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[ Sunday - January 5, 2020 ] |
| I didn't write about this in 2018, but after
owning the F800R for 2 whole months, I got rear ended at a
stop sign. Again, the second time in at the same three
way. The good news is the F800R, with the chain drive,
took the rear tap like a champ. The bad new, the bump
make me drop the Scooter and broke the brake lever. So
annoying. Even though it wasn't my fault, it was
partially my fault. Why am I at fault? I didn't
put myself into a situation where I was easily visible to
the idiotic driver behind me. Since it was a minor
scrape of the engine case paint, slightly scraped bar end
weight, and a partially broken brake lever, I took the kid's
information and let the him go. As for the name (term) "Scooter"... I call the F8R a Scooter because it's so short. Derogatory? No. It's an affectionate name. Having been on GS's for so long, any bike that doesn't require me to stand on the ball of my feet makes the bike feel short. I like it, every time I hang off of the Scooter around corners, I have a sensation as if I can lean over and kiss the road. This is not possible of course, just a notional sensation. Fast forward a year and 1/2 (that I've been driving around with a partially broken brake lever. I only use two finger to brake anyway), I decided to fix the brake lever with a folding brake lever. To make all things symmetric, I went ahead and replace the clutch lever also. I chanced the Spanish manufactured Puig fold-able extendable brake and clutch lever. An attempt was made to order a set from Revzilla in 2018, but it never came. It didn't help that a partially failing keyboard caused me to typo my street address. They canceled my transaction. The second time, with a new working computer keyboard, everything was good. The levers came in a matter of 2-3 days. Nice! Man they're fast. I'm going to dispense with how to remove and attach the levers because there are so many videos out there on YouTube about this topic for the BMW F800 series of bikes. So I'm going to just fast forward to the completed installation. Two days of test riding the Scooter with new levers and everything feels fine. Having the ability to adjust the levers by changing the extension knob is ever so nice. Now if I ever drop the scooter again, I won't have to worry about breaking the levers. It's good that BMW put the notch in the lever to allow the levers to break off at the tip, but replacing the levers every time the bike is dropped is ridiculous. I was originally worried about aftermarket levers, but it turned out my concern was unfounded. The levers slid into place easily. No fussing needed. Blinged it a bit with the black and blue levers. In the end, it all came out to just a little over $200. Here's the handy work.  Brake lever  Clutch lever  Brake lever folded up.  Original partially broken brake lever. I didn't realize how much changing levers could make riding the Scooter so enjoyable. I've been taking the Scooter to work a lot more lately. |
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Written on: January 7, 2020 Last modified: January 17, 2020 |