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Tell us how you came to own your first BMW:

Well now....

My first bike was a Cushman Eagle I received as a present on Thanksgiving Day in 1954. Rode that thing for two years and just about wore it out. Sold it to my cousin for $100 and didn't ride again for 36 years.

My neice had bought her boyfriend a new Honda Shadow 700. (Nice to have a few oilwells in the backyard) When they broke up she said, "My bike, right here, now". It sat there on the side of the carport for three years in the rain. One day she asked me if I wanted it and sold to me for $500. Over $1K later, I had a great bike. I rode that thing from LA to Indiana, North Carolina, Conn and all over Texas, putting many K miles on it. I had been told a few times that that bike, 700 cc, was too small to tour on. Hell, I was comfortable on it, running 70 mph all day long. Problem was that any mileage over 300 miles depended on how much pain in the butt I could stand.

A couple years later, a friend of mine had a stroke that killed the left side of his body with no chance of recovery and asked me to buy his bike....he needed the money so I wrote him a check and went to see the bike. It was a BMW '79 R100 tricked out with Mikunis, Cafe fairing and a big buck suspension system. I rode it home. Compared to the Shadow, I was on tip toes just sitting there so when I got home, I parked it under the port cache and there it sat for 6 months.

I decided to go up to Indiana from LA to visit my daughter living in Fort Wayne. I decided to take the BMW and if I couldn't live with it, I would stop along the way and trade it for something I could ride. I left south LA late in the afternoon and RON in Jackson, MS. Easy ride. Next morning, I left Jackson at 0430 and by 10pm I was in Fort Wayne. Tired, yes, but no pains other than hyperthermia that I couldn't dial a phone.

Stayed two days in Fort Wayne and went along my way to South Haven, Conn to visit my son and on to Fayetteville, NC to visit another daughter. When I got back home, I ordered a set of BMW shocks that lowered the bike by 2".

I stuck two BMW shocks on it lowering it by 2" and it became my #1 bike and sold the Shadow to a friend.

Since then there has been a '82 R100RT, a '95 R1100RS which I still have and it's stable mate, a '74 R90/6 with a Ural sidecar which has become #1 in the stable.

Lyle Grimes finally convinced me to get my 100K BMW badge and I am working on the 200K now. Won't be long.....had a bunch of miles already for the 200K. This year, I have taken the hack rig to San Carlos, MX and last month up to Creed, CO. No sore butts yet and 700 mile days on the R1100RS are normal for a long trip and 550-600 mile days on the hack on long trips.

So I found BMWs because of a favor to a friend and in the end, he was the one that did the greates favor.

Oh well........

budamy
 
An education... (for me)

Ages 15-17, revisit 23-26 all Honda, good learning machines.
Age 27-32 all H-D, could not believe the lack of reliability (ergo the motive for the "custom").
At 32: traded an XLCR1000 for an R90/6 (young & stupid was I !!, not for acquire, but acquiescse(?)) Never looked back from there, sold other 2 H-Ds & enflamed the BMW passion.
Only poignancy(?): BMW owners don't seem to embrace the uniquely custom. I (obviously) revell in it. Oh well, season to taste; or pine for such seasonings that elude you... <<<)))
 
I have ridden bikes since 8 yrs old...always Japanese, Italian and Brit bikes though. I did not think highly of beemers growing up since the sound of them did not fit the profile of what "real bikes" are supposed to sound like. when you heard the starter motor it sounded like a car cranking (euro trash cars I mean since this was in the UK) and the look of the jugs sticking out each side just blew it. Beemers had the rep for reliability and also for being the "Buick of motorcycle"...sure they are great vehicles but who 'fesses to owning one right?

Anyway about a year ago I saw my first (well paid attention to it anyway) GS Adventure...black with yellow trim...I was awestruck! This was the tallest and ugliest looking bike that I had seen and I wanted one. Out of any bikes that I have owned they have always been a little on the small side for my "big boned" frame. Finally something that was made for riding comfort...the SUV of two wheeled transport. I began researching the GS and just became even more impressed at the achievements of this bike.

I made up my mind and sold my V-Max and my ZRX1200R and began bidding on GS Adventures...I found the deal last July 17th and rode it home...and continued riding throughout the winter and found myself looking purposefully for the nastiest roads and trails...this was more fun than anything legal should be. This has to be the least powerful machine that I have owned since the late eighties in terms of horsepower, however, it is definitely the MOST fun bike ever.

