While enjoying the company of my fellow riders and our wonderful host, Mark, over my insisted upon touristy clam chowder lunch and my phone rings. Area code says it hails from Colorado. A familiar voice is on the other end, Brook Reams, who you might remember vouched for Clem back in Denver. Turns out Brook had been following this blog, saw that I had some more bike troubles after Colorado and was checking in on me. A bit in awe of the gesture I proceeded to thank him and explain that our blog posts are actually a few days behind so by now we’ve actually made it to San Fran. He begins asking about my bike’s symptoms and we go back and forth a bit on what it may be and what my next steps should be to check for a solution but not before asking my permission to send a message out to other BMW owners in the area. I’d just have to agree to have my number listed, should any weird numbers call, it’s probably in regards to that. Ok, couldn’t hurt.
We had spent the day sight seeing in San Francisco and with the volt gauge and fresh battery I was monitoring it throughout the day to get a better idea of what might be happening. Was my bike not charging enough or not charging at all? Needless to say, by the time we finished lunch there wasn’t enough juice to turn her over. Bruno and Gomes had to give me a push so I could pop the clutch while in 2nd gear to get the bike to start. In fear that I might get stranded too far from where we were staying I decided to shoot straight to Mark’s house. The longest 30 minute ride of my life commenced as I repeatedly prayed the words ‘come on, just come on’ all the way down the 101. As the exit comes up I fabricate an excuse should the law bother to stop me for I’m about to disrespect the rules of the road. Stop signs have transformed into yields as far as I’m concerned and luckily I only need to make right turns so I turn on reds swiftly.
After safely making it to the parking lot my tools start to come out to try and run some tests on electrical components. I have the front cover off the motor when my phone starts to vibrate, a California phone number lights up the screen. The gentleman on the other end says he saw Brook’s message online and wanted to let me know he had a few parts available depending on what I needed. I almost forgot that Brook had sent this message out as I didn’t know what to expect from the online community but after reaching the conclusion that I need to narrow down which electrical component needs to be replaced I tell the gentleman on the phone that I’ll call him once I did so. Then, it was like the proverbial flood gates were opened. Just about anyone within 2 hours of my location that had parts for this kind of BMW gave me a ring. Eventually, someone says they know a guy near me that might be able to take care of the situation. He says he’ll give him a call and that I should expect a call from Greg.
Not long after, said Greg calls me up. He says he has a shop about 2 exits away and can be here in 15 minutes with a trailer. I stutter, repeatedly, before hearing myself say ‘yea ok let’s do it.’ Mind you, it’s about 8-9pm on a Sunday. Well, without fail, 15 minutes later there was a Subaru in the parking lot with a trailer attached. Greg, an older gentleman, has the confidence that only flourishes under the umbrella of experience. I feel like I’m in the right hands once again so we load up the bike and head to his shop.
On the way over, Greg is explaining to me how fixing BMW’s is just his ‘hobby’ but once the shop is in sight one begins to reevaluate what the word hobby actually means. There are 7 lifts with various combinations of R-series BMW’s and walls lined with boxes of extra parts. If my bike can’t get fixed here, it doesn’t deserve to be on the road. Let’s get started.
Greg puts tools in my hands and starts point at what need to come off. Seat – off. Gas tank -off. Front cover – off. He brings out a fresh battery and wires it in. With a voltmeter hooked to the battery terminals we fire the bike and study the reading. Voltage isn’t rising fast enough as the throttle is twisted so Greg grabs a voltage regulator to replace mine just to see.
Same results, ok not voltage regulator. Next we pull the diode board and magically Greg has another ready to swap in so I do just that.
Same results, so not the diode board. Next we replace the whole field coil housing and make a tweak to the brushes to apply more pressure on the slip rings.
Same results, so not any of that stuff. It’s gotten late Greg requests that we come back in the morning – he needs to sit there and stare at the bike for a bit. I understand completely and regretfully leave as I’d much prefer to stick around to figure this out.
At 8am the following morning I’m riding Bruno’s bike down to the shop on this fresh but sunny California morning. Greg is there waiting for me and when I ask what the verdict is he replies: “I fixed it”. A new rotor and starter motor later I’m back on the road. I pay Greg for the parts and thank him not only for his help but for the whole experience.
It’s amazing to look backing at this and realize that if we didn’t have this blog Brook wouldn’t have known I was in trouble and wouldn’t have called.
Marco, Great to see your problems are resolved and are on your way… Thanks to Greg and his wonderful help as well as his shop… Dave in Livermore!!
In the motorcycle communities, and I can really only speak for BMW and Honda forums, members will bend over backwards to help their fellow riders. I cannot tell you how many times I have had multiple replies in a short amount of time from the Honda CX forum while building a custom cafe. Join the forums and reach out when needed. And of course, help others when you can.