• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Long Term relationship

ANDYVH

New member
We have them, those relationships that just seem "right", that go on for years through turmoil and many, many good times. Even through downright low periods, the right partner is always there, always supportive, never judgemental or oppressive, easy to get along with. Quite often too, the right one is always a good time.

With this season winding down, I already look forward to my next season with my long term partner, my 94 R1100RS. Next year marks my 20th year with, for me, the best overall bike I have ever ridden and enjoyed. Rock solid reliable and still enjoyable as ever. Started riding it on late Oct of 94, two days after I bought it, and then got laid off of my job of 17 years. Even my mom, at the time said, "no way you're giving up that bike, you'll get a job again soon."

She was almost right. The new job came almost six months later, and I kept the bike. Now through two divorces and some minor crashes (cosmetic on the RS, busted left leg on me), it stills rides great and I still enjoy everytime I swing a leg over the seat to ride off. How about your "long term partners?"
 
Well then.....

I've got a Ducati which I've had for 21 years. Doesn't get ridden all that often anymore due to other bikes in the garage. But she's always kept ready to roll and the few times a year I do take 'er out for a whip 'round, the reason I began my love affair with Ducatis is driven home.

Oh, and the more I ride my 1100S, the more I commend myself for buying it. :D
 
Bought '84 R100RS in 12/'83 (coming up on 30 yrs) and rode it for 28 years and it was always a great partner.

But BMW is a standup company and new models are truly improvements. I mean, it's positive to know that folks can go to school and become engineers and designers and then go out and contribute and maybe make something better than their parents did. I'm fairly certain the majority of the design team for my 1200RT are younger than me and congratulations to them--they've done well.

In economic terms, my RS cost 7k in '83 dollars and I'm not looking up the inflation adjustment factor, but I'm pretty convinced I've gotten lots more for nearly the same real dollars. Progress is real and it's good. Subscribing to "the older we get the better we were" is NOT aging gracefully and should be avoided.

Yeah, it's fun to have new toys but there are benefits beyond just the psychological. And it's nice to know it could become yet another long relationship, too.
 
The philosophical statement that drives my choices is... "Happiness comes not from having what you want, but from wanting what you have." The former amounts to pursuing gratification whereas the latter amounts to practicing gratitude. I don't see it as black/white or either/or, but rather as a personal objective to minimize my pursuit of the former and maximize my appreciation for the latter. Lots of people get up every morning and go to work with a mission to make you want something that you do not yet know that you want. It may drive the "big E" economy but it no longer drives my "little e" economy. It used to drive it mightily, but the happiness was elusive. I am still correcting my mistakes of the past. Lots of fancy "stuff" is being given away or sold. I feel a little bit better each time a piece of it goes up the driveway in someone else's car. On balance, a few things that seem important, or beautiful, or enjoyable have come down the driveway - but not so many.

We are each left to exercise our inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in our own ways. It is neither an error nor a problem if my choices are different from someone else's. But having considered and chosen, I'll keep riding my old BMW's and I'll leave it for others to mop under their K1600's and clip payment coupons. If I need to be there earlier, I'll start sooner.
 
I'm not going to wax poetic about my choice for a steed that has been in my garage

for many years, or bash anyone's choice as to whether or not they keep their beloved two wheel'd companion for only a few years or less. I have ridden and owned a # of BMW's... usually for 30k to 40k miles; before i sent them off to a good home. And I've loved them all. Just some a bit more than others.....
 
I've only been married once and so far it's 19 years. Bikes on the other hand come and go. Changing bikes is cheaper than divorce, a lot more fun and I am grateful I've been able to do that.
 
I've only been married once and so far it's 19 years. Bikes on the other hand come and go. Changing bikes is cheaper than divorce, a lot more fun and I am grateful I've been able to do that.

Celebrated # 46 in August.

Wife and I have a deal, I can have as many bikes as wives. :)

I love the R 1100 RT's because 1. They look great. 2. They are relatively inexpensive to own. 3. I can do all the work on them myself. 4. Did I mention how great the look?

Having said that, I'm on my 3rd RT and 6th Beemer.
 
I've had my R60/6 since new - and same wife! We went on our first date on the Beemer (after I had given her mother a ride). I've had 3 new Beemers since then, beginning in 2003. All of my Beemers have been used mostly for daily commuting.
 
I bought my Norton in 1978 when I was in high school. I still have it, and it runs better now than when I bought it. The guy I got it from was racing it at New England Dragway. I restored it back to original to make it more of a street bike. Hell, now I want to take it for a spin!
 
Celebrated # 46 in August.

Wife and I have a deal, I can have as many bikes as wives. :)

I love the R 1100 RT's because 1. They look great. 2. They are relatively inexpensive to own. 3. I can do all the work on them myself. 4. Did I mention how great the look?

Having said that, I'm on my 3rd RT and 6th Beemer.

My wife and I have a similar deal. There can be only one. At a time. :)
 
Celebrated # 46 in August.

Wife and I have a deal, I can have as many bikes as wives. :)

I love the R 1100 RT's because 1. They look great. 2. They are relatively inexpensive to own. 3. I can do all the work on them myself. 4. Did I mention how great the look?

Having said that, I'm on my 3rd RT and 6th Beemer.

We are relative newly weds with # 39 coming up.

Our deal.... She gets as many bikes as I do.
 
I'd want to know where she was keeping her other husband, because I've got some bills that need paying! :hungover

Well, when we got married, I told her that bikes were a non-negotiable. I just didn't get the details right and basically I can have any bike I want, just only one bike. In her mind, I can only ride one at a time, so I only need one.
 
Well, since I took quite few years off from riding, my long term partner is my '77 R100RS, but we've only been together for 13 years. I'm now considering selling her off, to get the full factory restoration that she richly deserves. You see, all I've done is ride her and keep her running, but frankly, I have no urge to do anything like a resto on this bike.

My mechanic does such work, and will take her off my hands in a heartbeat. I'd like to dip into newer technology. I also would like to pare down the number of motorcycles I own. Yes, I know, that's just not right, but I'd really like a little more garage space and more time to ride rather than wrench.
 
I also have a R1150RS that is a keeper. I just turned on the garage light to see her. She is fine, it is deer season here, so she is not ridden much right now. She will be taken out this weekend for a little ride. The bow hunters have the deer stirred up, next week is firearms. They can run out at any time. I have had a deer close call, one of those please ABS, give me all she has + some more. I felt it kick in over leaves, then go right back to max braking, there is no way I could brake like that myself. As I said, close call, so it all worked. I do have a new found respect for deer. It hurts not to ride her much right now, That is just the way it is.

I get on her, the handle bars are exactly where they should be, all the switches except the horn button are right under my fingertips. Yes, I have given the left blinker in anger several times. It is hard to describe, but the joy in the curves is sublime.

Rod
 
Every year I resolve to sell my Guzzi which I've been riding since '78. But then I fire it up and listen to that throaty rumble and....well.... I guess that beast is just a part of me.
 
I have a 75 R75/6 that I bought new, it has 175,000 miles on it, best motorcycle I've ever owned. I have a 75 Norton MKIII that I'm partial to as well, at 80,000 miles it still runs well.

Several motorcycles have passed through my hands over the years, those two are keepers.
 
Cool reports and stories of about our connections to these great machines. The satisfaction is not always having the newest, most flashy, new model. But more in the long term comfort of finding a right riding partner.

Some are lucky enough to find that in thier human partner, male or female. Other find it in their mechanical partner, of whatever brand or flavor. The lucky few find it in both.
 
Back
Top