Definitely no mechanic.
[ Thursday - April
1, 2010 ]
I'm reminded once again. I'm definitely no freakin'
mechanic. I tried before and quickly came to the conclusion I
shouldn't try again. Especially when these machines are so
complicated in nature. Sure I bought the GS911, but do I know
what I'm doing? NO! All I ever hoped to do with the
GS911 is to reset the maintenance schedule date so I don't get that
Service message when I've already done the 6K service on the 8GS
myself. The 6K service is nothing more than an oil change.
In my case it's also an air filter change because I like running the
bike with a clean air filter. It zips!
Mechanic I'm not, mechanic I refuse to be.
What's all this about? I finally got a call from the service
manager at Brown Motor Works. It looks like they might have fixed
the bike, or at least it's another attempt. The so called,
"Massive computer failure..." I mentioned last month turns out to be a
massive battery failure. Well, not massive, but a battery
failure. My 8GS battery has been declining in function steadily
over time but refused to report that it's failing. Instead, it
claims, "I'm doing just fine." What makes me say this?
Well, when the battery is put on the charger, it claims it's
charging. In fact, it even claims that it is fully charged.
However, when a heavy load is put on the battery, it drops current and
chokes on the big pickle. Even the folks at Brown experienced
this when they put the battery on their battery tester. Now there
is a theory why the bike won't start with the failing battery, but I'm
not going to go into that as it's only theory and I don't want to cause
others to think I'm blowing smoke up something, something,
something. All I know is, I'm looking forward to getting the 8GS
back to put some test miles on it.
Q:
Is the 8GS a lemon?
A: To some, yes. To me,
No!
Q: Do I
remotely believe it's a
lemon?
A: I was frustrated with the
starting problem, but No!
Q: Then what do I believe?
A: I believe it's
simply a machine that is experiencing difficulty.
Q: Do I regret
purchasing the R12R?
A: Are you nuts?! Of
course not.
Q: Am I going to sell the 8GS
once it's fixed?
A: Are you insane?! If
it's fixed, I'm going to ride it.
The way I see it, I'm an extremely lucky guy because I now I have
two of my favorite bikes. Why don't I buy something else other
than a Beemer? Easy, my wife won't let me. The last time I
mentioned "Suzuki" she stopped me mid sentence and said, "No!"
When I mention Yamaha, she said, "That's better, but it's still not a
BMW." Hey! With that kind of a standard, I'm not going to
argue.
[ Friday - April 2,
2010 ]
I arrive at Brown Motor Works just so I can be told that a call was
made to me and that the 8GS is still having problems. The words
were, "The battery wasn't the cause of the problem." My wife was
a bit pissed while I was smirking because I know I'm not smoking
something good and needed to share it with the folks at Brown.
It's now back to BWM NA to continue to try and figure out why the 8GS
refuses to start. Disappointment? Nope. I just
learned a quick lesson about calling to verify first before bolting out
of the house.
The saga continues...
Written on: April 1, 2010
Last modified: April 2, 2010
