Blatherings From The Editor

Goodies Revisited 

(March 2005) 

More than once I have written about all the goodies out there you can add to your bike to make it more personal and comfortable.  Tire caps, hub caps, rear and front running lights, just a few of the nice to have goodies.  Tank bags, trunks, side bags, heated grips, intercoms, bar backs; the list goes on and on.  There is no substitute for more goodies!

     Recently I’ve been in goodie overload.   Seems a piston on our ’98 K1200RS decided to either crack or allowed a ring to break so it was time for… fan fare…a new bike!  John and Company at Iron Horse Motorcycles (thanks guys) found a red ’04 K1200RS and agreed to take the ’98 in trade.  He recommended that I remove any goodies I wanted to keep before I brought the bike up to Tucson.  Let the fun begin!

     All told there was something like thirty-one different enhancements, add-ons or just plain goodies on the ’98.  Authority lights, PIAA lights, Ohlins Shocks, shift lever extension, everything was coming off.  Some, like the little cover that goes over the rear brake master cylinder (an R1100S part), I didn’t even remember putting on until I began to search the bike carefully.  And let me tell you, getting off the wiring harness nightmare also known as the alarm system was a real chore.  An octopus for sure.

      So now the new bike is in the backyard and the goodies are going on.  Well not all the old goodies.  Seems the alarm system will not mount to a bike with cruise control.  The cruise control unit mounts where the alarm wants too.  Sorry alarm, I like the cruise control better, besides no one steals BMWs.  The Euro switch that allows you to turn your head lights off and on is another goodie that won’t make the transition.  Seems the Germans went to constant on head lights and took some of the wiring out of late model wiring harnesses.  Too bad, I liked the on/off headlight switch.

     Not everything came off or went on as smooth as expected.  The Roundel on the trick oil filler plug was a bear.  Just didn’t want to let go.  The damage I did to the heated grips putting the Throttle Meister on (relegated to bar-end weights only) was a real disappointment.  I followed the directions and cut some of the rubber grips away and they look like they’ve been cut away.  Bummer.   Also, I’ll have to mount the PIAA driving lights in a new location, the old brackets don’t work on the revised front fairing.

     Still, what fun.  In less than a week I have spent some glorious hours wrenching and learning (in some cases re-learning) my bike.  Discovering some of the differences between the ’98 and the ’04 was kewl.  And…there is a brand new bike under all those old goodies that makes me grin big time!  Deryle and Wanda, still riding a red one!