Hello My name is Chris I am 28 years old and Just purchased a r1200gs. Growing up my grandparents always had BMW bikes. They were always going off to a rally here or a camp out over there. Fast forward a few years and I was finally ready for my first bike thought I wanted a big cruiser . So I bought a Kawasaki Vulcan could not ride it more than a hundred miles at a whack or my back and but where killing me . I remembered back to when my grandparents would ride their beemers 150 miles just to visit for the day or pack all their camping gear and cross two states to camp for a weekend. And thought this is what i want so I jumped in with both feet and could not be happier I love this bike and look forward to many miles