Picture Of The Month! Life's a Beach (Click Image for a Larger View)

Every month customers send us killer photos and I see no reason to keep them to myself so what better way to say thanks for sharing than to post them in this Picture of the Month spot..

Our May/ June POTM was contributed by Shawn Casadevall who lives in Palm Coast, FL. He says of the shot.. " This shot was taken on my first ride on the recently purchased 2015 BMW R1200RT with a whopping 3600 miles! It was on Hwy A1A, just south of St. Augustine. It was an overcast ride, but temps were warm and spirits were high! Shot with my LG V60 phone over the weekend. A bike like this, I could have ridden forever! - Shawn Casadevall. "

If you would like to contribute your own "worthy" shot for our newsletter, here's what I'll need. First.. just email me 1 or 2 of your best digital shots or send me a link if you've already uploaded them somewhere. It'll need to be at least 1024x768 in size or larger and preferably A. Of any late model BMW .. B. In focus... C. No GSs for God's sake.

Staintune Availability Notice 2022: They're Alive!

Almost 4 years ago, Staintune Exhausts closed their doors due to some Orwellian "green" laws in Australia and were forced to start looking for a buyer. We were the last US importer and their closure hit both the industry and our income pretty hard.. Having sold many brand exhausts over the years, it was and still is my opinion that Staintunes are the best made exhausts on the market.

The good news is, they found a buyer, have moved to a new location, and are again producing a limited number of kits! While we haven't worked out shipping terms and logistics details, I've been givin the go-ahead to offer their limited menu to my fellow Americans. Unless I'm badly mistaken, the old owners are working with the new owners in the transition. Both parties want the legacy of quality to continue.

The following kits are being produced by Staintune today. For pricing and availability, email me and I'll see what I can do...

* DR650 Full System
* DRZ400E muffler
* XR600/XR650L muffler
* XR650R muffler
* KLR650 2010-21 muffler

Coming Soon: KLR650-22 muffler followed by a DRZ400 header to create a full system, KLR650 header to create a full system for the 22 models. Next in line is a muffler for the Yamaha T700 and headers for the XR600 and XR650 and maybe, just maybe.. a K1600 Bagger kit.. Stay tuned.

Product Review: Hommiesafe Air Motorcycle Seat Cushion

Let it be known that I have a very discerning ass and when my ass isn't happy.. I'm not happy. It's become apparent that the older I get the more my ass complains after even short rides. It doesn't help that my Corbin/Sargent hybrid seat has been lowered by 1.5" with much of the padding removed so I can flat-foot my bike. That worked great a decade ago.. These days I'm in pain after 1 hour. So what to do other than whine like a little gurl?

I 'd seen seat pads all my life and swore that I'd never put one of those hideous things on any bike of mine. Mamma didn't raise no dork. That being said.. as you age and the ego doesn't rule your life any more, comfort supercedes coolness. Time to make some changes. I looked around, read a lot of reviews, then decided to try the Hommiesafe Air Motorcycle Seat Cushion available through Amazon for only $23.99 delivered. That's cheap. It's a simple generic seat pad that you can either blow up (using the furnished pump) or fill with water. The underside has thousands of rubberized micro-tits that keep it from sliding around on your seat. The pad itself has 2 elastic straps that run underneath your seat and are adjustable.

Many reviewers said you don't need to put much air in because when you sit on it the pressure moves the air around and the pockets balance out. I agree with them. For me, blowing it up until all of the pockets were lightly inflated, not hard but not mush either, was the most comfortable configuration. If you can press your finger on one of the, "pillows" and it leaves a dent, it's not filled up enough. You want enough pressure so it won't dent with your finger, plus a little.

As of this writing, I've only tried the Hommiesafe Seat Cushion on (3) 60 mile rides. My first impressions. It seems to be of decent quality material and manufacturing. It took all of 1 minute to install. It adds about 1/2" -3/4" to your seat height. It feels surprisingly good. Almost like gel. I got off and on the bike a couple of times during my ride and the pad never slipped out of position. Very secure. When I rolled in after this ride, my ass wasn't hurting like it usually does. Not even a little. I've noticed that if you leave it on the bike for over a week I had to add a little air to it. - Does it look cool on the bike? I've seen worse. Bottom line.. it worked as advertised. ! I like it! My ass likes it. My wallet likes it.

The Missing Pirates Lair Cheesy Newsletter Notices: Back In Action

If you are a Pirates Lair newsletter subscriber you may or may not have noticed that I haven't sent out newsletter notifications since October. It wasn't because I'm lazy, forgetful, apathetic, or just smokin' too much weed although a case could be made for all of those. No.. back in late October (and just before my heart attack), our insanely over-paid IT guy inadvertently made our customer database inaccessible during some system upgrades. That issue has just been resolved and our first newsletter notice has by now been sent out to all the boys and girls on our list by our newly hired professional service (Mailjet) using our alternate email address pirateslair@charter.net

I started penning our newsletters about the same time as I started Pirates Lair over 20 years ago and every newsletter is still on-line with links at the bottom of almost every newsletter. That being said.... over that 20 year time period, I accumulated thousands of email addresses. Too many for my old email host to handle. The same aforementioned IT guy suggested I let a professional service send them out for me. Might be a "too little, too late" scenario now that I'm about 2 years from retiring, but I thought.. what the hell. I signed up with MailJet last month and this week we finally get to try them out. Let me know what you think. The new newsletter notices will be formatted for both smart phone and computer.

