globalrider
Alps Adventurer
I was curious how other members discovered the world of BMW.
How? A 500 mile ride on a Yamaha XT 350 was all it took. I was on my first multi day tour on a motorcycle to the EAA convention in Oshkosh, WI. back in 1990. That ride was so tough on that seat, I had thoughts of turning around while sitting at the KOA where I was camped the first night because I had another 500 miles to do the next day. You want an SS1000 to really mean something? Do it on a stock XT 350...later done in a day on my R100 GS.
I had already owned quite a few smaller displacement dual-purpose motorcycles. I liked them for their simplicity and seating position, so thoughts of a BMW R100 GS came to mind.
In October of 1991, my local dealer still had a new 1990 non-current R100 GS in Marrakech red (I hate black) and at a substantial discount. The problem was money. I had just graduated out of tech college to go into my second career and hadn't found a job jet. A simple co-signature (thanks Mom) and the bike was mine. A mere five months later, it was paid for, thanks to my local BMW dealer passing along a phone number to me. A buyer in Florida was looking for a Suzuki RG 500 Gamma and my mint example was for sale. End of story.
Since then, I've added three more BMW GS models; a 1986 R80 G/S Paris Dakar, a 2003 R1150 GS Adventure and a 2004 R1150 GS Adventure, the latter for my European Alps tours. Other BMW models owned but sold are a 1963 R27 and my old faithful 1980 R65 that served me well during my first ten years of Alps touring.
And since first ownership, I've had no problems other than one Valeo starter dropping a magnet in my 1990 BMW R100 GS, a known issue.
Also, thanks to a couple of individuals in my local BMW club for the inspiration. Without their slide and video shows of their Alps tours, I may have quit motorcycling ages ago.
The 2004 BMW R1150 GS Adventure shown above has since been written off during my 2009 European Alps tour, thanks to a cell phone yapping idiot in a car. I was stopped in traffic; he was busing yapping about SFA, I am sure.
The 2004 BMW R1150 GS Adventure was replaced by my 2003 BMW R1150 GS Adventure for my Euro tours and since I now had a bit more room in the garage, I treated myself to a very nice 1995 Porsche Carrera in exceptional condition...
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