When you get exposed to the beemer community it is impressive with regard to the support and cameraderie...well that is how I became a beemer owner... :bikes
 
Ok my turn

First bike was a 1970 175 Honda bought when I was 15 ?¢ and it went directly into dads basement to await my 16th Bday and license. I have had a motorcycle of one sort or another from then on. The last non-BMW I had was a Yamaha Virago 900 that during my divorce the EX decided she wanted and got, the day after the divorce was final she took it to her new (my old) back yard, set it ablaze and reduced it to a mass of twisted smoking metal and plastic. When it came time to buy another I wanted something different, but after looking around and seeing that everything that was offered and most of what was going down the road was trying to be a Harley I broadened my search to include BMWÔÇÖs and BSAÔÇÖs. I found my 1986 K in Grand rapid Michigan on the internet in January of this year, took a test ride and never looked back. :thumb

Jeff
 
My Turn

I was working on a construction job in '82 and was riding my '79 Yamaha 650 Special daily on an 80 mile round trip. The guy that ran the construction company and I shared the inspector trailer and we talked bikes a lot.

He had an R100, /6 I think. He brought his ON's to the office and told me about the Anonymous Book and I really liked the community. Then he let me take the bike one lunch hour and I was hooked. But I was breeding then and the kids had to be fed and clothed and all that so I rode the old Yam for a couple more years but then put it away to do the Dad thing. I was going to sell it but a wise co-worker (Goldwinger) told me to keep it, because someday I will want to ride again and I will still have a bike (how right he was!).

Fast forward to 2001....finishing up a divorce, back on my own, but I am riding again. Joined the MOA to read the ads and look for a bike...my present to myself to cheer myself up.

Well, money took a while to accumulate, I was getting married again, and just kept looking. When we sold our extra home in late 2004, my wife said she didn't like the Yam pillion and now that we were not poor, maybe I should look for that BMW.

Checked the ON...watched the IBMWR, and kept looking at E-Bay. But alas...I longed for an airhead (kinda what BG was saying).....spent a long time talking to a guy with an R80, but I was too late. Finally saw this 1990 K75RT on E-Bay....e-mailed the owner, felt comfortable with his maintenance....and waited for the last day to bid. I kept getting beat y an auto-bid and was coming up to my limit....I even left work early to be home at the end of the auction.....long and short, I won, and took the trip to Tennessee to get it. Did have to trailer it home (I know what you mean, Gail). The worst part was waiting for spring (Hey, I used the Yam as the Rounder bike, didn't want to trash the K75 before I could really enjoy it!).

So that's how I entered the coven....
 
In the Begining

I started riding a Honda CX500 and then graduated to a Goldwing Aspencade. My first organized Rally was hosted by the Southern California Motorcycle Association SCMA.

It was a ride to help out the poor Mission in Pala (now the home of a hugh Casino and hotel complex). On the way to the Mission in Pala I linked up with two BMW riders. One of the Riders, David McQueeney (1.1 million BMW motorcycle miles), invited me to join them. Dave kept asing me to ride with him on other SCMA rides during the year and eventually suggested that I join him on the 3 Flaggs Classic (Mexico to Penticton, Canada).

Dave was riding a R65 at the time with Krauser bags and seemed to have greater range and more carring capacity than I did on my Goldwing, so I bought a 1983 R100RT and my long distance riding on BMW's began.

Thanks Dave McQueeney for taking me under your wing.
 
you folks actually have bmws?

i don't actually own a bmw. or any motorcycle. i just pretend.
 
In the Army

Back in 1986,I was a Army company comander at Fort Hood Tx and was riding a Honda 750K at the time. One of my mechanics said he had a motorcycle he was selling for a friend, a 1984. I asked him what kind and he said he didn't know but it had the cylinders sticking out the side. Having spend a tour in Germany, though it might be a beemer. We didn't see too many of these around Ft Hood. Anyway he was selling the bike for $2,000(even in 1986 the list was for around 2,800-3,000). I asked him about seeming low cost and he said the brakes didn't work and one of the carbs was messed up. I went out and took a look, indeed it was a beemer, R80RT with bags. I wasn't that interested in a second cycle at the time but offered $1,600. The friend was in New York, so it took some time to communicate. Of course he didn't accept. Kept contact with my mechanic and six months later, the bike wasn't sold so I offered $1,800 and made the deal. Once I got the bike home I found that the owner had used silicon seal on a carb bowl in an attempt to stop a leak. Some of the seal got up in the jets and came out as a little ruber plug, carb fixed. The brakes were a little harder, he used DOT 5 and the fluid looked more like vasaline. Cleaned that up and voila, good running bike. Still have it, but the stable grown to include an 84 R100RS and a 76 R90/6. Airheads Rule!!


