Time to Pick up the Pace….
By Geoff Drake
Originally published in BMW Owners News.
In yet another example of my twisted logic, it’s always been my practice—and a source of pride—to put at least 50,000 miles on my street bikes before surrendering to the urge to buy a new one. This is for several reasons: 1) Frugality: without this arbitrary restriction, I’d be buying new motorcycles continuously, and those credit freeze alerts I’ve set up would be going off like morning coffee; 2) Fifty-thousand seems a reasonable interval to allow useful technical doodads to come on the market; 3) A general appearance of sanity, in contrast to the chaos that actually comprises my life.
This motorcycle math has been true my entire adult life, encompassing hundreds of thousands of miles of riding. My current BMW R1200GS has 60,000 miles. I’ve had a 1996 R1100R and a 2007 R1200RT before that, both having logged north of 50K. These are in addition to many other brands and models from various decades that have passed the 50K mark. Thatsalotta miles.
When I was younger, time spread out before me like a desert highway, punctuated by dozens of future, imagined motorcycles, each one of them better than the last.
My riding buddy Ken thinks the same way, and has put tens of thousands of miles on most of his street bikes before moving on to something new. This has included an impressive 136,000 miles on a Honda ST1100, 80,000 on a Suzuki GS850G, and copious miles on his many BMWs.
However, it was Ken, employing his engineer’s grasp of reality, who recently suggested that our original math is looking erroneous, now that we are of Medicare age. There just aren’t that many motorcycles left to live. In what must be some Einsteinian time warp trick, the number of future bikes, based on my current age and life’s inevitable entropy, seems depressingly small.
Math is not my strong point, but even I can see that the current trajectory won’t pencil out. This motorcycle road we’re all traveling is finite, not infinite. According to actuarial tables, even though I’m healthy, I have approximately 17 years to live. There are at least a dozen bikes on the “acquisition” list at present. Consequently, I need to do one of three things: 1) Live longer; 2) Ride 100 miles a day for the rest of my life, even into my ‘80s; or 3) Jettison my self-imposed mileage requirement.
You can guess where all this is going. Numbers 1) and 2) are unlikely. The conclusion, according to my less-than-impeccable math, is this: it’s time to go shopping.
Past Due for Something New
All this brings me to the small matter of my 2016 BMW R1200GS, which I acquired in 2018 with 2,000 miles. It’s currently showing just under 60,000. But damn that bike. It starts every time, is a joy to ride as a backroad burner, commuter, dirt road explorer, and two-up touring bike. It’s such a fine motorcycle that sometimes I just want to shoot it. Maybe I should switch to another brand that breaks down more often. That way, I can own more of them.
It’s easy to anthropomorphize in these conditions. Every time I walk past the GS in my garage, it says: “I’m here. I’m a perfectly good motorcycle. You could ride me right now. I’ve been steadfast and true. So why are you being unfaithful?”
These kinds of opposing forces regularly butt heads in the non-rational place that is my cerebral cortex. Nothing comes out of there without a fight. And usually, what comes out is mush.
Another BMW?
With all this in mind, Ken and I recently went to the local BMW shop in San Jose, California, and rode a succession of BMWs, from the 800 through the new 1300GS. My hope was that this bit of empirical research would clarify matters, and lead to the entirely reasonable conclusion that I should just keep the perfectly adequate R1200GS that I currently own.
Not surprisingly, this didn’t happen. Rather than being released from my profligate ways, the entire episode merely confirmed the decision I’d already made somewhere in the bowels of my brain: I’m ready for a 1300GS, perhaps even with (heresy!) an auto clutch.
Sadly, this is the decision that I’ve usually come to throughout my life, in any season, at any age, and for the slightest reason. Needing a new bike is simply a universal condition, transcending matters of money, time, practicality, and marital relations. There are so many rational and reasonable reasons I should not buy this bike. And then there is the one that carries the weight of a sledgehammer and somehow always wins: I want it.
If you call this senseless, or profligate, or just dumb, you’d be correct on all counts. Then again, there’s never been anything logical about my motorcycle habits, so why start now?
In any case, I better pick up the pace. I’ve got some riding to do. And some shopping. I’m sure you agree.
Perfect timing to read your wriding. Big decision today as the which bike to buy. Procure a perfectly good, gently-used bike that fits my needs and is easy on the wallet? Or blow a wad on a dream machine that is ridiculously overpriced– it’s a bicycle, for god’s sake!
But I could ride it for the rest of my days. YOLO!
As the saying goes: “Two wheels good.” Buy the thing you want! You won’t regret it.