WRIST: Aaron Frank
MSRP (2013): $19,520
Miles: 6,557
MPG: 39
Mods: None
Last month’s update was all about the fine folks at Schlossmann Motorcycles of Milwaukee fixing potential problems as part of my 6,000-mile service. This month’s update is all about my GS’s newfound ability to magically heal itself.
The first example of spontaneous self-healing concerns the cruise control. (Coincidentally, one of two “service information bulletins” addressed during the 6,000-mile service was specific to cruise control-equipped GSs.) Halfway into a 550-mile round trip from Milwaukee to Indianapolis Motor Speedway to attend an EBR press launch, the cruise stopped functioning. I suspected the failure was water related—a torrential downpour started minutes after leaving home and didn’t stop until after I returned two days later—but I was skeptical because the symptoms felt mechanical, since I could no longer feel the positive detent when pushing the set/resume trigger forward. Regardless, it must have been the inundation because proper cruise function returned once the bike dried out—complete with the positive detent.
The second example is awkward and slightly embarrassing. For weeks I was tormented by an itinerant vibration that sounded just like a loose body panel. I gave the bike a long-overdue bath, taking care to touch every component and check for security. I was certain I solved my problem when I located (and replaced) a missing rubber grommet on the right side panel, but as soon as I hit 60 mph the rat-a-tat returned. The next day I rode probably 50 miles on cruise, touching every part I could reach and still failing to isolate the persistently inconsistent vibration that seemed unrelated to engine speed or any other usual suspect. The only indication seemed to be windscreen position, but repeated careful inspections confirmed the windscreen mechanism was intact. Maddening.
At wit’s end, I put both hands up to my helmet and screamed—and the vibration disappeared immediately. A few weeks earlier, one of my lovely daughters knocked my AXO motocross helmet off the workbench and, unbeknownst to me, cracked the sun visor. At certain wind speeds and directions this would cause a hollow vibration that sounded just like it was emanating from the front lower quarter of the bike! I’m just glad I figured it out myself before I went back and complained to Sarge at Schlossmann’s.
