Test Ride: 2017 BMW R1200RS

It has been a while since I had a chance to ride a new motorcycle. Even when I have attended the International Motorcycle Show, the bikes usually have quite a few miles on them. When I rent a bike from a place like Motoquest, the bikes frequently have serious miles. So during my recent hunting online for motorcycles, I came across reviews for a new bike from BMW, the R1200RS. This took the new air and water-cooled flat twin engine from BMW's insanely popular GS adventure bike and places it into a frame that is set up more for sport touring. I absolutely love the torque of the GS flat-twin; this is one of the most iconic engines in motorcycling made better by the addition of water-cooling to create something with more power and ever more reliability. The idea of taking this new, better engine and the ultra-reliable maintenance-free Paralever shaft-drive rear-end and applying it to something more sport touring oriented was certainly very intriguing.

On a day when I needed to be available due to a termite tenting at our house, I finished up dealing with the exterminators and took a little detour before my next appointment to stop by my local BMW dealer to check out this interesting new bike.

Road trip: The Road to Paso

Sometimes, you just need a break from the drudgery of the day-to-day and do something a little different to recharge the batteries. I hit this point around the end of July this year and decided to treat myself to a couple of days away. The goal was to put in a full day of riding to clear my mind, ending in a destination where I could grab a good meal, have a drink or three, and then just relax and get a good night's sleep. With the goal of arriving at my destination by early evening, I scoured the map, trying to find a location that would provide the right mix of great riding, great food and drink, and relatively inexpensive accommodations. Thinking back to our trip to Monterey for Thanksgiving a couple of years ago, I settled on the Central California winery town of Paso Robles. And to maximize the fun riding, I plotted my ride through Ojai and up through some windy roads of the central valley before heading back west towards the Pacific Coast, saving the more direct ride along the coastal route for my return trip.

Editorial: What does it mean to buy American?

Following the recent election, the future of many major industries is likely to be in flux, the automotive, motorcycling, and even cycling industries in particular. Each of those industries has their distinct structures for design and manufacturing that can make the idea of "buying American" a difficult one to define. All of them are manufacturing industries that rely on "overseas" manufacturing jobs to one extent or another and with promises from the incoming administration to correct trade imbalances and place tariffs on products made overseas for sale here in the US, there is a lot of uncertainty about what potential impacts there are. And in this day and age of globalized economies, figuring out what exactly is "made in America" is not necessarily clear cut. So when it comes time to purchase that new motorcycle, bicycle, or car, what exactly does it mean to buy American?

Editorial: California legalizing lane splitting is hugely important

The debate has been a long and boisterous one, but after all the battling, the stats finally won out and the state of California is the first in the US to officially make lane-splitting legal. Lane-splitting has always drawn a lot of controversy in America, a country dominated by car drivers who selfishly believe that the roads are theirs and theirs alone.

Even in California, the practice had previously only been allowed because it was not expressly disallowed. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) supported it because it allowed their motor officers to move more freely through the gridlock traffic that burdens the greater LA and San Francisco areas during nearly all hours of the day. Motorcyclists support it because it allows riders the ability to move through traffic and keep air flowing to prevent overheating (mostly of the rider, though some older bikes benefit from it too). Car drivers, however, have long disliked the practice because it requires that they be more attentive about lane position and lane changes. Still, most drivers who have lived in California long enough have grudgingly adapted to it, some better than others.

But by taking it from a tolerated act by virtue of lack of legislation to a totally legal act backed by legislation and with guidelines to be provided by law enforcement, California has changed the game. By making it expressly legal, California is saying that lane-splitting is not just safe enough to be a practice, it is safe enough to be a law. That has long been a major argument used by detractors of lane-splitting to fight its implementation in other states. Many opponents have argued that by allowing one kind of traffic to travel between other traffic, it increases the chances for collisions, even though this has not been backed by the statistics. If anything, it has reduced one of the most common car-motorcycle collisions, which is motorcyclists being hit from behind in slow moving or stopped traffic. When practiced with abundant and appropriate caution, lane-splitting makes motorcyclists safer with little impact on car drivers at all.

