Another Blog?

 

You might ask why I'm creating a new blog.  Isn't my other blog ostensibly about hacks and how-tos?  Sure.  I just think the topic of motorcycles deserves a focus.  

After a lot of shopping and consideration, I bought a 2020 BMW F900XR.  There's a lot I like about this bike, but there are things about it that are frustrating.  I chalk this up to the bike being fairly new, especially to the U.S., so there's not a lot of information about the bike.  There are a lot of accessories available to buy for it, but (for example) not a lot of information about maintenance and modification.

I've been working on motorcycles for over 40 years.  At one time I worked in a motorcycle shop, and I've restored and modified more bikes than I can count.  So here I am with a new motorcycle and no shop manual, no service manual, etc.  I don't even know the torque specs for most of the hardware.

Fortunately, there are some - albeit limited - resources.  There's a Facebook group for F900R and F900XR owners.  The engine (which is actually made in China by Loncin to BMW specs) the F900R/XR is essentially the same as the F850GS, so there's some limited information such as oil changes that can be applied to the R/XR.  It's not much.  In the interest of helping other R/XR owners, I'll do what I can to share information here as I uncover it.