Modern Vespa

I was in the local electronics shop when our actually homeless guy was returning his 200$ remote controlled toy car.

He didn't drive home in a $50,000 Mercedes Benz did he ?

You're being played.

I received a text this morning to inform me that the parcel I was waiting for couldn't be delivered due to some incorrect information that needed to be resolved before it could be posted.

It apparently came from a very popular delivery company and apart from the crap syntax it was quite convincing.

In a bizarre coincidence I had been waiting for an overdue delivery so I checked who would be delivering the aforementioned item and imagine my surprise when it wasn't the same one that had sent the text.

6 Hours later the item arrives.

Be careful people.

The crap syntax and spelling give it away every time. Also the weird font and icons in the subject line.

At the office building across the street they're tearing apart the parking ramp, using a crew of guys with jackhammers. They've been working on it all month, at least. The racket is driving me crazy. I don't see why they can't use a bigger machine, maybe noisier but they could have had the job finished up in a day or two. I suppose labor is cheap.

My new Tech that was lined up to do all the stud and bolt work on the BMW later on this year did the Cubs first oil change yesterday.*

I get a call to collect it and ride it home but all the way there I can hear a repeating clunking sound through the bike.

I arrive home and realise that he hasn't tightened the two bolts that hold the exhaust to the chassis.

Not very impressed.

* You may suggest that taking a Cub to a guy who builds motorcycles for a living is a little over the top but the casing for the spinner is such a pain in the arse to remove and refit you either have to do it at eye level or put the bike on its side, which I wasn't prepared to do.

Military pharmacies.

You *MUST* send a text message to a number to start your prescription for pickup.

You may NOT approach the window to check in until you have done that.

You will be given a number in line through that text message, and told to wait for that number to be called.

They don't actually use that numbering system here. They dont use any system at all, and require you to check in via text, then again at the window.

But they don't have that posted anywhere.

They also say you MUST remain present to pick up, and if you don't pick up WHEN CALLED they will dump it and you have to start over.

So glad everyone is forced to pay half their income to fund this kinda crap....

Didn't even see that in London.

They ask you for spare change and when you say that you don't have any they whip pull out a card reader.

If they started with the card reader they'd get nothing.

I test rode a 2002 BMW R 1150 GSA a few hours ago with a view to buying it.

Apart from it's 6 speed gearbox the RT is better than the GS in pretty much every way.

I won't be buying.

I'm glad you got to test ride it. Only way to know. Some people love the GS, me not so much.

I can see why people like it so much but it's a total lump at slow speeds and much of the weight is high up.

The RT is so much better in the corners and is easier to ride in traffic even if it is missing a gear.

I actually ache from riding the GS which is weird.

The centrifugal filter and screen only need cleaning ever 8,000 miles. But, yes, it's a kinda of a PITA. The 2022 models and newer have an oil filter - way better, takes 5 minutes to do.

The GS is good for what it is as an adventure bike. Most of the people I see that buy them never go off road, at least not around here. They are very popular in the American west where you have long rides on dirt and gravel roads which is what I think they were built for anyway. But they do beat you up riding around town, and with the high center of weight ride goofy in the curves. Great bikes, but not for me.

I don't agree with cleaning the screen and spinner at 8000 miles.

3/4's of the mesh on my screen was clogged and there was a fair degree of slag around the spinner.

I'd ridden just 680 miles on a new engine.

I would have done the same, Bill Dog as there always some particles in the first oil change, which is probably the most important one. But the 8,000 mile inspection/clean is the factory recommendation, not mine. Also 4,000 mile oil change - I would change at 2,000 miles. Heck, it's not even a whole liter!

Honda says it's 1.1 Litre but it's 9.5. They lie to you.

Just to milk the GS thing for a little longer - I get the attraction of the GS because of it's sheer capability but are they being bought because they really are they good or are they being bought because people can't think about riding anything else ?

I mean if endless highways are your thing ( where you see a lot of GS's ) I think that a Touring motorcycle works better than an Adventure.

I found the buffeting from the minimal fly screen really tiresome at speed which I should imagine would take its toll long distance.

Even with a lowered seat I found myself sitting on the GS, rather than sitting in the RT.

Many buy off road vehicles like Jeeps, Land Rovers, etc.., because of the looks. I suspect much is the same with the GS models. Sometimes I think it's more of a life style thing that buying these machines for their intended purpose. It's not my money these owners are spending, but I don't see the sense of it all. What ever floats your boat.

Yeah I guess for BMW a sale is a sale is a sale and they don't care if it gets used or not once it's out of the showroom.

Accessories Sir ? Certainly, this way please.

This is actually a long-running organized thing, the card reader has a set purchase "amount" already built in to get your cc info so it can be cloned. They're given to people on the streets and they're only told they get to keep the "transaction amount" because the people running the thing get the cc info.

And there speaks the words of wisdom.

