Maria is Home!

I rode to and from work today on Brigitta, came home in some light rain with some strong winds thrown in for good measure.

After failing to line up a ride to the beemer dealer with my neighbor, I had a thought and called the dealer...they agreed to send their truck out to pick me up! Now that's service, or they couldn't put up with another day of me asking about my motorcycle! : )

I got there shortly before 530pm, exchanged some clamps for the R80, and took receipt of Maria....she looked....GREAT! The right fairing is still on order but her damaged fairing mounts up well, the new mirror seemed secure enough and the damage is barely noticeable under the right mirror mount:

The rough triangular area is all that's visible of the damaged area

I have to tell you, she felt like the size of the Titanic when I got on her after more than 32 days of not riding her and riding Brigitta instead during most of that period! Wow, I thought, she's a big beastie, was my initial thought!

All grins, I think the people nearby must have heard me chuckling to myself in my glee, I fired her up and felt her big bulk come to life under me. It was a great feeling.

I rode her home in rush hour traffic and was not able to open her up till I got on Quincy Road. By then I had somewhat re-familiarized myself with her shifting requirements and throttle response. Very much different from the R80 which requires more forceful shifting motions shall we say?

I was all grins as I got used to riding Maria again, taking familiar delight on the curves and remembering how quiet she is really, I believe the R80 is louder!

Back to one foot being on the ball of the foot when standing astride her at stoplights though. She's definitely wider and higher up than Brigitta in that respect! Its remarkable how different the two motorcycles are from each other.

I did a victory circle around the cul-de-sac once I got home before parking her next to Brigitta and making the introductions:

The Girls

You'll note the missing reflective black material I need to replace

Introductions over with, I took some pictures of her new right profile items, excepting of course the big right-side fairing. That'll come in some day. In the meantime, her old fairing looks just fine to my eyes:

New mirror housing, valve cover and valve cover guard

Those Beemer "Jugs" sure are tough, the cover took all the damage along with some wiring to the spark plug!

I am still grinning as I type this, I called my loving wife with the good news and she sounded glad as well that Maria was back home where she belongs.

Her replacement topcase is on order as well, I recovered the damaged one for parts and such. I have to now find out if the insurance company will pay for the black reflective stickers I had on the old lid that was damaged.