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First camping trip with the GT

4K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  mmerrill 
#1 · (Edited)
Just got back from a 3 day trip on the GT - took a nice little ride up north with a friend who just picked up a BMW GS.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was a fantastic ride, great clear roads and the bike was just sublime the whole way. Nothing quite compares to grilling with a friend in the middle of nowhere, followed with a nice nightcap of single malt and a cigar.

Sadly, it was cut short this morning when my friend decided to bail on the rest of the trip. Plus, the bike now has a few battle scars (read on...)

The GT was nearly perfect the entire trip - after a 5 hour ride with a stop for gas yesterday however, that changed a bit. We reached the state park and checked in at the front for our permits. On the way into the park, BAM - my lovely bike started doing the little stuck throttle/high idle trick. Damn! Perfect for almost 900 miles and for the next 10 minutes as we looked for our numbered camp site, the bike was hating life. Cracking the throttle at all would result in an idle sticking at around 2K or so for upwards of 10 seconds. Revving it clutched in would help, but needless to say it was nearly impossible to ride smoothly in 1st or 2nd gear. I was thankful that I wasn't in stop and go traffic or I would have had a REAL handful to contend with.

We parked and the bike sat for a little while...for some reason, it was all fine again after about an hour. No problem...so, we went into town to get a few food items to grill.

This morning started off badly - I was eager to get on with the next leg of the trip (one more day) but my pal wasn't up to it. So we ended up heading home.

We stopped on the way to air up the tires at a gas station - my front had lost 2lbs overnight for some reason though the back was just fine. The place was packed full of weekend travelers - I'm looking for the "air station" and spot it at the very end of the parking strip in front of the gas station. I ride down there and as soon as I clear the edge of the building.....

Here's as good a time as any to mention the 35mph wind gusts we had this morning up in Northwest.

Plus, I might as well mention that the travel compressor that I purchased for the bike showed up today, nearly 3 weeks after I ordered it. Had it arrived before my trip, this next part would be pure fiction...alas, I was without compressed air and needed to use one of the $0.75 rip off joints.

So, back in the parking lot. Can you guess what happened next?

"Who in the @$## is pushing me??"

"Why is my leg buckling?"

In what felt like slow motion, the bike slowly, slowly fell to the left, throwing me clear in a wonderful and polite gesture of good will on her behalf.

I hopped up unhurt (full gear) and did the back hoist lift to get her sticky side down again. I had it up before my friend could even come to a stop to help. Two elderly ladies stood with their mouths utterly AGAPE at the sight, finally coming over to ask if I was okay.

I was baffled...why had that happened? No abrupt brake application...I had been cruising to that end of the building at around 7mph or so at most, nice and easy as you please.

I walked around the bike to see how bad it was and, as I came to a stop with the universal hands on the hips posture of "wtf did I just do", I almost fell over myself! Standing!

I looked behind me and there, to my less than enthusiastic discovery was what I can only describe as a wind tunnel - it was a large open space (probably half an acre) that had been demolished next to the gas station. Further on, the diesel pumps with a few semis parked. But between the semis and the gas station was this long, empty SPACE absolutely howling and funneling the wind our way. The tape they had used to mark the area off had split even and was acting as a wind sock, flying straight and true for nearly 20 feet.

At the end of it all, the total damage is all cosmetic. The rider suffered only dignity abrassions. The left case took most of the impact, with two of the front tupperware covers getting a bit scratched (enough to warrant a repaint I think). I have to admit to sort of secretly liking the battlescars - my Duc is my "pretty bike", the GT is my touring bike. Somehow, the scars make her feel like an honest, travelin' bike. But, I think that's me looking for silver linings to feel a bit better. :)

So, a great trip ended on a relatively down note - the trip cut short this morning and the bike has a few wounds that are hard to look at now.

I felt a little better when a truck driver came over to tell us that he had watched the fall from his semi, after having just suffered a wind related injury himself. Apparently his door had been flung open from the wind hard enough to rip it off the hinges and he was trying to find a way to 'duct it all back together. I think he, like I, felt better that he wasn't the only one bitten by that bitter, blustery bitch.

Still, a fall is a fall is a fall. I was bummed about the amount of damage it caused but only because I had witnessed my buddy drop his GS not once, but TWICE the day before without so much as a scratch on it (gotta love that GS for hardcoreness!).

