Two Wheels Better wrote:

This.

That's  ^^^^^^ hilarious!! 

A lawyer is driving down the road in his limo when he sees two men eating grass on the side of the road. He pulls over to investigate.

He asks one of the men, “Why are you eating this disgusting grass?”

The man replies, “I’m too poor, it’s all we have.”

The lawyer replies, “You and your buddy can come home with me and I’ll feed you.”

The man replies, “But sir, we both have families.”

The lawyer replies, “Bring them all!” So they all pile into the car.

One of the men’s wives turns to the lawyer and tells him, “Thank you so much sir, we really needed this.”

The lawyer responds, “No problem, the grass is almost a foot tall, you’ll love it ! "

Travelling light is the only way to fly! The BB is serviced and ready to go on next week's epic ride to the Chief Joseph rally in beautiful John Day, Oregon. As the seat's padding is a little thin I'll be resting me bum on a black sheepskin throwover. The 'luggage' is a tankbag and an Ortlieb duffel which fits perfectly across the speed bump on the back. It contains my sub-3lb tent, micro-sleeping bag, therm-a-rest, water bottle and a lightweight cooking set. I have put together a basic toolkit of miniature spanners & etc., a Cycle Pump, tubeless plug kit, duct (gaffers) tape, zip ties (black, not white), and a coupla three 15A fuses - one never knows what might fall off or blow up. Socks, unders and a coupla clean tees are all the spare clothes a man needs (can't forget the 'thinman' flask of single malt) when out riding and camping. I'll be riding down with three mates, all on roadsters of some sort, but riding back solo as I am not in a hurry. Let's see how she holds up. The most mileage I've done in a single ride on ol' BB has been a fifty-plus miler here and there on local roads. The weather forecast so far is for sunny and dry on the other side of the mountains.

looking clean and mean
have fun mate !

I'm into flying light too - I can now do a week's wild camping out of a 50litre bag and using the topbox just for food. Sometimes modern technology beats the rose-tinted spectacles hands down.

Truth be told, the kit I take along when moto-touring is almost always light and nimble, easy to pack and stash. I make a check list, pile it up, then remove nearly half of it and put it back away. It's only when I have 'company' that it grows out of proportion to my actual needs.

Commencement Bay, Old Town Tacoma. Out for a two hundred mile back road burble since morning over the Kitsap Peninsula and highway 101 along the Hood Canal. All's well so far. Jeez, this thing gits up n scoots.

Sorta lost in the tall pines on a gravel road in Kitsap County, Kitsap Peninsula of Puget Sound.

Low tide in Olalla, Washington.

Enjoy the blast.

It is great to see it out on the road and keep the pictures coming.

Ringfad wrote:Enjoy the blast.

It is great to see it out on the road and keep the pictures coming.

Ta. Here's 9 minutes you'll never get back. It was 14.37 when I'd finished editing but Goob Chewb cut it short.    Turn down the volume as the Ghost 4K camera picks up wind noise like paper crackling when turning the helmet to the right and plastic scraping when looking left. This is really my first serious attempt at using this camera which I've owned for over a year. I had it going last Summer but it'd only give me thirty second blasts - it needed a much better SD card, check. I needed to work out the three multi-function buttons which do everything with amazing precision, check (bewildering). I needed to carefully read the detailed instructions, check. I needed to understand the detailed instructions, uncheck. I am well and truly an on/off/volume/tone sort of person. Call me old fashioned.

I didn't think the wind noise was too bad at all.  
I haven't been able to follow this thread...why did you opt for the 5 speed box? Technical reasons? ( fitting)?
Nice job!

OMFG dude. You wont live long riding on the wrong side of the road  

That bike sounds awesome

Saxon7 wrote:I didn't think the wind noise was too bad at all.  
I haven't been able to follow this thread...why did you opt for the 5 speed box? Technical reasons? ( fitting)?
Nice job!

K1200RS/GT hang the swingarm and gearbox on rubber mounts off an aluminium frame, a totally different design from earlier Bricks. It would require a) Larry Romestant, or b) Larry Romestant.

