BMW

I’d love to. Got rid of my last bike in sofla due to fear of dying in this crazy traffic. But sure do miss it. R nine T basic model is a lot of bike for the $’s. Brembos, ABS, variable mapping standard. Love the lines too. This would be my 3rd BMW bike. Outstanding machines.
 
n2230b said:
I’d love to. Got rid of my last bike in sofla due to fear of dying in this crazy traffic. But sure do miss it. R nine T basic model is a lot of bike for the $’s. Brembos, ABS, variable mapping standard. Love the lines too. This would be my 3rd BMW bike. Outstanding machines.
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Funny you should mention sofla traffic. The only place in the world I have ridden where some random dude on a Kawi tried to ride alongside us... in our lane... with no other traffic anywhere near us... When I saw him coming up behind, I figured he was just going to pass using the lane to our left. Nope. Pulled up alongside and just parked there matching my speed. Funny watching him try to keep up with that K11 when I'd had enough of his shenanigans. Best thing we saw while riding in Florida was the sign that said "Welcome to Alabama!" :D
 
I had an RT. Loved the RT. But those cruiser bikes just look fugly.
 
I'd much rather have a Harley, and take a sawz-all to the exhaust so I can sit at stop lights and rev it up so people look at me. I will then drive it around with other like minded people that share a leather fetish like I do, wearing jackets with cheeky slogans on the back and bedazzled with metal thingys. I will be sure NOT to wear a helmet, and if someone gives me crap about the amount of noise my vehicle makes, I will tell them that loud pipes save lives, despite no data to back up that statement. Lastly, I will marry a woman that is 75 lbs overweight, and she will wear a minimum amount of clothing.
 
To all those contemplating Beemer ownership, I say “get an Airhead”.

Closest one can come to Lycoming technology........that a good thing?
 
Groundpounder said:
I'd much rather have a Harley, and take a sawz-all to the exhaust so I can sit at stop lights and rev it up so people look at me. I will then drive it around with other like minded people that share a leather fetish like I do, wearing jackets with cheeky slogans on the back and bedazzled with metal thingys. I will be sure NOT to wear a helmet, and if someone gives me crap about the amount of noise my vehicle makes, I will tell them that loud pipes save lives, despite no data to back up that statement. Lastly, I will marry a woman that is 75 lbs overweight, and she will wear a minimum amount of clothing.
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Living the dream!
 
Groundpounder said:
I'd much rather have a Harley, and take a sawz-all to the exhaust so I can sit at stop lights and rev it up so people look at me. I will then drive it around with other like minded people that share a leather fetish like I do, wearing jackets with cheeky slogans on the back and bedazzled with metal thingys. I will be sure NOT to wear a helmet, and if someone gives me crap about the amount of noise my vehicle makes, I will tell them that loud pipes save lives, despite no data to back up that statement. Lastly, I will marry a woman that is 75 lbs overweight, and she will wear a minimum amount of clothing.
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...and attend COVID super-spreader events.
 
Lots of motorcycles for less money that do more. Never understood the love affair with Beemers myself. Oh well, to each his own.
 
wrbix said:
...and attend COVID super-spreader events.
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Not that I want to defend H-D riders, but that was actually pretty well de-buncted due to poor science. They essentially attributed all COVID-cases in the respective cities as being spread by those who attended Sturgis. Pretty tall assumption.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Not that I want to defend H-D riders, but that was actually pretty well de-buncted due to poor science. They essentially attributed all COVID-cases in the respective cities as being spread by those who attended Sturgis. Pretty tall assumption.
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I thought the science behind the association of Sturgis and new COVID cases was pretty strong. I’d be interested in seeing science otherwise....nothing from Fox News, thank you.
 
wrbix said:
I thought the science behind the association of Sturgis and new COVID cases was pretty strong. I’d be interested in seeing science otherwise....nothing from Fox News, thank you.
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It wasn't a scientific study at all. It was an unscientific poll by CBS.

The 128,000 people (and counting) who shared the NBC News article read that “The 10-day rally attracted more than 400,000 people” where “prolonged interactions between individuals along with minimal mask-wearing and social distancing by attendees” led to 266,796 new cases.


• Only 124 new cases, and one death, in South Dakota have been directly linked to the rally.

• Only 260 new cases nationwide have actually been directly linked to the rally.

• The paper came up with the estimate of more than 260,000 cases by using anonymized cell phone data to track where the people from Sturgis traveled, and then blamed all new cases in those areas on Sturgis.

• To come up with the $12 billion healthcare cost estimate, the paper multiplied each “case” by $46,000, which itself is based on a paper that assumed there have been 47 million cases and 1,000,000 hospitalizations in the U.S. costing $2.2 trillion. All of those figures are significantly higher than actual counts.

• The paper was not peer-reviewed.

Original poll:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hm...D97xE6DETBnGNkl_H4Zn2oK2tUkioLt83Tk59FwzOBpgo

Reason article:
https://reason.com/2020/09/09/no-th...D97xE6DETBnGNkl_H4Zn2oK2tUkioLt83Tk59FwzOBpgo
 
Here is the study : http://ftp.iza.org/dp13670.pdf

May have been quoted in the media, but hardly a poll by CBS or NBC.
The cell phone location data was linked to excess mortality in locales after the rally. Agree this is not strict cause and effect correlation but even if off by a factor of four, still a startling number.
 
