Sunday, January 19, 2014
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
GS Trophy 2013 September 20-22 2013
2013 GS Trophy
This year I participated in the 2013 GS Trophy help at the BMW Performance Center in Greer SC. It was a 3 day event of testing your on and off road skills. This event was not to see how fast you an go but how well you can do it. This year I rode my trust 2008 BMW R1200 GS Adventure. All and only BMW bikes were welcome from a minimum of 450cc and all bikes must be street legal.
Day 1.
On day one we did all on road trials. Most of all that was tested on day one was how well you can handle your bike. We did many tight turn and slow maneuvering courses where your steering goes from lock to lock. Points are deducted if you tap your foot on the ground, stall, drop your bike, hit a cone or go outside over the line. We did slalom courses with cones up to 10 apart, and tight radius turns where if you take a turn to wide you won't make the next checkpoint. One of the hardest challenges was you have 30 seconds to go as slow as you can and stay between the lines. If you touch or cross the lines you loose all points. If you go past the furthest line before your time is up you also loose all points. The shortest distance gone the more points you get. We did about 10 overall courses that day and most of everyone seemed to have done well. like Myself though there were a few dropped bikes but everyone still seemed to be having a good time.
Day two.
On day two we were tested on our off road skills. In the morning we had to complete everything from steep hill climbs to gravel pits, tight cornering, to large rock pits. On day two is where a lot of the scores changed. There were many riders new to off road with little off road experience so those who did well on the paved roads, their places were up for grabs when the off road scores came in. That afternoon we grabbed lunch and that's when the real challenge began. Our last test was the X5 off road course. By this time the weather was rolling in and it was starting to sprinkle. Not to bad at first. Our bikes were dusty and we are all adventure riders. Rain to us just means our bikes get a proper adventure cleaning. The only issue the rain brought to us was on the X5 course and the slippery rocks. For those who don't know the X5 course is the BMW Training Facility where you can go and take a BMW X5 off road and see what they can really do. It was everything from steep inclines to water crossings, sharp inclines and big bumps. For most of the course it was pretty simple. Stay within the cones and don't put your feet down or drop the bike. But due to the rain and the rocks being slippery, making sure you don't drop the bike was the biggest issue. When your back tire skids with no traction and your going up a hill or down a hill it's really hard not to put down your feet. At the end of the X5 course was the water crossing. It stopped about 10 in their tracks including myself. For those who started we got hit with a wave and when we got hit the wave went into out intake and shut down our engines. At that time we had to push our bikes out of the 2 feet of water and start pulling the spark plugs to drain out the water. I was also one of those who didn't make it and had to pull my spark plugs to drain out the water. After pulling the plugs and getting the bike started again, I was back up and running. Next on the to do list was to change the oil when I got home.
Day 3.
On day three I did not participate. At the end of day two the scores were added up and the top 12 go on to day three to compete again for the top 3 to make Team USA. On day three it was a mix up between everything.
More photos can be found on my Facebook Page along with videos of the GS Trophy 2013.
Click here to Access Facebook..
This year I participated in the 2013 GS Trophy help at the BMW Performance Center in Greer SC. It was a 3 day event of testing your on and off road skills. This event was not to see how fast you an go but how well you can do it. This year I rode my trust 2008 BMW R1200 GS Adventure. All and only BMW bikes were welcome from a minimum of 450cc and all bikes must be street legal.
Day 1.
On day one we did all on road trials. Most of all that was tested on day one was how well you can handle your bike. We did many tight turn and slow maneuvering courses where your steering goes from lock to lock. Points are deducted if you tap your foot on the ground, stall, drop your bike, hit a cone or go outside over the line. We did slalom courses with cones up to 10 apart, and tight radius turns where if you take a turn to wide you won't make the next checkpoint. One of the hardest challenges was you have 30 seconds to go as slow as you can and stay between the lines. If you touch or cross the lines you loose all points. If you go past the furthest line before your time is up you also loose all points. The shortest distance gone the more points you get. We did about 10 overall courses that day and most of everyone seemed to have done well. like Myself though there were a few dropped bikes but everyone still seemed to be having a good time.
Day two.
