Out with the old.......

[philbytx]

Well, after 17 years, my faithful RT,  "DaRTh", is now sold. Traded him in for an exceptionally low mileage 2017 DL650 V-Strom (288miles) at our local Suzy/Yammy dealership. 

The pic is of me with both DaRTh and the Wee.

 

It all started two weeks ago when we went to Big Bend National Park with friends (who had a 3 rail Kendon and trailered the RT) and, while in the middle of the park,  both the fork seals blew on the 3rd day and I ended up with fork oil everywhere.  That cut short our riding and we brought him home, I stripped him down to clean up the mess, replacing the seals, doing a 6k service, Whizzy brake service and, during all this, discovered that the wiring loom needed recovering and some fasteners were corroded!  I recovered most of the loom, cleaned up some of the fasteners and, after all that, decided I had had enough. Our nearest BMW dealer is 60 miles away and, to be honest, I didn't want to buy another BMW. 

 

Actually, Deb and I don't do any long distance touring any more, and if she does ride with me it is just for local breakfast and lunch rides with the occasional overnight.

 

I am 72 now and all for an easy(er) life and the thought of a lighter bike plus one that doesn't require too much maintenance was too tempting. And, if it does require any work and I don't feel like doing it, I can drop it off at the dealership which is 5 minutes from the house. AFAIAA, just changing the oil, checking fasteners and regular chain care is all I have to do for 14k miles!!!

Well, I test rode the Wee-Strom for about 30 miles through the twisties first and then out on Interstate 10 and fell in love with it. Light, handles great, comfortable to ride and,surprisingly, it has some grunt and, after putting a couple of hundred miles on it, I am very happy with the change!

 

So....there it is.....life is change and I'm embracing the change and not fighting it. Currently, I am sorting out all the "bits" in the garage and will post the For Sale items after we get back from a quick vacay in CA. I will definitely have a couple of BMW side cases with liners and keys plus a few maintenance bits, seals, nuts, bolts, special tools etc. so if anyone is looking for anything specific just drop me a PM.

 

Happy and safe riding y'all

 

[ltljohn]

Congrats on the new ride!  All kinds of great farkles at AdventureTech LLC

If you are not already familiar with him Jim at Eastern Beaver  makes lots of plug and play adapters for the stroms, eliminates splicing in to the harness.

 

[tallman]

Enjoy the new ride.

Good suggestion above for Farkles.

Have fun.

[TEWKS]

The Little Wee always seems to get the nod out of the two Stroms.  Good choice. PS.. don't let anybody try and tell you that Suzuki copied the beak idea.

1988 DR750 S Big.

 

[Whip]

Nice to hear from you my man.

 

Ride what ya want and have fun!!

 

 

[Bill_Walker]

On 4/19/2019 at 12:40 PM, ltljohn said:

If you are not already familiar with him Jim at Eastern Beaver  makes lots of plug and play adapters for the stroms, eliminates splicing in to the harness.

But do be aware that he's based in Japan, and ships everything with signature required.  I got a nice mini switched power fuse block for my KLX250 from him, but due to the signature requirement, it took me a few days longer to get it home.

[Bud]

Congrats on the new ride!

[Limecreek]

Missed this one.   Congratulations to making it to the next chapter of riding!  The Strom is a great bike Phil.  Let us know how you are enjoying it.

 

[Tennmoto]

I had a 650 Vstrom and wow it’s a fun bike, maybe I should test ride one again, last time I did that I traded for it.