• Welcome Guest! If you are already a member of the BMW MOA, please log in to the forum in the upper right hand corner of this page. Check "Remember Me?" if you wish to stay logged in.

    We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMWMOA forum provides. Why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the club magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMWMOA offers?

    Want to read the MOA monthly magazine for free? Take a 3-month test ride of the magazine; check here for details.

  • NOTE. Some content will be hidden from you. If you want to view all content, you must register for the forum if you are not a member, or if a member, you must be logged in.

New Ride Reports forum

Status
Not open for further replies.
BradfordBenn said:
Coool or should I say cold :thumb

:violin My winter riding contribution. I don't ride in salt and try not to ride in snow unless there's somethin' a little special at the end :yum Took the old vet back into the shop, dusted him off and cleaned him up. Weather sort of caught me unaware. sigh. -Bob
 

Attachments

  • winter ride.jpeg
    winter ride.jpeg
    104.5 KB · Views: 479
Oznay said:
If ya look closely,u can see my'lil'magnetic heater...

Oz-those are great pics and they remind me of the time back in 87 when I took off from Michigan on my trusty 550 Honda Nighthawk and drove the southern route into California. The winter that year, as I recall, was a particularly mild one and I was farting around down in Death Valley, Kings Canyon/Sequoia and up around Mono/Yosemite.

An emergency back home had me hitting the road in a hurry and i blasted from somewhere near Lee Vining in Cali all the way to Vail in probably the longest haul IÔÇÖve ever done in a day. I was rolling over some 11,000 foot summit at about 1130 that night, freezing my arse off (that ol Eclipse electric vest was great but it would have taken a blast furnace inside my jacket to warm me up at this point).

I was extremely limited on funds as i had scheduled a western union transfer with my girlfriend before the emergency and was unable to pick up the money in Fresno since I was headed in the opposite direction now, and I figured those luxury hotels I was passing there in Vail were waaaay beyond my price range.

The cold had become almost unbearable by then, so i pulled off the freeway and motored into some hotel to see if maybe they could just give me a broom closet for the night. Well, it turned out that because the skiing season had been so crappy due to the lack of snow, the rooms were going for $20/night! AWESOME!

Lord, I was never so happy to throw my shivering body under a hot shower! As soon as I hit that bed I was unconscious.

I was awakened by muted hoots and hollers--it sounded like a party was going on somewhere off in the distance. I pulled my bleary arse from the bed, peeked out the window, and about crapped my drawers--a ton of snow was now on the ground and I had a room that looked dead on to the bottom of a huge ski run that was literally crawling with skiers!!!

Well, to make a long story tolerable, I ended up being snowed in there for 3 days, managed to get my money wired to me in Vail, and ultimately made it home in time to address what had by then become an urgent but non-emergency matter. I have some pics of the incident somewhere buried in my "hard-copy" picture box in the basement and if I can ever find em, maybe I'll post a few here--I did a LOT of touring on that ol 550 over the three years I owned it and I've got enough stories to keep an army of Cossacks bored for months!

Thanks for firing up some great memories for me!

Ride safe!
 
Adventure Ride

Exploring local areas seems to be a good idea with gas prices so high. So I
examined my Fla. map and found a good day trip from Daytona to the St.
Johns river near Jacksonville. The intended route was CR13 from Espanola to
Hastings. I soon discovered this to be a brick road built in the 1880s. How
quaint! The road was fairly smoothe to start with,but deteriated with each
mile. At one point, a deer was jogging just ahead of me while I was doing
20mph. Many potholes and sand washes made me stand up and do my best
dirt bike efforts (while piloting this R1200CLC). At mile 14, I decided the road
was getting better, so I sat down and clicked up a gear. Thats when I went
into a broadslide that launched me 20' from where the bike stopped. I landed
on my head and neck, then back. After checking myself for broken bones, I
got up and tried to bring the bike upright. I only managed to bring it to a 45
degree angle. The loose sand prevented better traction for my feet. I prayed for someone to come along to help--it came after 45 min. as a dump
truck driver. A true miracle considering that no one uses this road! I rode
the remaining 3 miles to civilization and found a Jiffy store. After recouping,I
rode 50 miles home on the interstate. Xrays confirmed no broken bones and
the bike is in the shop getting new fiberglass. My brother said now I was
ready for a GS and South America. I disagreed.
 