On day two we were tested on our off road skills. In the morning we had to complete everything from steep hill climbs to gravel pits, tight cornering, to large rock pits. On day two is where a lot of the scores changed. There were many riders new to off road with little off road experience so those who did well on the paved roads, their places were up for grabs when the off road scores came in. That afternoon we grabbed lunch and that's when the real challenge began. Our last test was the X5 off road course. By this time the weather was rolling in and it was starting to sprinkle. Not to bad at first. Our bikes were dusty and we are all adventure riders. Rain to us just means our bikes get a proper adventure cleaning. The only issue the rain brought to us was on the X5 course and the slippery rocks. For those who don't know the X5 course is the BMW Training Facility where you can go and take a BMW X5 off road and see what they can really do. It was everything from steep inclines to water crossings, sharp inclines and big bumps. For most of the course it was pretty simple. Stay within the cones and don't put your feet down or drop the bike. But due to the rain and the rocks being slippery, making sure you don't drop the bike was the biggest issue. When your back tire skids with no traction and your going up a hill or down a hill it's really hard not to put down your feet. At the end of the X5 course was the water crossing. It stopped about 10 in their tracks including myself. For those who started we got hit with a wave and when we got hit the wave went into out intake and shut down our engines. At that time we had to push our bikes out of the 2 feet of water and start pulling the spark plugs to drain out the water. I was also one of those who didn't make it and had to pull my spark plugs to drain out the water. After pulling the plugs and getting the bike started again, I was back up and running. Next on the to do list was to change the oil when I got home.
Day 3.
On day three I did not participate. At the end of day two the scores were added up and the top 12 go on to day three to compete again for the top 3 to make Team USA. On day three it was a mix up between everything.
More photos can be found on my Facebook Page along with videos of the GS Trophy 2013.
Click here to Access Facebook..
My number this year.
Team Orange
The red cones is the slalom course
Of course there is a camera around when I go down.
The aftermath after my spill. I was laughed at when I first bought
that lever guard. Well it saved me $3000. Well worth it.
The gang
The first hill of the day.
Yard Sale anyone. Someone forgot to latch their top box going down the hill.
The large Rock pit.
The Rock pits first victim
X5 course steep decline on the wet slippery rocks
The objective. Weave between the cones and come to a complete stop at each set of cones.
Gravity was not my friend today and neither was friction.
Yes I finally made it down saftly.
How low can you go?
The Gravel Pit with Blair taking it like a Boss.
The Gravel pit. Soft deep very loose gravel. Not your normal gravel road
Those who weren't so lucky in the water hole. Gathered in the tent to pull plugs
to get their bikes started again.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
24k service 6-13-13
Its crazy I'm already due for a 24k service already. I bought the bike with 10k on the clock back in December of 2012. I guess you could say I really like this bike. So for this service I did the normal 24k service but I also did a few extras. For the service here's the list.
As for the extra stuff. I had two aux plugs installed at the dealer. But me being me. I didn't like the wiring. So I removed the plastic and the tank completely off. re-ran the wires for the 2 aux ports and the GPS. I ran the wires along the factory harness and put it in a protective sleeve. Now it looks as if it was factory and no rubbing. Installed the Fuse block finally. Also modified the seat to allow extra room under the seat.
- plugs
- all fluids (oil diff and trans.
- checked brakes. Back brakes were getting low. Bought new rear pads and installed 8-4-13
- adjusted valves and checked rockers. only right side intake was out of spec but not by much.
- adjust throttle body with Twin-max.
- checked the alternator belt. belt looked to be in good condition. Decided not to replace and keep new belt as spare.
- Checked tires.
- and a thorough inspection of everything else.
As for the extra stuff. I had two aux plugs installed at the dealer. But me being me. I didn't like the wiring. So I removed the plastic and the tank completely off. re-ran the wires for the 2 aux ports and the GPS. I ran the wires along the factory harness and put it in a protective sleeve. Now it looks as if it was factory and no rubbing. Installed the Fuse block finally. Also modified the seat to allow extra room under the seat.
lubing the splines and inspecting the driveshaft.
Remove the tank and it doesn't look like such a big bike anymore.
Adding the fuse block
Perfect fit
Seat mod to allow room for tools and new fuse block under seat.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
BMW RA Rally 2013 at the Biltmore Estates in Asheville NC.
This years BMW RA Rally was help at the Biltmore Estates in Asheville NC. The Rally was help on the property of the Biltmore which was really cool. How many people get to say they got to camp on the Biltmores' front lawn. As for the Rally there wasn't much really there to do. If you ask me it was like a Bike week in Myrtle Beach but instead of bearded old men on Harley Davidson's it's old more clean cut men on BMW's. The Rally had a turn out of about 2500 people and up. No matter where you seem to go in Asheville you would have come across BMW's in packs. Lined up in front of all the stores and popping in and off of the highway all day long. One of the benefits of being part of the RA Rally that weekend was we got full access to the whole park. We could visit the house everyday, go to the Wine Vineyard anytime and come and go off the property whenever we wanted. It was great.
