The wheels are turning...

[cdc]

I am glad the wait is OVER.
Congratulation on a very nice bike.

[Gilk51]

Originally Posted by WoodButcher

Thank goodness you finally posted this. I was about to burst.

I knew this would happen - Scott's initials are GS...

[Jerry]

Good choice Scott - congratulations!

[WoodButcher]

Originally Posted by Gilk51

I knew this would happen - Scott's initials are GS...

Well, he and have been emailing for a while about different bikes that have become available. I went down to look at this one at Lone Star when Scott told me he was interested in it. But that a week ago. So I've been quiet since then as Lone Star got it prepped for him. Wish I could be at lunch tomorrow for the debut.

[jhansen]

now it needs to get DIRTY!

[klb1122]

Congrats again, Scott!

[M38A1]

I need to thank Kurt for the Indian Head Test Pattern logo...

Those who have been around quite a while recognize every time Kurt was looking at a new bike or in the process of changing 'inventory', he would change his avatar to the test pattern. I've been fortunate to be able to use it a couple times with only one person sending me a PM with "what's up"? lol....

Yeah, this place has a sense of humor.


On a related note, I learned last night the white '06 GSA I had noted earlier in this post has again sold. Not sure if a local person bought it yet, but the owner let me know he moved it due to size.



.

[Tourmeister]

Originally Posted by M38A1

On a related note, I learned last night the white '06 GSA I had noted earlier in this post has again sold. Not sure if a local person bought it yet, but the owner let me know he moved it due to size.

Is there some kind of waiting list for that bike?

[DaveC]

Originally Posted by Tourmeister

Is there some kind of waiting list for that bike?

It's a cult thang.

[M38A1]

Hey TM, the '06 R1150GSA SE stayed in Austin! He lost his identical last one to a house fire recently so this was a fall-in-your-lap kind of thing for him.

[M38A1]

Well, that 1150GSA was short lived, right up until the point November 1st when the lady turned left in front of me and totaled it. Since then I've had a smooth insurance process for the property side. Still sorting out the medical side and who knows where it will go next....

Two beautiful R1150GSA's on ADVRider now, both in Texas and attractively priced too.... And a pretty nice R1200GS in Houston. Hmmm....

Today I ran by Lonestar to check on an F650, but it was gone. So a quick hop over to Woods and sat on the following just for giggles with first impressions:

1) DL650 "Wee", used. Two of 'em. One good/one not so good
2) TW200, new, stubby little fellow
3) KLR250, new, ok for height, rock hard seat
4) KLX250S, new, ok for height, better seat than the KLR250
5) CRF250L, new, ok for height, awesome seat, fuel injection, RED
6) DR650, new, ok for height, old school guages...
7) KLR650, new, a little tall, one heavy beast
8) XR650L, new, one must be a jolly green giant to sit on that one


Too many choices....
.

[bigdon55]

Scott , have you thought about an 800 GS. Low seat height.
Plenty of power but not so much weight!
I like mine!

[M38A1]

Don,
Yes, I've ridden the F650 twin a few times, the new F700 for a short test hop, and a couple F800's. For me at least, the F650 twin was ok, the F700 in all honesty for me was lacking something and the F800GS was approaching the tall side again. Of the three, I think I liked the 800 the best, but it sort of goes against my tubeless tires thing. Then again, so did 90% of what I sat on yesterday along with a few other 'requirements'.

Sat on a Tiger800 and it did feel good. XC approaching that too tall mark.

Maybe I'll just stick with the Cervelo P2 for a while?


.

[Daytrader]

Just for you Scott.

[Gilk51]

Oh, Scott, just admit that it will be a GS1xxx.

You can't deny it.

It is YOU!

Now, get with the program and go get one.

Now!

[WoodButcher]

Originally Posted by M38A1

Don,

Maybe I'll just stick with the Cervelo P2 for a while?

.

Which also violates the tubeless tire requirement...

[kurt]

Go buy one of the 1150's and let's just get this over with.

[WoodButcher]

I say we just take him out behind the coffee trailer and work him over with rubber hoses until he promises to get something.

[euromedic]

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showp...94&postcount=1

Youre welcome

[M38A1]

Originally Posted by Gilk51

Oh, Scott, just admit that it will be a GS1xxx.

You can't deny it.

It is YOU!