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...but enough of 7500’g this thread...shouldn’t have gone there. Mea culpa.
 
wrbix said:
To all those contemplating Beemer ownership, I say “get an Airhead”.

Closest one can come to Lycoming technology........that a good thing?
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Agree airheads are a super elegant engineering design but the ‘oilheads’ hit it out of the park. Simply channeling cooling oil closer to the cylinder heads around the valves was fantastic. Looking at the exhaust headers leading in the wind-stream is just good headwork. I originally fell in love with the R 75 in 1972, beautiful machines. Graceful functional engineering.
 
steingar said:
Lots of motorcycles for less money that do more. Never understood the love affair with Beemers myself. Oh well, to each his own.
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That’s because you haven't mounted an R 1200 GS at 90 mph through a Colorado wildcat canyon-S turn HIGH-WAY. The ergonomics are so comfortable you feel like a Panzer commander riding one. Not to mention looking down and seeing a pair of staggered massive purring “double D”, (DD) boxer cylinders between your knees. Try it baba, you will never look back.
 
n2230b said:
That’s because you haven't mounted an R 1200 GS at 90 mph through a Colorado wildcat canyon-S turn HIGH-WAY. The ergonomics are so comfortable you feel like a Panzer commander riding one. Not to mention looking down and seeing a pair of staggered massive purring “double D”, (DD) boxer cylinders between your knees. Try it baba, you will never look back.
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Took my 954 full throttle through roads you've never heard of in WV. That bike wasn't comfy, but it wasn't made to be. It could run rings around any Bmer. My naked sport bike is comfy, and could easily run rings around that Bmer. And for thousands less in acquisition costs. And it won't break for anything short of the apocalypse. You know nothing. Indeed you know less than nothing. Bmer riders have been touting their rigs for decades with no basis in fact whatsoever. Glad you like them.
 
steingar said:
Took my 954 full throttle through roads you've never heard of in WV. That bike wasn't comfy, but it wasn't made to be. It could run rings around any Bmer. My naked sport bike is comfy, and could easily run rings around that Bmer. And for thousands less in acquisition costs. And it won't break for anything short of the apocalypse. You know nothing. Indeed you know less than nothing. Bmer riders have been touting their rigs for decades with no basis in fact whatsoever. Glad you like them.
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.....Oh my! Such vitriol.
 
So much for not poo-slinging at everyone.

I just bought my second GS Adventure. (my '07 is for sale now if anyone is looking). I grew up riding sport bikes, only owned them until I got the GSA. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion; my opinion is that the GSA is the best bike in the world - FOR ME. I love how easy it is to work on, how few problems I've had in 12 years, 60k miles and 17 countries of riding. It's well balanced for such a big bike; certainly not as flickable as the Ducs, GSXRs and Aprilias I've owned but the great majority of my time isn't spent on the track (anymore) so this fits me better. One of my favorite things to do is take my BMW up to Deal's Gap and embarrass all the sport bike guys. (I grew up in east TN and have been riding that road since I was 15. It's more about knowing the road than anything). At any rate, I'm not as fast as I was on a sport bike, but I'm a lot more comfortable and can do a lot more traveling on it; which is what I wanted.

I guess I know nothing either.
 
If I were shopping for a new BMW, I’d be leaning heavily towards one of their “Heritage” R9T line.

This one struck my fancy at last year’s MOA rally in Lebanon, TN:

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My main concern is reliability and complexity. BMW has succeeded in making these appear simple and basic, and I guess they are compared to their other offerings. Under their skin, however, they’re still quite complex. And BMW reliability has taken a hit over the last decade or two.

For real “back to basics” in a new bike, this appeals to me and there may be one in my future:

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n2230b said:
Agree airheads are a super elegant engineering design...
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Yes, they are. I’ve owned quite a few, including a 1970 R75/5, a 1986 R80RT and a 1990 R100GS/PD.

The motto of the BMW Airheads is “Simple By Choice”, and that they are. Problem is, the last Airhead made was the R100RT Classic in 1995. So, the newest one you can buy is at least 25 years old. Nothing wrong with that, but these old bikes do have their own quirks and foibles. It takes a bit of a commitment to keep them going, but I’m glad that many are.
 
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FastEddieB said:
For real “back to basics” in a new bike, this appeals to me and there’s may be one in my future:

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Although a cool looking bike, those get pretty poor ride reviews - bad handling in particular.
 
My RT was a hex head. The newest generation water heads have grown in size and weight, which is not a direction I want to move.
 
Sac Arrow said:
My RT was a hex head. The newest generation water heads have grown in size and weight, which is not a direction I want to move.
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A little more weight, but also a 35%+ increase in power, and much better suspension and brake system. It's too bad these advances came with a small weight increase, but people desire more features as the years pass, and features increase weight.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Although a cool looking bike, those get pretty poor ride reviews - bad handling in particular.
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I have yet to ride one.

My expectations are pretty low. I’ve got my Buell for the twisties, and the K12 for sport touring. Both handle well. The Bullet (made in India, BTW), would be mostly for puttering down country roads at a geriatric pace. Which is becoming more and more appealing as the years tick by.

Royal Enfield also has a 650 which elicits memories of Norton’s and Matchless’s:

Royal-Enfield-Interceptor-650-Twin-Orange-Press-shot-left-side.jpg
 
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