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Introducing...

I

inte_gs

Guest
Introducing (via x-country ride)...

Howdy.

I'm Jon. New BMWMOA member here ... couldn't be happier about it. Just joined up & posted my 1st thread (Nicaragua report). I've been riding for a few years now and have never been adamant about use of a particular brand of bike - however - what made me first decide to get into the world of motorcycles was a photo of someone ... somewhere, on an '02 1150 GS Adventure. Saw that pic & I was hooked. Had to get one of them things. As life (and ebay) would have it I ended up on a series of dirtbikes, that lead to the competitive trials competition world, but years later the bug never left and I sought out, and found, my 1150 GS. The fact that it happened to be over 5000 miles away only sweetened the deal to me.

What follows is the story of my first BMW.
 
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Finding Vermont.

This trip came about somewhat on a whim ... I was headed out to North Carolina to shoot some production stills for a movie location there. Seemed like a good idea to retrace the original route of the movie's main characters from N.C. to Baja, filming & shooting stills along the way.

Only time ... and the next 4000-or-so miles will tell if it was indeed a good idea :)

Step one was to find a used bike to make the trek with. Craigslist came to the rescue and I found an '06 BMW GS Adventure with well under 3000 miles on it! The service interval on these things is 6k miles ... this thing is barely broken in. The fact that it had no modifications to it other than the addition of the exact luggage I'd need for the trip sealed the deal. When I showed up, it was everything the owner made it out to be, PLUS I found a nice set of gloves in one of the boxes that he gave me! Very nice extra as I didn't know I'd encounter 200 miles of North East rain in just a few hours...

At the previous owner's place - moments before rolling out.

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Less than a mile from the house, the pavement ended and I rode into the twilight along the picturesque Vermont backroads ... completely forgetting the directions I was told just a few minutes ago. God Bless GPS...

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The first night I would stay in Springfield, VT (hometown of the Simpsons). Not quite what I expected - no nuclear plant, it was quite nice in fact. Took care of the DMV paperwork here ... never been in a DMV before where I could count everyone in the office, employees and customers both, on one hand.


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The next day I didn't shoot too many photos. The ride from the owners house to Springfield was AMAZING. Vermont is hands-down among the most beautiful places I've visited. So it was a little surprising to wake the following morning to POURING rain (the gloves included with the bike turned out to be fantastic for rain!). I was headed to New Hampshire to stay with a friend off the <a href="http://advrider.com/">adventure rider</a> website. Along the way I had to stop once or twice to get my bearings. Lot more turns in the roads around here than the freeways I'm used to back west...

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I arrive at Nate's place - great guy, great family. We stay up looking at potential routes on the computer:

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Next morning I head out through a bit of the New England forest:


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Then back to the highway and toward Max BMW where I'd pick up some tires to last me the rest of the trip.

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The shop HIGHLY recommends Nancy's diner just down the road. I haven't eaten yet this day, so figure it's a good option - their recommendation turned out to be spot on :)

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That's Nancy herself on the right:

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While sitting in the BMW shop, there was another customer also waiting for their bike and he gave me all sort of routes to check out. Also informed me that I was only about 20 minutes from Maine. Had no idea. Being so close, I headed north for 20 minutes, entered Maine, then headed east to the coast to make my way south.

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Arriving at the Atlantic:

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Met another couple there who have been married & riding motorcycles together for 35 years! They gave me all sorts of insights into various roads in the area.

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This road provided a good opportunity to do a bit of filming, so on went the camera rig. This will see much more use from North Carolina, south and all the way west, but this area is so scenic it makes for a perfect spot to work out the camera techniques with this bike.


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Weather might not be cooperating tomorrow, so the plan is to get as far south as is reasonable & hopefully get out of any potential weather systems ... from there it's onward to Florida, hang a right, then back home to California!
 
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rain, traffic, night riding, and sleep...

