new cable to the RS. Just read an article this morning saying
that Mr. Redford, at age 80 or so, has retired from acting; apparently, we saw him make his last movie. Jane Fonda, at 78, looks great. She was walking down the street, met Susanna and wanted to know if she was Irish, which it turns out (thanks to Ances-
try.com) she is (23%). It was fun, we got to “hang out with the stars” and it’ll help fund the trip we’re planning this winter. The research for other-than-$30-a-bot-
tle BMW fork oil continues. Wes Fleming (an Associate Editor of ON) sent me a cou- ple of quarts of Motul 7.5-weight fork oil to try out. I used a bit for the annual fork ser- vice on the Slash Five front end of my electric three- wheeler, and after a couple of weeks, I can report it is working well. Better than well, actually. A couple of months ago, I acquired a pair of Chevy Volt lithium- ion batteries from an eBay vendor. After re-welding the battery carrier, I pulled out the four HEAVY lead-acid deep cycle batteries (280 pounds for the set!) and installed two 40-pound bat- teries. Yup, the vehicle became 200 pounds lighter while gaining a bit in stored power! I haven’t worked with one of those lithium- ion “pocket jump starting” batteries, but I’ve talked with folks who have. They do seem to work. I’m just absolutely amazed at how much power can be carried in those things. Of course, that’s why they can cause fires and explosions in cell phones and computers. I don’t worry about that risk too much; the seriously higher cost of the lithium units is the big barrier for me In the November ON “Rider To Rider”
while waiting for the “right” part. During my next-to-last trip into Mexico, the horn function went away on the Slash Five. I found a kind of large, clunky horn button in a Mexican Auto Zone, taped it to the handlebar and wired it into the horn circuit while Susanna sat on the curb in the park- ing lot, waiting. When I returned home, I ordered a smaller, nicer button from an electronic surplus company and installed it very close to the original (but dead) horn switch. It worked just fine on the last trip down to Merida (and you really DO use your horn in Mexico!). The Slash Five looks a bit like it belongs on the Joad family Dodge, but this is the
Working on airheads seems to have
slowed down in the last couple of months, which gives me some time to read in front of the fire. Other than helping a local fellow get a R 80 ST back on the road after a long period of inactivity, the airhead repair scene has been very quiet here. Winter will surely arrive, but we are
planning what could be a couple of months of riding (and driving) around the South- west. The itinerary is shaping up. We’ll first drive to Las Vegas with our friends Helene and Ralph to watch the Bonhams and Mecum motorcycle auctions in late Janu- ary. We’ll also do side trips to Zion and Death Valley National Parks. We visited Zion at the same time last year, and it happened to have snowed a bit. The snow on the rocks was beautiful. If you get the chance, this is a must-see park,
AND during the
winter you can drive through the park. During tourist season, you have to take a tram. We’ll return home and
My replacement horn button. I ordered it from an electronic surplus suppy house and cut up an old Colorado license plate to get the mounting part. It works as it should and, after a brief learning period, my thumb falls right to it when I need to make some noise.
section , I read of Gary H’s troubles in get- ting a replacement ignition/headlamp switch for his 22-year-old K 1100 LT. I can see a delay in sourcing such an item, but there’s really no reason to sideline the bike for an entire riding season for a parts issue like that one. If I were confronted with this sort of problem, I would cut into the exist- ing switch wiring and add a toggle or push- button switch to get the bike functional
Mexico Bike. It was purchased and put on the road for around $700 back in the late 1980s, with the idea being that if it is wrecked or stolen, it won’t be a huge loss. Eleven trips later, that remains part of the spirit of the vehicle. Someone else’s K 1100 LT? I’d use this sort of bodge to get it back on the road, but replace the switch as soon as possible. When I was working in a real shop, I did this sort of make-do work a few times, usually gratis, while we hunted down the parts to affect a proper repair (that we would charge for). I was ordering some parts to replace
what I’d used in the last few months. Just for grins, I put in the part number for that switch. Bike Bandit has it in stock, $129.51. Give
BikeBandit.com a try.
head south a week or so later with the two airheads on the trailer. We’ll drop the car and trailer either with Susanna’s sister in cen- tral Arizona or at our friend’s place in Tucson. We plan on riding to vari- ous points in Arizona, southern California and Nevada. The Airhead club
is holding their 25th Death Valley Rally, so that is one stop over President’s Day week- end in February. After that, I will drop Susanna off at her sister’s, while I ride to Joshua Tree National Monument in Cali- fornia. Eight or nine of my classmates from the Midland School, Class of ’68, are camp- ing there for three days. Should be a grand reunion! After the Boise trip in August, both bikes
are pretty much ready to go on this ride, and we are both excited to be on the road, away from the cold of a Colorado winter. We just have to get over the mountains, which is always an unknown. Snow or clear? Even off the bikes and pulling the trailer, it can be a challenge, as we have dis- covered a number of times.
January 2017 BMW OWNERS NEWS 39
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