It was an exercise fitting the earlier 'bell housing' to the 12, then mixing clutch components, and whacking 1/2 a K11 sprag to 1/2 a K12 sprag, as well as the alternator drive being the engine oil vent.

MarcS wrote:OMFG dude. You wont live long riding on the wrong side of the road  

That bike sounds awesome

I do wonder sometimes why fists shake at me from car windows...

It has an amazing intake noise.

Out for an arvo burble on BB, 29c in the sun, and managed about a hundred miles. Here we are in quaint Sumner, Washington. This was a reconnassaince for tomorrow's overnight Olympic Peninsula ride I'm planning. All's well.

Seattle's Pioneer Square, and the grimiest alley near the dumpsters behind all the dive bars & greasy restaurants, is the perfect place to act the urban crawling moto poseur. But hey, at least it still wears its front mudguard, and doesn't have clip-on handlebars combined with knobby tyres for their "superior" handling characteristics.
 

Contrast that with Tacoma's Commencement Bay waterfront under brilliant September sunshine.

Tacoma has the third busiest port on the US West coast after LA and Long Beach, California.

A sunny arvo ride along the Puget Sound through the forest, on some fairly good bends, with a bit of wind noise & a subtle exhaust note until it abruptly cuts off at 59 seconds... When I stopped several miles down the road I discovered that the Ghost Drift 4K camera had segmented the entire twisty bit into ten easy pieces. Bloody technology. It works when it works, but.

Go forward with caution, If you put up to good of a vid  there maybe people raiding your garage and crashing on your sofa!

caveman wrote:Go forward with caution, If you put up to good of a vid  there maybe people raiding your garage and crashing on your sofa!

Ha! Well, this year is gone for any riding visits, since I'm away for six weeks from mid-September. But next year is a new year, and there's a spare bedroom with a firm queen size. No need to crash anything, especially the sofa.

A cold but sunny Saturday arvo, Big Block & snow-covered Mt Rainier - itself a rather big block - but not a café in sight!

TWB,
 Just out of curiosity how many moto miles (or should it be hours of seat time) did you rack up this year? I got off to a good start this year but since July life and hurricanes got in the way. I guess the good news is I still have three sets of tires in saran wrap to start next year.

With four different bikes I've managed 19,700 (31,700km) from January through November. There's less than six weeks left of 2018 and if the snow doesn't fall soon I should easily crack 20,000 for the year. Though it might seem I've had a lot of bum time due to the two main rides this year across the US and back through Canada, then Qld to Vic and back, this is about my average for the past three and a half to four decades. It includes my shorter trips and commuting. I have had a few 40,000+ miles years as well as a coupla dry years (1983 & '84) when I didn't - couldn't - ride at all.

I've got three sets of tyres I need to put on the recycle pile and only two fresh sets to replace them with. I still managed to put 14,000+ (22,500km) on my car for work, too. That's time I'll never get back as opposed to the good memories of my rides.

Woo Bloody Hoo! Time to ride BB. It's been a long Winter.

Puyallup River, Orting Washington (pronounced Pew-al-up).

Mt Rainier poking her head out above the trees near Kapowsin Washington

Spring melt, Carbonado Washington



The empty Weyerhaueser building, Federal Way Washington

Carbon River, South Prairie Washington

Just off Highway 18, King County Washington

A beaut Sunday arvo ride, which reached 17c degrees, with a light breeze. Nimble is the BB, perfect for this backroad trawling. Stopped for a hot choc/coffee and spoke to 81 year old Grant, an engineer who built his own Harley and now rides a Victory 'cause he's "too short and this one lets his feet touch down."

I enjoyed mainly empty roads, a few detours, plenty of Wintertime sand and gravel mid-corner, but still managed to scrape the centrestand in a few twisties. 

First of all, it is this very thread and the TWB build that encouraged me to start my project. There are many fine builds and discussions, but for one reason or another this one convinced me to just crack on with it...

So:

I like the K1200 wheels and will try to source & fit some on my -92 100RS. I have found out that I can find hardly any parts here in Finland, so everything I fancy comes with an extra shipping cost on top. In any case, are all (R / LT / GT / certain year etc) K1200 wheels ok to fit as described in your build? 