On Thursday I had the bike pre packed. I stayed up late Wednesday to finish packing and make sure I was ready to roll out after work Thursday. At 4pm Thursday I was already changed and walking out the door at work. I didn't stop nor pass go and collect my $200. I was gone. turned on some tunes and hit Interstate 40. After a few hours as I got the RA. and set up camp and did it feel great to lay down.
Friday was the big day. Friday I signed up for the Adventure Raid Course the GS Giants built on the Biltmore property. The course consisted of 7 obstacles. It had everything from tight corners to crossing over logs. going over dirt hills and mud. Wet dirty deep mud. I signed up for the bike big medium course. To be honest I thought I did pretty damn good too for being as small as I am and having to handle a 600lb bike. The rest of Friday was just go out and explore Ashville. But sadly due to the extreme fun I did have to spend some time at Starbucks to get homework done. Then explored Asheville some more. I've always passed by Asheville and been there tons of times but never really had the chance to stop and just see what all there is to offer. It was good to see what's there.
Saturday was the big day where the RA took over. All the venders opened up, and those who couldn't make it earlier in the week all showed up on Saturday for the weekend. For all the bikes that were already there. The bikes tripled. GS's everywhere. Beautiful sight. At 5pm all the BMW's got together and took over the main gate and parked all over the front steps of the Biltmore. (see photo below). We had so many bikes we ran out of places to park them and they just started parking everywhere they could fit. It was a great photo op. While we were all gathering together there was a new wed couple who got married and were taking photos in front of the Biltmore. I'm not sure if they knew though that there were going to be bikes everywhere blocking their photo. But front he look on the grooms face he didn't seem to mind bikes everywhere. There was a older gentleman with a classic bike and a side car who offered up his bike for photos. He also then took the newly weds on a short ride on the classic bike with sidecar around the Biltmore property. After that you could tell the bride didn't mind and she really loved it. I'm sure those photos came out really well.
On Sunday it was a easy day. Wake up, clean up and ride home. Got home around 4pm. and just relaxed. never thought I'd miss my bed and a clean shower so much.
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On Thursday I had the bike pre packed. I stayed up late Wednesday to finish packing and make sure I was ready to roll out after work Thursday. At 4pm Thursday I was already changed and walking out the door at work. I didn't stop nor pass go and collect my $200. I was gone. turned on some tunes and hit Interstate 40. After a few hours as I got the RA. and set up camp and did it feel great to lay down.
Friday was the big day. Friday I signed up for the Adventure Raid Course the GS Giants built on the Biltmore property. The course consisted of 7 obstacles. It had everything from tight corners to crossing over logs. going over dirt hills and mud. Wet dirty deep mud. I signed up for the bike big medium course. To be honest I thought I did pretty damn good too for being as small as I am and having to handle a 600lb bike. The rest of Friday was just go out and explore Ashville. But sadly due to the extreme fun I did have to spend some time at Starbucks to get homework done. Then explored Asheville some more. I've always passed by Asheville and been there tons of times but never really had the chance to stop and just see what all there is to offer. It was good to see what's there.
Saturday was the big day where the RA took over. All the venders opened up, and those who couldn't make it earlier in the week all showed up on Saturday for the weekend. For all the bikes that were already there. The bikes tripled. GS's everywhere. Beautiful sight. At 5pm all the BMW's got together and took over the main gate and parked all over the front steps of the Biltmore. (see photo below). We had so many bikes we ran out of places to park them and they just started parking everywhere they could fit. It was a great photo op. While we were all gathering together there was a new wed couple who got married and were taking photos in front of the Biltmore. I'm not sure if they knew though that there were going to be bikes everywhere blocking their photo. But front he look on the grooms face he didn't seem to mind bikes everywhere. There was a older gentleman with a classic bike and a side car who offered up his bike for photos. He also then took the newly weds on a short ride on the classic bike with sidecar around the Biltmore property. After that you could tell the bride didn't mind and she really loved it. I'm sure those photos came out really well.
On Sunday it was a easy day. Wake up, clean up and ride home. Got home around 4pm. and just relaxed. never thought I'd miss my bed and a clean shower so much.
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