Probably the last ride of 2018. A nice long one up to the Galena are for lunch in New Diggings. Quite the offroad area up there. Lunch was at the Saloon. Basic brat burger with a can of coke. The parking lot was filled with ATV and offload vehicles. Weather was on the chilly side, but overall a good time.
A simple lunch ride from back in September.
Playing some catch up on posting some summer rides. This was a solo ride up to Wisconsin. I was intending to test out a route and I definitely need to tweak it a bit. The ride up through Illinois around Johnsburg and Fox Lake was fully of stop and go traffic. Things didn't open up to an enjoyable ride until I actually got into Wisconsin, so it may make more sense to just slab it up to there and then enjoy the ride from there on out.
This was a nice ride from a couple of weeks ago. I think it was my first ride with MEWs this year. It was a big group, sixteen riders, which is usually way too many for me, but we had a great tide. Lunch was fun at the Crooked Roof in Lanark. We then rode to Lowden State Park to view the Blackhawk Statute. The guy is in a bit of rough shape.
Good ride with a good group.
My local dealership was doing a special demo ride event for the new BMW K1600B. This is BMW's new touring bike, built upon their K series engine. They have had the K1600GT and GTL in their lineup for years and those bikes have been known to be some of the best touring bikes out there, right up there with the Honda Goldwing. Last year BMW introduced the B or bagger series. As far as I can tell, the major difference with the B versus the GT series is the lower seat height and overall profile. It has a more "American" style cruiser seating profile.
I was a bit surprised when I got to the dealership. This wasn't an organized test ride with a group leader and 12 bikes following. They had four bikes sitting outside. You walked up, said you wanted to ride, they got you on and then said "see you later". I was able to ride wherever I wanted and they didn't give me any stipulations. It worked out great since I was able to ride the bike how I wanted to.
You can see my thoughts on the bike in the video below. In short, it is a very nice bike, but it clocks in at around $24,000 I think. It is super smooth, but also boring to ride. I don't feel any character to the bike at all. The engine, when I can hear it, feels like I am riding a semi-truck. You can pile the miles onto this bike though. It is super comfortable with a very easy riding position.
The bike is unbelievably heavy, but at the same time surprisingly nimble while on the road. The seating and leg position is still upright enough that I think could really lean into turns if I was given the opportunity. I wasn't sitting so far leaned back and legs forward that my riding technique was compromised.
I think ultimately the next bike for me would be an R1200RS or RT. Both still have that boxer engine that I really enjoy and they could give me more of that touring feel if I was really looking for it. For now though, I am going to stick with my 1200R.
Nothing special on this particular ridelog. This is your standard shot down towards Starved Rock. As you can imagine it was very crowded. There are some really great roads south of I-80 that you can take down to Starved Rock for a pleasant trip, most notably W Dupont, Pine Bluff and River Road.
Nothing particularly exciting about this log. Just a highway shot up to the in laws for a Memorial Day cookout. I did take some time though after dinner to ride the twilight hours up near Bull Valley. There are some very pleasant roads up there and twilight is always one of my favorite times to ride. Those 15 minutes right before the sun goes down are just magical.
I have been delinquent in posting my rides this year. I haven't even tracked everything. I need to get better about that. Anyways, here is to making up on some of that.
This was a quick ride up with a couple of friends to Wisconsin for lunch. Two of the riders in our group were doing the Tour of Honor ride challenge, which is a brilliant idea. Here is a description of what that is from their site:
I wish I had found out about it sooner, but it is definitely something I will be signing up for next year.The Tour of Honor Motorcycle Ride is a great reason to hit the open road, honor our nation's heroes, and contribute to a few good charities. The event is a season-long, self-directed ride to memorials and monuments around the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii. Beginning April 1, visit as many sites as you want, with any route you choose. Finishers Certificates are awarded to those who visit any seven sites.
This year's big end of summer motorcycle trip was perhaps the longest trip I have ever taken. 2,750 miles start to finish and we traveled through at least seven states and two providences of Canada.
Let's see how that trip went.
It has taken me a couple of weeks to get this posted. The weather was in the upper sixties a few weeks ago in the middle of February and the Mews group for out for a quick Sunday afternoon lunch ride. We rode out to Sycamore Illinois and ate at the Courthouse Bar and Grille.
It was a great lunch ride for a an odd day in February, but a ton of fun.