Exactly, but not just BMW of course. Example: I had to go down to a local Harley dealership recently to buy a couple of parts that I ordered in for a client. I drive up in my 2003 Toyota Tacoma, entered the joint and proceed back to the parts area without a passing glance from the salesmen loitering about. While at Parts, they were looking up my order (and not finding it), so I went back out to the sales area. A guy pulled up in a Mercedes, entered the showroom as was pounced on by a couple sales guys. Back to the parts area - they found my order in the computer and had most of the parts handy, but had not unpacked the previous shipment from the day before, where they were sure the rest of my order was. Would I be inclined to go get a cup of coffee and come back in an hour? No problem, I left with three vultures showing the Mercedes owner their line of CVO Harleys ($$$$). An hour later, returned got my parts and overheard the conversation going - " you could buy a cheaper machine but with the CVO line you get the best of everything and there still is plenty of room for customizing it to your personal taste." So more accessories were piled on top and the price when I walked by was over $50,000. But another case of where it probably won't be used for it's intended purpose of cruising across the country, racking up the miles. There were three pre-owned ones on the floor for sale with less than 3,000 miles on them. Some people like to show boat and are wiling to pay the cost.

They work to a script. Don't let anyone tell you any different.

Bet they make more on accessories! Some people like to load their bike up with crap and others strip it all off. Wonder if the Mercedes guy opted for the chrome skulls package? 😆

Many years back I was touring the US on a Triumph T120 and had to go to a Bike Shop in Colorado Springs and the After Sales guy was a little surprised to learn that I was riding Coast to Coast on something as "small" as a Bonneville.

That puzzled me until I got to a hotel in Barstow when my "small" Bonneville got surrounded by 7 or 8 Electra/Dyna/Soft/Hard/Low/High/Wide Glides and all of them were black, just to mix it up a bit.

I wondered did they all stop thinking for themselves or was I witnessing a "thing".

Accessories are where the real money is made. And the funny thing is that for many, many years, all that Willie G. Chrome crap that I detest is imported the far east. Adding to that, the quality is not so great. If fact, those parts are at best second rate. Goes along with the $50 T-shirts made in Pakistan or Haiti. I like the bikes, but don't like the company.

Purely a thing. Most just want to be part of a group. It's the ones that tour on their own or with one partner that ride what they want and don't give a damn about another's opinion.

Someone famous once said - If I can't afford the T-Shirt then I certainly can't afford the bike.

I can understand they need to make a living and keep the doors open. I just don't like that they wrap themselves with the flag of the USA, but sell and use parts made from somewhere else while calling it America's bike while looking down their noses at other brands.

I honestly wish that I'd written that.

The Illinois Tollway is what's pissing me off.
Somehow they haven't figured out how to find the transponder on a vehicle even when it shows up on a photo.
Yet they somehow are able to send the bill to the correct address.

After a couple of weeks going around and around with the theft attempt/partial parting of my little BMW G310 GS ([NSR] What's Pissing you off Today? III (Post 2696073)), it has finally been declared totaled by the insurance company.

ChibiGS: 2024-03-18 - 2024-08-23. I didn't know you for long, but I think I can shift now. Thank you. I hope you find somebody willing to deal with your borked wiring harness.

I do the vast majority of my miles on an adventure bike (Suzuki Vstrom 650). I call them the SUVs of the motorcycle world. They're capable of going almost anywhere, but most never leave the pavement. As for why people choose adventure bikes, for me it was my back injury (compression fracture in T12). I bought my first adventure bike when my back injury made riding my cruiser for any length of time (even an hour was problematic) overly painful. I bought a cheap second hand adventure bike to see if the more upright riding position made a difference, and on my first Saturday with an adventure bike I spend 13 hours in the saddle, comfortably. That's why I own one now, the format just works for me. And second hand Vstroms are really cheap, so I don't worry about it if I screw it up riding trails. I had a conversation about that with a guy on a very clean looking $50,000 (Canadian) BMW GS one day, when he commented about the dirt on my bike. When I told him how cheap it was ($5,500 Canadian with just 5,008km on it) he understood why I went with a second hand Vstrom instead of a new BMW. I'm a full convert to ADV bikes now, I do almost as many miles off pavement as on, and I do everything from local single-track (not too challenging single track, it weighs over 500lbs and I'm old and feeble) to day long freeway trips when I didn't leave myself enough time to come home from my latest adventure. It's not the best choice for either of those, but it's a decent choice for both of them, and I love the versatility. I don't really understand loading a bike up with accessories bofore you figure out how or even if you're going to use it, but I'm glad people do it. Each time I've been shopping for a bike I've been able to find, with some patience, one loaded up with everything I wanted on it, barely riden, at a fraction of it's new price. Please people, continue to load up your new bikes with every accessory imaginable. It's next owner will thank you.

I went with a $1000 Burgman and a Dry Bag.

Horses for courses.

If you can ride off-road on a Burgman you're a much more skilled rider than I am, but regardless, the scooter seating position on the Burgman, much like my Vespa, would only work for me for short distances. For longer rides, I need my feet underneath me so I can lift myself up and take the pressure off my back.

Your 'Horses for courses' comment is quite apt though. I CAN ride a horse, because my feet are underneath me...

What I'm getting at is that you don't need all that gear, or that bike either.

A Burgman, albeit not particularly sexy is good for a 300 or 400 mile day so much of these option extras aren't needed.

I think it's a form of over compensation.

Any bike can be a touring bike if you're stubborn enough.

Seems like a paraphrase of some other well-known saying about bravery.

Or an adventure bike 🛵💪