I've Turned to The Dark Side...
Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 1:54 am
After much soul searching, and the experience I've had in the last 3 weeks or 6000 miles on my Roadster I finally have given up on riding my R like an dual sport adventure bike. Too many close calls while riding way off road.
The last time this happened I was crossing a wet, muddy mountain pass near the Redwoods NP in northern cali, after riding 100's of miles along the Rio Grande in sand or big loose rocks, or 70 miles on solid ice crossing the Cascades in Oregon.
That was it, I give up. My R just can't go where I want and as fast as I want safely.
After surviving 25 miles of wet, slick clay on a mountain road near Redwoods Nation Park, I called A+S BMW near Sacramento and asked if they had a 800GS in stock... they did.
I set out from Cresent City at 6am in the rain to go to A+S the next day...
I arrived around 3 PM, took a test ride and at around 7 PM I left with my new F800GS and a truck load of boxes!
Along the way I became friends with my sales guy, Ted, a fellow ADV rider who's super cool and nice.
Instead of going to a hotel and installing the many needed farkles in a parking lot (I can't live with paying $100 an hour to have someone install guards, racks, etc) I went to Teds house and we transformed the GS into my new adventure touring bike. So now I'm 2200 miles from home and I have 2 bikes! (I'm still sorting the logistics..)
We woke up this morning to do what any right minded new owner of a GS would do, go get DIRTY and drop my bike in the mud!
Before we could go, we went to a local spot where all the cool people with cool cars and bike go on Sunday morning.....
That's where I ran into r1150r's own Dan-A !
It was cool to finally meet Dan, and he was there on his ultra tricked out 800GS... reminding me of the future farkling that will need to happen... thanks Dan!
SO after hanging out, meeting some really nice folks, and looking cool with our yellow ( the fast color he says) GS's we had some breakfast, split up and then I set out to GET DIRTY!
I had won the lottery with buying the bike from Ted, he was a great ride leader taking us through a variety of terrain...
I won't get into a whole review or anything, but I LOVE THIS BIKE!
It is perfectly balanced with plenty of power, great handing, good enough comfort for touring, and most importantly it's off road riding qualities. It was a breeze riding this thing in mud, on loose gravel, and through deep rivers. I'm going to really have a blast on this bike....
I see my roadster going back to it's beautiful naked state with this new addition to the family.
Anyways, enough with the blabbering, let me introduce my first dual sport motorcycle, the F800GS......
Who needs a GS?.... I need a GS !
The last time this happened I was crossing a wet, muddy mountain pass near the Redwoods NP in northern cali, after riding 100's of miles along the Rio Grande in sand or big loose rocks, or 70 miles on solid ice crossing the Cascades in Oregon.
That was it, I give up. My R just can't go where I want and as fast as I want safely.
After surviving 25 miles of wet, slick clay on a mountain road near Redwoods Nation Park, I called A+S BMW near Sacramento and asked if they had a 800GS in stock... they did.
I set out from Cresent City at 6am in the rain to go to A+S the next day...
I arrived around 3 PM, took a test ride and at around 7 PM I left with my new F800GS and a truck load of boxes!
Along the way I became friends with my sales guy, Ted, a fellow ADV rider who's super cool and nice.
Instead of going to a hotel and installing the many needed farkles in a parking lot (I can't live with paying $100 an hour to have someone install guards, racks, etc) I went to Teds house and we transformed the GS into my new adventure touring bike. So now I'm 2200 miles from home and I have 2 bikes! (I'm still sorting the logistics..)
We woke up this morning to do what any right minded new owner of a GS would do, go get DIRTY and drop my bike in the mud!
Before we could go, we went to a local spot where all the cool people with cool cars and bike go on Sunday morning.....
That's where I ran into r1150r's own Dan-A !
It was cool to finally meet Dan, and he was there on his ultra tricked out 800GS... reminding me of the future farkling that will need to happen... thanks Dan!
SO after hanging out, meeting some really nice folks, and looking cool with our yellow ( the fast color he says) GS's we had some breakfast, split up and then I set out to GET DIRTY!
I had won the lottery with buying the bike from Ted, he was a great ride leader taking us through a variety of terrain...
I won't get into a whole review or anything, but I LOVE THIS BIKE!
It is perfectly balanced with plenty of power, great handing, good enough comfort for touring, and most importantly it's off road riding qualities. It was a breeze riding this thing in mud, on loose gravel, and through deep rivers. I'm going to really have a blast on this bike....
I see my roadster going back to it's beautiful naked state with this new addition to the family.
Anyways, enough with the blabbering, let me introduce my first dual sport motorcycle, the F800GS......
Who needs a GS?.... I need a GS !
Looking forward to a new volume of trip reports with your new steed. I like my friends 1200GS, but it is just too big/heavy for the type of terrain you are finding yourself in. Not trying to start an arguement with any 1200gs guys as it is an amazing bike, but I think BMW came up with a real winner in your new ride.
It is very well balanced for slow speed maneuvers. You are going to love that bike.