Now, get with the program and go get one.

Now!

Originally Posted by kurt

Go buy one of the 1150's and let's just get this over with.

Ummmm..... OK.




The past few days sort of came together in a hurry, and I have to say - this is another one of those 'deals' that you have to see as soon as it's posted or you miss out. I've been fortunate on three like this now (clean/low miles)

I had been hitting CL pretty hard looking for another bike. My mind was wandering all over the board using search terms of KLX250S, R1150GS, R1200GS, Wee, Strom, DR350. So you can see I hadn't made up my mind for exactly what I was looking for. I found quite a few bikes, but still hadn't decided on what I REALLY wanted.

Thursday I was exchanging emails/texts with Dennis (ceedec) out of Katy. He still had his pristine (600 miles) '09 KLX250S with about a grand in performance add-ons not yet installed. It was Gary Harris's bike who bought it brand new from Wild West Honda, bought all the stuff, then sold it to Dennis with 42 miles and paper tags. So Dennis put 550 or so miles on it and came to the realization he just didn't ride it much, all the areas he did ride were now built up, and he was a mile-eater at heart. I found out about that bike last summer and really thought hard about it then as well. So we made plans for me to run down to Katy Friday to look, ride and hopefully buy it. I kept thinking about "how" I would use it and kept coming back to "in town or at Big Bend". I've recognized in town is the most dangerous place of all, and I've never been off-road like Big Bend. And I really like being able to just get on the bike and go. Far. Without issues or many concerns. I called him back Thursday evening and had to bow out. He totally understood as he's in the 'same place' my head is.

So when I decided the little bike wouldn't fit a "one bike solution" for me, I called Robert over at Lonestar BMW. I had mentioned it to him a while back and he was very interested. All the while, I never gave up "who" had it, but had narrowed down the location to "Katy". He was still interested. So I told Dennis I might have a buyer anyway, called Robert and they worked out a deal over the phone. I ran into Dennis Saturday at the fish fry and he was all smiles. He and Robert worked it so Robert was coming down Sunday to get it. That Dennis really is a good guy.....

I get home from the fish fry and hit CL again about 4:30pm. The first "BMW" that pops up was for a 2002 R1150GS in Victoria listed in the Austin CL which was posted at 2:30pm. Sort of brief advert, yet I sent a request to see it Sunday if possible. (low miles at 17.9, jessie's, clean etc) He writes back I'm #2 in the queue and Sunday about 2pm would be good. Through a series of emails, I learned more about the bike which was pointing towards a nice one, low miles, very clean, one owner short of the guy selling it. Through our emails, the sticking point was the banks were closed and I didn't want to miss, but didn't have the cash in the safe. I tossed everything I could at him to show I wasn't a scammer. Pointed him to TWT, my websites, photo albums for trips. He said "We can work something out. Oh, and you're #1 in the queue, the other guy backed out without looking at it". WooHoo! So we bumped up the time I'd be in Victoria to noon Sunday.

I had arranged for Debbie to drive me down to Victoria, but when I got up Sunday morning she was still in the rack and I could tell it was not high on her list of things she really wanted to do. Saturday night I had sent Tom (TexTom) an email asking if he wanted to run down in the morning so he could drive my truck back if I liked it. But I didn't hear back from him until about 1:30 Sunday afternoon.

So I texted Rusty (Woodbutcher) to see if his trailer was again available. If you recall, it was Rusty who provided the trailer when I ran up to Tulsa to pick up the 2006 R1150GSA/SE (the Alpine white matte finish that wound up being too tall). Rusty said he needed to wire a plug issue but had the materials there to do so. I gathered up my gear, grabbed my checkbook and a Bill of Sale pre-filled with the info, a pre-printed U130, directions and headed North to Rustys. He was just finishing up the trailer and when done, we hooked it up, I grabbed some straps and headed back South to Victoria.

I got there and it was sitting in the driveway all pretty looking. As I walked up I introduced myself and he was a really nice guy (and TWT member I subsequently learned after I got home). I started peeking here and there and it was REALLY clean. As I'm looking, I'm asking questions. Turns out the bike is from IL and his boss and he fly to F1 and MotoGP races everywhere. So I got the impression it was a 'toy' of sorts for the original owner. He rode it 17k or so then put it in storage. After about 10 years, he sold it to the individual selling it.

