From Planet Dirt

Just got my membership with BMW MOA and I'm very excited.
I ride a 2011 R 1200 GSA and some weekends a 2016 KX 450 with my kids.
No matter what kind of weather it would be, I want to ride more and more......and I also would like more off road areas here in Florida.
I've been riding since 2008 and have a little more than 160.000 miles on the clock.
I do most of the maintenance on my bike........... including changing tires........and for whatever reason.............. I love the brand.

Welcome here. My son races cross-country on a KX450, they are great bikes.

One group in the MOA that is very active in adventure and pure dirt riding is the GS Giants.

Kyle Brandenburger spends winters down your way and gets quite adventurous with his R12GS and R100GS. He rides a lot with Matt Mahmet, who has an F800. I gave you their Facebook links, if you join at the GS Giants (it's free), you can search the member database for more contact info.

No doubt you're aware of Croom....

Ian

Welcome from just down the road.

from Planet Dirt

Hi Ian:
Thanks for the tip of the GS Giants. I'll have it in mind.
So interesting that you are from Lakeland. I worked in Auburndale from 2008 till 2014 and rode all those years to work and back home here in Tampa in my R 1200 GSA. Sometimes I go and visit some friends ........and about Croom........best thing after Ocala National Forrest.
Dan

mikegalbicka said:

Welcome from just down the road.

Click to expand...

Hi there:
Thanks for the welcome. Note the message I sent to Ian
Dan

knickita said:

........and about Croom........best thing after Ocala National Forrest.
Dan

Click to expand...

Back in the late 70s, before the G/S and GS, I had an R90/6 in grad school at the UF in Gainesville. I used to ride in the ONF all the time because it was right in my back yard. It's how I got the bug!

from Planet Dirt

One more thing about Ocala National Forrest;.........soon after I bought my R 1200 GSA, I didn't know where to go to do some Off Road ride and I found ONF on the web. I went and spent a full weekend riding what I could that was not paved, also got stuck 3 or 4 times on soft sand and learned that my bike was too heavy to do motorcross........and then Magic...........far in front of me a couple of black silohuettes walking along the road I was riding in. Mamma Bear with a cub for at least a mile.......... . Since then, once and sometimes twice a year, we go and spend a weekend camping initially at Big Scrub, the hosts were really nice but they left and the one encharged now thinks that the place is a Nazi camp and we have to follow ridiculous rules, so we do primitive camping, and riding as many motorcycle dedicated trails as we can ride.
On road marked with # 40 there are two places we visit often; a very sandy area that we call "The Grand Canyon" because it looks like the real one, and it's an area of maybe 1200 acres full of clay and red sand with the advantage that I have permanent visual of my kids and can get them out of trouble if they need.......and you can stay there all day if you want.......and the other place is the shooting range, not a fancy one, but good enough to get your kids to shoot the 22 lR and to refine my 308's scope.
Great forrest, full of things to discover and plenty of adventure to experience.........by far our favorite natural outdoor place.

Dan