MotoBrief

I see GlobeRiders has another DVD on adventure touring and on-the-road maintenance, this time for the R1200GS and R1200GS Adventure. GlobeRiders has done a great job with these videos — I have the F650GS video myself — and think that they’re a good introduction to gear and basic maintenance.

There’s more than 4 hours of info here. As usual, it’s hosted by Helge Pedersen, GlobeRiders founder, photographer and world traveler.

If you’re not familiar with the guy, you should probably check out his awesome book, 10 Years on 2 Wheels [affiliate link] if you can find it. It’s out of print and the copies on Amazon can get pricey. You might also try eBay, where it shows up occasionally. GlobeRiders has said they hope to reprint the book sometime this year.

I came across a link to a website that’s hosting some Moto Guzzi technical training videos for some late model Guzzis. Great quality, all in Quicktime. Very cool.

I’ve long wanted to be a better mechanic and do more of my own maintenance. I’m finally going to get to it and discuss some of what I learn here.

I’ve had problems with professional mechanics a few times, including a pulled cylinder stud that no one told me about. Making a mistake and overtorquing the cylinder head is find — everybody makes mistakes.

But whoever did it decided not to own up to his mistake and I found out in the middle of a 7,000 mile road trip when oil started leaking on my foot. I couldn’t help but think of the passage in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance where Pirsig describes the mechanics trashing his BMW.

Don’t get me wrong — there are some great mechanics out there. I’ve been to some great shops that have done excellent work for me. But I think no one really cares about your bike the way you do.

I’ll have some posts on carbs and points for the KZ440LTD and I’ll be doing some starter work on the R100GS PD. I know I’ll make some mistakes but I’m determined to get educated about this. Up until now, I think every attempt at serious work on my motorcycles ended with me carting the whole thing off to the shop. No more.

Some of us are fortunate enough to have a local source for metric fasteners for our bikes. For those who aren’t, a recent thread on the Airheads mailing list points out some good mail order suppliers.

• Bolt Depot (no minimum order)
• Allen’s Fasteners
• McMaster Carr (they have a lot of stuff but their atrocious website makes it hard to find anything)