From my initial looking, it had the lexan headlight protection discs, a metal headlight rock guard, what I believe to be the ADV engine protection bars, bar ends and a throttlemeister, tankbag, Jessie black side cases and a Jessie rear storage rack/box thing (almost like a gun safe) While I'm poking around the cockpit I say "no way I can get this lucky" to him.... I'm staring at an older Garmin round 4-wire plug taped off and zip tied to the crossbar. He says "what is that"? "It's a hardwire for power to the older Garmin GPS3iii units, of which I have and use". lol....

One of my concerns was the ABS pump and their known propensity for failure. I spoke with Robert and he said all I could really do was flog the brakes several times, turn it on and off several times and see if it worked. That's all they can do for the most part (they can see the fault record and computer-activate the system, but they can't tell of impending failure). He also said to check the brake fluid and it was clear, not dirty/brown. Seeing clear fluid was a bit comforting at that point. The engine oil looked great in the sight glass as well.

So I sit on it while on the centerstand. Toes are able to touch the ground as I remembered and I ask to rock it off forward. "Sure"! Rolled right off the centerstand and when it landed, BOTH feet were flat-footed on terra-firma. And that was in tennis shoes. Yep. The GS is "my size".

I started it up and all the systems appeared functional. Tested all the buttons, heated grips, blinkers. Everything. The throttle seems to be tight in turning, but it released just fine (need to figure that out....) I shut it down, put the kickstand out and he said I needed to go ride it. So I geared up and as I was walking back he said "have fun". I then noticed his second bike there (a Victory) and said "where would you ride after work to decompress? One that has speed, twisties, hard acceleration, braking and just scenic"? The lightbulb went off and he said "Lets Go"! So I followed him on a test ride. A FIFTY-MINUTE test ride that had everything I asked for and then some. I flogged it. I babied it. I knew about half-way through it was going home with me (more on that....)

So we're a mile from his house at a stoplight and the fuel light comes on for both bikes. He points to the shell station and we head there. He pulls up to a pump and I circle around to the other side. He says "Hey, come back over here so I can splash it". I say "Now why would I want you to fill MY bike up"? lol.... He got a big grin. To match mine I suppose.

We topped the tanks off and rode back to his place where I put it in the driveway and geared down. I was sold on it.

But how to pay for it? The banks were closed Saturday when I got home from the Fish Fry. I didn't have enough cash to cover it in the safe? He didn't have a business account to take a credit card.... So I proposed writing him a check, he keeps the title and U130 until it clears then mails me the documents. To get the bike home, I'd add the bike to my insurance there on speaker phone and he'd give me a Bill of Sale to show ownership. It worked. He said after 30 minutes of talking with me and me just plopping down to sit in the driveway and talk about the bike and riding, he knew I wasn't a scammer - that I REALLY knew about THESE specific bikes. Like I mentioned earlier, he was a heck of a nice guy to talk with. Turns out he has also restored a couple cars much like me and the jeep.

So we went inside, completed the paperwork, insurance call and he gave me the whole wad of keys, Bill of Sale, owners manual and other stuff. "Other stuff" included a new BMW heated vest and cord, and a new BatteryTender brand charger. I wasn't expecting that....

We loaded the bike up together, said our goodbyes and I headed North for the windy trip home. Stopping in Lockhart for 'lunch' about 4:30, I realized I hadn't eaten ALL day. No wonder I was hungry.

I got home and called TexTom to help unload it. We poked around it for a while, he left, then I headed North to Rusty's to drop the trailer off. Got to Rusty's and it was cold and windy. Ugh. We put the trailer up, had some nice conversation then I made the run back South to my place and called it a good day.

Now that it's home and poking around, I had noticed it needed a new rear tire. Out of curiosity I checked the date codes and they were 2402 and 2902. Or in simple terms, the ORIGINAL Metzler Tourance tires with just shy of 18k. Needless to say, I asked my trusted advisor Rusty about replacements and he steered me into wanting to install my first set by myself. I promptly ordered a new set of Metzler Tourance which should be here Friday, and we'll do the install on Saturday.

Yesterday I ran around 50 or so miles doing errands and just felt 'at home' on the standard GS. It's just a part of me. It has 'soul'.

And that's the story of what I might just call the bike "Number Five".

.