K1200GT tyre pressure adjustment technique

Note that this probably also works with other BMW models with the tyre pressure monitoring (RDC) option fitted, but I have only tried it on my K1200GT.

If you need to adjust your tyre pressures and you don't have a tyre pressure gauge with you:

1. ride the bike until the dash starts displaying the pressures
2. stop the bike and then stop the engine, without touching the key in the ignition. Use the kill-switch
3. adjust pressures, noting that as you do so, the dash display changes
4. ride the bike :-)

This may be obvious to people smarter than me.  RDC is a wonderful feature to have.

End of year roundup

A quick blog post to wrap up 2010...

Work: Happy, challenged, excited. No serious complaints. Learning about AIX and Puppet, and of course Linux sysadmin continues to be my main role. Looking forward to the SAGE-AU conference in Melbourne, in September 2011. Didn't take as much time off as I should have, but riding my bike to and from Hobart for the 2010 SAGE-AU conference was extremely satisfying and gave me a good chance to be out of the office and clear my head.

Not-work: In May I started living and working in Sydney full-time. Have been appreciating commuting by train. I ditched my Nokia E71 for an iPhone 3GS and am loving it; it has been the single most satisfying tech purchase I have ever made. Haven't spent as much time in the gym as I should have, but this sorry state of affairs will not continue. I haven't spent nearly as much quality time with Anna as I'd like (we do live in different cities, after all), but I am hoping that this can improve in 2011.

Motorcycling, overall: I put about equal kilometres on the Dakar and K1200GT this year, and in total, rather fewer than last year. I don't have an odometer figure for the K-bike as of January 1 this year, but I do for the Dakar. A combined total of about 35000km, I think. The K1200GT odometer currently reads 51610km, and the Dakar odometer tells a very similar tale. My BMW Roadside Assistance subscription proved worthwhile as I achieved four punctured tyres in three months of riding.

K1200GT: This year saw a lot of warranty repair work on the K-bike, mostly at the time of the 40000km service, where it was at the dealer for a month or more. It now has a K1300 gearbox and clutch, and this does appear to be a bit better than the old units, but still not nearly as good as your average Japanese bike, such as a friend's Blackbird that I had the significant pleasure of borrowing.

F650GS Dakar: 2010 saw this bike back on the road after a bit of a hiatus, and I still have a deep, abiding love for it, especially the delightful little Rotax engine. 40000 and 50000km services were done, and I with the aforementioned Blackbird owner's help, I finished the Pro-Oiler install. The bike still needs more work, though, needing new chain/sprockets, new tyres and (for the second time) new steering head bearings. Michelin's perennial supply problems caused me to get Pirelli's gimmicky new Angel ST tyres instead of my usual Pilot Road2, and this was a mistake that I won't repeat.

Projects: In 2010 I acquired a Honda XL250 K0 (early 1970s model) and the other day I also acquired (Free! Thanks, Norm!) a Honda CT110 "postie" bike. The XL250 has a long road ahead, as I'd like to fully restore it. The CT110 on the other hand I would like to have registered and ridable as soon as possible. I don't think it will cost very much at all to get there. Job #1 is to transport it to my Sydney garage from its current location.