I can see you posted the measurement piccies for the front axle, but have you got a "blueprint" type measurements, as this info would be pretty neat to take to a machinist to manufacture ? 

Extra frame support: Where did you weld the frame stiffening supports? I am not planning on making the bike go on orbit, but I do like a stiff frame. I can already feel the bike give slightly on break / corner / break type movement. Might also be my own frame, as I am no jockey...

Frame question in general: is it ok to drill holes to run wires in the frame tubes, or will that break the tension etc?

TIA !

robmack wrote:k1200 wheels on k100

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3UPbNZRyr1rQUp4UGJKT1l4TXc/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3UPbNZRyr1rSXJfVGNfd3VYV0E/view?usp=drivesdk

Nice one robmack, thank you! 

TWB,
Good to hear from you was beginning the think you bailed on us!
Was up in your neck of the woods last week and didn't want to bother you figured you were busy with the move. Got to meet up with Duck for good beer, bull, and grub.
Right now I'm just south of four corners on 160 with my nephew's bike with a rear blowout! Anybody close have a spare 160/60-18 for a R1100RS?

Pictures whorth a thousand words!
But I can't figure how to post one

Great K100++ and great pictures. Love the story about lawyer too .

Cool.  Next time you come up Hood Canal stop by. I'd love to see it in person.

I am exploring the idea of parting with BB. If any real interest in the bike, please PM me. It is titled in Washington state, road legal, tho' needs a functioning speedometre (I use an android app) and wiring loom tidying.

A fine day in Burblesville.

A mostly cloudy arvo, which topped out at 11c degrees, but the air was clean, the bike ran well around greater Pierce County, there was hardly any traffic and the sun was straining to break through at day's end. I will note that I didn't stop near anyone else, took along my homemade bandanna mask just in case, and pretty well kept to myself during these dangerous and uncertain times.

Here we are along the Levee road next to the Puyallup (pew-al-up) River.

The aroma of Tacoma musta been blowin' in some other direction today 'coz it wasn't up my nose from the pulp mills across the Thea Foss Waterway in loverly Commencement Bay on the Puget Sound.

Gahd, when I git on the throttle with this ol' girl she tells me thank you in such a sweet way: like a spanking in the bedroom. Minimal leather required.

Bring it up Hood Canal someday. I'd love to see it in person.

Or I'll drop by someday . . .

duck wrote:Bring it up Hood Canal someday. I'd love to see it in person.

Or I'll drop by someday . . .

The next several daze of this week look to be in the 60 degree range and mostly gloriously sunny. Perhaps I'll point the BB's handlebars thataway and take the long overdue LT handlebar cover up to you. No handshakes hi how are you hugs or Italian kisses and we'll be right. I'll let you know how it's looking from here.

I got in another hunnerd yesterday on BB. The roads out the back of town were silent, empty. I like when people are enjoying their XBox or watching Fletnix at home. It was just above 60F/15. Today's forecast for mostly sunny/mid-60s/18. I've got the map out. I'll make my way across the Fort Lewis/McCord base, Nisqually Indian Tribe res, down to Tenino, Bucoda, to the old Jackson Highway and my favourite, the Shoestring Valley to Morton, are looking perty sweet. Then maybe a loop back through Elbe, the glacial silty reservoir, the twisty bits round La Grande, Eatonville, the wooded Ohop Valley, past the long, thin lakes to Kapowsin, then Electron to picturesque Orting (prolly see Mt Rainier in full snow today), and then across suburban Puyallup to home. Four, five hours ought to do it with some quiet stops to have a squiz at the scenery.

Got The Map Out

I was considering a ride to Hurricane Ridge or Neah Bay but National Parks are closed in WA and the Makahs have closed off Neah Bay.

May do a ride out to the southern coast instead in the nice weather...

Gas under $2 is nice!