Dave H
Colorado
 
I was fascinated by 2 wheels from the age of 3 or 4.. Couldn't wait to learn how to ride a bike. When I got that down, I wore a path in the grass around the house until the parents let me take it out on the subdivision roads. The older bigger kids were faster, so I kept trying to go faster too. Then, I saw my first minibike. Begged a ride, and was hooked. Since then, I rode every and any bike that I could get my hands on, in the search for 'the bike'. I knew it was out there, but couldn't find it. Triumphs, a Norton, Honda/Suzuki/Kawasaki, Harleys, you name it. Last year, I walked up to a friends desk at work, and he was looking at bikes on sale via consignment at the local BMW dealer. The one in my sig line caught my eye as a nice clean looking ride, so I went over that night to try it. BMW was the one bike I'd not ridden before, as nobody I knew had one. I hadn't even made it back to the shop, and I'd decided to buy it.
Got it in September, put about 8000 miles on it before I put it away in November. (would have done more, but had a knee surgery, and couldn't ride.)
Now, I go everywhere with it. Have decided what my upgrade will be too, and that's a GS. (It's only a matter of time.. :) )
 
Why I did I buy my first BMW? .... Wet sump.

After blowing a '70 Triumph engine in '70, because of insufficient dry sump oil supply at high speed, I got a '72 R75/5. I haven't looked back.
 
First BMW

Once upon a time back in 1953 when I was working for a foreign car dealer and riding a 350cc stripped Matchless in the Pennsylvania woods, my boss who was the owner of the business and an Austrian by birth, offered to get me a real motorcycle.

As it turned out this was a 250cc BMW, brand new in a crate which only needed the handle bars and the seat installed, it cost me $950.00, I rode this for several years summer & winter, then came a 500cc BMW.

Since then there have been other brands but presently back to BMW and the R1200C.
 
GeneT said:
Once upon a time back in 1953 when I was working for a foreign car dealer and riding a 350cc stripped Matchless in the Pennsylvania woods, my boss who was the owner of the business and an Austrian by birth, offered to get me a real motorcycle.

As it turned out this was a 250cc BMW, brand new in a crate which only needed the handle bars and the seat installed, it cost me $950.00, I rode this for several years summer & winter, then came a 500cc BMW.

Bet you wish you had those two singles.
 
At age five ÔÇô in 1959, for you whippersnappers, an uncle took me for a short ride on his Harley trike police unit. I was hooked from then on, and every motorcycle that passed on the road ÔÇ£turned my head.ÔÇØ

Then about age 11, one of my scoutmasters showed up one day on a "naked" BMW airhead. That was the strangest looking motorcycle I had ever seen. An academic who had just returned from a sabbatical in Europe, Mr. Brough informed me that BMW was the finest motorcycle in the world, and that he had toured Europe on it before bringing it home. I listened in big-eyed wonder

Several years later in high school I bought my first ÔÇ£dirt bike,ÔÇØ a Suzuki TC-90. It was my personal transportation and daily workhorse until I bailed on the confines of the classroom and joined the USMC. I sorta took a break from riding while in the service, but had several buddies who owned bikes they left parked most of the time. So I managed to swap doing the maintenance on several bikes for the ÔÇ£IÔÇÖll keep it for you and ride itÔÇØ privileges. :brow

In 1976 I got out of the USMC, entered college, and soon bought a used Honda scrambler for commuter use. There had been a BMW dealership in Tuscaloosa for a while, but the dealer was killed when a ÔÇ£distraught driverÔÇØ ran him down from behind at an intersection. Even so, I would come across a BMW every once in a while.

When I entered graduate school in 1982, I sold the bike of the moment and was bikeless for 13 years. Then one February day in 1994 a friend said, ÔÇ£Someone gave me an old motorcycle ÔÇô why donÔÇÖt you ride it and see if you are interested.ÔÇØ I did, and I wasnÔÇÖt interested in that bike. But the ride reawakened my affinity for a motorized conveyance with two wheels, and I started looking.

