Ok not really a best ride souvenir but a lovely pair of photos taken during the BMW Biker Meetings:


Experts will for sure identify the model and the age of the beauty!
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This next one -->
illustrates perfectly the "boys and their toys" saying :)

Don't take that opportunity to say that beemers have wood stiff suspensions :)



For those who don't like BMWs or think we should show other brands: no problem at all just email us your pics and their caption and we will post them ni the "My bike" section!

The picture presents a setting seen at the BMW Biker Meeting (soon a note to come on that meeting):
Even though this is of course a demo model for Touratech GPS adapters, it made us think about how people do organise their trips!

As this is the core of our job it is obvious we pay a lot of attention to finding the right roads, the perfect "motorcycle" roads: curves, scenery, no gravels etc...
But you always need a good map! And then experience to dig out those tiny little roads which will take you to wonderful places you wouldn't have imagined existed!
There is a real pleasure to discover that the planning you did just worked fine!

Of course there is an even better way when you have time: get yourself a final destination or some towns/places you want to ride through and then just follow your "hit the road Jack" instinct! As soon as a road looks twisty and sexy get on it! This solution does indeed imply you have a lot of time as you can easily get lost!
Getting lost on a motorcycle has a huge advantage: you will meet people! As you arrive with the positive "touring biker" image (you will have noticed that "touring" is used here and not "tourist").

Getting lost, with the help of a good map (to write down the roads and eventually find the way home) is our favourite solution to find smashing roads for our tours ;)

And you what is your recipe?

This note will grow over time with your help an comments.

On a small bike with very little luggage it is easy to have your favourite passenger get on the saddle. BUT there are situations where this can be a real challenge!
We aren't talking here about the situation everyone (come on!) can manage:

• light, petite figure wife/gf/bf
• flat ground
• no gravels under your soles
• nice tempered waether!

But about the the real life situation! I mean lets take some real big bikes like a K1200LT or some R1200GS with all the side and top boxes! plus some more bulky stuff!

• loaded up to the top case
• sunny day in southern europe
• you AND the passenger are sweating in the leather (important it means it is sticky and goes against ample and easy movements )
• the road is slightly downwards
• there are plenty of little nasty gravels under your feet!

Here you have all the elements for a disaster! And don't try to make it easy with a very tall passenger as the top case is anyway too high for a nice leg lift over it (remember the leather is sticky)!
How will an experienced biker manage this without a sweat? And without going for a less than 40 kg passenger?

I started commenting a note on the Helmet Hair Blog called Quick nod, big wave, easy greeting, or the middle finger by Jesper, and would like to go on that topic here!

The first thing I noticed when I started getting interested in motorcycles was that all bikers belong to one big group and wave to each other. To me that meant: lift your hand in a big wave!
Then I got my motorcycle driving license and noticed that you may not have the time to wave in all situations (tried it once during a breaking/gear shift in a curve...veryyy bad idea!).
After a little while teh big wave changed to a "V" or one finger pointing to the side. But aside the various gesture types I did also start to notice that some do "wave" (lest keep that word) while some others don't at all! So there are various types of "no wave at all" (I am here talking about countries where you drive on the right side of the road. Tried to wave during my stay in Ireland! First of all no one sees it and second when I tried with the right hand the gixer just stopped LOL!):

• There is the you don't drive the same brand as mine type, which (sorry guys) is very strongly represented in the HD riders group, maybe the position on the bike doesn't allow to wave? Just kidding guys!
• You can also find the you don't have enough b.... to ride a supersports bike sample, who of course cannot wave as they have all the weight on the wrists (I experienced it with my gixer)
• Now we come to the ones with eagle eyes: your engine is less than 125cc, one can explain it thanks to the fact that in some european countries you can drive a bike up to 125cc without a specific motorcycle driving license! In summary those bikers are in fact car drivers who lost two wheels!
• And the last but not the least: eeek a scooter, how can you ever say hi to a guy with such a bad taste! Riding a plastic box!

