New Member-U.S. Specs

[Sandcityflyer]

Hi, I'm a new member, from Monterey, California, home of Laguna Seca, the venue for the upcoming 1st US MotoGP. I was stationed in England for 10 years between 58-77, and grew to really enjoy the country and the British wit. You folks have refined piss-taking to a fine art! I see that one of our local riders, Jeff Williams, is visiting Britain this month, The guy can really ride! I was on a recent Mid-Cal Ride which he hosted and it was terrific. He has a knack for finding fantastic twisty roads with a minimum of interferance from cages and cops. Were doing it again this weekend. I am attempting to attach a photo of my S, of which I'm very proud. Cheers,
Jerry M

[julian]

Hi Jeff and welcome.
I do like that stripey colour scheme.
Have travelled down your neck of the woods a coupe of times on the old Harley D.

Julian

[bernsmartco]

Jerry,
Whats this an american bike that looks almost normal.
You must have spent too long over here.

[Archie]

Jerry

Welcome aboard.

That's a quality colour scheme you have there. Cover it in winter crap and it'll look just like mine!

Cheers

Alan

[boxerpan]

Welcome Jerry,
mine looked a bit like that in the beginning

[Mick Mac]

Hi Jerry,

Welcome on board! Like the bike (shame it's not black!).

How did you get manage to get such blinging fork legs?

Mick Mac

[Sandcityflyer]

Thanks for the welcome. I "grew up" in England. I arrived there when I was 17 and the youngest flight engineer in the Air Force. I was stationed first at RAF Fairford, Glos; which is still my favorite place in the whole wide world. I had nothing but good times and met wonderful people. Part of my job was keeping my airplane clean and shiny. I've probably polished enough aluminium (get that sp?) to pave the M1. I think that polished metal, other than chrome is about as nice as it gets. I bought my bike used, with 20,000 miles on it 3 1/2 years ago. It was in good shape and I fell in love immediately. Being an old nit-picker, I was unimpressed, and somewhat chagrined that BMW would paint silver and black over many of the choice bits on the bike, but I layed it off to some modern, low-key look. I hadn't had a bike in 30 years, so I wasn't up to date. Anyway, upon looking the painted ally bits over, especially the forks and triple clamps, but also the levers, barends and the rearsets, I saw that Herr Beemer had just painted over the roughish castings, without even grinding off the casting flashing, your levers and rearsets being the best, or worst example. I have a bit of time on my hands so I pulled them off and went to work with my hand file and several grits of wet/dry sandpaper. I finished it off with Simichrome, but "Wadpole" would work just as well. Do they still make that stuff? By the end of the day I had some of the most beautiful levers and rearsets/gearshift/brake lever you've ever seen. Each of the parts mentioned are beautiful when polished, and I wouldn't trade them for any of the cheap looking (to me) and lightweight aftermarket parts I've seen. The stuff looks strong, shiney and GERMAN when polished. To me, the term "Bling" is the Harley chromey look. That ain't me. The forks and triple clamps are a problem on our bikes. Almost every example I've seen has silver paint flaking off the lower legs and clamp. If it isn't flaking off it's usually roughish under the paint. That's corrosion, folks! I just got an old pillow and got down there with some 120 grit and sanded the sheiza outa them babies. Yeah, I knew there were some beautiful forks under that crappy paint. The more I polished the happier I got with the results. Now I merely have to maintain the effect, and it's more difficult with some parts than others, and I'm not certain why that is. For example, the rearsets and all the levers seem to last months without maintenance. The forklegs need more attention, which is expected given their exposure. The front of the lower triple clamp needs a bit of polish every week (???). The most labor intensive, yet beautiful when polished parts were the barends, but being brass the fine shine lasted about 24 hours, if lucky. I finally got some polished stainless "Thottlemeisters", which look great and need almost no maintenance. The top clamp doesn't need so much attention, but I polish it regularly anyway, just to keep in practice. That baby gleems. It's like a mirror, and gets a lot of kudos from admirers. It's not without drawbacks however, as night riding in town gives spooky, cop-car like reflections as you pass under street lamps. That's about it; no special tools, just a file, some sandpaper and polish. IMO it is indeed a stunner, and I wouldn't trade it for any other bike. If I was Mr Beemer I would produce a model such as mine, for folks that want the look and feel of a very luxurious machine. If any of you Boxertrix folks get to Laguna Seca, look me up. I love to ride and talk bikes with others. Have a pint of Best Bitters for me, please. Cheers, Jerry