Moving to Bellevue/Redmond - can't wait!

Looks like I may joining your ranks soon.

I'm moving from Eastern Canada to Bellevue/Redmond in May(-ish), and will be NOT buying a car, but a bike instead when I arrive. It'll be my sole mode of transport until my wife gets to town with our car. (when our house sells)

Anyway, glad to stumble across an active group of riders.

A BMW is high on my list of bikes, though I'll likely buy used to keep the costs lower. Eastside Motorsports (in Bellevue) appears to have a nice 2003 K1200GT for sale now with 28K miles on the clock. Price is decent, so I may swing by to take a look on my next trip to town (early April).

...and during that trip, I'm going to take a Safety Rider's course through Evergreen to get my skills up to speed safely again. It's been a few years since I last rode, but EVERY spring I get the itch to ride again - and now I'm going to make it happen...with my wife's blessing even! Her only ask is to buy a comfortable bike I'll be happy with for a while, and that she can ride along with me on...

Anyway, it's great to know there are active riders out around Seattle frequently.

duane

Lots of good riding around there.

Your post had me doing a double take on Redmond, as I was thinking Oregon, then checked and there's three of them.

Good luck with your move; must be a good position to prompt a move out of Nova Scotia.

SportsGuy said:

Anyway, it's great to know there are active riders out around Seattle frequently.

duane

Click to expand...

We're around, pretty much on all that BMW offers.

Here are the two dealers in the area:
RideWest which had earned the rep of "RidePast" but seems to be improving...
and then there is:
SouthSound BMW who are enjoying the bad rap that RidePast, er... I mean RideWest earned.
Bear in mind they are owned by the same people.
Then there is Mick Vallantine an independent wrench. High marks w/ matching prices.

Lastly here is the local online rag SoundRider. A good resource for all riding in general.

Welcome to the "neighborhood"!

grafikfeat hits all the high points. Lots of great riding around here, too, with mountain passes tons of epic scenery, and priority loading on Washington State Ferries for riders.

You'll find lots of company riding Beemers. As a year-round rider, I'm of the opinion that more than half of the riders I see during my commutes are on Beemers.

I can't give a strong enough recommendation for Mick Vallentine - he's the only guy allowed to work on my bike. I've had bad experiences with Ride West, but I've also heard they just replaced their shop manager with a great guy, so there's hope there.

I'm happy to answer any questions or provide any insight about anything related to Seattle, riding, BMW motorcycles, or any combination thereof - feel free to PM or email - doug.vavrick@gmail.com.

Less than an hour from Bellevue...

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_popper/2676448412/" title="410toRainier by GrafikFeat, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/2676448412_8400cbb06e_b.jpg" width="1024" height="687" alt="410toRainier" /></a>

...and an hour later finds you here...

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_popper/2675622425/" title="Highway 12 by GrafikFeat, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3208/2675622425_8280c0ee3b_b.jpg" width="1024" height="687" alt="Highway 12" /></a>

It doesn't suck!

(That's Mount Rainier... One of a few active volcanoes in the area!)

Duane,

Welcome to the Puget Sound! I can see you're already getting a flavor of the great and scenic roads we have around here. However, the traffic (especially on the Eastside) is not so much fun! The further you get from Bellevue/Redmond the more you'll enjoy the riding...and don't forget the West Sound and Olympic Peninsula. A quick ferry ride (ps. bikes load first, on to the front of the boat!) gets you over on my side of the water. Areas from Port Townsend, Port Angeles, and out towards Neah Bay are extremely nice and not quite as heavily traveled.

You're going to have a blast exploring the Pacific NW!

Cheers, BJ