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The new ride is a 2012 K1600GTL from BMW. This bike replaces my BMW K1200LTC I sold prior to going to Washington DC. In the fall prior to taking the job in Washington I knew I didn’t want to be moving all kinds of stuff so I divested myself of all the bikes in my garage (from the smallest Suzuki 250 to the K bike). The last two years has been the longest time in my life I haven’t had a motorcycle. I looked at a lot of bikes in person and virtually before picking this bike.
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Since I’ve returned to Purdue and am now at the West Lafayette campus I have some of things I needed to have a bike. Like a garage. A lot of people get on bikes to get away from their job, wife, kids, family, what ever. Me… I get on the bike and spend quality time with my wife. She is my riding partner and rallying partner. We haven’t been doing long distance rallies for awhile. Our last one was the last Thin Air T-T in Colorado. Much like the rest of our life we left late, came back early, had a blast riding around the state of Colorado and smiled a lot.
Our competition strategy is measured in smiles.
Some of my readership has no idea that I’ve been riding motorcycles since I was 3 years old. I’ve owned Honda’s, Kawasaki’s, Yamaha’s, BMW’s, but never a Harley. I’ve built bikes by hand from the frame up. I’ve been in almost all the lower 48 states of America by motorcycle at some point in time. In the mid 1990s I didn’t even own a car for several years using one of my previous Goldwing motorcycles for everything. I’m a life member of the GWRRA. I’ve been an Motorcycle Safety Foundation instructor and have written things like the Group Riding Manual for the GWRRA.
The best part of riding is something I discovered in 2000. That is riding with my spouse. We have had an absolute blast and though buying a bike going into winter seems strange it means we will have all winter to figure things out. Like those new fangled blue-tooth headsets work. I don’t farkle (fairy-sparkles a contraction for accessorize) my bikes like lots of my friends in the long distance riding world do. I usually add significant lighting, CB radio, a GPS, and a tank bag and call it good. Life is good. Ride safe.