Greeting from Washington, DC

After moving to DC several years ago and not wanting to be killed by a taxi I got rid of my bike. I've been hoping that sooner or later I'd be able to move from DC, but after 7 years, its looking less and less likely. I decided to take the plunge and get a bike again (convincing the wife proved far less difficult than expected). I love the look of the old airhead beemers, and having only ridden modern sport bikes, I'm expecting to have an interesting transition (dual petcocks, reserve tank, a choke!). I picked up a 1976 R90/6 with 55,000 miles for a good deal, till I found out the drive shaft ujoint needs to be replaced, but for a 35 year old bike its got a lot of life left. Its at the shop getting replaced as I type. I expected this to be a long labor of love/money pit anyways, so I just can't wait to get it back and start riding a bike that has been on this earth longer than me.

welcome and enjoy! Great folks with better stories and adventures than any other forum.

Welcome JSM! Think of this bike as your ticket out of DC traffic, if only for short periods at a time!

welcome - As a DC native who left about 5 years ago for the mind numbing flat roads of "Pure Michigan", I envy you!
Sure, I do not miss the crazy-insane traffic, but the location of DC from both the mountains or the sea is perfect for an adventure. Hop on the R early enough and you can cool down in Shenandoah's or the Chesapeake/ Atlantic Ocean within 3hours. Take the roads less straight! I'm sure there will be plenty of DC'ers planning a trip each weekend. enjoy!

Rob

I'm looking forward to getting back on.

Most importantly I'm looking forward to it as my ticket out of the DC parking headaches!

jsm0911 said:

I'm looking forward to getting back on.

Most importantly I'm looking forward to it as my ticket out of the DC parking headaches!

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During my many years living in town (NW and Capitol Hill) I mostly only had a bike for transportation. I'd head down to Rock Creek Park on warmer days for a quick cool off if time was limited or head to WV if I had the whole day. Enjoy the airhead, where are you having the work done? We are lucky to have several BMW shops as well as several more independent mechanics that really know airheads in this area so keeping it running and parts should not be a problem.
and you should check out www.bmwbmw.org the local BMW club.

Welcome to airheadom

RM

I dropped it off at Beemer Uber Allez. Seemed like they had some of the best feedback in the area. I'm hoping that my car restoring knowledge (70's VWs) will help me be able to do a good bit myself. Time and money will tell.

I used to live right near rock creek and now I'm over by Glover Park. Rock Creek is destination #1 as soon as I get it back.

ETA is about 1.5-2 weeks from now.

I am curious as to why you think you have to replace your driveshaft u-joint?
I have 494,000 miles on my 1977 R100RS and it's rock solid!

When I bought it, the front master brake cylinder was gone and it had dead tags and I wasn't going to ride it anywhere like that. Towed it to the shop and they noticed a ticking sound when pushing it. Got a call a few days later that it was worn out and needed to be replaced. The PO had the bike sitting since 2004, so I was worried something might either need to be fix and why it was sitting, or would need to be fixed after sitting so long.

jsm0911 said:

I dropped it off at Beemer Uber Allez. Seemed like they had some of the best feedback in the area. I'm hoping that my car restoring knowledge (70's VWs) will help me be able to do a good bit myself. Time and money will tell.

I used to live right near rock creek and now I'm over by Glover Park. Rock Creek is destination #1 as soon as I get it back.

ETA is about 1.5-2 weeks from now.

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Yeah, good choice but then most BMW shops here are good though I do like using the small independent shops when I can. He's out right near where I work.
Yeah, Glover Park, know the area well.

RM