re without a dollar in your pocket; it hurts the stomach a little, and made me even more determined to get a bike once my girls were through school.

Over the next bike-less twenty-five years, I never let my motorcycle license lapse.

Now twenty-five years can fly by for some things and it actually did, when you consider most things. I didn’t even notice when my hair turned grey, and my waist grew slightly, and my two young girls became two young women, but I was always aware of not having a bike. Over the next bike-less twenty-five years, I never let my motorcycle license lapse; I guess it was one way of keeping the dream alive.

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In the meantime I lusted over every single bike I saw, I didn’t care what the make or model was because when you’re without one; they all seem like the perfect bike - the perfect escape. 

When I moved in with Kim (who would eventually become my final wife) she said, “If you want the garage, it’s yours, I never use it”. In the next six months I would clean it out, fixed it up, have electricity and heat brought in. After I got the garage in a livable state, I knew I could safely keep a bike and tools in there as well as create a safe hang out where I could shelter in place when necessary (besides all of my old motorcycle magazines, I had a beer fridge in there too).

In 2017 I bought a new bike. For someone who loves bikes as much as I do, I was amazed at how scared I was to get on it and ride. I actually took an MSF training class just to get rid of the nerves I was experiencing, and with that class under my belt I began taking the bike out for short neighborhood excursions. I would hurry back, get off, catch my breath, and then head out again. It took a couple of weeks and a couple of hundred miles before I would feel comfortable, not totally comfortable, but comfortable enough to jump into traffic, and living in Boston, that’s a pretty big deal.

Soon I was planning rides with destinations in mind. I find it much more pleasing to have a destination, either a scenic spot, or a food stop to make the ride seem more purposeful. When in reality, we know the sole purpose is to experience the freedom gained from focusing on the sole task at hand - riding.

During that first summer, I found myself venturing further and further away from home and heading towards the south coast. I was about 75 miles away from home one day when it started raining, one of those light showers where you can still see the sun shining through. It was actually fantastic; at that time I had an open face helmet and goggles and just let the rain hit me. I thought - now we’re living, and I would be dry before I got home.

At fifty-eight years old now, and re-experiencing the smell of oil and gas and rubber, feeling the nimble power beneath me, the wind & rain in my face, and traveling down those roads I had previously earmarked for future motorcycle travel, while in my car, is the reason I ride motorcycles.  

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When I was twelve years old, I would spend all of my paper route money on motorcycle magazines, and dream ….

Bar End Mirrors

The stock mirrors that come on the R nine T Pure stick out like bug antennae, and they’re in the perfect position to view mostly your shoulders (mine anyway), so I thought it would be a good idea to replace them with something that looked better, and at the same time would be more functional, and therefore safer. That sounds like a win, win, and win to me.

So, off to the forum to see what is available, what looks good, and what people are saying about certain mirrors after they’ve had a fair amount of time living with them.

I was looking for something very basic is design and came upon the round Oberon mirrors. These are very adjustable, very well made, and don’t look too futuristic, which is what I’m trying to avoid. Most mirrors come in black, chrome, or silver (aluminum), and from what I can tell most folks opt for the black. For the R nine T, I think the aluminum look perfect, and that's what I’ve recently mounted to my bike.

The whole installation took about 30 minutes because I am very particular; otherwise, it’s a very easy swap out. You just remove the bar end bolt, which isn’t a beautiful item on the Pure model, so it’s easy to take them off. Other forum members were trying to come up with methods to keep the bar end bolts on the R nine T Classic because I guess they think they’re nice to look at – oh well.

Adding a Tachometer

Isn’t it perfect? Why do you want to change it?

Good questions, right?

With the modular design of these bikes, the manufacturer intended and expected the owners to modify them, and therefore put out an extensive line of customizing parts in order to please each customer’s specific tastes.  The aftermarket has also responded with a wide array of custom components so you can make the bike exactly the way you want it (the bike is so good, you could leave it completely stock, but what fun is that?).

The Pure model is the BMW Heritage lines most stripped down model, and the R nine T Pure comes from the manufacturer without a tachometer. A tach is a very useful instrument to have, it displays the engine revs (revolutions per minute), and is a visual aid to let you know how the engine is responding to your inputs. However, I actually like to judge the engines response with my ears. The main reason I want a tach, is because the tach on this bike has an LCD window that displays which gear the transmission is in (as well as other useful information). To me, the gear readout is very useful, I want to know when I’m in first gear at a stop light, so that I don’t try to take off in second (this has happened more than once - I know I'm a little rusty having been away from motorcycles for over 20 years, but I like having the security of knowing when I'm in first), and I want to know when I’m in sixth gear, so that I don’t try to go for another (non-existent) gear when I’m riding at a higher speed.