By taking the step to make lane-splitting a fully legal act, California is hopefully the first domino to fall in what will eventually be more states allowing the act. Attempts have been made to legalize lane-splitting in states such as Arizona and Oregon, but all were quashed by legislators representing car-centric constituents who are fearful of change. But now that someone else has taken a major leap, hopefully more attempts will be made to bring up lane-splitting legislation and more "trial periods" will be considered as other state legislatures begin to realize the potential safety and traffic relief benefits that lane-splitting can bring.

Test Ride: 2016 BMW F800R

Lately, while having the K1200S serviced, I took the opportunity to take one of the dealerships loaners out for a day. My local dealer, BMW of Long Beach, has a number of brand new F800R nakeds available as rented loaners for riders who did not originally purchase their bikes there. For $50 a day, I had essentially unlimited miles and a chance to play with a brand new motorcycle.

Designed to compete in the middle weight super-naked class that has increased in popularity in recent years, the F800R is BMW's answer to bikes like the Yamaha FZ-07 and Kawasaki Z800. However, taking a decidedly BMW spin to the idea of a middle weight super-naked, the existing F800 sport touring platform was modified with a regular chain-drive rear wheel and stripped down to the bare essentials. Using a 798cc parallel twin making 90 hp and 63 lb-ft of torque, the streetfighter comes standard with ABS and ASC to ensure safety, but provides strong torquey power low in the rev range making daily riding in city traffic as easy as lofting its front wheel at a twist of the wrist.

Long Term Test: 2007 BMW K1200S post #7

Update #7
Mileage: 30,010

When people say BMW's are expensive to maintain, they certainly aren't kidding. This pretty much applies to both their motorcycles as well as their cars. While it has been a while since I have had to experience the bad taste of paying for repairs to a BMW, I did have to get maintenance completed on my K1200S earlier this year and the price tag was several times more than I anticipated, largely because of a few unexpected items.

First, the bike needed basic maintenance. That meant an oil change, inspection, and general check-up on electronic components. Typically, this costs around $150-$200. On top of that, I knew that the front tire was looking a little thin on tread after only 6,500 miles so I was expecting to need to replace that pretty soon. The low mileage is likely due to my tendency to ride with the preload set very high in the rear, resulting in greater wear on the front tire. It makes the bike handle better, but the trade-off is that the greater loading on the front tends to wear that tire down. Since I decided to go ahead and replace that tire, that added another $200+ to the tab for the tire plus the installation labor.

Brand new Michelin Pilot Road 4
front tire on the K1200S

However, within an hour or so of dropping my bike off at the dealer, they called and informed me that the rear brakes were worn and needed to be replaced while the battery was showing low voltage and needed to be replaced. That battery, which I had replaced just a few years ago, was apparently already out of warranty when the dealership in MA sold it to me. That dealership has a reputation for less than ethical treatment of customers so I suppose I should not be surprised when the Yelp reviews prove to be right. As for the brakes, the combination of linked brakes on this bike, where grabbing the front brake level also applies one of the rear caliper pistons, as well as my tendency to use the rear brake to stabilize the rear-end while doing low-speed lanesplitting, is the likely cause of the increased brake wear. The brake job was going to be another $300 while the battery added around $100 to the final bill.

With taxes and the cost of the rental bike, the total came to just under $1,000. What I save on gas and time with this bike likely gets made up with the increased maintenance costs. Fortunately, my enjoyment of the bike outweighs all of the cost factors and a few of the costs I can reduce by simply making minor adjustments in my riding habits.

