A Love Letter To My RT

We just got back from a 5,000 km jaunt from our home in Saskatchewan down through MT, WY, CO to NM, and then back up the western side of those states, and a quick dip into northeastern UT. While the details can be part of a later post in the Ride Reports forum, I just had to comment on how impressive our 2015 RT was throughout. In fact, "impressive" severely understates how spectacularly undramatic that bike was on the trip. We didn't even have to adjust the air in the tires - it was as close to a magic carpet as you are going to get with a machine that has thousands of moving parts. It didn't matter if we were riding the world's longest straight road into Alamosa, CO, or the Million Dollar Highway in the rain. The RT was like the most faithful dog you've ever had, always anxious to play and never complaining.

This is our fifth season on the bike, having bought it with 1 km on the clock in March, 2015. It now has 47K km. I always used to kind of laugh at the "jokes" people made about BMW's being nicely broken in with tens of thousands on the odometer, but now I am a true believer. With a moderate amount of farklization to make it ours, the RT just gets smoother and smoother as the miles pile on. This is by far the best motor vehicle I have ever owned.

This is also the first year we had a Russell seat, and I have to agree with all the people who said it's the best. Bum issues were non-existent for both me and my wife. Our last day from Cody, WY to home was a bit over 1,000 km. On the stock seat that would have been literally impossible, but with the RDL, it just wasn't a consideration. Period.

And one final digression. We each got Helite airbag vests so this was the first trip using them. We were a bit lucky on the weather, with it rarely hitting 90F, but even so, the vests over our Klim jackets were never an issue and were not noticeable until we felt the tug after forgetting to unclip them. Hope they never get inflated, but happy with the purchase.

Have fun riding, friends!

I'm headed through Saskatchewan in August. What sights or road do I need to experience on my way through? I'm also headed to Montana, Wyoming and South Dakato. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Sask. is a big province, and tbh, the further north you go, the more interesting, since our southern half is mostly flat prairie. But depending on how long you'll be here and how far you'll travel, here are some things to consider:

- Saskatoon (my hometown). Pretty city on the South Saskatchewan River, about 200 km north of the Trans Canada Highway. Great new art gallery, lovely University grounds, Wanuskewin Heritage Park, easy to navigate.
- Cypress Hills Park in the Southwest corner of the province. High elevation anomaly in the Prairies, good camping and hiking. Grasslands National Park is nearby, with fantastic star gazing (no lights). Fort Walsh also near, if you are into historical stuff.
- Prince Albert National Park and Waskesiu, about 2 hours north of Saskatoon. In the Boreal Forest, with good camping, fishing, hiking and one of the prettiest golf courses in the country.
- Plenty of provincial and regional parks with good camping and recreation. More lakes than you can count, especially in the northern half. You probably won't be golfing on a bike, but we have more golf courses per capita than anywhere in Canada
- Regina, the provincial capital, is also a nice city (but not as pretty as Saskatoon ) Wascana Park and Legislative Building are highlights. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Headquarters are there, with a decent museum.

That's a start. If you make it up to Saskatoon, let me know and I would be happy to show you around.