I stumbled on a YouTube video by video-blogger “Sidestand” (who is also a Pure owner), where he actually shows you how to install the factory tachometer; I was psyched, and had to get this done before I rode the bike again.

I’m not going to go into detail on how to do this modification. That information exists online at the following links, and these guys did a great job making this mod an easy one.

Sidestands video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqIuJxBLqGc

El Jefes forum post:

http://www.ninetowners.com/forum/electronics/119362-2017-pure-add-rev-counter.html

Parts list for posterity.

1. 46638558379 - Holder (Dual Gauge Brackets)

2. 62118564506 - Revolution Counter

3. 46638521655 - Body Screw with Shoulder (QTY: 2)

4. 62118558858 - Bracket F Instrument Cluster

5. 62118567597 - Trim Panel Instruments Combi (Black)

6. 64226916475 - Countersunk Head Screw (QTY: 1)

7. 62118356970 - Grommet (QTY: 2)

To my knowledge - El Jefe from the R nine T Owners forum was actually the first to lay out this mod, his post also includes a complete parts list. Sidestand used El Jefe’s information, and made the YouTube video showing the mod (with an updated parts list). Thanks to both of these guys for making my mod a success.

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Although it is February, and I am in New England USA,  and the temperature should be below freezing, and there should be snow on the ground, there isn't. In fact, it is a balmy 72F degrees, and sunny, so I'm off for a ride on the bike way earlier than I ever expected this year.

Delivery of the R nine T

Delivery

My new R nine T Pure was scheduled to be delivered on Saturday, early afternoon - perfect, nothing to do now but wait for its arrival. The bike is coming from MAX BMW who offer a delivery service (and also a pick-up and drop-off for service calls).

Kim already had a commitment this morning and would be away until early afternoon, so it was just me and Stella the wonder dog. At about 9:30, I got a call from Fred, the driver from Max’s, saying he was about an hour and a half away. Now, I have to tell you, I had planned to lounge all morning until that bike arrived………..but an early delivery would be okay with me. So, an hour and a half wait it is.

After my third cup of coffee (yeah, that’s right, third cup), I went and sat on the couch, the dog came too and sat within patting distance, and we both seemed okay with the Saturday morning lounging plan I had formulated. Then, in the back of my head I started noticing/hearing the sound of rainfall, which immediately became loud, heavy rainfall – hmm, that sucks, I probably won’t be able to take a ride on the day that I finally get my new bike. Then I thought, “Oh shit, the street is going to flood now”, which means the driveway could flood, which means the beautifully renovated garage could get a wet floor or worse. This is not good; I run to the window, and sure enough, the street is flooding. It's already to the point of running over the sidewalk, 

Torrential rain strikes (the word torrential is way overused these days – however, in this text, it is not).

We have two sewer drains in the street, I say we because apparently it’s up to us to clear them during a storm (or wait until the town arrives and then deal with any damage that may have occurred – so I say we have two sewer drains in the street), both right in front of our house, and one of those is right in line with our driveway, and we also have the added bonus of being at a low point on the street, so water does pool up. (We also have a storm drain in the driveway – we’re rich in storm drains.)

Okay, time to react. I went down into the cellar, put on rain boots, a Gore-Tex®  rain shell (I mention it’s Gore-Tex only to remind the reader that when I say my shirt was soaked, they’ll know that it must’ve really been coming down for my shell to get saturated - torrential), run outside to the garden shed, grab a spade and a rake, and head to the sewer drains. Yup, they’re completely blocked up by the fallen leaves in the street, which began dropping earlier than usual this year. It doesn’t take much to clog these drains up. 

I begin by first trying to locate the drains.

 I had to dodge the cars that were driving way too fast down our street. People driving and not paying attention, even on a day like today with heavy rains, is a menace to everyone. When they hit our part of the street they wake up pretty fast because the amount of water they hit, slows their car right down, as wakes come over both fenders – they look stunned like they didn’t know it was raining hard and that all of this accumulating water can actually be a hazard – people. 

I fought those drains for a good hour non-stop before they really started moving water again. I got two whirlpools started, one above each drain and from that point, it wasn’t too long before my part of the street was clear (the guy across the street – not so much – he’s got a storm drain too). 

With the water threat removed, it was time to get all of my wet clothes off. I went inside to change; I knew the bike would be arriving shortly so I was pretty quick going about it. Then I ran back outside, it was still raining, so I opened up the garage, turned the lights on, and waited safely inside there. I was only there for a couple of minutes before I saw the white van with the MAX BMW logo on the side, and the driver began to back in.  