This list may get bigger if you have more examples! But again we all belong to many of those families as we all have (come on be honnest) at least once not waved back or just ignored one day a bike we didn't like!
But there may be more deep problems why people don't wave at you! Especially if a guy riding a bike the same type/brand as yours does not wave back:

• He is blind or the helmet visor is too dark: in both cases he is too dangerous! Stay away!
• He is stupid: same problem!
• He doesn't know he should wave back (mainly happens with the above listed 125cc family), is he really a biker?

I often complained when I waved to a guy who did not answer until I discoverd that the hand protections on my former R1150GS adventure did hide my fingers! Which a bit of the same with the mirors on the R1200RT! In that case make sure the guy did really not wave at you before you use a specific finger to say Hi!
Now I noticed that some guys who I think don't wave do it in fact...but behind hand protections ;) Ooooops!

I forgot a last family who doesn't get a lot of waves:the cops on motorcycles!! If you have never seen a happy biker: try it!!! So few people wave at them that they nearly expand a flag to thank you ;) if you do so! Once you have listed all those various situations there is one important point: whom ever they are, what ever they ride for a motorcycle: it has two wheels, an engine and comes with freedom!

The most important: two wheels and an engine, the road: you are a biker, who cares about the size, brand etc...?

I experienced once a funny situation. Well it started as a not very funny at all one! The usual idiot (and I stay very polite here) on that day decided that the stop sign had stricktly no value for him as "only" a motorcycle was arriving (me and my Bandit 1200)!

Of course I had to use the horn that time (like many others thanks to the total disrespect for anything smaller than a 40 tons truck by most car drivers) to let that guy know it was not nice having me review all my life in a second!!
We both ended at the same red light side by side! I turned my head to look at him through the sun glasses and full face helmet visor (in summary he couldn't see any part of my face). Not sure if he could see the anger in my eyes or just because there was that big guy with a black leather jacket on a big bike close to his door, but he slowly started to "melt" on his seat!!

And where it gets better he even lost his nerves, pulled on the gas and went through the red light!!!

Didn't know I was that scary, should have shaved ;)

Are we so scary??

PS: this heppened in Europe where we don't even have the picturesque image of the Hells Angels or Bandidos!

What is wrong ?

Sport is supposed to be fun and challenging. We do admire athletes for their skills and for some, esêcially mechanical sports, for the risks they can take! And yes there for sure is a little part (or some times more for some) of us expecting the unexpected to happen!

But is it acceptable to have children killed during what is supposed to be a major sports event?

Yes the Paris dakar race does bring fresh money to the countries it goes through, yes it does bring some excitement to people having a bloody hard life, yes it does generatre some nice human moments (well more for the amateur guys who will stop to say hello than for the top teams not even noticing they race through a village...attention I don't accuse anyone here).

Now some will say (lile an ex french minister this morning) that Africa should not be the play ground for rich people! That is a bit extreme in my view as she or any one may have or will go to Africa in some nice hotels to ride a car around animals! So lets not go that way!

As a dad of three I cannot imagine my kids getting killed that way (or in any way), I cannot accept other kids getting killed in anyway! But it happens, there is NEVER a good reason for that NEVER!

But should it happen during what should be a great time for every one?

S. Peterhansel made the point that this year the race crossed too many inhabited places, more than 30% of the race! This is the recipe for accidents! I don't blame anyone but lets try to avoid this! That the stupid guys who jump in front of WRC cars get hurt: no problems, its their choice to act like an idiot! But a kid who never saw a sports car/truck/bike will have no idea that that thing may not stop on the spot!

Sorry this is not as funny as talking about nice motorcycle rides but it makes me sad!

This "souvenir" goes back 5 years or so.

At that time I was riding a nice Blue Honda CBR1100XX Superblackbird. On that sunny Sunday I decided to go for a ride up in the Vercors (it is located in the South East of France close to Grenoble (use the following coordinates on GoogleEarth: 45°11'24.34"N,5°43'11.84" E).

Riding the XX on the twisty mountain roads was always exciting and a nice "fight" as the 164 Hp came with some weight! After 2 hours sporty riding I started to feel my style (yeah as if I had one/have one) starting to get worse by the second! It was time for a break!

I found a nice bield, slightly higher than the road. Stopped the bike, removed the leather jacket, the helmet, the boots and socks and laid down in the grassy field, in the sun looking at my bike!

It was quiet, the sun was warm and I just felt at the top of the world! Happy! Like in a great moment of Zen!