While the Mailjet service has been anything but easy to set up, thus far their customer service has been exemplary. They've walked me through every obstacle and believe me... it's been a mental minefield for my aging brain. One of the many cool benefits of the MailJet service is that they take your customer database and (for a fee) check every email to verify that every address is still valid. A good way to weed out all those addresses no longer active. They pinged thousands of newsletter recipients within a minute and almost 48% were no longer operational or receiving. Good to know..

Our new database is now leaner and meaner and hopefully our notifications will be more professional looking. If at some time in the past you subscribed and are not receiving our notices, you may want to check in with your server and make sure it's not going to spam or bouncing. You should also log in and put our new newsletter email address .. pirateslair@charter.net in your "not spam" or "friendly" receiving list. MailJet told me Gmail and/or Apple products are always problematic for masse mailings. Take note. We're baaaack.

1. BrenTuning Testing: BMW K1600.. This is our new flash for the K1600. Many parameters have been altered to give you a smoother ride, more power, and no top speed limiter. Call us at 508-762-1769 or email us for details.

2. Speaking of tuning kits...Wanna add another 10 or so HP to your painfully underpowered K1300S? Are we not men? We've heard some good things about Vivid Racing's VR Tuned ECU Flash Tune BMW Motorrad K1300S. Besides an increase in horsepower, better throttle response is also one of the most noticeable features.

3. Mastering fear is a challenge for all riders at some point. Fear is the mind killer. Here's a vid that may help.. Overcome Fear- Lessons learned from traveling on a motorcycle.

4. Be prepared for gravity attacks. Check out the SW-Motech R1250RS Engine Protection Review from Ultimate Motorcycling...

5. Stuck with a flat battery in your BMW Motorrad keyless remote? Here's a simple tip that may save yourself a walk home!

1. A customer of ours notified us that there's a very cool write up of our R1250RS / R1200RS Stealth Backrest in the April 2022 issue of BMW MOA “ON” Magazine courtesy of Mark Barnes. Had to share.

2. The Pirates Lair email address of 20 years recently changed from pirate@acelink.net to pirateslair@gmail.com. Our newsletter notices will be sent from pirateslair@charter.net I suggest you OK that address in your spam filter otherwise you may or may not get the notices..

3.The all new Akrapovic Black Titanium Slip-On Exhaust System for the K16 Bagger / Grand America was developed for riders who want to make a change to the bike's look and sound with minimum modification. Ride in style with the Akrapovič Black Ti Slip-On exhaust system for the world's top-of-the-line BMW touring motorcycle. You will love its unique design, which is outstandingly executed using top-quality titanium canisters and carbon fiber outlet caps. Like every aftermarket exhaust available for the K1600 series, your O2 sensors remains plugged into your factory header. How does it sound? Fucking awesome. We're trying to determine if these kits fit the 2022 bikes..

4. As per the blurb above, Pirates Lair has an all new newsletter notification service in place. If you've subscribed and missed some notices we apologize. All kinds of shit has been going on behind the curtain. We think we've got it all sorted out. If you'd like to be notified when each new newsletter is posted, just email me with your request and I'll make that happen. Our email database is 100% secure. Stored in a lock box formerly owned by Al Gore. Never shared or sold to third parties.

5. In case you are/were a former I-BMW member wondering if the Pirates Lair I-BMW Reunion Party is going to happen in 2022... we're still trying to figure that out. Amber and I are discussing it. We hope to make a decision by early July for a possible mid-October event. I'll send out a blanket email to those who were planning on attending our 2021 event once we decide AND of course we'll have the info in upcoming newsletters.

I-BMW Reunion.. Pirates Lair Is Throwing Another Party! TBA

Where: 122 Flat Top Mountain Rd, Fairview, NC 28730
Remember, when you Google directions to our property to make sure you put in the zip code as there are TWO 122 Flat Top Mountain Rds in North Carolina. We don't want you getting lost or showing up at the wrong one.. Awkward.
GPS Coordinates: N 35 degrees, W 082 degrees
When: TBA- We'll announce soon.
Contact : 828-628-7093 or Pirateslair@gmail.com
Nearby Motel: Ramada by Wyndham Asheville Southeast

Amber and I will be hosting this one-day event (our first since 2007) for former I-BMW members, posters, or lurkers. Guests are welcome. This will be held on our mountain property (Paradise Ridge Permaculture Campground) just a few miles east of Asheville and 5 miles off the Blue Ridge Parkway. If all goes as planned we'll have food @ noon, non-alcoholic drinks, campfires, outdoor toilets, scantily clad jugglers, annoying mimes, maybe even live music around 5pm. Keep in mind, we do NOT have electricity on site.

Note: This will NOT be a "rain or shine" event. If it's gonna be wet or rainy.. we will cancel. Check with us a week prior to the event to make sure we're still a go.

We don't care if you ride or drive. There will be plenty of parking although most of it will be in a grassy pasture. There are motels nearby if attendees want to overnight in the area, but you'll need to book in advance as this is near the peak leaf-peeping season. Limited on-site camping will be available. Bring your own intoxicants. Email me for EXACT DIRECTIONS.