NORCAL : Another new member from Far SF East Bay Area

[snoack321]

New rider (ink is still fresh on my M1 license) and just bought 2015 F 700 GS essentially from a neighbor. Just a beautiful bike. Has givi rear box, tank storage but is missing vario side bags. Currently looking locally for a set of Vario pannier bags that would fit the stock round ped mounts. Every day I take the bike to local park and practice figure eights and other fundamentals as well as riding local rolling country roads. The bike is alot of fun to ride!

 

[snoack321]

[Deleted : was able to properly rotate images in gimp]

 

[bbhatt]

Welcome, from another East Bay guy! Nice bike!

 

[Omega Man]

I tried rotating the images and uploading and they are still rotated by 90 deg. Any hints on fixing the image rotation?

Welcome to the forum!
If your pictures were taken with an iPhone, they end up “sideways” unless the iPhone is held in landscape…..at least most of the time.
Your bike will be quick. Enjoy safely getting used to it.

OM

 

[snoack321]

Welcome, from another East Bay guy! Nice bike!

Thanks. I'm third owner, appreciate the mods previous owners have made and have a few mods I'm planning myself!

 

[snoack321]

Welcome to the forum!
If your pictures were taken with an iPhone, they end up “sideways” unless the iPhone is held in landscape…..at least most of the time.
Your bike will be quick. Enjoy safely getting used to it.

OM

Thanks for the advice OM. I had to use GIMP to rotate the image now it displays fine. Yeah my buddies with far more experience than I said to take it easy for the first 100 hours and work on fundamentals.

 

[Omega Man]

Thanks for the advice OM. I had to use GIMP to rotate the image now it displays fine. Yeah my buddies with far more experience than I said to take it easy for the first 100 hours and work on fundamentals.

Nice job on spinning the pictures. I’m not familiar with GIMP, but it looks interesting. Sometimes it’s a little tricky to spin a picture(s) that have already been posted, especially if a member has a number of pictures already posted and in their forum “file” which can be used in “managing attachments”.

Enjoy the great bike and the forum.

OM

 

[mikegalbicka]

Welcome from central Florida. Enjoy that nice ride.

 

[88bmwjeff]

Welcome from another SF East Bay resident (Walnut Creek). When I got back into riding about 20 years ago, my main goal when riding was to be able to go riding again tomorrow (even if I couldn't). I rode at my pace and at a level I felt comfortable with. I did go on a bunch of local shop rides and made sure I was at the rear so I didn't feel like I was holding anyone up. So, I think you're making the wise choice easing into it. IMO, it's better to have a very easy ride not pushing yourself than to push yourself too much.

Enjoy your ride.

Feel free to PM me if you'd like some suggestions for local rides.

 

[langoptc]

Welcome snoack321! Congrats on the license and the bike. Thanks for the pictures of that beautiful bike,

 

[kbasa]

Greetings from Sonoma! Hope you’ve been able to come explore our roads!

 

[snoack321]

Welcome from another SF East Bay resident (Walnut Creek). When I got back into riding about 20 years ago, my main goal when riding was to be able to go riding again tomorrow (even if I couldn't). I rode at my pace and at a level I felt comfortable with. I did go on a bunch of local shop rides and made sure I was at the rear so I didn't feel like I was holding anyone up. So, I think you're making the wise choice easing into it. IMO, it's better to have a very easy ride not pushing yourself than to push yourself too much.

Enjoy your ride.

Feel free to PM me if you'd like some suggestions for local rides.

Thanks Jeff for the feedback and recommendations. I haven't even done a shop group ride but connected to local CalMoto (in Livermore) and hope to get some shop rides in with other local riders. I'm very familiar with the local roads as a triathlete on human-powered road bicycle (tri bike) but now I'm exploring my old routes on a bike and I must say its much better on my GS!

I'm a new rider so basically still riding like I'm in a car and you don't want to know my youngest sons opinion of my riding style and he is trying to get me more aggressive on the bike (lane splitting, lane filtering) and I'm slowly learning but still not comfortable yet. I'm fine on slow u-turns and fast winding roads but lane splitting/filtering is still ... new... LOL He says dad don't ride like a 'bi*tch'. He's on a 175 HP 300 pound sport bike and I'm on my 75 HP 400 pound GS!

What group do you ride with in Walnut Creek/Concord?

 

[snoack321]

Greetings from Sonoma! Hope you’ve been able to come explore our roads!

Thanks man. I'm originally from Santa Rosa and completed the Ironman 70.3 (half ironman) and have ridden by bicycle on much of the Sonoma country back rounds and looking foward to eventually exploring on my GS. Love Marin and Sonoma county back roads! I've also run trail and by bicycle Marin headlands and Mt Tam or course. Hows Mt Tam by motorcycle?

 

[skibum69]

Congrats and welcome from Newfoundland.

I lived in the East Bay and worked as a bike courier back in '92 while waiting for ski season to come around again.

 

[kbasa]

Thanks man. I'm originally from Santa Rosa and completed the Ironman 70.3 (half ironman) and have ridden by bicycle on much of the Sonoma country back rounds and looking foward to eventually exploring on my GS. Love Marin and Sonoma county back roads! I've also run trail and by bicycle Marin headlands and Mt Tam or course. Hows Mt Tam by motorcycle?

Endurance cyclist here, so we probably have ridden the same roads. I've marshaled Levi's Gran Fondo up here a few times, back when it happened..