All said and done, I averaged a just "okay" MPG of 42.7 and an average speed of about 85mph over the total of 450 miles, with several bursts north of the century mark. What a great bike...I had this moment of intense appreciation and love for her last night as I locked her up for the night. After having gotten us into a pretty remote area, I felt like she had become a close friend (whom I repayed by letting her fall today! Ouch!)

This week I'll get to see what it costs to repair and repaint one of the side cases and two of the plastic panels....
 
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#2 ·
1. i appreciate your thread
2. i'm glad that things weren't worse
3. why did your friend BAIL on day 2?
4. i hope you will keep us informed about what you dealer finds is wrong with your bike and the high-idle issues

sorry again
thanks for the post
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the words man.

I can't be sure of why he bailed, since he started with excuses late last night and had about 4 of them by 9am this morning. I think he was just done...you know? Got tired, just didn't feel like keepin' on. I think for him, the camping was the highlight and the rest of the trip wasn't as appealing to him.

I love the guy, but we have very differenet riding styles and outlooks on bike trippin'. He's a very by the book, if the speed limit is 65mph he's doing 65mph kind of guy. His first bike was an HD so he developed some bad habbits there for a while I think. ;)
 
#4 ·
Maybe a little late

Dropping this thing has been my greatest fear. I traded in a 1200GS Adventure for this and I used to drop that one a lot (mostly off road - and I was too short to touch the ground!) I ordered some of the 6 mil clear plastic (like they use on the right of the steering head for the throttle cables to run over.) I'm hoping a layer of that on the panels and saddle bags may mitigate a fall over. I take a ferry every morning and am required to park right next to these metal edged seats that are just taunting my paint job. Maybe after your paint job the plastic might be some good insurance. On a side note it's amazing how fast your pride gets you off that bike and righted again ain't it.
 
#5 ·
Nexus-6 said:
Thanks for the words man.

I can't be sure of why he bailed, since he started with excuses late last night and had about 4 of them by 9am this morning. I think he was just done...you know? Got tired, just didn't feel like keepin' on. I think for him, the camping was the highlight and the rest of the trip wasn't as appealing to him.

I love the guy, but we have very differenet riding styles and outlooks on bike trippin'. He's a very by the book, if the speed limit is 65mph he's doing 65mph kind of guy. His first bike was an HD so he developed some bad habbits there for a while I think. ;)
i can certainly understand your frustration with the change of events.... and wonder, however, if THIS was partially "responsible" for the chain of event that followed
 
#6 ·
I thought about that, but honestly wasn't frustrated until after the fall. The wind had its way with me and after that, the combo of him bailing and the fall culminated in finally feeling as if the day was shot.

But I must say, we were at a gas station that was in the wrong direction of where we SHOULD have been at that time in the morning...which I did comment on. "We should be 30 miles the other way, not here right now!" with a laugh and he agreed.

His first comment to me after he saw me shaking my head was "I guess this is where you stop talking to me, huh?"

haha...no biggie, just a little bit of paint repair at the end of the day. Didn't affect the ride after all so I have to look at the bright side (and all my pieces are intact!).
 
#7 ·
Nexus-6 said:
His first comment to me after he saw me shaking my head was "I guess this is where you stop talking to me, huh?"

haha...no biggie, just a little bit of paint repair at the end of the day. Didn't affect the ride after all so I have to look at the bright side (and all my pieces are intact!).
i'm sure the friendship can be salvaged :)

and.....
you are SURELY right about your "pieces being intact!"
 
#8 ·
Nexus-6 said:
The GT was nearly perfect the entire trip - after a 5 hour ride with a stop for gas yesterday however, that changed a bit. We reached the state park and checked in at the front for our permits. On the way into the park, BAM - my lovely bike started doing the little stuck throttle/high idle trick. Damn! Perfect for almost 900 miles and for the next 10 minutes as we looked for our numbered camp site, the bike was hating life. Cracking the throttle at all would result in an idle sticking at around 2K or so for upwards of 10 seconds. Revving it clutched in would help, but needless to say it was nearly impossible to ride smoothly in 1st or 2nd gear. I was thankful that I wasn't in stop and go traffic or I would have had a REAL handful to contend with.

We parked and the bike sat for a little while...for some reason, it was all fine again after about an hour. No problem...so, we went into town to get a few food items to grill.
This may be just coincidence, but it seems that a large number of the riders that report this surging and idle problem have all stopped for a short period just before it started - gas station, ranger station, etc. My own problems with stalling only ever occured after a short stop (5-20 mins). The above report states that after about an hour it was fine, i.e. engine had cooled down a lot. Could this fault be triggered or exaserbated by restarting the engine when hot, which somehow fools the sensors? :confused: Just a thought.
 
#9 ·
It could be - I'm really not certain what caused it to happen on this trip as I've had several 150+ continuous mile trips without it doing this at all. The only real difference with this is that I did have a 10 minute cool down after the 2 hour ride followed by starting up again and slow riding. Previous trips are just fuel stops followed by more normal/high speed traveling.

I have to admit that when I was fueling up after this had happened that evening, it crossed my mind that I should try using normal grade fuel instead of premium for a tank to see if anything changed. I dismissed it as a grasping at straws measure, but read in another post last night that someone wonders if the use of premium fuel is causing it. It made me wonder reading that.

I fueled up with a different brand of gas that night and it didn't happen afterwards which also made me wonder. I use Chevron 93 octane here in Texas all the time in the bike and I had to fill with Fina premium that evening...but, no symptoms after that.

Could be related or could be totally unrelated. Dunno.

My criteria for the trigger was this :

* Ran steady for 1.5 hours from the last stop at a constant speed of about 80mph.

* Came to a stop (shut off) at the camp site office and the bike was off for 10 minutes.

* I had about 60 miles worth of gas in the tank (1.4 gallons or so) and it was Chevron 93 octane Supreme.

* The next 5 minutes of riding after starting up were 1st and 2nd gear speeds, trying to obey the 20mph speed limits within the campsite.


Forgot to add in my original post - just before home I came across an accident scene that had traffic backed up for over half a mile leading up a slight hill. As I crested the hill before I could see the column of cars stacked before me leading up the next hill...

I discovered that the GT will cruise at around 7mph with zero throttle and just the clutch engaged...which would have been great if traffic hadn't been creeping at 4mph with lots of stop and go. I have to admit, that was a bit of a clencher as it took about 15 minutes to get past that intersection, slipping the clutch and balancing the brakes at 4mph the entire way with the occasional quick stop as the person in front of me checked up. A nice challenge to end the day I suppose. I think the fact that it had to happen uphill was just cruel but it was a good test for my confidence given the morning I'd had. :)
 
#10 ·
GT ding

Sorry to hear about your rough idle situation. My 2006 GT has been flawless. :yeah

Take your bike to another dealership for warranty. They should be able to fix it for you. FREE. Do not tolerate the idle being over 1,000 or surging.

As far as MR. SPEEDLIMIT :wtf , tell him they are set for 80 year old blue hair ladies from Florida. I ride at least 5-10 over when in urban environments. Rarely stopped in the last 40 years. In the clear, I may be closer to 20 over. Due to legal issues, I try to stay under the +20 unless the view is totally clear is all directions. If you drive the speedlimit here, you get a lot of traffic blowing past your butt and the occasional horn.

Don't fret about your GT ding from the drop. I dropped mine last summer when I tried to go over a curb that was too high. Call it street cred and move on. You can't even see the ding unless you get real close. :teeth
 

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#11 ·
I had a wonderful 5000 mile trip from Texas through NM, UT, Montana WY coming back down to Denver for the 100,000 foot ride that the Denver club puts on every year. In Wyoming I watched a Harley rider drop his bike at a gas station....have to admit that I thought less of him and in about 200 miles stopped for gas again and did not put the sidestand all the way down....crap before I knew what happened I was on my side and got a payback for thinking less of the Harley rider. Nothing broken and only some pretty good battle scars on several of the parts on the left side. I think I will take them off this winter and get them repainted but just glad that the drop was caused only cosmetic damage.
 
#12 ·
Don't feel bad guys after years of congratulating myself for not dropping a bike I stopped beside the road to take a leak riding home from the 3 flags and had a bus roar by and blow my 07 over. Hearing plastic crunch on to pavement was a depressing sound I'll tell you. Truely a bonehead place to park and all my fault.

Haven't got the price to repaint back yet.
 
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