2016 Honda NC700X DCT

Let's be honest: as much as people drool over supersport bikes, only a small number of people genuinely enjoy them for daily use. They are loud, fold the rider into an uncomfortable position, totally incapable of carrying anything, and produce so much power that one always has to be super attentive to keep from getting into serious trouble. Sure they are an absolute blast to ride through the canyons or on a track, but most riders hardly ever see either of those except for the odd weekend here and there. Honda clearly had this in mind when they developed the NC700X. This is a seriously well thought out urban commuter that is aimed squarely at providing an exceedingly practical motorcycle that is accessible to the masses. In fact, Honda considered that point so clearly that they even offer this bike with what essentially amounts to an automatic transmission. 

Yes,folks, you heard that right. The automatic transmission is creeping its way into full-size motorcycles. This is, thankfully, not the terrible CVTs that you see on scooters, but is instead a computer actuated dual-clutch arrangement that I will talk more about later on in this review.

Road Trip: Two-up to GMR

I often take those few days before Thanksgiving off to recharge and this past year was no different. It having been a particularly busy year so I was excited to have a few days to go out and do something I had not done in a while. Since my wife was able to take the time off this year as well, we decided to take a morning and revisit one of my old haunts. Being fall, it was still quite cool in the morning and I knew from experience that the temps would get even colder up in the mountains, so we bundled up and headed out on the Beemer.

Test Ride: 2016 CanAm Spyder RS-S

To be honest, I never understood the CamAm Spyder. It has all of the negatives of the motorcycle - the lack of crash protection, exposure to the elements, limited practicality, and excessive noise - with none of the benefits - outrageously quick acceleration, thrilling sensation of leaning into corners, ability to split lanes in California. For me, the Spyder always represented a segment of motorcycling that seemed too far outside of logical for me to really pay much attention to. Whenever I saw one on the road, I would generally roll my eyes and think to myself, "There goes another guy with more money than brains." So because of this, I had never really expressed much interest in giving the CanAm Spyder a test, even though their demo days seemed to be omnipresent no matter what city I lived in. This time around, at the International Motorcycle Show, I figured it was time to get over my prejudices and see if I could make sense of why people would find this thing even remotely appealing.

Long Term Test: 2007 BMW K1200S Post #6

Update #6
Current mileage: 28,929

Oh the horror! After nearly 10k miles and over 3 years of ownership, I finally had my incident with the big Beemer. Of course, it would have occurred during a two-up ride with my wife, but luckily, it was a rather minor drop. What happened was that we were stopping at the intersection of Glendora Ridge Road and Glendora Mountain Road and I had ridden the bike onto a dirt embankment to try to turn it around. It was a bit steeper than I anticipated and misjudged the amount of clutch slip for the slow maneuver. Before I knew what happened, the weight of the bike had teetered dangerously far to the left and at what was basically a standstill, the Beemer tipped over onto its side like a wounded buffalo. Luckily, we both jumped off before the bike hit the ground, and the presence of the frame sliders meant there was basically zero damage, except to my ego. The only signs that something had happened was a slight bit of scuffing on the left frame slider and a bit of dirt trapped in the left side mirror housing.

Editorial: Just because we choose not to drive a car does not make us any less human

I had planned on running an editorial on a different topic, but reading some of the commentary on several recent incidents involving cars and two-wheeled vehicles along with nearly getting run over by cars while crossing the street last week has me more than a little upset at the callous attitude so many drivers exhibit. The most recent incident, shown in the video below, records one of the most unnervingly unsympathetic and completely sociopathic people I have ever seen. Shortly after swerving to cause a motorcycle carrying a passenger to crash, this driver has the gall to stand there and declare, "I don't care" when he is questioned about what he just did. Such disregard for human life is not just a little scary, it is downright run-for-the-hills alarming. Then, to make matters worse, the comments from other people start to pile on and, protected by the anonymity of the Internet, we get to really see what people think of those of us who choose not to get around everywhere surrounded by the metal crash structure of a car.

