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Hailwood day & land yacht service
Sunday shed wrap
August 17, 2025, by Guy 'Guido' Allen
Snap, crackle and pop!
That's kind of what you get when drag the lovely 1985 Ducati
MHR Mille out of the shed for the first time in
four months. It gets bitter and resentful, runs on one
at first until the second cylinder decides it might as
well join in the fun.
It's times like that I'm glad we bought an electric
roller starter which makes life so much easier for
everyone concerned – including my neighbors who could
probably do without the fruity language that would
otherwise ensue.
We got on the road and, as usual, it was an emotional and
gothic experience. You definitely know you've been for a
ride.
There are a few jobs to
be done on this bike, including plugs, oil and filter,
change over the indicators for the original type,
ditto the clip-on handlebars. Oh, plus upgrade the
battery and earth strap. Soon...
The list of tasks across the fleet is expanding at the
moment. Next week I'm picking up parts from Pilgrim at Union Jack to
switch the BSA Firebird
and Triumph T160
over to solid-state ignition. However I can't see the
actual work happening just yet. There are some people out
there expecting stories from me – they're paying the bills
and therefore get priority. Engine oil, Triumph bits,
Shiraz and cat food ain't free.
One way of combining work with pleasure is to step
aboard one of the land yachts and head off to shoot and
get stories on some classics for Unique Cars
magazine. I have three lined up in Brisbane for next
month, and so will take the 1999 BMW K1200LT
for what will be about a 4000km (2500 mile) round trip
from home base in Melbourne.
To that end I've been going over it,
charging the battery, checking fluids and
generally poking around. The trip is going to be
themed #luxotour, aka Luxury You Can Afford.
Some of you may recall Joe Cocker's 1978 album of
the same name. What's the connection?
As I've
noted before, once you include a big and
expensive mechanical freshen up that covered
a new clutch and rear main seal, plus lots of
other gear, the bike owed me about Au$13,000
(US$8500, GB£6300, €7200) with 50,000km (31,000
miles) on it. I'm confidently predicting it will
now easily outlast me.
Even with all the work, the cost was
more than competitive with the equivalent used
Gold Wing. Plus, with cruise control, ABS, heated
seats and grips, electric windscreen, along with
surprisingly capable handling and performance, it
does pretty much what a new big tourer would do
for about a third of the cost.
I've so far done 20,000km (12,000 miles)
in three years, including a couple of
Melbourne-Brisbane round trips, and a run from
Perth back to Melbourne. See the Perth
Run feature, here.
Prep this time is pretty
basic, including an oil change. One of the weird
features of this 'laid-down' K-series engine is the
oil filler is placed in an awkward spot, in the right
(crankshaft) side of the motor, inside some body work.
You need a flexible funnel to reach it, while filling
and checking are best done on the sidestand.
Oil use is minimal and
I'm unlikely to have to top up on the road. Meanwhile,
fuel use is also incredibly good, with 20km/lt being
the norm on the highway. Sometimes it will do better.
One of my favourite
workshop gadgets at the moment is a mini electric air
compressor. While I have a full-size compressor and a
foot-pump, this thing wins points for being light and
making it easy to deal with several sets of tyres in
an afternoon. You can get them with their own power
supply, but I went for this version since I always
seem to have spare batteries floating about.
That's it for the moment. Let's see what next Sunday brings...
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