Cruisers had become popular and plentiful, and the next spring I bought a Honda Shadow. However, the feet forward riding position was torment on my lower back, it was under-powered to my thinking, and my aggressive riding style did not suit the particular model-line. My dissatisfaction made my eye wander, and then one day in September (1995) a local riding crony showed up on a brand new K1100LT. It was coming due for the 600 mile service, and he asked if I wanted to ride up to the dealership in Vinemont with him the next week. I bit on the offer and on the way up he said ÔÇ£Ride this thing a few miles and tell me what you think.ÔÇØ Fifteen miles later, I knew a BMW was in my future. :thumb

At the dealership, I shopped both the new and pre-owned showroom while his service was being done. There was a 1985 K100RT sitting over in the corner that had been low-sided and had two-different colors of mirrors. Talking with one of the mechanics I learned the bike had been to Europe twice, and been to the Arctic Circle in Finland, and had even been into Russia. Cosmetically rough, it had been otherwise well cared for. I rode the Shadow home with a bunch of brochures in the saddlebag, and a courtesy copy of the OwnerÔÇÖs News.

With the holiday season approaching, it was not the right time to spend big $$ on myself. So I joined MOA, ordered every back issue of the ON that was still available, and began researching BMWÔÇÖs doing test rides when possible. New Years rolled around, and after reading the ÔÇ£Ode to the K75ÔÇØ issue, I had settled on a K model. In February of ÔÇÖ96, I called the dealer to see what he had on the floor. He had some 20 pre-owned bikes in stock, and the winter weather was making the prices right. So I stuck the Shadow paperwork in my jacket pocket and off I went to Vinemont. When I rolled to a stop and killed the engine, I could see the old K100 still wedged into the showroom corner. Having ridden a half dozen K bikes in the previous months, I did not even insist on a test ride. We closed the deal, they filled the gas tank, aired the tires and put in a new battery, and off I went. :bolt

From Vinemont, it was approximately 10 miles to the interstate at Cullman, AL. By the time I reached 80 mph on the big road, I was hopelessly smitten with the beemers, and have stayed that way. There is nothing else in my experience like a BMW laid over in a switchback turn, engine screaming and pegs scraping. The rush is not sexual ÔÇô but itÔÇÖs darned close.

Since the K100 IÔÇÖve owned two other beemers ÔÇô a pristine K75RT, and later, the very K1100LT mentioned above as my first ride on a BMW. I wish I could end the story there, but an injury in 1996 left me with rotator cuff and nerve damage in my right shoulder, and some degenerative disc problems in my upper back. The end result is that I have been forced to move towards a bike with cruise control, which has put me back on a Gold Wing (my second).

Over time I had gradually become disenchanted with the tall seating position of the K series, and was looking at the oilheads ÔÇô but the shoulder and no cruise was an issue. Had BMW not played their cards so blasted close on the now available R12ÔÇÖs with cruise, I might have held off and opted for the new oil head. But back when I was getting out of the K11, the new R12 was still a rumor, and a great deal came along on the GL -- so here I am. (Don't read me as knocking the Wing. It is a great ride, and I'm happy to still be riding.)

With all that said, I will also note that I find the BMW riders culture enormously appealing. So probably IÔÇÖll end up with an old airhead to ride and show up at rallies. Does that make me a Poseur? Maybe ÔÇô but then again, maybe not. See my thoughts on that subject on another thread! :type
 
I had a H-D trike at the time (1975) and a co-worker that had just come on board had a H-D with a broken side case that had it side-lined. Being the H-D man dyed in the wool type, he just had to have another H-D to ride until his was fixed. Want to trade? was his daily question for weeks on end. One day I had had my fill of this and named terms that I hoped to shut him up, I did not want that plug-ugly BMW! :fight
OK! He now has a 750 flat-head H-D and I have a '71 R75/5, black, standard tank, long wheel base, BMW. Let the remarks about shaft drive, funny kick start, cylinders sticking out to the side, costly to repair, un 'merican foren bike. BUT, I found out that as long as gas was in the tank, I could ride! I found out why the tool kit was unused! I found out that you could ride without your hands being numbed from vibration! :clap
I was now one of those motorcyclest that came from out of nowhere, passing with a whisper while doing the basic rule (speed limit in Oregon) plus 50% with bags and a trunk while sitting behind a windshield going to exotic places rather than destinations! :dance
Today the /5 is a '04 RT and it is still if gas is in the tank I can ride and I still do not know what the tool kit is for. :dunno
And for the history books, I bought the first G/S sold in Oregon and have a 4-didget MOA number.
 