My own experience this past week has not been significantly better. On one occasion, while crossing at a signal controlled intersection, within the boundaries of the clearly marked crosswalk with a clearly visible walk signal, my dog and I were nearly run down by a livery driver who thought it was entirely appropriate to enter the crosswalk as soon as I had cleared the space he wanted to occupy, barely missing us by inches. Naturally, such a close encounter is going to startle a pedestrian and I immediately spun around to confront the driver of the large black SUV, who threw his hands in the air in exasperation as if he were confounded by why I was upset. Setting aside the fact that he was in clear violation of the law, which requires that drivers refrain from entering a crosswalk until pedestrians have cleared it completely, his lack of any semblance of guilt for the maneuver, compounded by his clear lack of giving a shit for my safety, sent me into a rage, causing an expletive laden diatribe to pour forth from my mouth. The SUV screeched off and I was left upon the side of the road seething in an adrenaline fueled state of anger.

Stories like this are all too common among the cycling community as well. There are countless stories of drivers intentionally making efforts to intimidate riders who are following their legal right to use entire traffic lanes. Some drivers go so far as to knock the rider over, force them off the road, or otherwise cause them bodily harm. When such incidents are reported in the media, the commentary that follows usually devolves into a cesspool of shameless victim blaming with many people voicing the sentiment that the cyclists "got what they deserved" for taking up the whole lane.

I believe this mentality towards anyone not ensconced in the confines of a car seems stem from a few key areas: ignorance, unfairness, and lack of education.

The ignorance comes in many flavors. It could be ignorance of the laws. It could be ignorance of the experience of others. It could just be plain and simple ignorance because of lack of exposure. Whatever, the cause, ignorance can be a tremendously dangerous fuel for dangerous and destructive behaviors. One of the greatest areas of ignorance for many Americans is simply an ignorance of perspective through the eyes of another road user. Most Americans will never ride a motorcycle during their lifetime and most stopped riding bicycles when they became old enough to drive. Since our culture is so dominated by driving, most Americans hardly spend time as pedestrians anymore, aside from the walk from the car door across the parking lot to enter the fast food join where their dinner awaits. Not understanding how the world view is different through the eyes of a pedestrian, cyclist, or motorcyclist leads to a lack of understanding of what is perceived as dangerous. Driving in a car, passing a pedestrian or cyclist with less than a foot of space may seem totally safe to a driver, but is a shockingly close call to someone without any kind of physical protection.

One of the most common arguments against the idea of letting motorcyclists lane split is that it is "unfair" for drivers to have to sit in traffic while motorcyclists get to zoom ahead. A common myth levied against cyclists using traffic lanes is how "unfair" it is that cyclists are allowed on the roads but do not have to pay registration and taxes to help pay for those roads. Both of these try to appeal to a sense of "fairness" that taps into the absurdly selfish belief that road use is somehow a zero sum game. If someone else is getting some kind of advantage, then it must be taking away from you in some way. We have turned road use into a kind of sick reality TV competition where the winner gets a crap prize accompanied by their 15 minutes of Internet fame. This attitude is also what leads to some of the more epic road rage incidents as one entitled person takes out their frustration on another in some misguided belief that this will somehow result in them being happier, but only ends up with them in jail.

As for the lack of education, it is a topic that I often revisit. Our driver education system is so pathetic as to be laughable. Not only do we fail to instill in drivers the rules of how to safely operate two ton weapons on the road, we fail to do any semblance of follow-up to make sure that they remain safe in their operation. Just as we license doctors and require them to re-qualify for their license every few years, drivers should be required to update their qualifications from time to time to ensure that they understand how rules have changed or evolved. On top of that, our driver education testing is atrociously inconsistent and lacking in interactions with other road users that it should be no surprise that most drivers simply have no idea what the laws are that pertain to motorcyclists, cyclists, or pedestrians. Testing criteria should be standardized and much more comprehensive and the standards much more stringent to ensure that the pilot of a two-ton box of metal is fully able to comprehend how serious the task of driving really is. Triggers for automatic failure should include reaching for a phone, hitting anything of any kind, and any moving violation that would normally result in a traffic citation. Of course, these standards are going to be the most difficult to change as legislation to alter driving requirements is often met with opposition that rivals the wrath of Zeus himself. There are certainly many advanced driver education options throughout the country and bless the hearts of those who invest the time and money to take those for their own, and everyone's, sake.

