A Winter Ride on the Roadster

[mogu83]

He got caught and sent back Don. But he'll be back next week. It was time for him to go home and vist his family so we paid for a one way ticket for him, he'll get back on his own.

[Stef.]

Great story! Love reading every line of it- keep the updates coming!
Stef.

[bmwk100]

I stand in awe of this guy and he rubs it in by having a beautiful lady with him. Safe travels!

[Lost Rider]

Thank you! Glad you guys like... and I am lucky to have such a great, cute partner to travel with...
As a matter of fact, we are leaving this afternoon riding to go pick up Nancy's very own new Roadster! Quite an exciting day.... I'm just killing time until she gets off work. Unfortunately the maiden voyage will be 400 miles in the rain each way in California... I'll take it over snow any day though.





Here's a little video of my travels in Death Valley recently, who needs a big GS?...

Don't know why I can't embed it here, so follow the link.



http://www.vimeo.com/19513014

[angellr]

Thank you! Glad you guys like... and I am lucky to have such a great, cute partner to travel with...
As a matter of fact, we are leaving this afternoon riding to go pick up Nancy's very own new Roadster! Quite an exciting day.... I'm just killing time until she gets off work. Unfortunately the maiden voyage will be 400 miles in the rain each way in California... I'll take it over snow any day though.





Here's a little video of my travels in Death Valley recently, who needs a big GS?...

Don't know why I can't embed it here, so follow the link.



http://www.vimeo.com/19513014

Thanks Joe, been loving EVERY minute of your reports.

Stay safe, would like your thoughts on tents when/if you get a chance. Thinking of Eureka 3-4 man tent so that I have a bit more room for "stuff" INSIDE the tent.

Ride safe.

[Lost Rider]

So we decided to add a BMW Roadster to the family!!!!!

This is now quite a winter ride on A Roadster...

Nancy's new bike is amazing, and feels very much like our Roadster's, obviously being slightly smaller and lighter.
We've only put 1000 miles on it in the first week, most of which was Nancy riding.
I've been able to ride the 8R a little bit in the canyons to get a feel for her, and initially I was very worried that this bike would ruin my 1200R happiness because it rides so nicely..... like when I rode the 12R for a test ride, and then had to get back on my old, heavy, slow, ugly R1150R.... luckily that's not the case and when I got back on my 12R she still felt good and exciting enough to keep me happy.... for now.

But, it's safe to say this BIKE IS AWESOME, and quite a hoot to ride... Tame and refined enough for a novice rider, yet just begging to be flogged like a hooligan bike.

For now, here's some pics and the link to F800 R Owners thread I started on ADV with some DIY's and such.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=661464

[Faylo]

That is all kinds of awesome! I've always liked hot girls on bikes more than I like hot girls in hardhats. And I really like hot girls in hardhats.
Ride fast!

[gunnarson]

was very worried that this bike would ruin my 1200R happiness because it rides so nicely..... like when I rode the 12R for a test ride, and then had to get back on my old, heavy, slow, ugly R1150R.... luckily that's not the case and when I got back on my 12R she still felt good and exciting enough to keep me happy.... for now.

don't scare me like that, following some of your earlier exploits led me to test drive an r12r a few years ago and the rest has been history for me, I've never liked a bike more. PLEASE don't take that away!

[websterize]

… Nancy's new bike is amazing, and feels very much like our Roadster's, obviously being slightly smaller and lighter.

How's the switchgear on the 800R? I was surprised BMW kept the discrete turn signals on the 2011 R12R.

[Lost Rider]

While the engine, transmission, riding position, new gauges, sound, brakes, and just about everything else is stellar....
I hate the new switching and button layout on the 8R, having so many miles on the Proper Intuitive German Way buttons, it's annoying to relearn switching. Bouncing between (awesome) bikes has me relearning each time I switch.
(being me is so horrible)

I'm not sure why they took a huge step backwards, pressure from the other bikers?....

It's not that they didn't do the best they could to be like everyone else , but there's no button on the bike that doesn't take a longer reach for your fingers with this setup versus the old one except for the start button (that I don't need easy access to) Activating and turning off the turn signals takes such a reach with my thumb that I feel it's not safe, basically lifting most of my hand off the grip to reach up, instead of a little tap right there....