Gps

BradfordBenn said:
My understanding is that the GPS BMW offers has the main roads as the base map, then you have to load in the maps you want.

Either way, a Garmin not branded BMW is just as good and usually less expensive.

I have the BMW Navigator II ( AKA Garmin 2610 ). It is a wonder. After loading the western US into a 512 compact flash chip we rode all over the western US without a hitch, even looked up motels and resaurants as we traveled.
Incidently it has all of the little county dirt roads around where we live in Texas Hill Country. Try it you'll like it! :heart
 
Going South

I just got back from riding down to see my son in the Marines. It was beautiful. I rode south east from Mi. Down 340 through Viginia. East to Chesapke. Took US 17 to NC. :bikes Hung with my son a few days. Then headed west to Gatlinburg. The Smokeys were spectacular even in the rain. I wasn't happy about my 93 mile an hour ticket outside of Nashville but what are you going to do. Then I rode the smaller roads up to Chicago hung out with some freinds for a few days. Then accross US 20 through a hail storm. I ate at this cool Amish restruant at 5 and 20. Then back towards home. It was a great, peaceful trip. Staying mostly on the smaller roads with all the small towns and all the freindly people. Man I love my LT. It felt like it was smiling right along with me the whole 3000 miles.
 
unchained across the usa

just ridden across america from east to west, using only independent service providers (exceptions being gas and banking).

Ride report, route and pics at:http://www.roughguidesintouch.com/lamble

I'll be getting Unchainedworld.com up as a site soon, so any recommendations or warnings on the service you've received will be gratefully accepted. I'd hope to have links to many motor cycling sites.
 
Boston, Greenville (Moosehead), Quebec, Rimouski, Trois Pistole

From Boston:

I-93N (MA) to I-95N (MA) to Rt. 9N (ME) to I-95N (ME) to Rt. 201 (ME) to

Rt. 16E (ME) to Rt. 15N (ME) to Rts. 15N/6N (ME) to Rt. 201 (ME) to

Canadian Border to Rt. 173N (CAN) to I-73N (CAN) to Quebec (Centre Ville exit, just after bridge.)

Right off exit towards Centre Ville. Follow the boulevard straight to Old Quebec.

I-73N to Rt. 138N/E to Forestville, over the river on the ferry (make reservations) to Rimouski (Rt. 132.)

Rt. 132S/W to I-20W to I-73S and back home.

**********

In Maine, get off heading towards Kennebunkport and Rt. 9.

Follow Rt. 9N past Kennebunkport and into Porpoise Cove (eat breakfast at the Wayfairer Restaurant, a good local place.)

In Greenville, ME (at the south end of Moosehead Lake---what a beautiful lake...you will take lots of pictures) there are restaurants and pubs. The Black Frog was good (although their t-shirts sport a green frog...don't ask.)

Don't breakfast in Greenville (unless you want to.) Instead, head on up
Rt. 15N/6N to Jackman, ME (on Rt. 201N) and eat at the Four Seasons Restaurant.

After that is the border with Canada. (Gas up In Jackman, it is much less expensive than gas in Canada [1.09$ to 1.16$ CAN/liter]). Except for a money exchange stop, I went straight through to Quebec.

The Old Quebec section is quite beautiful. I believe it is the only walled city in North America. The area is much like wandering around a town in France (without the expense---a great bargain in relation.) Plenty of good restaurants and little hotels in which to stay. Plenty of shopping---reasonable to very expensive. The folks and the food were great. Part of the old section is closed to motor vehicles, making the site seeing much more relaxing. (You will take lots of pictures here too.).

