K11 Owners Group

SugarHillCTD · Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 6:45 am Post subject: Bon Voyage, OTG

According to the big guy's bike sale post, Dave and Paula are expected to load up their wagon train and strike off for the left coast TODAY!

We'll miss you back east, OTG.

Seriously, best of luck on your trip and hope you find a great life in Cal.

John & Cathy
_________________
John & Cathy

'92 K100RS4V Pearl White SOLD
'04 K1200GT
IBA Several-SS1k, BBG, 50CC NYC to S.F.

jpberens1994K1100RS · Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:20 am Post subject: Travel safe OTG

Safe travels OTG & wife, pets, possesions etc.

I think we will here from him again.

Being in the land of sunshine I can't see him not owning riding as soon as he can.

I learned about the love of a BFD from OTG while I was learning aout K's.

Hope to hear from you again.

This BFD pic is for you!

_________________
1993 K1100RS that I'd rather be riding FAST!
2014 Moto Guzzi Norge

SugarHillCTD · Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 9:10 pm Post subject:

OK,

Has anyone heard from the big guy?

OTG, where are you???????

Curious minds want to know.

John
_________________
John & Cathy

'92 K100RS4V Pearl White SOLD
'04 K1200GT
IBA Several-SS1k, BBG, 50CC NYC to S.F.

Jim · Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 9:36 pm Post subject:

They are sightseeing their way across - if the Honda trans he put in the Saturn makes the trip - otherwise they'll have to stop and change the trans or the car...

I'm sure we'll hear from him when they land.
_________________
Jim
1997 K1100LTSE 94,000 - still has gremlins!
1995 R100RT Classic 16,650 crashed - repaired!
1992 K75RTP 46,000

"We shall not all die, but we shall all be changed."

Steven B · Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2011 12:23 pm Post subject: Sweet

Wow, that is one sharp looking machine !!
_________________
Steven B
1991 K100RS
BMWMOA # 69791

Off the grid · Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 1:33 am Post subject:

I just saw this thread. It's been a long, strange trip.

The prep:
1. Original trailer was a double axle UHaul 6x10 trailer with "gravity" brakes (read-no brakes at all) that weighed....1900lbs. Unloaded. That's right. 1900 for the trailer ALONE.
2. Hitch was a Harbor Freight 2" bolt-on receiver hitch with a 2" ball and a slight up-swept receiver. 5k capacity, 500lb tongue weight.

Total weight of trailer was unknown, but I'm pretty sure it was close to 4000lbs. The trailer was packed. And not light stuff...2 bikes, mattress, air compressor, 2.5ton floor jack, AC unit, etc. I was actually scared to weigh it.

Work on the car....added no-name AT cooler, changed ATF fluid with Z1 using drop/fill technique 3x. (12q total)
Changed oil with Castrol GTX 5x20 dino.
Wasted about 20-30hrs on those piece of shit airbags before I finally cut them out and installed screw-in spring stiffeners. The airbags never worked right, the hoses leaked or kinked and they never held air. Total waste of time, and I even spent money to have them installed at the end. (after I worked about 10hrs on ONE side)
The rear suspension was too important to put in the hands of a product that you don't have faith in, so I gambled on the stock bumpers and a set of stiffeners....the VUE didn't miss a beat.

The skinny:

1. Sold everything. I mean everything. 2 huge garage sales, gave a ton of shit away, donated a lot to Goodwill and STILL had a ton of shit. Only kept gear, some clothes, some tools, 2 bicycles and minimal household stuff. At the start of the trip the trailer weighed in access of 4000lbs. The Saturn has a tow capacity of 3500lbs. Shocked

We made it south to Chattanooga and West on 40 to Amarillo before we needed to stop, repack and donate 1/4 of the crap we were carrying to goodwill/ 2 honest, local homeless indians that helped me unpack and repack in the UHAUL parking lot from 7pm to 6am. (including a Sealy Queen mattress and box spring, brand new window AC unit, 19" TV, Air Compressor, tools, CDs, clothes, and other semi-worthless shit)

