Mid-South ride, eat, and meet

The diamond had appeared from the rough. The ugly duckling had turned into swan.

Wow, what a difference. Nice job!

Thx Mike. It was a nice bar hopper. Before, it got very little attention, other than, you rode that bike down here on that goat trail. After the resto, I would catch quite a few people starting to stop and notice it. People would slowly walk around and point to different parts of the bike and comment to their partners. They would walk away, then come back and look some more. They would look around for me the owner. Usually I just stayed in the background and kinda smiled. Something about seeing the mechanical look of a bike fasinates most people. Simple levers, switches, cables, etc. draws people in; mechanical art. Or better said; Art of The Motorcycle.

At the Biker bars the usual two wheel heathens would come up and comment some thing like this. Your bike is weird, but it's kinda cool. You got it dude, BMW; Bikes Made Weird. That always got a laugh. But, I really don't understand the design, it's strange. OK, underinformed Biker Dude, here goes. You see your 883 cc Sporster over there. Uh huh yoweh. You gotta V-twin, I've gotta 898cc opposed twin. OK, I got that. You got one carb feeding two heads. Yeah. I've got Two carbs feeding two heads. Much more efficient and way smoother. See the clean drive shaft compared to your oily nasty chain drive. Yeah man, what's that supposed to mean. That means my man with my 6 gallon tank and three fill ups at the end of a easy day's I'm 600 miles down the road and you ain't got out of the city. After an easy 3 day ride, I'm seeing desert mesas, Rocky Mountains, and Grand Canyons. Man, if I ride 200 miles in a day, I usually have take the next day off and fix something. Syanara Dude Biker, I'm off to see America.

The road was calling. I needed a little more hauling capacity, saddle bags. I had procured a set of Wixoms already color matched.


Yes, the hits keep on coming. What the bike lost in it's simple elegance now gained in touring use.

I had a Bagger and didn't even know it.

As the Nature Boy Rick Flair would say with his hands over his mouth as a megaphone, WOOOOW! I was Stylin, Profilin, and Jet Flyin! Life was good.

Couldn't leave well enough alone. Added the saddle bag nerf bars. Added the BMW windshield set, probably the best unknown accessory for twin shock Airheads. Another rear rack mounted. Lost the pin stripes. A better set up for long haul touring. Tents and sleeping bags etc all need to be hauled in to the rally campsites. Rallies were my go to staple to be with other BMW riders. See the latest, the oldest, and all things in between. I couldn't get enough. See all the rally regulars and here all the latest riding stories and adventures. I was a Rally Rat.

Crossing the Hudson River between N.Y. And Vermont near Ft. Ticonderoga. Nice ride, no camping or tenting. Felt good not to haul that gear. Better riding, the bike was so much easier to flick around. The bike ran like a top, thx Leo; you really had that bike tuned up properly.

Removed the Wixoms and went back to Krausers with a different rear rack. I can never be totally satified, gotta change something. Adding and subtracting, it's in my blood. When someone asked me about changing something, what am I suppose to say. No, don't change. It's your bike do what Ya gotta do. Then again, not everybody has my ability to put these packages togather properly. Just teasin.

Yes, I've built a few bar hoppers. Most every bike bike I've ever had, was a bar hopper just because I owned it. Some were a little better looking for it than others. Most of the Bar Biker Flys usually told me, you never surprise us anymore, you ride everything up here. I need to build a dedicated cafe racer style bike. I got some ideas just cooking under my cap. Will see. Gotta finish some bikes that have been put on hold, before starting another project. The R90 Bagger, the K100 Standard, the R80ST to just name a few. So many projects, so little time. My pocket book can only stand so much.

Good stuff, Barry! Keep it coming.

Thx Bob for the kind regards, see you out on the hiways and byways of life.

The bike style redo on the R90 was all me for the most part. I could see on my mind what I wanted and it had to be done on a limited budget. I got some good help along the way. I have to give a lot of credit to Vernon Noles, Marshall Robilio, Peter Guldan, and especially Leo Goff. There were a few others, but these guys really pitched in. After the redo I was over at Leo's shop hanging out. Leo, who has the best looking R90 in Memphis? Oh no doubt Barry, you do. Yep, no doubt. A few minutes later I'd ask Leo. Leo, who has the best looking R90 in Shelby County. Leo kinda looked at me funny and raised his eyebrows. You do. OK, Great. A little later I asked Leo; Leo, you think I got the best looking R90 in Tennessee. Leo kinda looked at me with only his antimated look. Well Barry, maybe. There's probably some really nice R90's in the whole state. But, You have a really nice one. We looked at each other and started laughing. Kinda became a thing between us about that bike. We went thru that routine in front of a bunch of our buds a few times acting really serious, then start laughing about it. They thought we were nuts. Maybe we were nuts. I'm laughing now. Yep, Barry; that's a nice BMW R90.

VanWall Powersports-Indianola, Ia.

I'm back out runnng the hiways of America. Ended up in Des Moines, Ia.. after taking care of business off to the BMW dealer in Indianola. It's been awhile, time to see what's new. Hooked up with Terri Gifford and Robert Schultz. Excellent representatives of the BMW marque.

The Snap On tool salesman was on site. He was in asking Terri about four wheelers. She answered all the questions he had about those machines. When I said she answered the questions, I mean she knew all the sizes and features each machine. Her answers were quick and to the point. Cool. This lady knew her stuff.

After she got thru with the tool salesmen, she turned her attention to me. Hey, I ain't got no questions on 4 wheelers. I'm here to see BMW motorcycles. OK, how can I help you with BMW motorcycles. Just looking around. I saw with the tool salesmen, you were good. I'm just as good with BMW motorcycles, what are you interested in. Terri, I like everything; today I'm just looking and taking pics. What? Yep, just looking around. How about I get a pick of you with a bike. Just pick one.


She got it. Let me get my partner in on this. Robert came over and joined in.

Your not our normal customer. They were more amused than anything. Both spent some time with me then got back to work.

Terri on the phone and computer working deals.

They got back to work and I wondered around doing my usual pic taking and just generally wondering around and trying not to be a nuisance.

Customers GS.

I noticed the header pipe. Who's ever riding this bike, looked to be a serious rider. The accessories and those pipes made that plain.

R100S odd looking saddle bags.