There are a variety of reasons to take a long motorcycle ride. On or off-road, one can come up with just about any reason/excuse to go for a spin. Typically there's a destination, training, errands to run, whatever ... As mentioned in the first post, the Hearing Everett film was the impetus for this ride ... how the ride developed however I couldn't have planned if I tried.

As I would be needing to navigate my way through 90% unfamiliar terrain, and do so quickly, I ordered up a new GPS unit - this unit came with XM! Fantastic feature as my iPod locked up during one of the flights over so that got shipped back home.

BUT ... I learned the hard way that the included antenna for the radio was bad :(
I spent several hundred miles on the road with nothing but the wind noise for company. I know many long-time riders would scoff at the idea of an iPod, but I'm a junkie for on-road audio, especially when putting in over 12 hours/day on the bike (more on that later). You mind will wander all sorts of places as you watch Salvador Dali's fishing line whiz by ... (dotted line, catches every other fish, never mind...). At one time or another we've probably all been in a conversation that ends in a sort of awkward silence when you run out of things to say ... it's really weird when that happens & you're the only one inside your helmet.

Any rate, after a couple days or riding around & filming the north east, I arranged to return the malfunctioning antenna and ordered a new one. As I'm in a different state each day (sometimes many states in a day back east), I looked at a map & figured overnight shipping to someplace in South Carolina would work. I picked a UPS depot in Wilmington and THAT determined my adventure for the next couple days.

After the replacement was ordered, shipping was arranged, I plugged in the UPS address to my GPS ... it came up with nearly 700 miles worth of roads and an arrow pointing south.

So I turned the key...

Left New Hampshire & it immediately started POURING.

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While trying to follow the GPS AROUND Boston & New York ... I managed to go straight through both. Heck, I even ... <span style="font-style: italic;">somehow</span> managed to ride around Boston, then double back just so I could go through traffic in town!

Boston was nothing compared to New York however. Sitting in traffic for literally hours. Just watching the tenths click off the odometer was cause for celebration. Heck, in Opposite-Land this place is great - 10 little parties every mile. Try as I might, I couldn't see it this way for very long. Neither could the GS apparently as having no fan or radiator it started making all sorts of odd noises as the temperature gauge ran out of room to register.

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Something had to be done. I pulled over onto a busted-up embankment next to the freeway to let the motor cool & think things over. Funny that the cars I pulled over next to might have been pulled over as well. When I fired the bike back up about 20 minutes later I was only three car lengths back from when I'd stopped.

A suspension test was in order. Looking at this embankment I though <span style="font-style: italic;">"I can probably make it up this"</span>. Sure enough, the GS was well-equipped for some urban dualsporting. Escape from New York had begun. Embankments, curbs, ... small retaining walls ... all fair game. Problem was every time I got back to any kinds of "expressway" (worst use of the term I've ever seen...) it was stopped. The GPS quickly re-routed me ... straight through the Bronx. What started as a "cool urban downtown" feel, quickly deteriorated to the point my "you'd better keep moving" radar started pinging as the obvious poverty rose in direct correlation to the number of unbelievably blinged-out Escalades. The cries of <span style="font-style: italic;">"Hey MONEY!"</span> coming from the curbside throngs were almost completely muffled by my earbuds - ignorance truly is bliss & I just kept rolling through my tunnel of semi-silence. Granted, rolling over curbs & walls & such, but rolling nonetheless.

None too soon, I was back on the road ... but running very late at this point.

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I ended up on the New Jersey turnpike - was hoping to avoid toll roads, but I was happy to be on anything moving ... anywhere ... at this point.


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I thought my traffic woes were over once I passed NY & Jersey.

Nope.

Accident on the 95 - ALL lanes closed.

Tried getting off & taking Hwy 1.

Most of the eastern seaboard apparently had the same idea.

It was around 10 pm at this point & I was getting nowhere fast.

Finally caught a break & hit some clear road, back to the 95, a little way south & pulled off at the first KOA sign I saw. Saw a steep dirt road leading to blank spots - no picnic tables, etc ... just clear a spot. Perfect.