Dropped the trailer from a 1900lb 6x10 to a 900lb 5x8. Why? Car started burning oil around Texas...and total loss of power. No oil light, no warnings, just loss of power. Like floored in 5th gear going up a hill and still not maintaining speed. In Albuquerque I drained/flushed the crap oil which was down 2 QTs (was brand new at the start, this was 2200 miles in the trip) put in another 5qts of the same crap oil, ran the truck for 15, drained it again....brand new oil came out blacker than pitch. I then put in new Synthetic and with the new trailer and the help of some cool truckers that let me draft for a few hundred miles, we made it home after 14 days on the road. The temp gauge never moved. The tranny never slipped or acted up. The only issue was the loss of power, oil burning and check engine light going on in VA. (which happens a lot, I chalked it up to bad gas...it went off and on 2x more during the trip and finally went off by itself permanently, which it always does)

Now? Like nothing ever happened. The Vue acts like it did before. Same power, tranny is tight, etc. I fucking love that truck. I literally flogged the shit out of it and it came through smiling.

2. 3700 miles. South through Richmond to Chattanooga (great Aquarium and food!) to Nashville (not impressed..."5 star" hotel was horrible too) then off to Memphis, checked out Graceland and a shot of the Kings unit with huge right hand.

Which promptly overcame this southern belle so bad she hit the deck.

In the beginning the trip was awesome. Took our time, stopped and ate local food, crashed at roach coaches at night. As the trip went on, the road wore on us as I was the only driver. When the truck started acting up, all bets were off and we bee-lined it to the new place...skipped Santa Fe, Helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon, stealing an alien from Area 51, selling a Coca-Cola antique at Pawn Stars, etc. After the truck almost died we drafted trucks and made for "home". Bah. We will go back. It ain't like we are clear across the country. Razz

We arrived to our sight-unseen Apartment, slept on an air mattress for 10 days while we furnished the place with local Thrift stores and Craigslist finds. The only thing we splurged on was a brand new King mattress from Macys.....best 2k I ever spent. House was 95% furnished in 10 days.

I started the new job on the 5th, and like most things it's been far better than I expected.

Last thoughts:

1. We are never going back to the East Coast. Ever. I should have done this 15 years ago. If you can find work, move here. Now. If you want details, PM me.
2. There are good people all over this great country but it only takes a few assholes to spoil the brew.
3. Any semi-famous place/idea/person/group or smell has been whored out and commercialized to the nth degree.
4. Most folks in CA think the traffic is bad, the home prices are too high, there is no jobs, etc. If they spent a year in NY they would be singing a different tune.

Having no bikes with perfect weather is much better than having many bikes and shitty weather. With the home prices here we will be homeowners in a year or less. There will always be an extra bed for the wayward motorcyclist. (cats will be hidden when/if Jo comes over)

I have pics, but no time...will update when I can.
-Dave
_________________
Bane of your existence since July 2006
2007 Triumph Tiger ABS. "Sabertooth"
2009 Husqvarna TE610. "The dirty Italian mistress"

Scott_Anderson · Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 7:01 am Post subject:

Glad to hear from you Dave, how did Paula handle all of this.
Sounds like you have had a very interesting and adrenaline pumping trip.
_________________
Ride safe.

1995 K1100LT 0302044
2017 FLHTK Ultra Limited
Garmin StreetPilot 2820
Garmin Zumo 550
Garmin Zumo XT
"One who does not ask questions is ashamed to learn" Danish proverb
1997 K1100LT 0302488(R.I.P.)
1997 R1100RT ZC62149(sold)

abreeze · Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 10:52 am Post subject:

Off the grid · Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 2:51 pm Post subject:

abreeze · Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 5:13 pm Post subject:

Off the grid · Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 5:36 pm Post subject: