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2,051 Posts
Back in January I had a very intimate encounter with a washing machine that was dancing down the #1 eastbound lane of Interstate 80 near Sacramento. I bounced off it but kept the bike upright. Initially the damage appeared to be primarily cosmetic (destroyed all of the left side plastic, including the saddlebag) but later the shop found that the left cylinder head had moved, cracking the cylinder and driving the valves into the top of the piston.
I picked the bike up this last Saturday after two months in the shop and a bit over $8600 in repairs. We appear to be almost fully recovered. The left side top end is new (with only 43K on the engine I'm not too concerned about uneven wear on the two cylinders). Between bringing it home the twisty way and discharging my assigned honey-duties I managed to get around 150 miles of smiles over the weekend. I just have to install one small supplemental LED turn signal that I had added but got missed by the shop.
Other than the wait for the painted plastic parts to come from Germany, I have to say I'm pretty happy with how the whole repair went. BMW Roadside Assistance helped get the bike to A&S in Roseville, who did the repairs. State Farm treated me well after some initial hiccup on getting the adjuster out there, and didn't blink an eye at the additional engine work discovered during the buildup. A&S even pre-loaded the repair invoice with the retorqueing of the engine after breakin of the new parts so that it got covered by the insurance. And the new chrome exhaust header looks ... new. Even smells new.
I have a new-found sympathy for you folks in snow country who have to mothball your bikes for the winter. It's been tough these last two months, watching all the posts from folks who were riding. I guess that if you have to have your bike out of commission for two months, January and February are the two months to do it. But in California we've had a very mild winter and those have actually been two really nice riding months. Now that I have the bike back I suppose the rain will start.
But, we're on the road again. Not sure if it's more Willy Nelson or the Canned Heat right now, but either way, it's good.
I said it in January and I'll say it again - keep practicing those evasive maneuvers so they become automatic. The only decision I had time to make was "swerve left or swerve right", and neither was perfect. After that decision my actions were unthinking. I would not be here unscarred if I had hit that thing square. As it was, the cylinder sticking out saved my leg.
JayJay
I picked the bike up this last Saturday after two months in the shop and a bit over $8600 in repairs. We appear to be almost fully recovered. The left side top end is new (with only 43K on the engine I'm not too concerned about uneven wear on the two cylinders). Between bringing it home the twisty way and discharging my assigned honey-duties I managed to get around 150 miles of smiles over the weekend. I just have to install one small supplemental LED turn signal that I had added but got missed by the shop.
Other than the wait for the painted plastic parts to come from Germany, I have to say I'm pretty happy with how the whole repair went. BMW Roadside Assistance helped get the bike to A&S in Roseville, who did the repairs. State Farm treated me well after some initial hiccup on getting the adjuster out there, and didn't blink an eye at the additional engine work discovered during the buildup. A&S even pre-loaded the repair invoice with the retorqueing of the engine after breakin of the new parts so that it got covered by the insurance. And the new chrome exhaust header looks ... new. Even smells new.
I have a new-found sympathy for you folks in snow country who have to mothball your bikes for the winter. It's been tough these last two months, watching all the posts from folks who were riding. I guess that if you have to have your bike out of commission for two months, January and February are the two months to do it. But in California we've had a very mild winter and those have actually been two really nice riding months. Now that I have the bike back I suppose the rain will start.
But, we're on the road again. Not sure if it's more Willy Nelson or the Canned Heat right now, but either way, it's good.
I said it in January and I'll say it again - keep practicing those evasive maneuvers so they become automatic. The only decision I had time to make was "swerve left or swerve right", and neither was perfect. After that decision my actions were unthinking. I would not be here unscarred if I had hit that thing square. As it was, the cylinder sticking out saved my leg.
JayJay