12 PM. 17 hours on the bike. Time for a nap.


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NEXT DAY ...


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Up early & on the road by 7am - I was headed for UPS, still over 300 miles away at this point. Odd goal or not, might as well aim for something ... and nearly 700 from where I set this waypoint, the target was acquired:


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I spend the next hour in the parking lot here taking the bike apart & replacing the bum antenna, packing that up & shipping it off. Also shipped off some paperwork for the bike & a few items I didn't need with me were shipped back home. Then I was off to Myrtle Beach where I would spend the night & next morning taking video & some stills.


Arriving at the Atlantic:

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Downtown:

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DAY 6 ...


Today was another very-distant-target day. I'll be visiting a couple churches in Florida, so from Myrtle Beach, I simply put one of the church names in & followed the arrow. Instead of sticking to the interstate the whole time, I'll occasionally wander off on some interesting road just to see what there is to see - the GPS will typically recalculate to get me to the intended destination via whatever road I force it to take.

Got on one such road - a sandy two-track:


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...and there was indeed stuff to see:


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Telling the GPS to redirect me:


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That's it for today ... until then ... rolling on to the next update!

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history, scenery, and bodysurfing two oceans...

After leaving Georgia headed south, I was fighting the clock. Had two churches to visit to present the film to in Florida, 200 miles apart, on the same day. I had the fortunate opportunity to film a bit of the scenery around Savanah so that stop was well worth it. From here I barrelled south towards western Florida.

My home of southern California is essentially an irrigated desert. Left to its own devices, the green would return to its natural state of mostly brown. Back east the opposite seems to be true. Nature is always on the verge of taking over pretty much everything is seems. The default state of things is for grasses & vines to grow over stuff. The chore here seems to be <span style="font-style: italic;">controlling </span>the growth rather than encouraging it.

The cultures seem to vary more. Where California is a melting pot of many cultures coexisting for the most part in the same cities, back east each state seems to have a unique identity, a unique accent in most cases as well. The culture change can range from fascinating to disturbing - at one stop I was getting some suggestions for roads south in Georgia from a local resident & was advised to <span style="font-style: italic;">"Not stop for gas or anything between here & there... you'll encounter some unusual folk."</span> When pressed further as to what exactly I might encounter, they just made references to "The Hills Have Eyes".

I did stop - the rumors are only partially true. No cannibals that I know of, but the jury's still out ...

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I roll into Gainesville Florida & right away stop at a coffee shop to grab some tea. First thing I read about is the unintentionally hip catch phrase adoped by a new kind of superhero ... "Don't Taze Me Bro".

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Arriving at the first house where I'll be staying, we're immediately invited to a baby shower/bar-b-que ... as all the driveways around here seem to be long dirt roads, the GS gets some night-riding offroad testing in...


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The decor reflected the local pastime:



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Being a college town, there's a very eclectic mix of people - that was reflected in the church services:

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Immediately following the first meeting, I had to make it around 200 miles to the 2nd ... the weather got a bit ugly on the way, but cleared nicely & I made it to the next town with literally only minutes to spare.


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If you were just driving, you'd pass through this town in the blink of an eye. If you stop & spend some time here, you end up going back in time around 200 years...

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I'm fairly confident that I'm the only person in history to ride through this town, on a motorcycle, listening to Toy Dolls' "Nellie the Elephant".

The next morning, instead of heading straight back to 10, I took 65 south to drive along the gulf to Pensacola.

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Riding over cities & through the developed areas, I eventually came to where the road ended due to hurricane damage...

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It was there that I did a little bodysurfing. Haven't just been in the Atlantic a few days earlier, a session in the Gulf was in order. Oddly enough the waves were far better here than they had been in South Carolina. It was an extremely brief session - just an excuse to take a break from the past 250 or so miles of riding. Afterwards, it was off to my next destination around New Orleans...

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Dude,

Welcome aboard. Great pics and report. You'll fit in just fine around here.

I used to live in HB. Miss it quite a bit.
 
Wow

When's the book coming out? I have to say that sounds like a dream job to me. Seriously.
 
Fabulous!
When will your trip be on the big screen in a theater near me? Your posting was basically the trailers, right?

Just curious, what helmet do you use?
 
Welcome and I too must say that was certainly a great introduction on your part, wonderful adventure and pics.

So when are you going for really long ride?:laugh

RM
 
Fabulous!
When will your trip be on the big screen in a theater near me? Your posting was basically the trailers, right?

The film I was working on back east was unrelated to they moto stuff - it's a documentary about a family that moved their entire family from the east coast to Mexico to start the first home & school for the deaf in Mexico.

BUT ... it provided the impetus to pick up the GS and start a film project of my own. I've since shot a ton of test footage across the US, Mexico, (and most recently Nicaragua).

A couple production companies have expressed interest, however I'm finding I might be better off from both a creative and production standpoint to simply do everything in house!

Some of the test footage is on the website - all filming/editing/audio/web production was done in house (actually the entire thing was put together & uploaded while on the road using internet "cafes" in Mexico ... audio was recorded stateside) :type.

Working on 'shoestring' budgets does present it's challenges, but I'm learning there are also several advantages ... currently talking with potential partners/investors to explore the possibilities of a larger-scale production.


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Just curious, what helmet do you use?

Arai XD :thumb
 
great photos... and welcome.

what type of camera equipment do you use?

ian

Thanks - got a bevy of stuff I use depending on what I'm shooting. My DSLRs are Nikon/Fuji, For film I used a Nikon F5 and Voightlander, for some of the more "hectic" trails I rely heavily on Canon Powershots (currently the G7, SD 600, SD 550 - have crushed a camera or two in the past from trips over the bars & try to choose what glass to carry accordingly...)
 
Welcome Jon

Thank you for the two great ride reports. I am glad you were able to spend sometime with Salcar. He is very inspirational and successful. Not too many people would consider going to Nicaragua for riding, and you both proved that it is an emerging market with endless possibilities. I too feel it is going to be an expanding hub for touring. Sal's other venture will help a large amount of underserved people by expanding access to health care and information.

Salcar is a great guy to ride with for sure - like any true adventure, things don't always go as planned & having the right attitude when things get weird is important...

Nicaragua was truly stunning - didn't have any preconceptions worked up over what to expect other than people here telling me to be sure my life insurance was paid up... :scratch. All I found was good food, friendly people, and amazing views. Added benefit of this type of touring is we would meet people along the way and Salcar is able to assess needs in certain areas (medical supplies, school uniforms, etc...) and try to make arrangements for assistance in any way possible.


Sorry from most of us here that we missed you in the northeast. But there is always next time.

I am still wondering how you covered such a distance wearing that Arai XD Helmet. By now your neck muscles must be the strength of F1 auto racers. That is a great helmet but it has such drag at highway speed or on some long and lonelies with cross winds.


After my recent ride through the NE I'm really hoping for a return trip at some point :thumb

As far as the XD goes ... I guess ignorance is bliss :laugh - I used to make the 300-mile freeway trek from my place to Mexico in an open-face dirtbike helmet with goggles, then hit the dirt from there. After picking up the XD the using the shield & sunglasses was a whole new world, couple that with the fact that I can remove the peak & it's the smoothest helmet I've ever owned.

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Since your GS purchase do you still have your KTM Adv ? Both are great bikes and it depends on your application to adventure. Nimble verses comfort yet both have their own issues.

Again all the best and a big welcome. :thumb

Still own both ... REALLY hard time letting go of either :D Posted a vid above using both - footage shot in the US & Mex between November 07 - Jan 08
 
Since your GS purchase do you still have your KTM Adv ? Both are great bikes and it depends on your application to adventure. Nimble verses comfort yet both have their own issues.

The whole BMW/KTM adventure bike topic may have encountered a major tipping point with the introduction of the F800GS IMO ... I haven't ridden one yet, but at some point would like to take on on more of the more difficult loops from US into Mexico & back ...