At the end of the day, regardless of how utterly ridiculous the current situation might be, what really needs to happen is that everyone needs to learn a bit of respect for everyone else. Just because someone has made the decision to not drive a car does not make them any less of a person. Do not judge them for their choice and instead, focus on your own.

Choose to be respectful of the rights of all road users.
Choose to educate yourself about the rules of the road and follow them as best as you can.
Choose to leave a little earlier so that you are not in a rush and cause chaos along the way.
Choose to allow a greater margin for error anytime you are behind the wheel.

Most importantly, choose to be aware of your surroundings and realize that your actions have an impact on your environment and take responsibility when you make a mistake. There is no faster way to diffuse a situation than to be genuinely apologetic, own your mistake, and communicate that to the other party.

As for the driver above, who exhibits such an abhorrent disregard for human life, I hope that he is punished to the fullest extent of the law for his actions. At a very minimum, I hope such a driver has his driving privileges revoked for the remainder of his life.

Innovation: Blind spot monitoring for motorcycles

Image courtesy of BMWblog.com

Normally, I highlight innovations that I am genuinely excited about, but this is one that I am not only uncertain about, but might seriously question the intelligence of including on a motorcycle. Anyone who has ever driven a car know that, because of the positioning of the roof pillars and mirrors, a typical car has serious blind spots from the driver's seat. To compensate, a driver should turn their head to look over their shoulders and check their blind spots before executing lane change and turning maneuvers. However, as Americans have gotten pudgier and their necks ever less nimble, the physical requirements of the shoulder check have become too demanding and automakers have compensated with the addition of Blind Spot Monitor technology. Using sensors or cameras, cars are now able to monitor the blind spot area and provide both a visual and audible warning if a vehicle is detected. If the driver signals a lane change, the system will actively warn against a maneuver if a vehicle is present in the blind spot.

On the surface, this seems like a great idea. In theory, it prevents people from sideswiping another car and offers the convenience of not having to do more than glance at your mirrors instead of needing to do a full shoulder check. The only problem is that the automakers base this on two assumptions:

1. Drivers actually check their mirrors
2. Drivers actually use turn signals

The problem is the sheer number of people who could get around an entire day's worth of driving without checking their mirrors once or ever using a turn signal is downright staggering. For these people, no blind spot monitoring system in the world will ever be enough.

So in their infinite wisdom, BMW has decided to add such a system as an option on their C650 maxi-scooter. Called Side View Assist, it uses sensors embedded around the bike to detect objects up to 15 feet away and lights built into the mirror stalks to warn a rider when another vehicle is detected. There are a few caveats, however. First, the system is only able to function from between about 17 mph up to about 50mph. Second, it only works when the vehicle has a maximum speed differential of about 6 mph. That severely limits the functionality of the system and makes me wonder why anyone would even bother.

On a motorcycle, there really are not the same kinds of blind spots as on a car. A quick shoulder check is much easier to do because of both the riding position and the lack of pillars to block visibility. While it might have a disclaimer to the contrary, such systems inevitably promote laziness and encourage drivers to be less aware of their surroundings, relying on the technology to avoid accidents. When you are in a two-ton steel cage, the consequences are generally not so dire. On a motorcycle, the consequences are liable to get you killed. To say the least, this is one innovation from the automotive world that I hope never makes any serious inroads into motorcycling. Riders who cannot be bothered to monitor their surroundings should not be riding in the first place.

