First time owner

[csmith]

[size=78%]Picked up a beautiful black 2017 BMW R 1200RT on Saturday.[/size][size=78%]  [/size][size=78%]It had 800 miles on the odometer.[/size][size=78%]  [/size][size=78%]I’m drooling over the places we’re gonna’ go.[/size]

[size=78%]Background – As a kid I had go-cars and mini-bikes and fondly recall my first time on a “real” bike; an 80cc Gemini from a bygone era.[/size][size=78%]  [/size][size=78%]Fast forward to 1988 and my renewed interest in powered two-wheels, when I bought my brother-in-law’s ’80 Honda CX500, which I would put a few thousand commuter miles on it before my first close encounter with pavement – a morning dew-covered slick spot on a corner.[/size][size=78%]  [/size][size=78%]The bike was totaled, but I suffered some minor road rash and injury to my pride.[/size][size=78%]  [/size][size=78%]Several months later, I picked up an ‘82 Honda CB750 that I enjoyed for a time before getting an ’89 Honda PC800 in 2000, that I did my first serious riding on – up into the Finger Lakes and America’s 9/11 ride.[/size][size=78%] [/size]

[size=78%]In 2002 I got another PC800.[/size][size=78%]  [/size][size=78%]This ’97 had less than 3K miles on it and I added 66K more including my first IronButt to Key West (’05) and Saddle Sore 1500 on the outbound trip to Sturgis (’05).[/size][size=78%]  [/size][size=78%]Took a ride on the Tail of the Dragon (’06) and in ’08, a 7200-mile, 17-day, 17-state, ride out to the top of California to ride the PCH on my PCH and back via Route 66.[/size][size=78%]  [/size][size=78%]Americade in 2010.[/size]

[size=78%]My next N+1 was an ‘02 Kawasaki Vulcan 500 with a Velorex sidecar I had from ’04-’10.[/size][size=78%]  [/size][size=78%]2008 found an ’01 Suzuki GS500E added to the stable until ’12 – because it turns out leaning over a gas tank is really not my thing.[/size][size=78%]  [/size][size=78%]My second sidecar rig is an ’89 Yamaha FJ1200 with Comanche Sidebike that is a definite head-turner, but I don’t trust it to go very far from home given it’s over 30 years old.[/size][size=78%]  [/size][size=78%]2011, I purchased another Honda.[/size][size=78%]  [/size][size=78%]This time it was a ‘10 NT700 with 758 miles on it, to which I’ve added another 61K with mostly year-round commuting, and one exception – A 5,600-mile trek out to Montana and up into Canada.[/size][size=78%]  [/size][size=78%]It was supposed to be out to Washington state, but I ripped a calf muscle while attempting to raise the ladened bike up onto the center stand for a fill-up, forcing me to limp home days (and many miles) earlier than I had anticipated.[/size]

[size=78%]I still commute year round, but after my black-ice encounter on the NT two days after Christmas ’18, I refrain from riding in conditions replicating that day. [/size][size=78%] [/size][size=78%]Still, I find every season enjoyable in its own way.[/size]

[size=78%]So, that’s my motorcycle history.[/size][size=78%]  [/size][size=78%]I look forward to adding 100K miles to my first BMW before I put my last helmet up on the shelf and move on to a nursing home in 10-15 years.[/size][size=78%]  [/size][size=78%]And if you believe that, I’ve got a motorcycle I’d like to sell you…no seriously, my NT700 has to go.[/size][size=78%]  [/size][size=78%]Ha.[/size]