Since I ended up buying the Nightowl, my new 2015 BMW K1600GTL, from a dealer in another state, there were a few additional challenges when it came time to close the deal and bring the Bike home: Continue reading Bike Buy Journey: Bringing the Nightowl Home
Category Archives: Bikes
This category is shamelessly dedicated to my motorcycles. Neither bike is the fastest, biggest, most expensive, or prettiest motorcycle on the planet, but each has become extremely well-suited to me. If you gaze upon them and do not find yourself dazzled by their brilliance… so what. I didn’t buy them to please you.
Anatomy of a Bike Purchase
So, about the actual purchase of the Nightowl (my new 2015 BMW K1600GTL). Well, this is a long story of research and negotiations that went on for several weeks. Continue reading Anatomy of a Bike Purchase
BMW K1600GTL vs BMW R1200RT
Just one man’s set of observations after comparing these two fine pieces of Teutonic engineering. Continue reading BMW K1600GTL vs BMW R1200RT
Head vs Heart: Selecting Your Next Motorcycle
While there are many factors that can drive the process of selecting your first motorcycle, the ultimate selection is often driven by your heart rather than your head. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been pining away for years over a specific Bike or you find yourself gobsmacked with lust over some newly-announced model.
The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of… –Blaise Pascal
For most people, the heart vs head battle gets inverted by the time it’s time to buy a second (or third, or fourteenth) motorcycle. The more your ride, the more you learn about how you like to ride and what you like, love, and loathe about one bike versus another. Continue reading Head vs Heart: Selecting Your Next Motorcycle
Gallery for the 2015 Par-Tay Trip
I rode out west to attend the Dutchman’s Par-Tay on the island. I used the opportunity to visit with a few friends and revisit a few familiar haunts in the Canadian Rockies. Continue reading Gallery for the 2015 Par-Tay Trip
An Eventful Day in Idaho
The plan was simple: get a 9-10am start and ride the remote ID28 route up to Salmon, ID and up US93 to Lolo and then west on US12 through Lolo Pass and on to Orofino, ID. If I had known everything that was going to happen today, I may have stayed in bed. Continue reading An Eventful Day in Idaho
Crossing Wyoming and Airmail History
I awoke after a good night’s sleep at the Round Up Motel in Cheyenne, WY to find that everything that had been soaked during the previous evening’s thunderstorm had dried. I went about the business of pulling myself together for a crossing of Wyoming to visit friends in Blackfoot, ID. This day wouldn’t need to be the 798mi (1284 km) marathon that I rode yesterday but rather a relatively full 500+ mile (800+ km) day. Continue reading Crossing Wyoming and Airmail History
A long day with a underused rainsuit
I woke up fairly well rested and with no vestiges of the sinus headache that had plagued me the previous day. This was a good thing because I had 1300 miles (2092 km) to ride over the next two days. I also didn’t want to ride too late the night of the second day since I was going to be staying with friends and wanted to arrive early enough to be social. Continue reading A long day with a underused rainsuit
Home from one party and out for another
As is so often the case Karen and I were faced with multiple parties on consecutive weekends on opposite side of the country. Continue reading Home from one party and out for another
Turnpike alternatives and traffic stops
One of the annual Netscum gatherings that I attend is the annual MAMMARY run. (No, it has very little to do with female breasts; search this blog for MAMMARY label for a definition.) Since the gathering is centered in the Chesapeake Bay area southeast of Washington DC, which isn’t that great a distance from the home garage in Michigan, I tend to minimize the vacation days expended to get there. That means the route to/from MAMMARY usually consists the necessary evil of turnpikes. Continue reading Turnpike alternatives and traffic stops