03-24-2026, 12:12 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-24-2026, 12:20 AM by Gone in 60.)
Somewhere there's a German engineer who thought he had gotten the best of me today.
I checked my delivery app last night before I went to bed, and nothing was lined up for Berta and me today. Checked again when I woke up this morning, and still nothing. Texted the boss, who confirmed we didn't have any deliveries for the day. I suggested that Berta needed a little more love. We didn't have a full maintenance history on her since the boss bought her for our medical delivery fleet. I changed the oil and flushed the brake fluid late last week, but had to wrap it up for an afternoon delivery. With down-time today, we decided that my time would be well spent doing the rest of the work I was able to in the garage to get a base line to start from on maintenance history. That meant an air filter, spark plugs, differential oil and a valve check.
I saddled up Superbird and her now copious luggage capacity and headed to Long Beach BMW. Not the closest dealer, but the closest one open on a Monday. Walking in, I was immediately tempted by this:
But, with a full garage, plus one bike at Mom's and another in a friend's garage, adding something else was not even a consideration.
Back home with parts, I set to work, and grabbed a YouTube video to figure out how to access the air filter for replacement. Basically, all of the forward bodywork needs to come off along with panels on the gas tank to access the four screws on top of the air box, which is located forward of the gas cap . Some of that bodywork required the removal of the police-spec crash bars forward of the cylinders, and the four screws on the air box were further obscured by a rail on the handlebar for mounting of former police communications stuff.
Lots of T-25 screws, plastic body panels, tugging, pulling and praying later, I had access to the air box and changed the filter. Putting everything back together, I only had two screws left over. Not bad!
The diff oil change and valve check were a breeze compared to the air filter. Mrs. G came home in the afternoon, just as I was finishing up the bike and tidying the garage. She gave me a gift! It's her tradition to give me a bell every time I take on a new bike, and the work bike was no exception. Now I'll be safe!
I checked my delivery app last night before I went to bed, and nothing was lined up for Berta and me today. Checked again when I woke up this morning, and still nothing. Texted the boss, who confirmed we didn't have any deliveries for the day. I suggested that Berta needed a little more love. We didn't have a full maintenance history on her since the boss bought her for our medical delivery fleet. I changed the oil and flushed the brake fluid late last week, but had to wrap it up for an afternoon delivery. With down-time today, we decided that my time would be well spent doing the rest of the work I was able to in the garage to get a base line to start from on maintenance history. That meant an air filter, spark plugs, differential oil and a valve check.
I saddled up Superbird and her now copious luggage capacity and headed to Long Beach BMW. Not the closest dealer, but the closest one open on a Monday. Walking in, I was immediately tempted by this:
But, with a full garage, plus one bike at Mom's and another in a friend's garage, adding something else was not even a consideration.
Back home with parts, I set to work, and grabbed a YouTube video to figure out how to access the air filter for replacement. Basically, all of the forward bodywork needs to come off along with panels on the gas tank to access the four screws on top of the air box, which is located forward of the gas cap . Some of that bodywork required the removal of the police-spec crash bars forward of the cylinders, and the four screws on the air box were further obscured by a rail on the handlebar for mounting of former police communications stuff.
Lots of T-25 screws, plastic body panels, tugging, pulling and praying later, I had access to the air box and changed the filter. Putting everything back together, I only had two screws left over. Not bad!
The diff oil change and valve check were a breeze compared to the air filter. Mrs. G came home in the afternoon, just as I was finishing up the bike and tidying the garage. She gave me a gift! It's her tradition to give me a bell every time I take on a new bike, and the work bike was no exception. Now I'll be safe!
You know what? I actually would like a pickle.