First BMW

I was riding an RG500 Suzuki 2 stroke , a bike that was so fast, I mean light switch quick, that it scared me sometimes because of the closing speed coming up on other traffic ( this was 1985 ) ... stopped into a shop by chance and there was a beautiful red R80 on display ... the seed was planted and the next week I traded in my Gamma for the BMW ... this may have saved my life ( or at least my licence ) , I am now a 20 year BMW rider and loving it !!!
Steve
 
Bobmws said:
In November 1977, I was on my way to the Harley shop in Clarion, PA with $1200 in my pocket. Intention was to put a leftover Superglide on lay-a-way for the winter. Along the way I spied a shiney black cycle with a sale sign on it in someone's front yard. Turned around and looked at it. Neat , a BMW, had only read/heard about them, never rode one or even looked at one up close. Coincidentally, he was asking $1200 for it. Took it for a ride and fell in love with it. Figured if it didn't work out I could sell it in the spring and go buy my Harley. Never did get that Harley..... Oh, it was a 1968 R69S....Wish I still had that one....
What were you doing in Clarion?? I just Graduated from Clarion U in 2002!!
 
The K75S

In 1989 I saw an ad for a 1987 K75S with 400 miles on it for $4800.00

At first, I thought it was a typo on the miles but I called the guy and it did indeed have only 400 miles on it.

I went to his house and he opened the garage door using a remote control.

The bike was the only thing in his garage and it was parked in the middle of the garage on the centerstand at an angle (great presentation!). As the door opened, the sun started to shine on the bike - it was that beautiful Marakesh red.

For a few seconds I was stunned & speechless - and didn't move.

The guy was standing next to me and I turned my head to him....."I'll take it."
 
I guess I was foreordained to ride. I have a photo of my grandfather taken in the late teens or early twenties on his Henderson. Three of my uncles were AMA flat track racers. Dad had a hack of some sort but sold it when I came along and never rode again. (I don't think he blamed me.) Uncle Dick could always find room on the tank to take nephews, and nieces, for rides around the block and farther.

Sometime after Uncle Dick quit racing he opened a motorcycle shop, the old kind, in an old storefront, selling Nortons, Guzzis, Bultacos and Moto Morinis. I bought a Morini 125, my first bike. Two trips up and down the alley behind the shop served as my initial MSF course before I headed out into traffic. "Keep your head up," Dick hollered as I started on my way. I've tried to never forget that advice.

Then at some point I got into sports car racing and forgot to ride. There was never enough time or money to do both. Racing is a money, and time pit.

Remember the draft? Heard about it? I ended up in Germany instead of Viet Nam, and racing was out of the question for a while so I returned to bikes. Flew to London and bought a Triumph Daytona (500). My buddy Bob went with me and snagged a 350 Ducatti single cylinder (an evil, cantakerous beast). We rode these bikes all over Europe during the three years we were there. Of course I saw lots of BMW's but they were all boring black (except for the green & white politzi ones) and frumpy looking, and not at all interesting to me, the Boy Racer. Then one day Bob and I were carving up the mountains, on one of those downhill roads that turn back on to themselves as they snake down the side of the hill, riding hard but waiting for Bob to catch up. I'm the Boy Racer, remember? When, I see two bikes coming up behind and closing fast. After the next switchback they blow by me and brake hard for the next 180, downshifting as they go, making the tires chirp at each gearchange, both on black BMW's, in full leathers, gone by the next corner. I mean GONE, out of sight gone. "Well," I think, "maybe there is more to this BMW thing than I first thought. "

Back home, out of the Army, back to the race cars. Sold the Triumph to pay for some race car farkle and didn't ride again till a divorce/mid life thing five years later when I fell for a Harley XLCR. I had become enamoured with the cafe racer look while still in Germany and saw some Triumphs and BSA's tricked out as cafes. The XLCR was, as we used to say in the hot rod days, a Pig Dog Rat. After a year or so of it I stopped into a BMW dealer one day, remembering that mountainside and just to see what they had. What they had was a '78 R100RS, a demo with 8,000 miles on it (it was the service manager's "free ride") and I traded the Harley in on it.

Twenty-five years later I sold the R100RS and bought an '03 R1150RS. But, I can't seem to be able to lay it over quite as far as the Boy Racer would have been able to.
 
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