Jim Brown is selling his R1200 GSA.

See http://marketplace.bmwmoa.org/Classified/ListingDisplay.aspx?lid=24030

Last Saturday and today, I was the last person to leave Shapiro’s. My bike would not start.
A week ago and again today, when I started home my 2015 GSA would not start. I went through all the common problems such as side-stand down and in gear, etc. My mind wasn’t playing tricks–it should start but wouldn’t. I flipped the kickstand up and down a few times and it did start. When I got home today, I closely checked the side-stand kill switch and found it to be cracked. 

If you have to order such a switch be sure to give your dealer your VIN number. It turns out for my model motorcycle there were two styles of kill switches, one has wires coming out and the other takes a plug. Mine takes a plug and my dealer had one.

While I had the defective switch out, I decided to test a method of bypassing the kill switch in case you have an incident in the field. I happened to have some jumper wires used in electronics breadboarding and the prongs happened to be just the right size. Various Internet suggestions cut the wires with a knife and twist two of the three wires together to get you back home. If I need a field repair I would use my jumper wire and wrap the loop to the plug with electricians tape.

I am including three pictures showing the cracked case of the switch, the type of jumper I used and the position of the jumper in the plug. 

My bike only has 26k miles so I can recommend checking it regularly. Since a rock can crack the case and the switch costs $105 I may eventually fashion a shield for it.

The moral of this post is never be the last person to leave Shapiro’s.

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On pages 66-67 in the May 2019 issue of BMW Owners News, you have published an irresponsible photograph of a woman motorcycle rider doing something for a photograph that could have resulted in injury or death. There is no caption for the picture that I can find and it has no relation to content of the story that surrounds it.

Technically the photograph is not a selfie, since Eli Woody took the picture. But it is a wonderful illustration of a situation that has proven deadly to more than 250 people putting themselves in dangerous situations for a photograph^[1]. BMW riders pay careful attention to safety by using helmets and riding gear. We, as a group, are all about safety. The ground may only be two feet below the far edge of the rock but the perspective of the photograph makes it seem as if there is a big drop off. Our organization encourages younger riders and I hope one of them does not take this picture as a challenge to do something even more daring. This is a gratuitous picture that should not have been published.

James W. Brown, 41696

^[1]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/10/03/more-than-250-people-worldwide-have-died-taking-selfies-study-finds/?utm_term=.329cb4514c9e