Two Wheels Better wrote:I got in another hunnerd yesterday on BB. The roads out the back of town were silent, empty. I like when people are enjoying their XBox or watching Fletnix at home. It was just above 60F/15. Today's forecast for mostly sunny/mid-60s/18. I've got the map out. I'll make my way across the Fort Lewis/McCord base, Nisqually Indian Tribe res, down to Tenino, Bucoda, to the old Jackson Highway and my favourite, the Shoestring Valley to Morton, are looking perty sweet. Then maybe a loop back through Elbe, the glacial silty reservoir, the twisty bits round La Grande, Eatonville, the wooded Ohop Valley, past the long, thin lakes to Kapowsin, then Electron to picturesque Orting (prolly see Mt Rainier in full snow today), and then across suburban Puyallup to home. Four, five hours ought to do it with some quiet stops to have a squiz at the scenery.

Got The Map Out

The equivalent in Oz would probably get you a $1652 fine at the moment, despite the zero risk of spreading exotic diseases!

Bill

My ride followed the basic route I'd planned but with a few side treks and some back n forth to get a better view of various snow-covered peaks & find the road less travelled. It reached the temp the weather-liers promised & was a sunny as it could get - no cloud at all. I left the house at about 9:30, headed south towards I-5 so I could take the Nisqually cutoff towards Yelm for a cheap petrol stop. I rolled onto a two-stage truckstop scale but at 420-440 lbs with me aboard (88 kilos/195 lbs geared up), I'm guessing they're not accurate at lower weights. The Indians (with a feather) always seem to sell fuel for less than the regular joints. Something about not paying the state & federal tax at the level of other retailers, I'm guessing. Also, a very big point, ethanol-free.

Donned in a basic leather jacket with liner, T-shirt, short leather gloves, Klim (like saying climb, but it's milk spelt backwards, thanks to them being Mormons) riding jeans with knee & hip armour, & Gaerne leather boots, I was always just right, Goldilocks, never having to remove or add a layer. It doesn't happen like that round these here (often wet) parts very often. Today was glorious! Because of that & the fact that 75% of the folks round here are not working, the roads were mobbed with motorbikes in every direction. This forced my hand, but I ended up enjoying it more anyway. I sought out back roads & found them. People, myself included, are perhaps not taking the stay-at-home order very seriously. Hopefully, not to our or others' demise.


Saggy barn along Warm Springs road, near Kopiah, Washington.

Mt St Helens with its blown off top is far in the distance. I had to ride up a coupla miles of rocky gravel to get to an authorised ATV park for this view. It was worth it.

I was hitchhiking round the US, age 20, when this happened. I was on my way north from San Francisco to the Pacific Northwest when I heard the news, so instead I headed east to Boulder, Colorado to party with some uni mates. It was a good choice then but I missed the Pac NW until 1993.

It's still merely a suggestion in Washington State. No local constabulary is gunna lighten yer wallet just yet.



Mt Adams appears to peer through the gap in the distance near Glenoma, Washington. I'd have had to go over White Pass to see it more clearly. The pass is open but still snow-covered in spots. There is a much better view of Mt Rainier from the East up on White Pass when you go up thataway. 


Swimmin' hole on the Tilton River near Morton. Note taken for when it's warm enuf. The trees aren't showin' their leaves just yet.


Another beaut potential swimmin ' spot, surrounded by moss-covered birch trees. I wandered down to the waterline where the fishermen go. The water was deep, clear & COLD. I'll wait til Summer on this one, too.


The view from someone's driveway. Notice the trees have been mass-a-creed. Shame. 


Logging is big in these parts still and the numerous bad haircut hills made me a bit sad.




Lotsa twisties, even if you have to occasionally pull over to let the logging trucks and gaggles of Hardleys roll ahead as you catch up to them, only to resume your rapid dive for the curves once that batch of traffic has cleared off. The BB didn't let me down, I enjoyed myself, wicked it up on occasion, took my time when is what appropriate, still I covered close to 200 hunnerd miles of smiles in seven hours.


Round a bend & you don't know what you'll see. Highway 7 near La Grande, Washington.


Imagine the view of Rainier from this rooftop. You'd be the very first to see the inevitable eruption.

The Modified Route

Of yesterday's ride, my favourite piccie...