What made that moment even better was to see the few cars' drivers passing by looking at me with envy!
Those little moments of life just makes it perfect!

Did you ever thought about our big biker family? We have that luck to belong to a special species in which people help and like to share with each other! You will never stay long on the side of the road with your motorcycle, there will always be a guy to stop and help you (even some guys in cars, and not always bikers driving the kids around).

But it is also funny to notice that whatever you do to get a peaceful moment of rest the family is there for you ;)

I had that funny situation one day after a nice lunch and a good ride, I decided to take a rest/nap with a good book (yes I had all my little rest time planned ;), speding some good relaxing time in the sun ,againts a nice old tree listening to the "clicks" of the engine and warm exhaust pipes in the silence of the country side!

That is just whan I started to hear, approaching, the sound of a 4 cylinder, high in the revs! Getting ready to wave I didn't expect to hear the usual "Brooooo, broooo, brooo" of gears going down to slow down and .... stop!

My nice and peaceful rest instantly switched to the last chat about bikes and performance!

Ahhh the family ;)))

Any one enjoyed the same kind of situation?

Got that brand new R1200RT after a test ride with one! Was curious to compare my R1150 GS Adventure with its nice now rpm grunt to the new 1200 flat twin! I had tested it in the R1200GS but it didn't convince me.

Anyway the lady and I went for a test ride and the more we enjoyed the tinny alsacian roads the more I felt like at home on that new RT! After a little while we started discussing about the colour such a bike should have would we get one. The one we tested way grey...hmm didn't convince us! But in the brochure there were only pics of the red one! Gorgeous! The most funny is that most of the people prefer to take the grey or the black onen, way too classic for me ;)

Took me a couple of days to convince the realistic part in me that this had to be my next bike! Especially as my R1150GS Adventure was for sale at that time (needed money to start the company). So once the passionate part got it over the realistic one here we go! Call to the shop, short drive over there and I got out of there with a lovely ordering document for a lovely red R1200RT with bord computer! (there are many more options but this is a motorcycle not a car ;)

Since then I enjoy my new love...I mean love on wheels....pffffff ....just avoided a major crisis at home!

Tell me about your bikes!

Not a real motorcycle movie but just for the final scene when Steve McQueen escapes with his bike in the german fields and tries to get over the border barb wire it is a must! No need to say that the rest of the movie is good too.

Just because of this sequence I wanted to write about that movie!

We all have some chromium or shiny metal parts on our bikes that need a good cleaning to give the perfect "look" to our beloved bike. You can clean them with water and soap but there will never be that shiny effect you expect.

We are using for some years Nev'r Dull from Eagle One. It is a "magic wadding polish". You apply the wet wad on your metallic surface, let it dry (gives a white coat effect) and then polish with a dry cloth (make sure it is absolutely clean or you may get some ugly scratches)…it shines!

For some tough dirt you will have to work a bit harder the wad but it will let go (we tested it on tar "dried and fried" on the exhaust pipes!).

Women passenger's luggage management! This is for sure the worst nightmare for our beloved pilots!

Did you ever notice how early, prior to the start of the journey, they start warning you about the fact the space on the bike is veryyyy limited? That they don't think your latest fancy jean is going to make the trip? That your vanity is a bit to bulky to even be considered?

But most funny is happens when the day of departure comes and packing start: the one needing twice more space that the other one is …the beloved rider I was talking about earlier. Indeed if you consider that for a ride in Corsica, for example, a woman will need a couple of bath suits and some underwear (those aren't that big aren't they?), some pareos, some tee-shirts/shirts a couple of jeans and of course the usual essential vanity content and a pair of beach slippers; you don't even fill-up a side pannier!

Whilst Mister comes with his running stuff, fins, mask, tee shirts, jeans, another pair of shoes for the beach, underwear, socks for the bike boots, socks for running, socks for the night in the tent, a big book (no, he won't read a magazine like you); you end up with one and a half pannier and the tank bag, and the little available space between you and the top-case fully packed!

Of course just taking a tooth-brush makes him think he is smarter compared to your additional hair brush and cream tubes.

They are so lucky to have us!

Enjoy your ride! And stay cool!