Product Review: Bell Vortex Flying Tigers Helmet

Motorcycle helmets are not something one replaces very often. Safety standards are periodically updated, but those happen so rarely that one can safely wait for the expiration of the helmet before making a change. Yes, for those of you who were not aware, motorcycle helmets come with an expiration date. It is the glue that bonds the EPS foam layer to the shell that, through exposure to the elements during riding, begins to break down and typically five years after production it is recommended that the helmet be replaced. For me, that date arrived earlier this year. My trusty Bell Star, that had served me well for some four plus years, was in need of replacement. Everything about the Star was fantastic, from the quality of the build to the real metal accents to the way it fit my oddly shaped head. The only thing that ever bothered me was the noise, which as a result of being designed to be a racing helmet was not as critical a consideration. So now that I was in need of a new helmet, I once again turned to the Bell line-up and selected a helmet I had been eyeing for a long while.

Allow me to introduce my brand new Bell Vortex motorcycle helmet.

Long Term Test: 2007 BMW K1200S post #5

Fifth update
Current mileage: 26,833

Southern California's mild weather continues to cooperate and that means I have the chance to put more miles on the big Beemer. My only constraint, of late, has been that two-wheeled transport is not a great way to travel with four-legged companions, especially one that is rather precocious and weighs about 40 pounds. Still, whenever I can, I try to make use of the opportunities to go out and ride, having added another 1,000+ miles since the last update. Most of those miles are highway miles, traveling back and forth between various corners of LA County to run errands or attend events. In the last six months, I even had occasion to use the bike to attend a dressier event, which required a bit of pre-planning since trying to keep my shirt from looking too wrinkled and my hair from being too disastrous.

Much of the riding has been putting the Beemer to use as a workhorse, hauling our biweekly veggie haul from a local garden or gathering less common Asian frozen goods that elude me in Long Beach from grocery stores in other neighboring areas. The BMW continues to prove its versatility as it carries plenty without feeling unbalanced and without a significant impact on the handling or the fuel economy. In fact, the overall fuel economy is not significantly different from my Ninja 650R, which sported a motor that was half the size and produced less than half the power.

One thing that I admittedly enjoy is just how much attention the K1200S gets. In the tri-color pattern, it is an eye-catching combination and people seem to notice it on the street. On more than a few occasions, I have caught a passerby doing a double-take or a driver or passenger in a car staring as the bike goes by. The bike is not obnoxiously loud and does not garner the same kind of attention as our long-term Jaguar, but it has its own admirers.

Finally, there is something to be said for smart design. Access to so many basic repairs for the K1200S are designed to be extremely easy to do. A perfect example is replacing a burnt out headlight bulb. On my old bike, the Ninja 650R, it would have required dis-assembly of much of the instrument cluster to make the switch, as is the case with many of the bikes on the market. On the BMW, they smartly designed caps that twist off the back of the headlight and it is possible to replace the bulb with nothing more than your hands. This comes in handy when you blow a bulb in the early evening and need to make a fast swap. At least on this front, I appreciate that this bike was notably more expensive than many of its peers.

Road Trip: Ojai, CA

The idea was to take a vacation with my wife's family. We would head somewhere fun and enjoy a couple of days away from all of the craziness of LA, especially in the post Christmas shopping rush. Ideas were thrown around and various destinations proposed, but the one that stuck was to visit the small secluded mountainside town of Ojai, CA. Known for being a haven for Southern California travelers seeking a boutique tourism experience, the city that once dubbed itself "Shangri-la" would prove to be the perfect destination for this particular weekend away.

As the plans for the trip began to take shape, my desire to spend sometime with my K1200S, especially after seeing some of the roads that we would be driving through, got the better of me and I proposed that to make everyone more comfortable, I would ride while the rest of the family could take the car, allowing us all to travel without cramming five people into a car for the multi-hour drive.

Product Review: Samsung Galaxy Gear Live

You might be wondering why are we featuring a product review for something that seems to have little or nothing to do with bikes, cars, or motorcycles, but I argue that it has much to do with all of them. For the past six months, I have been utilizing the Samsung Galaxy Gear Live Android Wear watch as a part of my daily routine, using it to enhance my life on two wheels and four. It was originally intended as a trial purchase to see if I would be purchasing a Moto360 as a gift, but I ended up enjoying it enough that I kept the Gear Live for myself as it suited my needs well. In particular, it offered me an unprecedented flexibility to make use of some of my phone's capabilities to enhance the riding experience without needing to actually access my phone.

