A.R.S.E.

So, the last 12 months in L.A have been very good for me. BMW had some good deals going and I was missing my bike in Sydney, so picked up a new GS 1200 Adventure.



It's a whole lot of bike!

When I get some spare time, the Mrs and I are going to take it up to Alaska.

It's the middle of summer here, so it's not much fun riding around L.A at the moment, but we aren't too far away from some cooler weather. We took it out to Malibu on the weekend, and it's a shit load cooler by the water, which was very welcome. I was smiling like an idiot the whole time.



After many years riding pocket rockets, I've become madly in love with the idea of doing some longer, more comfortable rides.

I don't know if it's because everyone is terrified of getting sued over here, but drivers seem to be more aware and considerate of bikes too. In some ways I actually feel safer on the roads here, than I did back in Aus. It could also be that this things lights up like a christmas tree and is as big as a boat



Good times!

That looks wicked Righty! Glad to hear things are going well!

Vilante wrote:That looks wicked Righty! Glad to hear things are going well!

Thanks! Yep, things are going well.

We've somehow landed on our feet and seem to be keeping busy. I've been working like a dog since we got here so, finally, felt comfortable dropping some cash on something. We don't really have space for a second car at the moment, so a bike works perfectly.

the perfect bike for a Route 66 adventure.

w00dsy wrote:the perfect bike for a Route 66 adventure.

Yeah, I reckon that would be an awesome ride in the cooler months. There's some spectacular rides to do around here.

Nice choice, same bike as my Dad. Been up the canyon yet? Little dusty up there sometimes but plenty to see. Share pics when you get back from Alaska, what a trip!

Nice bike mate! Just can't get over BMW's choice in ugly headlights though, lol. Tall bikes are super comfy

c.j wrote:Nice choice, same bike as my Dad. Been up the canyon yet? Little dusty up there sometimes but plenty to see. Share pics when you get back from Alaska, what a trip!

It's got a reputation for being a bike for the older rider. I love it. It's got more than enough grunt and just feels amazingly well built.

Santaria wrote:Nice bike mate! Just can't get over BMW's choice in ugly headlights though, lol. Tall bikes are super comfy

I was never really into them either, but for some reason, this thing has really grown on me. Maybe it's just the possibilities it opens up, I dunno. I really like the look of it.

I've got a mate who's doing the ride from Alaska to Argentina. He started in Vancouver. He's kept a blog on the whole thing, it's become a bit of inspiration for me.

He's taken 7 months off work to do the trip. He's only on his P's in Aus and had/had basically no mechanical experience before he set off. It's been fascinating following his Journey.

Here's the link if anyone's interested.

http://wp.me/p7xuLg-4

Wasn't meant to be a dig, they are brilliantly balanced for their size. Enjoy, stay safe

c.j wrote:Wasn't meant to be a dig, they are brilliantly balanced for their size. Enjoy, stay safe

Haha, no offence taken. I was telling the dealer I got some grey hairs so figured it was time to look at BMW's

What rubber is on it?

Michelin Anakee III's

I think when I head north I'll look for some 50/50 road/dirt tyres. These are more a 90/10 apparently.

http://motorcycle.michelinman.com/tires ... anakee-iii

looking for to hearing about the trip.

Theses are great ride.. used one a few times, it is on the list :P

Took the "Mother Ship" out to Angeles Crest Highway this morning.



What a marvelous bit of road that is. During the winter it's all Ski slopes and snow, but at the moment it's reasonable warm.

I'd say in the 10 years I've been riding, it's probably the best stretch of Motorcycle road I've ever been on.



Those of you with go fast bikes would love it.



Ended up having lunch at a place called Grizzly Cafe, where the food is great and the prices are better.



The best part is that the road is under 30 minutes up the highway.



5 Stars. Will ride again.

"5 Stars. Will ride again."

The bike or the Mrs?

The bike will let me ride anytime I want

Great pics

So the little lady and I took the bike up north on the weekend.

What an awesome trip it was. The wifey has a cousin in a town called Hollister so we thought we'd take the scenic route this time, rather than the 5 hours of almost dead straight road that you can take.

I've never had a use for instagram, despite signing up a million years ago, so I've decided to use it for my bike adventures over here.



Essentially we took the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) all the way up to Big Sur and then back across to Hollister.


The ride across the coast up to Big Sur was too incredible to describe. If you get the chance to take a look, do it, it's amazing. The only issue we had, and it was a big one, was the wind. I don't know if it was exceptionally windy that day, but I've never had to ride in winds that strong before. It was a bit of baptism by fire as I hadn't had the bike that long, never ridden it in such windy conditions and we were doing it fully loaded up with gear at twilight, on the edge of crazy cliffs that were definitely doom if we went over.

We survived, it was awesome, I'm going to go back and spend a day or 2 up there. We were sort of chasing light at that point and still had a couple of hours before we got to Hollister so didn't stop to check out the Seals and other wildlife that hang out on the beach.



While we were up at Hollister I took the chance to get the bike onto some easy dirt so that I could start to get comfortable with it off road. I've never done any off road riding (well except on a farm as a young block) but I'm amazed by how well this thing handled it. I've watched and read a lot of stuff, online, about people and the off road capabilities of this bike and was a little sceptical, but after my little treck on some back roads, all I want to do is go find something a bit more challenging. It was great fun.



There's a lot of off road vehicle parks around California (they love their off road vehicles and burning oil) and there's a park only an hour from me. It's sort of like ski slopes where they have a range of different roads with varying skill levels. I can't wait to get up there and check it out. The one at Hungry Hills is close to me and I had a look at the one in Hollister while I was up there, it was pretty busy, but i'll go back midweek and play around too. 5 bucks entry, or 50 bucks for the year is a great bloody deal.

http://ohv.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=1192

We took some back roads away from the coast on the way home at the beginning to save a bit of time before heading back out the 1 highway. Again, some of the most incredible riding and scenery ever. I didn't want to go home, I just wanted to keep riding



We stopped at Pismo beach because we saw some whales off the coast and took the chance to stretch out legs and check them out.



We also took a ride through Santa Barbara. That's a place I will need to go back to and check out, it's not far from LA.



Finally, took a little detour across the canyons on the way back into LA. There's a stretch of the Mulholland Highway that takes you from Malibu in-land to the freeways back into LA. It's a top piece of road and even though I'd been riding for about 10 hours, I couldn't miss the opportunity to ride it again.



We put about 1000 miles on the bike and now all I want to do is get out there again. The bike was so great on the highway, on the twisties and in the dirt, I'm blown away. Plus, there's just so much to see in California, let alone the rest of the US it feels like Motorcycle nirvana. Gotta save those pennies now so I can head out again.

Sounds and looks great, glad to hear you're having so much fun with the bike!

Ok I've found your new beemer.

I watched the launch of that the other day.

I don't know, I can't warm to it. But, it's a concept vehicle, they don't often turn into anything anyway.