Introducing Beatrix (and myself)
Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 11:18 am
Hey everyone,
I'm new here, and new to motorcycling in general. I sort of introduced myself in the "long live the kings" thread, but here is my official intro of myself and my new bike...
I've only been riding for about 6months. Wanted to ride for YEARS so I took the safety class back in the fall, and got my endorsement. My father in law actually bought me an old 73 Suzuki TS250 as a wedding gift since he knew I wanted a bike. He used to race enduro in his 20s, and even managed a Suzuki dealership. So he knows those old 2strokes real well and picked mine up for a bargain. I rode around on it for a few months in the winter to commute to work on nice days. Probably put on about 300mi or so. I realized pretty quick though that I needed a more street oriented bike.
Over those few months I spent a lot of time reading and researching online. Hunting for the bike I wanted. Had a brief love of old Hondas, but decided I didn't want to get lumped in with hipster/cafe scene... or pay the premium prices the CBs are going for now-a-days. So I started looking elsewhere and I came across the "Long Live The Kings" video.
I love vintage bikes, and love the idea of light dual sport/adventure riding. So that video really spoke to me, and got me into Airheads. These dudes are trying a little too hard to be cool, but I think they have the right motivation, and seem to know how to have fun on two wheels.
My father in law then purchased a 78 BMW r100rs, and insisted on storing it in my garage with strict instructions for me to ride it somewhat frequently in order to keep the battery charged and fresh gas in the tank. So of course I took on that duty to the best of my abilities, and only fell harder in love with Airheads (which I'm sure was his goal all along). I've got somewhere between 300-400mi on the r100rs. My father in law offered to sell the r100rs to me, but it was a bit out of my budget, and I honestly wasn't a big fan of the sportier forward riding position. I also realized quickly that I didn't want to be hidden behind the fairing so I started looking for fairing-less Airhead. Here's the r100rs I passed up, but is still in my garage... it's for sale btw
I looked at a few fairing-less bikes, but they where all in pretty rough shape. I'm a rookie mechanic, and didn't want something that would need a ton of work to be road worthy. So I opened up my search to bikes with a fairing after doind some research on removing the fairing. It's certainly no easy task, but it seems like something I could pull off with a little help from my father-in-law. after broadening my search I soon found this beauty:
She's in riding condition, and really only needs fork seals in the coming months. Good rubber, runs great. The only real damage to the bike is on the fairing as it was dropped in a driveway, and repaired. A mirror needed replacement, new windshield, and some patching/paint on the fairing. No damage that I could find to any metal parts. I bought the bike from an older fellow that restored the bike to ride from Colorado to North Carolina. He only sold the bike because him and his wife are buying a new house with a smaller garage and they have 4 other bikes as it is. The guy he bought it from did the hasty fairing repair. The bike has all new fluids, and shouldn't need much of anything in the very short term.
So I pulled the trigger on her Saturday and she's sitting in my garage. We've been getting rain this week so I haven't been able to get out much, but she rode home from the sellers house WONDERFULLY. Took me a few miles to get used to the slight power reduction from the r100rs, but nothing to be worried about in my opinion.
I already have the windshield off, and plan to start taking apart the faring in the next week or so. I've ordered headlight mounts, new mirrors, and new signals for the conversion. I'm going to put on a set of enduro/dirtbike bars to give her a mild "scrambler" look, but plan to buy the bars locally so I can better decide on the bend/size I want. I'll also run new brake lines to the fron brakes since from what I've read I shouldn't run the existing one's sans-fairing.
My wife and I named her Beatrix. Sort of after the Bride in Kill Bill because she's beautiful, but deadly if you treat her wrong
Anyway, that's my story. I'd love any feedback/tips on what things I should check/look over to make sure she keeps running so well. Of course any advice on the fairing removal is welcome too! Thanks!
I'm new here, and new to motorcycling in general. I sort of introduced myself in the "long live the kings" thread, but here is my official intro of myself and my new bike...
I've only been riding for about 6months. Wanted to ride for YEARS so I took the safety class back in the fall, and got my endorsement. My father in law actually bought me an old 73 Suzuki TS250 as a wedding gift since he knew I wanted a bike. He used to race enduro in his 20s, and even managed a Suzuki dealership. So he knows those old 2strokes real well and picked mine up for a bargain. I rode around on it for a few months in the winter to commute to work on nice days. Probably put on about 300mi or so. I realized pretty quick though that I needed a more street oriented bike.
Over those few months I spent a lot of time reading and researching online. Hunting for the bike I wanted. Had a brief love of old Hondas, but decided I didn't want to get lumped in with hipster/cafe scene... or pay the premium prices the CBs are going for now-a-days. So I started looking elsewhere and I came across the "Long Live The Kings" video.
I love vintage bikes, and love the idea of light dual sport/adventure riding. So that video really spoke to me, and got me into Airheads. These dudes are trying a little too hard to be cool, but I think they have the right motivation, and seem to know how to have fun on two wheels.
My father in law then purchased a 78 BMW r100rs, and insisted on storing it in my garage with strict instructions for me to ride it somewhat frequently in order to keep the battery charged and fresh gas in the tank. So of course I took on that duty to the best of my abilities, and only fell harder in love with Airheads (which I'm sure was his goal all along). I've got somewhere between 300-400mi on the r100rs. My father in law offered to sell the r100rs to me, but it was a bit out of my budget, and I honestly wasn't a big fan of the sportier forward riding position. I also realized quickly that I didn't want to be hidden behind the fairing so I started looking for fairing-less Airhead. Here's the r100rs I passed up, but is still in my garage... it's for sale btw
I looked at a few fairing-less bikes, but they where all in pretty rough shape. I'm a rookie mechanic, and didn't want something that would need a ton of work to be road worthy. So I opened up my search to bikes with a fairing after doind some research on removing the fairing. It's certainly no easy task, but it seems like something I could pull off with a little help from my father-in-law. after broadening my search I soon found this beauty:
She's in riding condition, and really only needs fork seals in the coming months. Good rubber, runs great. The only real damage to the bike is on the fairing as it was dropped in a driveway, and repaired. A mirror needed replacement, new windshield, and some patching/paint on the fairing. No damage that I could find to any metal parts. I bought the bike from an older fellow that restored the bike to ride from Colorado to North Carolina. He only sold the bike because him and his wife are buying a new house with a smaller garage and they have 4 other bikes as it is. The guy he bought it from did the hasty fairing repair. The bike has all new fluids, and shouldn't need much of anything in the very short term.
So I pulled the trigger on her Saturday and she's sitting in my garage. We've been getting rain this week so I haven't been able to get out much, but she rode home from the sellers house WONDERFULLY. Took me a few miles to get used to the slight power reduction from the r100rs, but nothing to be worried about in my opinion.
I already have the windshield off, and plan to start taking apart the faring in the next week or so. I've ordered headlight mounts, new mirrors, and new signals for the conversion. I'm going to put on a set of enduro/dirtbike bars to give her a mild "scrambler" look, but plan to buy the bars locally so I can better decide on the bend/size I want. I'll also run new brake lines to the fron brakes since from what I've read I shouldn't run the existing one's sans-fairing.
My wife and I named her Beatrix. Sort of after the Bride in Kill Bill because she's beautiful, but deadly if you treat her wrong
Anyway, that's my story. I'd love any feedback/tips on what things I should check/look over to make sure she keeps running so well. Of course any advice on the fairing removal is welcome too! Thanks!
Know of any other Tech Days coming up in the area?