Today was the first ride on the recently acquired K1100LT " Modest Mavis ". She is a 1997 SE model on 59k miles with colour matched BMW luggage and has had a recent ground up rebuild. Starting her up a couple of times has produced belching smoke from the exhaust and a garden full of smoke. Investigation showed oil level ok but coolant expansion tank all but empty at cold.The addition of 3/4 litre of 40/60 antifreeze/boiled water followed by an oil change gave a smokeless start with just a whisper of moisture from the exhaust. Pumped up the tyres, gave the bike a once over for anything loose - ready to rock ! Immediate first impression is that the bike is easier to put on/off the centre stand than Ethel and the big bars help when moving it about to park.The motor revs up really quickly but also pulls strongly when short shifting. Leaving the 30 limit the bike jumps straight up to 80 in the time I am used to Ethel getting to 60. Mindful of the previous smoky exhaust a stop to check and rev showed all clear. On the twisties the bike is a heavy lump to realign mid corner - normal BMW rules apply, make your mind up and stick to it. On to dual carriageway and let it rev out in first 3 gears then short shift to top for effortless 100mph cruising. The advantage I was looking for was roll on acceleration from 85-90 to nip past gaggles of traffic joining a motorway so dropped back and then wound it full on in 5th. Great, instant 3 figure speed. This ride was in blustery drizzle so I was pleased to find myself sitting in a dry bubble behind the giant fairing and able to look over the screen but with the windblast going over my head. The very slab sided fairing is a sail in cross winds so care needed. Not so impressed with the view from the car type mirrors but noticed tapped mirror stanchion holes on the levers so may fit these - one mirror has a cracked glass needing an expensive replacent anyway so a pair of stalk mirrors would not cost much more. Next up is working out how to fit the top box plus wiring in the Tom Tom.Also the heated grip wires exit the handlebars but disappear down below somewhere, there is no switch so it could be a case of checking the wiring and fitting the switch to get them working. Would also like hazards but no switch for this either. So far so good then. A nice quick bike but it somehow misses the smooth oddball charm of Ethel.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
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