Friday, May 14, 2010

Tire Change Reflections

Last night I posted this photo with a very short write-up then decided to delete it. The trouble with doing that is Blogger doesn't delete it from the blog lists of others.

Next Friday it will be a year since the truck arrived at our house with the Beemer. I've put 14,000 miles on it this year. When I got the bike it had a little less than 12,000 miles and the previous owner had just installed a new rear tire. In the last couple of weeks the tire had worn through the wear indicators. Since I plan on making a trip to Southern Oregon next week I figured I needed some fresh tread.

I bought my tire online from my favorite motorcycle supply house, which happens to be in Oregon. The tire was waiting on my porch the next afternoon. Wednesday afternoon I stopped at the nearby Honda/Yamaha/Suzuki dealership to work out the installation. They wanted to check out the rear wheel to make sure it would work on their balancer. Everything check out okay so I told him I'd call Thursday to make the arrangements.  Before I left I popped a couple of shots of the FJR next to me. I'm pretty sure some people in the service department thought I was weird to take several pictures of the side case of an FJR waiting for its owner. I just thought it was a Kodak moment.

Here's where the glitch came into play on the tire thing. Wednesday was a nice day with high clouds but Thursday was clear and sunny and very beautiful. This caused anyone with a motorcycle to call the dealership and want their bike worked on for the upcoming beautiful weekend. The service department was slammed and he said it would be two weeks before they could look at my bike. Wow, things change fast when the sun comes out.

So this morning I strapped my tire on the bike and rode to the BMW dealer across town by the airport. It's first come first served so I made sure I was first. Actually I was the only one. An hour later I was back on the road.

Before I left, a man and a lady each pulled up on 1200GS's. His bike had two new tires strapped on the back. I couldn't help but notice that the two tires on his bike looked okay, so after he went inside I asked her about the tires. She said that they were cupped and because they're leaving for Alaska in a few days they need replacing.  They're both tour guides for trips from Portland to Alaska. We spoke for a while before she gave me her card. The company is MotoQuest and the trips look very interesting. It's not necessary to have a dual sport bike because they have all sorts of tours. Maybe someday.

While I was waiting for the shop to open I couldn't resist another reflection shot with the FedEx truck.

9 comments:

  1. At my Harley-Davidson dealer in London, the current wait time for a service is over 4 weeks!

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  2. Wow Gary, four weeks is a long time! Is that the normal waiting time or because the weather turned nice?

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  3. Mike:

    that doesn't sound very good for your dealer to make a commitment, then reneg because others have called after you did, perhaps because you did not purchase the tire from them.

    I can't imagine waiting 4 weeks for service

    bob
    bobskoot: wet coast scootin

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  4. Bob,
    Actually I didn't make a commitment when I first went there. I should have made one though, although it worked out better going to a BMW dealer. Tis the season for them to be busy.

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  5. Nice job on the mileage. Interesting. You're heading to Southern Oregon. I'm riding to Seattle. On a new rear tire, as well. Ride safe, my friend.

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  6. Thanks Dan. You ride safe yourself. Maybe we can wave on I-5.

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  7. Thanks Bob!

    I'm traveling today but will respond tonight. I have reservations for Thursday and Friday nights at the Bend Inn & Suites if you neeed a place to stay. I don't know what Irondad's plans are. I can cancel the resv's or someone else can take them if my plans change. Email me or you can answer here if you want to discuss it. Thanks again!

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  8. Mike:

    Original Plan was to use Friday, July 16th as travelling day, but as of this morning there is a surprise element added where I may have a slight change dependant upon another's persons plans which are not yet etched in stone. I can send you an email later when I dig out your email add from my laptop.

    or you can read comments here:

    https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5941540806094906930&postID=2427863530496420012&isPopup=true

    so keep your REZ for now, I may be there earlier, or if they have more rooms I could book my own. and thank you

    or send contact phone number to:
    bobskoot@yahoo.com

    bob
    Wet Coast Scootin

    ReplyDelete