Mt Rainier from highway 7, Graham, WA.

It's a couple years old now, but Mt. Rainier from somewhere on rte 12.

Point-Seven-five wrote:It's a couple years old now, but Mt. Rainier from somewhere on rte 12.

 
That's the view from a gravel turn-out several miles west of White Pass, as you say, somewhere along highway 12 - the one I mention above in the picture about Mt Adams from Glenoma. I never fail to stop there to take it in when it's sunny and I'm heading back towards home. I've still got either a two or a three hour ride to home depending upon which route I take: twisty, windy Skate Creek Road across the bottom of Rainier, or Cayuse Pass, or the more mundane but still sweet Highway 7 north of Morton.

You guys are blessed to have those roads out there to ride on! 

BTW   While I was stopped there, the plow truck that clears the fallen rock off the road came by.  Amazing how much rock I saw on the road that morning!

From the north, along the road to the lodge at Sunrise, about 6500' of elevation from here (1982m). The mountain tops out at 14,411' (4392m).

Point-Seven-five wrote:You guys are blessed to have those roads out there to ride on! 

BTW   While I was stopped there, the plow truck that clears the fallen rock off the road came by.  Amazing how much rock I saw on the road that morning!

We do have some good roads, but if you're living in the I-5 corridor, it's a few miles out before you get the really good roads, such is the traffic level increase over the past decades. I've lived here in the Pacific NW from 2000 to 2006 then 2012 to now and can be considered a part of the problem.

Highway 12 on the western downhill from White Pass summit has one of the most unstable roadsides in the area. It's all sand and glacial rock from long ago Lahar events, held together by the shallow roots of tall, thin evergreens, then add the frequent low-resonance temblors that occur in the area. Mt St Helens was a significant geological event, forty years ago, but when Mt Rainier blows it could be catastrophic due to the region's population level. There are first day of the month at noon sirens that go off for ten minutes in the Tacoma area. The blue signs tell you which way to go to get to a high point. It's not because water will come rushing in, but because mud and trees and rocks and lava will come roaring down the valleys towards Commencement Bay. Towns like Orting, Buckley, Carbonado, South Prairie, Enumclaw, Sumner, Puyallup & etc., parts of where I rode yesterday, will be washed away or under a quarter of a mile of very sticky debris.

Here's a link to the USGS website showing potential flow directions.

US Geological Survey

but when Mt Rainier blows

Aren't you a ray of sunshine. 

duck wrote:

but when Mt Rainier blows

Aren't you a ray of sunshine. 

No to worry. It'll be hours and hours before the ripple of a wave splashes up on the shoreline in the bucolic town of Brinnon after she blows!


Mt Rainier to Hood Canal

Funny story(maybe).

Back in July of, I think, 1980 I was in Portland, Oregon installing some machinery in a factory there.  At the end of the day we went to a nearby watering hole for Happy Hour and proceeded to empty a number of bottles.  About 10 o'clock we were getting ready to leave and mentioned to the server how quiet the place was all evening.  She replied that it was really pretty busy, everyone but us, who were from out of town, was out drinking in the parking lot and watching St. Helen's erupt.  By the time we got outside, it was just some smoky red glow through the trees.

I still have the next day's newspaper with a big photo on the front page.

Point-Seven-five wrote:Funny story(maybe).

Back in July of, I think, 1980 I was in Portland, Oregon installing some machinery in a factory there.  At the end of the day we went to a nearby watering hole for Happy Hour and proceeded to empty a number of bottles.  About 10 o'clock we were getting ready to leave and mentioned to the server how quiet the place was all evening.  She replied that it was really pretty busy, everyone but us, who were from out of town, was out drinking in the parking lot and watching St. Helen's erupt.  By the time we got outside, it was just some smoky red glow through the trees.

I still have the next day's newspaper with a big photo on the front page.

That was a lot of bottles you consumed. It happened end of May, 1980.


Mates of mine in the bike business say that for two or three years after the explosion and subsequent ash settling they were replacing air filters and combi switches on the handlebars of bike in droves. The grit from the eruption got into every crack and crook it could for miles and miles around and wore them out.