With the exception of three bikes, I was a Honda guy from 1970 until 1982, when I bought a Kawi Gpz750 — basically a red version of the Eddie Lawson bike, which came out within the year. (The three were a Yamaha RD400, which was amazing, a 1978 Suzuki RM-400, a pipey MX beast, and a Kawi KZ650. The GPz was an amazing dominator for the two seconds until Honda released the VFR750, which kicked everybody’s ass for the next 18 months….)
My first BMW was a 1989 K100RS. It had nothing like the power of the Japanese bikes I’d been riding, but it had ABS and I loved it. (At that time everybody else was making fun of BMW, saying ABS on a bike was ridiculous…. And not long after that, Harley sued several law enforcement agencies that specified ABS on their purchase solicitations, because nobody but BMW offered ABS. Now, of course, everybody offers ABS.)
After the K100RS I discovered boxers, first in RTs, and then GSs. I missed the Japanese horsepower and long service intervals, but the BMWs were so effortless to ride fast and long, and they held a deep line in a corner without any continuing control input. Maybe it’s just me, but it felt like I could set the lean and just let go — and I could do it for 500 or 600 miles at a stretch without feeling like I got my ass kicked the next day.
I put a lot of miles on my second GS, a gray 2008 GSA (below). I loved every mile, but when I saw the K1600GT I really wanted it. Beautiful, comfortable, and with over 160 HP, fast. My wife and I put 245 miles on the store’s demo bike one weekend — so I ordered one. Unfortunately, I couldn’t part with the GS…. And I couldn’t afford the 1600 without selling the GS, so I added a Kawasaki Connie 1400 to the stable to fill the gap. That was another bad decision. It was very fast in a straight line, but it had terrible brakes and cornering compared to the BMW, so I sold it after less than 2000 miles. Hated it, really. (I know lots of folks love the Connies…)
After 10 years with the old GSA I finally replaced it with a blue and white 2018 GSA, which I still have. With traction control off it easily wheelies, though I’m getting too old for that. Also too old for the Husky 701… I dropped a tooth on the 701s front sprocket before even riding it — because I knew I’d never ride that bike at 90 mph, so I figured I’d improve low-end grunt. Bad decision. The bike already had unlimited low end grunt… it wanted to wheelie at every speed.
(The creepy brick castle in the photo below is a bed and breakfast my wife and I stopped at near Ft. Lewis in Washington. It was in a Steven King movie — and it felt like it. We were on a great ride that took us up around the San Juan islands. I recommend the ride, but not the castle.)
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Been racing them for a while. Wish they still made the R6.
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