The stable now consists of:
1991 R100GS with 141,000 miles
2008 1200 Sport with nearly 55,000 miles
2012 Griso 8vSE with only 9700 miles
R100GS: The 24 year old Beemer fired up nicely, after sitting in a cold garage for five months. I have to credit some of that to Rick Jones' (Motorrad Elektrik) Nippon Denso starter, Dyna coil, and Alpha ignition system. Oil and filter changed in Nov 2014, Stabil added to fuel. Hit the battery 1-2 times with Battery Tender. I had parked her on the centerstand, so no cloud of smoke from 20W/50 slinking down into the left cylinder. Not totally satisfied with how she's running, but good enough for 60-70 miles. Love the aftermarket sidestand that I can deploy without first getting off the bike, but I still need to rig up an interlock .... I'm too damned forgetful!
Guzzi 1200 Sport: Put away for the winter same time as GS and Griso. Also treated to fresh oil and filter, and Stabil. 1-2 hits with Battery Tender over the winter. Fired up nicely, and gave me 130 miles of pure pleasure between rain showers over the past few days. What a sweet old lady she is!
Griso 8vSE: Also fresh oil and filter in November, so ready to go. I wasn't going to take her out for a ride until the temps got into the 70s (F), but .... had to do it! Potential battery problem. Cranked for what sounded like one compression stroke, then quit cranking. I hit the starter one more time, not expecting the engine to start .... but she did! So, it was off for 35-40 miles of spirited riding. She is now sitting on a battery charger, and there's no indication the battery is going to fully charged mode for a while. Hopefully the OEM Yuasa will be ok for another season.
Anyway, a good feeling to hear them all fire up after such an extended winter.
UPDATE: Well, maybe the Griso battery is ok after all. The battery was showing 'being charged' for nearly 6 hours before the charger shifted to 'charged.' But that's better than shifting after 10 minutes on the charger.
Bob