Some of this terrain from past rides would be well suited for a test run...:D


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...and now back to your regularly schedule report.
 
Wind.

Seems it's always how a thing ends that sticks in your mind. So much has taken place over the past few days - visiting new places, meeting new people ... the western half of Texas provided enough wind to literally blow most of those memories away. I asked a couple people if this was normal & most said "we get a few days like this a year". A few days ... I just happen to be on a bike on one of those few days... Most people would bring it up when they saw me roll in before I even had the chance to ask. The tumbleweeds blowing around provided for some classic views however.

I had spent the previous night in New Orleans. Wasn't sure what the place would be like since Katrina ... sure enough, it bears the scars of that storm. Driving into the place is amazing ... the bridges seem to go on forever. There's a huge construction effort south of the city where a new road is being constructed over the water. Once off the bridges, building still half-stood that show no evidence of attention since the storm. Partially collapsed structures stand weakly next to piles of rubble from other previous structures. Life goes on right in the midst of this. Pulling off the freeway into downtown revealed an urban environment similar to San Francisco or New York at first blush. The most noticeable difference of this place actually came from my GPS - I was looking for a place to stay and following the directions provided - arriving at the address for the first two hotels revealed only vacant lots or piles of rubble. A quick trip around the superdome and I decided to look for a place just outside of downtown.

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Getting on the road I had some miles to put in - the US is much bigger in person that on a map. I thought I was making great progress until I realized by the HUGE bridge up ahead that I hadn't yet crossed the Mississippi.\

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An interesting aspect to travel via motorcycle - at least this type of travel - it's actually easier to camp in a tent that use hotels. Pulling up to a hotel requires you register & such, then unload the bike, bring stuff in, unpack, repack, reload the bike, etc... camping means you park & leave everything on the bike. Pitch a tent next to the bike & you've got everything you need right there. I was on a mission to find a campsite next to a river. Being on I-10 through Texas didn't really lend itself to that, so a quick search online found some campgrounds with hopeful names. I took a gamble on one - 40 miles off the 10, but fortunately not out of the way at all as I 10 happened to curve in the same direction as the detour to this camp ground in the hills. After pulling off the road I was getting a little concerned that the listing was old or wrong. Saw a couple massively unappealing places to camp, but soldiered on - when I got near to the supposed location of this campground it turned out to be the entrance to a residential neighborhood. There was an extremely faded, partially legible sign, indicating evidence that a campground may have once existed there. I was already here, it was getting dark, might as well investigate. I pulled into the housing tract & there were no more signs for the campground, just a bunch of older houses. After hitting a few dead-end streets, I rolled down a long hill & the houses started to dissipate ... then I saw a sign for a boat-launch - a hopeful development. Sure enough, at the end of this long road was a sign for a campground. $10 for primitive camping - exactly what I was looking for. First thing the caretaker said was "people seem to have a hard time finding this place".

No kidding.

Perseverance sometimes pays off however...


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I had also been warned about deer on the roads ...


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I awoke the next day with a serious mission at hand - wanted to make Tucson - just shy of 800 miles away - before dark. In go the plugs, fire up the XM ...


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Then the aforementioned wind happened.

My fuel economy was literally cut in half.

You'd get used to the buffeting of the wind to a certain degree - the occasional tumbleweed across I-10 or folded-up semi served as reminders to stay on one's toes. Plus, Texas is big. The plan was to get through El Paso before traffic - didn't realize at the time El Paso just isn't all that big. First time I'd seen the Rio Grande. Interesting that this knee-deep river & a chain link fence is all that represents such a drastic line of division between the two economies.

I pulled over just outside of El Paso to consider my options...


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The KOA in Las Cruces had pretty much everything I was looking for - laundry room, free WiFi, and a place to pitch a tent. I pulled in, set up the makeshift office, and tried to get caught up before what is looking to be the final few days of this trek.

From an amazingly windy campground in New Mexico - this is Jon signing off.

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