Day Trippin' and Ginger Jewelry
Day Trippin'
and
Ginger Jewelry
Autumn, such as it is here in the Southwest, has been about day trips and set up; getting the kit just right.
We also bid a fond farewell to The Hammer, who served us faithfully and well for over 8 years and 50,000 miles. She's found a good home in Elgin, Arizona.
But that made room in the garage for Ginger, and she's been the focus of the farkling. What's that you ask?
Functional Sparkle
In other words, jewelry with a job. Ginger's bling included: lower passenger pegs, bar risers, taller windscreen, a power distribution module for wiring in the heated gear and TomTom cradle, Wilbers rear shock, TechSpec tank pads and a Sargent seat.
The new V Stream windscreen, much better protection and quiet airflow without ruining Ginger's good looks:
Lower passenger pegs have Krisanne dancing! Or at least not trying to jump off the bike. These are also on Mia, patiently waiting in Heidelberg. MV Verholen's slogan is "you are just millimeters away from comfort." Too true.
Marcus at Iron Horse installing the shock
Remote reservoir, hydraulic preload adjustment, high and low speed compression damping and rebound damping. This shock has truly transformed Ginger; incredibly smooth ride combined with much better handling. So much so that I'm considering ordering one for Mia. Also want to do a shout out to Jeff at Ted Porter's Beemershop who sold the shock to Ginger's previous owner and were extremely helpful with set up suggestions that proved spot on. They also were able to get the correct mounting bracket to clean up the installation a bit; that's incoming from Germany.
This is...
...supposed to look like this:
We'll see how it works when the bracket shows up. Frankly, the hydraulic adjuster knob located where it is now seems a bit more convenient. Either way, I'll get rid of the hose clamps or at least trim them up and loose the little yellow hats. 😀
The seat was a bit of an odyssey...the first two "wrinkled" but Sargent made it right, upgrading the cover to a thicker material, throwing in the BMW tricolor as well. Very happy with the result, much more comfortable than stock and looks great.
From this:
To this:
The MV Verholen bar risers work very well with the taller screen, just that bit more upright which increases comfort significantly.
And, of course, all this had to be tested this way...
...and that way...
Little details...BMW emblem and carbon fiber plate frame.
Happy Holidays!
It has been an incredible inaugural retirement year, and I'm grateful every day.
In 2020, we're going back to Casa Olea for Krisanne's two weeks; there's much more to explore and it is just stunning. I'm planning to ride the Route des Grande Alpes on the way there. 684 km from Lac Lemon, aka Lake Geneva, to the Cote d'Azur, crossing the highest pass in the Alps, the Col de L'Iseran at 2764 meters.
Can't wait!!
A quick update
The shock bracket arrived, but after fiddling with it a bit, I decided having the hydraulic preload adjuster located separately is better. Much easier to turn the knob; there's very little room to turn it when located on the collar bracket under the reservoir. I did clean up the clamps, but the black metal zip ties I was hoping to use were also a "fail." Can't get them tight enough. Happy with the result nonetheless, and am definitely installing one on Mia this summer.
Big Balls 😎
and
Ginger Jewelry
Autumn, such as it is here in the Southwest, has been about day trips and set up; getting the kit just right.
We also bid a fond farewell to The Hammer, who served us faithfully and well for over 8 years and 50,000 miles. She's found a good home in Elgin, Arizona.
But that made room in the garage for Ginger, and she's been the focus of the farkling. What's that you ask?
Functional Sparkle
In other words, jewelry with a job. Ginger's bling included: lower passenger pegs, bar risers, taller windscreen, a power distribution module for wiring in the heated gear and TomTom cradle, Wilbers rear shock, TechSpec tank pads and a Sargent seat.
The new V Stream windscreen, much better protection and quiet airflow without ruining Ginger's good looks:
Lower passenger pegs have Krisanne dancing! Or at least not trying to jump off the bike. These are also on Mia, patiently waiting in Heidelberg. MV Verholen's slogan is "you are just millimeters away from comfort." Too true.
Marcus at Iron Horse installing the shock
Remote reservoir, hydraulic preload adjustment, high and low speed compression damping and rebound damping. This shock has truly transformed Ginger; incredibly smooth ride combined with much better handling. So much so that I'm considering ordering one for Mia. Also want to do a shout out to Jeff at Ted Porter's Beemershop who sold the shock to Ginger's previous owner and were extremely helpful with set up suggestions that proved spot on. They also were able to get the correct mounting bracket to clean up the installation a bit; that's incoming from Germany.
This is...
...supposed to look like this:
We'll see how it works when the bracket shows up. Frankly, the hydraulic adjuster knob located where it is now seems a bit more convenient. Either way, I'll get rid of the hose clamps or at least trim them up and loose the little yellow hats. 😀
The seat was a bit of an odyssey...the first two "wrinkled" but Sargent made it right, upgrading the cover to a thicker material, throwing in the BMW tricolor as well. Very happy with the result, much more comfortable than stock and looks great.
From this:
To this:
The MV Verholen bar risers work very well with the taller screen, just that bit more upright which increases comfort significantly.
And, of course, all this had to be tested this way...
...and that way...
Little details...BMW emblem and carbon fiber plate frame.
Happy Holidays!
It has been an incredible inaugural retirement year, and I'm grateful every day.
In 2020, we're going back to Casa Olea for Krisanne's two weeks; there's much more to explore and it is just stunning. I'm planning to ride the Route des Grande Alpes on the way there. 684 km from Lac Lemon, aka Lake Geneva, to the Cote d'Azur, crossing the highest pass in the Alps, the Col de L'Iseran at 2764 meters.
Can't wait!!
A quick update
The shock bracket arrived, but after fiddling with it a bit, I decided having the hydraulic preload adjuster located separately is better. Much easier to turn the knob; there's very little room to turn it when located on the collar bracket under the reservoir. I did clean up the clamps, but the black metal zip ties I was hoping to use were also a "fail." Can't get them tight enough. Happy with the result nonetheless, and am definitely installing one on Mia this summer.
Big Balls 😎