I stayed at a little hotel called the Charles-Alexandre (just after the park and the Museum of Fine Arts). There was a restaurant whose name I cannot for the life of me remember (Nouveau or Nouvelle France, perhaps), but it was located off a small alley that was packed with artists and their drawings and paintings. (The Carribou Stew was great, and try some of the local brews!)

After that I headed up the St. Lawrence River I-70N to Rt. 138N/E, hopping off briefly to check out the island just north of Quebec (lots of farm land.) I then proceeded to Forestville (great scenery along the way) for the ferry accross the St. Lawrence to Rimouski (Rt. 132.) Rimouski is a small city with plenty of good eats and little shops. Lots of good places to stay as well.

Trois Pistole (Three Pistols) was my next destination, not too far down the road (Rt. 132 S/W). I loved the name so I stopped there for a coffee and a quick look-see for Clint. The coffe was good but, sadly, no Clint Eastwood.

After that it was a highway ride on I-20 back to I-73 and home.

Rimouski to Boston: 12-12.5 hours with stops for gasoline and a coffee break in Portsmouth, ME.
 
Ride from Easthampton MA to Montpelier Vt

I saw this sign on Rt12 in Vermont on a ride from Easthampton MA to Montpelier. After I drove by the sign I thought it would be a great photo so I turned around put the camera on the tripod and got the photo.
 

Attachments

  • me.jpg
    me.jpg
    113.8 KB · Views: 378
Last edited:
Sited my first brother K75 rider

Been riding my 1991 K75 for a month back and forth to work on the back roads of Maine.
Sited and waved to my first siting of another K75 with a "geared-up" rider on the bridge between Brunswick and Topsham, Maine heading north on 201. He low waved back...Parabellum windshield and bike setup for long rides.

Any one out there fit that discription???

---Tim
 
Looking for a group to ride with

New to the BMW clubs. Looking for a group to ride with. If any group is riding down I95 through Savannah GA let me know. Not many BMW riders in Savannah GA. So if you are going to an event in FL, I would love for my 85 K100 to tag along.

Thanks Murf
smilingcouple@msn.com:buds
 
Cabin Fever

It's not where I've been but where I'm going . Insane , it's winter here in the N.W. and that means rain,rain,and more rain oh and some snow thrown in for good measure.This time every year I begin my spring ride plans to give me something to look forward to . In the past it has been Phoenix,Az. , Banff B.C once solo and the following year my 15 yr. old daughter joined me for the Icefields Parkway . It was great and what made it more difficult was we camped instead of luxury. Call me cheap but I prefer to pitch a tent ,see who else rides into camp and inquire as to where the came and where they go. One year I put a thread on K-Bikes .com and 4 guys joined me for a ride to Ensenata , Mexico . In 08 my trip is called " Coast to Coast Baby" Portland,Or. to Key West this will take some planning due to the weather variables that will be encountered. I leave the last week of May and return to be home 06/14 . The ride down not so bad , some heat in Az and such but the return through Colorado , Wy., or Utah and Idaho might be on the white side if you know what I mean . I ride an 03 GT with now 80K on her ticker and by the end of this trip I hope to have put close to the triple digit on her . This bike has only brought me nothing but joy and smiles . I love this bike .Therapy who needs it , just get on your bike and it all seems so distant . :bolt
 
Question Re:camp sites

Fellow Riders,
I am heading from Denver down to the FL Keys in Feb. Anyone know of a good camp ground down that way to stay in for a couple of weeks.
Thanks,
oldowan
 
A Day a the Races

Weaselled out of work for the day to watch the AHMRA (American Historic Motorcycling Racing Assoc) races at Roebling Road Raceway (near Savannah GA)
Many beautifully prepared bikes, older bikes performing extremely well. A lot of time, effort and money go into the sport, and the good riders are very competitive.
A great venue, weather was cool (for the south) and bright. A few pics:

View attachment 12467


View attachment 12468


View attachment 12469


View attachment 12470


View attachment 12471


Smilingcouple and his neat K bike

SMILINGCOUPLE.jpg
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top