Issues with the XR1200

I had to take the bike into the dealer for warranty service on Saturday the 24th - 2 oil leaks and an exhaust leak. Looks like a few back o-rings and gaskets. I also put Michelin Pilot Road 2 tires on the bike, so hopefully I'll get more mileage out of this set.

Around the edges of WI (almost)

Started a trip around the borders of Wisconsin on April 16. Took highway 18 to the Great River Road (WI 35) to Duluth. Ended of getting to Duluth, MN when I found I picked up a screw in the rear tire. Kept losing pressure but finally stumbled back to Green Bay. Sealent was added and I had to cut the trip short and just get back home to Madison. The route is attached below.


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Weekend trip to Green Bay

Put about 500 miles on the bike this weekend up to Green Bay and back home. Had some great weather and lots of sunshine. Now that the weather is warming up, I'm noticing that this bike runs HOT! I can feel it up my left leg - not surprising considering the increased performance over a base sportster.

Here's a google map of the trip:


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1000 mile service

I took the bike in for the 1000-mile service on Friday. Took approximately 2.5 hours and ran about $300. I ended up using HD's Syn3 full synthetic oil. I'm still using oil but I've just been logging when I add and how much - hopefully it clears up soon, as I'm not to happy about the situation.

Background and Intro

I purchased the XR1200 on November 7, 2009 and immediately put her into winter storage at the dealership. Finally picked her up on March 19, 2010 with 6 miles on the clock.

Today is 4/5/10... Blog starts and the odometer reads 940 miles with the first service scheduled later in the week.

Thoughts so far - Tons of fun to ride, easy to maintain and plenty of torque!

Issues so far - I can start to see a wear strip in the rear tire even though I haven't been too hard on the bike (no burnouts!). However, most owners report of low mileage on these tires, so it's expected.