The heated grip button has no postion, hit it once to turn it on low, hit it again to go to high, again to turn off. There's an icon in the display. I much prefer the click, click, click of the 3 position that I never had to take my eyes off the road to operate. Plus the button is now in top of the controls so you basically have to take most of your hand off the grip to operate.

The start button is fine except it now takes the space of the old heated grip button.

It's not better a better setup overall, it's just different.

If it was my bike, I would be doing everything I could to swap out grip controls and get the better system on the 8R bike, but since it's Nancy's bike, and she has no experience with the better system I'm sure she'll learn to use the buttons just fine... I still might even try and see if it's even possible to put my 8GS's grips on this bike... just to see for others than might want to "upgrade" the 8R's switches, since I have the means and opportunity. At a glance it looks like the connectors are the same, but is it circuited the same?...

Someday I wont have to think about it anymore once I train my muscles, but for now it's annoying... until I twist that throttle and throw her into a hard corner and forget about it...

don't scare me like that, following some of your earlier exploits led me to test drive an r12r a few years ago and the rest has been history for me, I've never liked a bike more. PLEASE don't take that away!

Don't worry, our Roadster's still have it where it counts, even with this new, young, hot, fast little Roadster around...

[Lost Rider]

Stay safe, would like your thoughts on tents when/if you get a chance. Thinking of Eureka 3-4 man tent so that I have a bit more room for "stuff" INSIDE the tent.

Ride safe.

Thanks!
Having never used a Eureka tent I can't comment on it specifically.
I love my Big Agnes Emerald Mountain SL2 tent, it's proven to be 100% dependable, easy to setup, pack very small, and even in severe weather in a vast range of climates has never leaked. I also love the fact that it's all mesh so in good weather I'm "under the stars" with no critters on me.
I also subscribe to the belief that your sleeping bag should provide the warmth, not the tent. The tent blocks the wind and keeps me dry, my bag keeps me warm. Having excellent ventilation with little pop up windows and being all mesh, I don't get condensation in my tent, and my down bags are always dry. Obviously if I was mountaineering a mesh tent wouldn't work, but I'm/we're not climbing Everest.
Tents are like.... tires.... lots of good ones out there, and lots of different individual needs. You get what you pay for.
My two man tent with two large vestibules give me plenty of space, even when 2up, to store all my stuff "inside". But I might have less stuff than you, or need a smaller tent to pack while on dirt bike rides.

Mine has over 400 nights of camping done in comfort from the last 3 years, and I won't be needing to replace it for a while.
I also highly recommend using the entire Big Agnes sleeping system, meaning a BA sleeping bag, and Aircore Insulated pad. I have a decent amount of other sleeping gear I would never use now that I discovered how much more comfortable the BA stuff is compared to just about anything out there.
Having your pad slide into the sleeve on the bottom of the bag is awesome, and saves a lot of space with your bag since it doesn't have any insulation on the bottom, using the insulation already in the pad. No more rolling/sliding off your pad during the night when you turn over.

When I broke one of the zippers, BA serviced it and had it back to me in under a week - for free. American company in Colorado, can't beat that.

All of gear I use is listed on my site, like I said, there's plenty of other good gear out there, this is what I've learned to use over time and many nights camping to work for me.

[angellr]

Joe,

Thanks for your reply! Will check into the BA tents. I too believe the tent should provide shelter and minimize condensation.

Hope you and Nancy continue to enjoy the new ride!

[ka5ysy]

That is all kinds of awesome! I've always liked hot girls on bikes more than I like hot girls in hardhats. And I really like hot girls in hardhats.
Ride fast!

Hey Joe...

Quick.... Get a hard hat on your lady on the bike and post a photo here ....

By the way... what engine guards are those?

[Faylo]

Hey Joe...

Quick.... Get a hard hat on your lady on the bike and post a photo here ....

By the way... what engine guards are those?

That might just be too much for me to handle. Especially if there were a golf cart in the background!