I had adjusted the shock pre-load before we left by one notch but decided that two would have been better, but of course I had not brought the wrench with me. The Harley manual had said to make the adjustment and I bought the wrench (spanner) but of course they didn't tell you how much to adjust. I'll try two next time. Sandy behaved herself back there, leaning with the bike, not away. That takes some getting used to for the passenger. I'd cautioned her beforehand to keep her feet on the pegs and stay with the bike. She said that the backrest makes it easier since she just stays put. I need to get her out for a short ride each day so that she gets used to it ... and her body gets used to it so that she's not stiff. I have a number of sightseeing trips in mind and they'll be longer rides.
Much before that, we headed north to the BMW dealer and her dermatologist appointment. She dropped at the dealer and continued. Jason, the SA, was busy with another customer so I didn't have a chance to talk to him. The car was nice and shiny ... that's what you get for spending a chunk of money. To put into perspective, the bill for the major service and replacing all the power steering hoses came to about 20% of what it cost for the Harley ... but I guess that I don't begrudge the service since it's the first time that we've spent any real money on the car and after all, it does have 152,000 miles on it.
The major service includes replacing most of the fluids -- differential, transmission, engine oil -- could have also included flushing and replacing radiator anti-freeze and brake fluid but I opted out of those because they were expensive. I have to find a local guy who can do that kind of stuff, since it doesn't take expensive equipment or special training and shouldn't rate the $120 BMW hourly rate.
When I got home I looked more closely at the bill and found an item "Distributor for Trans. Fluid" and called Jason to find out what that is, since it was $46.71. He was on another line so I talked to the service desk who promised to look up the item and call me back. 15 minutes later Jason called, first off to apologize because he was with a customer when I came in, secondly to say that they'd cracked the decorative engine cover and were going to replace it at their expense, a 15 minute job, and that it was on order, thirdly to explain the part but he was looking at the wrong line on the bill.
After I gave him my lecture on customer service, how only with this BMW dealer out of the 7 with which I've dealt, I get over-promised and under-delivered -- not in quality of work but in timing -- he promised to call back with information on the part.
Not being a patient sort, I went on the internet, naturally, and did some research. First off, I found that the part number was transmission fluid, so the descriptor on the invoice was wrong. Thoroughly irritated now, since of course I don't have an automatic transmission, I looked at the rest of the items and found that they'd charged me for WW Antifreeze but when I had popped the hood I remember seeing that it wasn't full. $3.84 for what ? I'd run into this before with Don Rosen BMW in Philly -- their system generates a standard list of items for an Inspection II Service -- whether they actually did it or not. Long story short on the WWA -- I didn't bring it up with Jason ... I had bigger fish to fry.
Still nothing back from Jason much later, I was doing more reading. Why do they charge so much for service if they don't know the answers to their own part numbers ? Well, he finally did call back right at 6pm -- I'd talked to him before noon -- with a partial answer. In the meantime, of course, much earlier I had solved the problem. The all-wheel-drive car has a transfer case. That transfer case electronically balances the drive between the rear (normal) and 4WD as part of the Dynamic Stability Control etc. etc. The transfer case takes transmission fluid. The transmission fluid does have an English descriptor of "lifetime" but according to one website it is changed periodically because that is the only way of removing any wear particles since there is no filter. Jason also mentioned that while they were doing this they replaced a gasket, but that was an aside. His description of what the charge was for was actually a little off but confirmed what I'd read.
The bottom line in all of this will depend on what happens next. They actually came in a little under the estimated cost of the service, so I'll be happy if there are no issues during our cross-country trip. This is probably the last full service that I'll invest in this car -- all these fluids should last its remaining life ... or at least as long as I'll have it.
I did do some more puttering around in the garage, taking advantage of the empty space since Sandy had the M5. I also test-installed the hitch carrier and that will work nicely for our trip north and then back south. The only thing that I might think about there is getting a pair of trailer lights and mounting them on the carrier, since loaded up high it would block my lights ... but that would have to be pretty high. I'll think about that one.
We're just about finished Christmas shopping -- brick-and-mortar stores (Sandy) and internet (me). Every day brings more stuff from USPS, Fedex and UPS. Stef and Aaron have ordered stuff that is sitting here for transport north; David ordered something the other day for transport north and west; there's always the possibility that I'll be running over to Home Depot to purchase yet-another-bin that will have to ride on the hitch carrier. I'm hoping not since I have a stack of them up north in the barn -- I need to bring 1/2 of them south when we come back !
I had a couple of interesting deliveries yesterday that are worth noting. One was a motorcycle mount for my bicycle GPS. It only cost $3 more than the silly little clippy from Garmin that ties onto bicycle handlebars with zip-ties. Also in the mail was a hitch pin that I ordered with the hitch carrier. It's one that locks (I already had that) but also tightens, so that whatever is stuck into the receiver doesn't rattle. That doesn't matter for something that I'm pulling, like a trailer, but bicycle carriers and the hitch rack are constantly rattling in the receiver.
I went into Wal-Mart yesterday on the way back home and picked up a cheap over-the-shoulder cooler for boat trips. We didn't have anything other than little six-pack carriers that were the specified maximum size of carry-ins for the Daytona 500. We needed something that would fit more than a can of coke and a sandwich for when there are more of us going on the trip. As I left Wal-Mart I realized that I'd forgotten to pickup Aaron's special order of dark chocolate -- oh well, next time.
I've really neglected my cameras, but did process a few pictures this morning and post them under "recent".
Here we have the Segway-ers about to head out on their trip. No, Sandy doesn't have a three wheeled version, that's another Segway behind Sandy. The instructor / tour guide rode that one. They had a good time. Did you know that these things cost more than my new motorcycle ? Of course, the good thing about them is that there aren't too many chrome things that you can add ... they haven't been quite as successful as Harley in branding. Have you ever seen anyone sporting a Segway leather jacket ?
Speaking of which, here is the Sportster after the addition of passenger pegs, passenger pillion, docking kit, sideplates, sissy bar, pad and luggage carrier. How far could you travel with a luggage carrier that only holds 10 pounds ? Do you realize that the rack on the back of my bicycle will carry more ? Do you also realize that my bicycle rack costs a whole lot less than the sissy bar rack ? But then it's not heavy-duty chrome either !
Oh, and I apologize for the busy background but it also illustrates what I've been doing in the garage -- getting things up on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. Hanging there in plain view is the length of #8 electric wire that I use to connect George's RV to city power ... but of course we won't see them as they pass through at Christmas ... pity.
Today's activities, at least for me, depend on the weather. The temperature is in the mid-50's right now and won't warm up too much. Scattered rain clouds are passing over but until it's light I don't know if we're actually getting rain. Sandy is heading to Orlando for her follow-up Kidney Stone appointment. Hopefully that will go well.
Onward !
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