Fred delivered the bike in one of MAX BMW’s vans; they use Mercedes Benz Sprinter vans exclusively, and have eight of them on the road every week. He said he wanted to get the bike into the garage without it getting wet, but because of the narrow drive, and the dog-leg right (mentioned in the previous post), he had to stop short. You could tell Fred has quite a few deliveries under his belt, with everything sopping wet, he gingerly walked that bike down the ramp and into the garage like a pro, asked if I had any questions that he could answer, and then asked me to sign the delivery note. I told him I’d see him again around service time, we shook hands and Fred drove off to his next delivery – he’s a good guy. 

I sat on my new bike for a while, put the kick stand down, stood over by the side and thought to myself, “God this is good”.  

So much for resting that Saturday morning, I took the afternoon off.

The Garage Makeover

Kim knew I wanted to get a motorcycle. I told her early on, I didn’t want there to be any surprises. She was cool with it - I think.

Fast forward about a half a year….2017 Mid-year

Kim said, “If you want the garage, it’s yours”. Hmmmm… It took me about 13 seconds to form a plan in my head. I would clean it out, fix up whatever needed to be done, have power run to the garage, which is a detached building, remove the ivy clinging to the exterior, and figure out where the water on the floor was coming from. Okay, sounds good.

One Saturday morning I began this adventure by tearing down the ivy that was covering the stucco exterior, and in the process, I found that there was a side window, that’s good news, I like ventilation. I also noticed that the ivy was growing into the exteriors cracks and into the soffit and fascia, that’s bad news, I don't need that much ventilation. I had more ivy than I originally thought.

Clean

Time to clean out the interior: There was a lot of stuff in there, stuff that actually came with the house, Kim never really used the garage because it was too small for a car really (perfect for a model T), and the driveway tapered and had a slight dog leg right as you head towards the garage from the street. So, everything I’m removing had been in there for God knows how long, but it was at least seventeen years because that’s how long Kim had owned the house.

I’m sure I displaced a rodent or two, after all, a garage that nobody ever goes into can be a nice hideaway.  

Everything went into the driveway, where a triage began, to see what would stay and what would go. The junk removal guys I found on Angie’s list actually came twice to haul stuff away. I put some stuff out on the sidewalk free for the taking (where we live, we can make things disappear from the sidewalk like magic, sometimes if your timing is good, you don't even have to put it down before someone steps up).

With the ivy gone, and the bulk of the spider webs removed, and rodents looking for new digs, I put the broom to the floor walls, and ceiling. The ceiling was corrugated metal, and it looked pretty rusted, so I started pulling it down, which turned out to be a huge job. I never saw a ceiling in a garage, perhaps that’s the way they built them a hundred years ago. The ceiling was actually housing about 30 pounds of droppings from whatever was living in there, so I got that junk out of there as soon as possible (safety glasses, old t-shirt wrapped around my face, gloves, but still I should’ve been better covered), then I removed all of the strapping holding the ceiling in place, boy this place was built to last; it took a whole day to do just this (well, maybe 5 hours, but for a Saturday, that's a lot of work).

Repair

We were having a new roof put on the main house, so now was the time to put a new roof on the garage. The new roof on both buildings looks great, and will give us 25 years peace of mind, which is nice.

The garage is actually block construction with a stucco exterior; surprisingly the block had big holes in about seven or eight places on the interior walls, so I filled them with foam backer and covered the holes with a quick setting grout. I used something that would set fast because I was working on vertical surfaces; I was pleased with the way it came out.

Power

My brother is an electrician, so I hired him to come over and bring power out to the garage. We (I) dug a trench and we ran flexible conduit underground (there was actually unusable old knob & tube in the garage being fed by an overhead line from the house, which was unsightly). My brother does nice work, all metal conduit inside the building, industrial wall box with switches, overhead LED lights, it came out nice.

In between each step, I put a broom on the floor and walls to make sure that I got most of the spider webs out.

Let's wrap it up

Now nobody has really used this garage in I don’t know how long, and it was always unlocked. I wanted to make sure I could at least lock it up if I put a new bike inside. I remembered seeing lots of old keys lying around the house and basement in several places. One Saturday I decided to see if I could find the right key, and after trying about twenty different keys, I actually found the right one - unbelievable. Now I have an empty, clean, well-lit space, that I can (and will) consider putting a new motorcycle in.

It’s very satisfying to repurpose, clean up, renovate something like this old garage, it’s all part of the adventure.

A view from the seat, looking out from the garage and into the driveway.