Tag: BMW motorcycles

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Rain, Wind, and Riding

            The forecasted rain arrived Friday evening and stayed past noon on Saturday.  I was bummed even though I was sure we’d be able to ride on Sunday.  So in order to mitigate the wait time from Saturday to Sunday, I decided to go check out the 2024 BMW R1300 GS.  As luck would have it, by the time we headed over to the BMW dealership, the roads had mostly dried out.  But I had set my sights on seeing the new motorcycle, so we headed over.

            When we arrived at Adventure, they had over 15 motorcycles outside on display including the 1300 in the GS Trophy edition.  This edition is in a red, white, and royal blue color pattern that looked good on Youtube, but for me the colors didn’t quite fit on the motorcycle that well.  Because they had a large inventory of bikes, I was able to sit on the 1300 and then sit on a 1250 to compare.  On both bikes I was on my toes, but when we went inside, I was able to sit on a Triple Black edition that featured the adjustable seat height.  I was happy to see I could flat foot the bike and have a bend in my knees, close to my position on the R Nine T.  The adjustable seat height is a feature that automatically lowers the motorcycle’s suspension as the rider slows down to stop.  Harley-Davidson introduced this feature with their adventure bike, the Pan America, and it is a very smart feature that, should it gain increasing popularity, will make motorcycling open to more riders.

            When I expressed disappointment at not seeing the 1300 in the Aurelius green metallic, Rick, the sales manager, told us he had one in the back and led us back there to see it.  I’m glad he did because between the Trophy colors and the green, I much prefer the green.  The lines on the tank are smoother and Bill likes that the frame is black not white.

            Because of the recent rain, and because Rick was helping us not Clayton, there was no offer of a test ride.  I would like to go back and test ride the green one, but I have to come to grips with reality.  The green bike, known as the Option 719, is an upspec motorcycle with a ton of features and would cost, before dealer fees and taxes, $28, 545, so over $30,000 once the additional fees are added.  It is amazing how much the motorcycle has increased in price.  The 1250 GS would have run around $23,000 with added features.  I may have to wait for some used 1300s to show up on CycleTrader to make it a reasonable dream.

            Of course I really can’t complain.  I have the beautiful R Nine T to ride, and ride I did on another windy Sunday.  I remembered to check the wind chill, so I was dressed appropriately in my full leather jacket with the liner, warmest shirt, and Rev’It Factor 4 pants with the liner.  Because of the chill, I wasn’t expecting to see any butterflies never mind as many as I saw last week.  But I was surprised; there was one cabbage white fluttering around before we left, and I did spot one brave little guy as we rode.

            As we turned around on at the end of the curvy road, I was watching a pair of Canadian geese in someone’s yard when my eye was caught by movement in the sky.  High aloft the bald eagle was cruising on the strong winds.  I stopped to watch, but Bill, who hadn’t seen the eagle, had ridden ahead.  It was one of the few times I’ve wished we had a communication system.

            Leaving the curvy road, I continued looking up in hopes of seeing the eagle again, but half a mile away and he was gone.  Shortly after, though, Bill and I spied two osprey fighting over a fish in the sky.  I was happy Bill got in on these raptors, and I began to have a hope of maybe seeing the golden eagle again.  I didn’t, but I did see lots of crows.

            I also saw more azaleas beginning to bloom and more tulips flowering.  The cherry trees had reached full bloom but, due to the heavy rain and strong winds, their blossoms were not as full as they could have been.  But the cherry blossoms in their transience remind me of my rides; the rides are wonderful while they last, but they are over all too soon.  Of course, like the cherry blossoms, they return.

Window Shopping

It’s been almost all about motorcycles this final week of 2021.  All except the riding unfortunately; we’ve been under a misty, damp fog since Thursday that built into rain showers New Year’s Eve and early New Year’s day.  So my motorcycle fix has to come from all the research we’ve done this week on possible new bikes.

We’ve been looking at potential cruiser bikes for long country road cruising and are considering the BMW R18 Bagger or the BMW K 1600 GTL for Bill.  As for me, I’m discerning the differences between the BMW R 1250 RT versus the BMW 1250 GS and deciding which one would suit me better.  I have a huge disadvantage in that I have never been on a long cruise at 35-45 mph, so I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for.  But I’m leaning toward the GS as it seemingly does both road and off-road equally well.

            I have learned this week that I am not as intimidated by the weight of motorcycles as I was at first.  I learned a simple but extremely effective technique for lifting a motorcycle off its side stand.  That trick is to rotate the front wheel to the right before trying to lift the bike.  It is so effective in shifting the weight that when I first tried it with my Scrambler, I had to catch the bike from falling to the right.  This technique is so effective, that I used it on the 1250 GS when we visited Adventure BMW, and I used it to straighten up the Triumph Rocket when we stopped by Sunrise Cycles.  With the Rocket I brought the wheel to the center which was enough to allow me to easily straighten the almost 650-pound motorcycle!  I did not get on the R18 at Adventure, but I will on our next visit.

            We were able to see the T120 Triumph Bonneville Gold Line edition at Sunrise Cycles, the local Triumph dealer—as well as Suzuki, Yamaha, and Kawasaki.  The hand-painted gold line is beautiful on the British racing green tank, and it gives us some hope that they will get the Triumph Scrambler XE Gold Line in the gorgeous looking Baja California orange color.  While we were there, we also looked over the Suzuki Hayabusas they had (3) and the classic Kawasaki Ninjas.  And I came to realize that motorcycles don’t seem as large as they first did when I began my riding journey.  It could be that I am getting used to riding and being around motorcycles.  Or it could be that, after having looked at both the BMW R18 Bagger and Transcontinental behemoths, all other motorcycles seem much dwarfed in comparison.  I prefer to believe the former, however, as it reflects much better on me as a rider.

Happy New Year to my Readers! I wish you all good things in 2022.