Pashnit BackROADS: A Motorcycle Tour

[pashnit]

I like the BMW; does that mean the busa is gone or does it have a stall partner?

The K1200R is a loaner for the season. I've had various 2nd bikes come and go through the years, most of them not mine, but this one is the result of some conversations last year about putting together a camera bike to shoot footage from.
While I've fiddled with ride video since the beginning on and off, even wrote my first webpage about camera mounting back in around 2000, the Busa isn't the greatest platform to work with. I've had the SportBikeCam on there for years, but the result is a fixed position style video like this:

...And this is just using my normal digital camera (Canon Pro1) set to the video setting.

Using a standard instead of the fully-faired busa gives us a lot of options and possibilities for camera angles. More the better. So far I've added 11 ball mounts to the bike. Some worked, some didn't, so bit of a learning process.

So this...

 

[pashnit]

...has evolved more into ideas like this:

And this... Just keep trying new stuff.

 

[Projekt]

That bike is one of a few on the short list to buy once I get back stateside. Excellent post!

 

[macon454]

Awesome pics, Thanks

 

[pashnit]

Tim great shots! How do you like the K1200R? Can you share with us the pro's and cons compared to the Busa? Wardie

Hi Larry, it's definitely a lot different than the busa. Steering feels heavy at low speeds, but once you get rolling, never notice it. These forks aren't supposed to have any dive to them. Anti-lock brakes front rear, and the ESA is an interesting feature to toggle through the 3 suspension settings while riding.

I think I mentioned the horsepower is nowhere near the Busa, but drop it down a gear and still really books. Still a 1200cc motor. One thing this bike has is handling, I'll give it that. Mainly the center of gravity is really low. They got that result by rotating the motor forward which you can see the angle in this pic. It might seem inconsequential, but the flicking side to side in the S-curves (which you can see

the Ride Video[/url]) is effortless. The styling is a bit goofy looking I'll admit, but many bikes are love or hate styling. The K1200R also has the Corbin heated seat and matching Corbin Smuggler trunk to replace the rear seat.

One of the first things I did was toss the stock levers, since using the Pazzo's really spoils you. You get used to the shorty feel. But now that I've ridden it with the clunky stock levers vs. the Pazzo, just no comparison. First thing I did was get a set of Pazzo Levers.

The ESA is that button under your left thumb to adjust the suspension on the fly. Plus the Powerlet Outlet is handy to power stuff.

 

[pashnit]

Added the plus the Heat Troller for the Powerlet Electric Liner & gloves. We rode through several hours of pouring rain and I was toasty warm even with the tiny bikini fairing. The heated liner is one of these things you wonder how you ever lived without all those years of riding. Kind of a 'duh' sort of moment.

Shod with a new set of shoes, the venerable Avon Storm ST's. Great sport-touring tire, good stickage, and good for at least 5000 miles. At 1000 miles per ride, good for 4-5 rides.

 

[pashnit]

Then tossed the stock rear rotor. I think this is a bit of an appearance mod, but the is just plain sexy. Looks great on the bike.

Been debating putting a matched set of Galfer Wave Rotors on the front. Sometimes the naked bikes can look really sweet with the wave rotors on the front. And I'm sort of hard on the front brakes.

 

[pashnit]

Then wired in the Autocom comm system. Plumbed the radar detector into this, so I can hear it in my helmet, plus talk to the other riders. The K1200S has some good Powerlet power outlets that I can plumb into so I never have to turn the radio on or off, powered up when I turn on the key.

I'm getting a bit of an electrical whine in my helmet this way though, so I've got to figure out a way to fix that. On the Busa, I power the radio with just the battery, so I didn't have that problem. Parts Unlimited has some $10 doohickey that you can attach to the wiring to get rid of the whine. Will have to order one and try that out.

 

[pashnit]

After all that, it was time to start fiddling with ideas on how to mount the camera systems on the bike.

Slowly figure out what works.

 

[pbghost]

awesome pics

 

[warp10]

great pics, would love to get out there sometime

 

[MPH 200]

Tim, as usual, thanks for taking me there. Beautiful country.

 

[gabusa]

Great pics. Thanks.

 

[Cerberus]

Thanks for the picts!! Beautiful country up there. Like others, making it up there for a tour is on my list of things to do. Hmm, maybe a bunch of us should get together and have a "Pashnit Busa tour".

 

[MO-BUSA]

awesome pictures and nice toys thanks for sharing

 

[miserycaptain]

AWESOME POST, AWESOME PICS! THANK YOU FOR SHARING THE BEAUTIFUL SCENERY!