Missives from the 6th Floor

So I put a deposit on it for first right of refusal, and the sales and the service manager took it upon themselves to put 600 miles on the bike over the next 8 days.

I bought the bike on Wednesday. The deal was painless - a bit over 10% off the sticker for it being a demo bike, full factory warranty, extended by 6 months from the date it went into demo service (so I net with a 3.25 year warranty), the 600 mile oil change and 2500 mile service have already been performed. They replaced a scratched valve cover and the scuffed hard bags without my asking.

The bad news is that it's already back at the shop.

I rode it to work from the dealer on Wed, parked it in the garage. When I got to the bike to head home, it cranked and started, but wouldn't stay running at idle - I had to keep the throttle open all the way home or it would stall out. When I got home last night (having driven to work) I tried starting it and it cranked but wouldn't catch.

So now I get to see how Ride West's follow up service is - I sent the sales guy a note last night asking how best to get it back to them for diagnosis and repair - they sent a trailer today and I'm hoping, but not confident, that I can get the bike back before they close on Saturday.

Not exactly an auspicious beginning.

Oh, and BMW accessories are insane. They want nearly $1000 for the large top box, and like $300 for a tank bag. Givi has a top box that looks attractive for "only" $300-ish, and Marsee has a tankbag - with their BMW-specific fuel filler mount - that I might give a go.

Aside from that, the only other customization I plan is an after-market screen (of which there are several to choose from), as the stock screen is almost adequate for me, but doesn't provide enough protection for the passenger.

I'd normally be going on about how awesome the bike is, but having to send it back this quickly does put a bit of a damper on the purchase...

[UPDATE] 7-Apr-2010: they diagnosed the problem as a faulty injector, and I picked up the bike, and the hard-bags I'd been waiting on, this morning. Rode to work, rode home, so far, so good. Cruise control on a motorcycle is weird. Heated grips and seats, on the other hand, are pure awesome.