Mitch is the real deal when it comes to motorcycling – definitely not a poser like California Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger. He also knows how to run a state better than Arnold.
I’m up at Grass Roots BMW Motorcycles in Cape Girardeau, Mo., again this morning. I left home a little before 7 a.m., stopped for McDonald’s coffee and a fruit parfait at the Benton, Mo. Boomland, and arrived a few minutes early for my 10 a.m. appointment.
The goal is to replace the right combination switch that holds the starter button/kill switch, right turn signal button, turn signal cancelling button, and switches for the heated seat and heated grips. It sometimes takes five or more pushes of the starter button to make it work and the right turn signal only works intermittently. When I described the problem to the service techs, one of them opined that since the unit houses several microswitches, it seems unlikely that there would be multiple failures. More likely, he said, it’s a ground connection problem. Whatever. Just make it work.
This is my third trip to the Cape for this problem. The first time, I got here to discover that the part had not arrived. The second time was to install a replacement.
I got here before it got hot – 75 degrees when I arrived – but going home will be a different story. Fortunately, or unfortunately, there’s no rain in the forecast.
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Later: The techs poked and prodded and checked circuits and concluded there isn't anything wrong with the combination switch. They were unable to replicate any of the problems. The bike started on the first push of the starter button every time and the right turn signal worked consistently. They put all of the plastic back on (they had to remove much of the fairing and the gas tank to get at the connections) and technician John went for a lengthy ride, even taking the bridge over the Mississippi River into Illinois, but couldn't get the turn signal to fail.
They offered to lend me a 2010 K1300GT and let my bike sit in the shop for a day or so, since the starter issue seems to only happen after it's sat idle for a day or more. I appreciated the offer, but wasn't keen on riding back to the Cape on Saturday, which is when they wanted the GT back.
So I resolved to ride my bike home and wait until some function of the combination switch failed bigtime.
As it turned out, the right turn signal worked fine throughout the 150-mile ride home, leading me to wonder if they didn't accidentally fix something while they were jiggering the connections around.
It was 97 degrees with a heat index of 101 by the time I rolled into my garage at 4:21 p.m. and I was glad to have the trip behind me.
What did fail on the return trip was the left temple of my Dr. Dean Edell bifocal sunglasses. The sucker cracked when I put my sunglasses on under my helmet in front of Grass Roots. I put them back in their case with the thought to try a superglue repair at home.
This evening, however, I found a pair of tinted DeWalt bifocal safety glasses with rubber temples on Amazon.com for $11 and change, so I've ordered a pair to see how they work. I also ordered a pair of +2.0 magnification bifocal stick-ons that can be applied to any sunglasses or safety glasses. I plan to try them on a pair of Gargoyles that I've carried in my tankbag for years for eye protection when it's not bright enough for shades.
I will, of course, report my findings here.
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