Mt. Tam is great, but make sure you're up there early. By 8:30, the tourists have made it over the hill and are making a mess of the road. I like to go up the back way through Fairfax, over Alpine Dam and then on up to Seven Sisters and then the peak when I go. Fairfax Bolinas is tight and bumpy as you probably know, but on a GS, it's pretty fun. Watch for tourists on the wrong side of the road on any of the roads on Tam.

Mostly, though, I stayed further north in Marin because I lived in Lucas Valley. My normal was LVR to Nicasio, to Pt. Reyes Petaluma north, to Hicks Valley, over Wilson Hill to Chileno Valley and then out to Tomales. There's a decent crowd of riders there most weekend mornings, so maybe I'll see you down there?

Lately, we're living on Alta Vista in Santa Rosa, so I head out the back way down Montecito to Calistoga Road or down to Trinity off of 12 to go over Oakville Grade. Bella Bakery in Calistoga is my new favorite.

Just like cycling, bakeries seem to be my preferred moto destination.

Hope I run into you somewhere. I'm the guy on the blue GS with the KBASA plate.

Been a couple years since I've done any cycling, however, but I'll probably get back on it next spring when I've got more time.

 

[88bmwjeff]

Thanks Jeff for the feedback and recommendations. I haven't even done a shop group ride but connected to local CalMoto (in Livermore) and hope to get some shop rides in with other local riders. I'm very familiar with the local roads as a triathlete on human-powered road bicycle (tri bike) but now I'm exploring my old routes on a bike and I must say its much better on my GS!

I'm a new rider so basically still riding like I'm in a car and you don't want to know my youngest sons opinion of my riding style and he is trying to get me more aggressive on the bike (lane splitting, lane filtering) and I'm slowly learning but still not comfortable yet. I'm fine on slow u-turns and fast winding roads but lane splitting/filtering is still ... new... LOL He says dad don't ride like a 'bi*tch'. He's on a 175 HP 300 pound sport bike and I'm on my 75 HP 400 pound GS!

What group do you ride with in Walnut Creek/Concord?

Well, as far as your son's comments are concerned, remind him our older bodies don't heal as quick as his younger one.

I've looked for a local group and had a hard time. But, I decided to join the Central California BMW Riders (https://www.ccbr.org/). I haven't joined the BMW Motorcycle Club of Northern California (https://bmwnorcal.org/) since they concentrate on motorcycle camping and historically had required a new member to attend two events in a 12-month period. I do, however, attend their 49er Rally.

If you're interested, CCBR's second Sunday lunch meeting is on November 12. Here's the info. https://www.ccbr.org/content.aspx?page_id=4002&club_id=309760&item_id=2094503

NorCal BMW also has a second Sunday breakfast ride, but they usually don't post it until the last minute. So, check back on their site if you're interested.
https://bmwnorcal.org/Events?EventViewMode=1&EventListViewMode=2

 

[snoack321]

Awesome dude and thanks for the information. Hope to ride with you and others north of the Bay Area one day!!

Endurance cyclist here, so we probably have ridden the same roads. I've marshaled Levi's Gran Fondo up here a few times, back when it happened..

Mt. Tam is great, but make sure you're up there early. By 8:30, the tourists have made it over the hill and are making a mess of the road. I like to go up the back way through Fairfax, over Alpine Dam and then on up to Seven Sisters and then the peak when I go. Fairfax Bolinas is tight and bumpy as you probably know, but on a GS, it's pretty fun. Watch for tourists on the wrong side of the road on any of the roads on Tam.

Mostly, though, I stayed further north in Marin because I lived in Lucas Valley. My normal was LVR to Nicasio, to Pt. Reyes Petaluma north, to Hicks Valley, over Wilson Hill to Chileno Valley and then out to Tomales. There's a decent crowd of riders there most weekend mornings, so maybe I'll see you down there?

Lately, we're living on Alta Vista in Santa Rosa, so I head out the back way down Montecito to Calistoga Road or down to Trinity off of 12 to go over Oakville Grade. Bella Bakery in Calistoga is my new favorite.

Just like cycling, bakeries seem to be my preferred moto destination.

Hope I run into you somewhere. I'm the guy on the blue GS with the KBASA plate.

Been a couple years since I've done any cycling, however, but I'll probably get back on it next spring when I've got more time.

 

[snoack321]

Thanks Jeff for your reply and information and as 'Central California BMW Riders' is located in pleasant hill just up 680 north from me I think that matches perfectly and will apply for membership. I hope to see you on a ride someday!

Well, as far as your son's comments are concerned, remind him our older bodies don't heal as quick as his younger one.

I've looked for a local group and had a hard time. But, I decided to join the Central California BMW Riders (https://www.ccbr.org/). I haven't joined the BMW Motorcycle Club of Northern California (https://bmwnorcal.org/) since they concentrate on motorcycle camping and historically had required a new member to attend two events in a 12-month period. I do, however, attend their 49er Rally.

If you're interested, CCBR's second Sunday lunch meeting is on November 12. Here's the info. https://www.ccbr.org/content.aspx?page_id=4002&club_id=309760&item_id=2094503

NorCal BMW also has a second Sunday breakfast ride, but they usually don't post it until the last minute. So, check back on their site if you're interested.
https://bmwnorcal.org/Events?EventViewMode=1&EventListViewMode=2