Crazy of the Week #4: Theft in Broad Daylight

Image courtesy of Auto-Fail

We are back with our "Crazy of the Week" series with something that is actually more stupid than crazy. First, let me start by saying that we at East-West Brother's Garage do not condone theft of any sort. Having something stolen from you sucks, especially knowing that you will either never see it again, or will get it back in pieces. With that out of the way, we present to you a man who attempts to steal a motorcycle with...not so wonderful results. To find out what happened, check out the video below:

As you can see from the video, some genius tries to steal someone's Triumph Daytona in broad daylight. But it is not just the fact that this guy is trying to steal a motorcycle in broad daylight that makes him an idiot, it is the fact that he is doing it near a busy city street in front of a building full of people. Lucky for the Daytona owner, the thief is thwarted as a security guard eventually makes it outside to stop the would be potential theft in progress. Unfortunately, it seems the thief did manage to get away in a waiting get away car.  Um..."A" for effort, I guess?

Again, we at East-West Brother's Garage do not condone theft, but if you are going to try it, at least be smart enough to do it at night away from a busy street and away from a building full of people.

You can read the original article here on Ride Apart.

Long Term Test: 2007 BMW K1200S post #4

Fourth update
Mileage: 25,789

Since returning to the West Coast, the big Beemer has not seen as much use as I would like, although that will hopefully change soon. In large part this has come as the result of not having a place to store the bike and thus I hardly even see it during the week. However, I still
attempt to sneak in a long ride every once in a while over a weekend. A few trips have been managed including such places as the Angeles Crest Highway, which I will revisit when conditions allow for more spirited riding with less fear of hypothermia. Whatever the case, the bike does continue to see some use, at least enough that I have officially crossed over the 25k mark.

If there has been anything of note with the bike's operation in the last few months, it is that the wide open running on CA roads has seen an uptick in the fuel economy, which is nice given that CA does not carry anything more than 91 octane fuel at the vast majority of gas stations. On top of that, CA is still the only state where lane splitting is allowed -- a fact that I find myself taking advantage of at any opportunity that requires it. The big Beemer, despite feeling quite wide, is actually surprisingly capable of squeezing into tight spaces, even when it is wearing the hard saddle bags. Fully loaded, the bags do not extend beyond the width of the mirrors, offering a good frame of reference when ducking between cars. Of course, it is still a hefty bike and low speed maneuvering in tight spaces can feel a bit claustrophobic. With a bit of care, I am able to make significant progress even when traffic is fully gridlocked, increasingly important for my sanity with the heavy LA area traffic.

One other slightly odd experience has less to do with using the bike, but rather with the placement of certain information on the bike. Registering it and the CA DMV would have been much another if the information needed during the inspection were more readily visible. Things like the frame number and the engine number are so well hidden and virtually unreadable that even the DMV rep, using the approved California Highway Patrol handbook, took nearly half an hour just trying to locate the stampings in question. Eventually, we were forced to call the local BMW motorcycle dealer service department to get some help, and even then it was a struggle to read. Not necessarily a knock on the bike itself, but that turned a 30 minute DMV visit into a two hour ordeal. A minor inconvenience for the joy of owning what may be one of the most versatile motorcycles money can buy.

Editorial: Addressing the myth that motorcycles are dangerous

"Aren't motorcycles dangerous?"

I get this frequently from friends and family whenever the subject of my motorcycling first comes up. Even for those who have ridden in the distant past, albeit in other countries, I get the same question. For many, it is a question stemming purely from the lack of experience, having never even ridden on a motorcycle before, much less been at the controls of one. Others are coming purely based on the image that motorcyclists get in the media, mostly in the form of Sons of Anarchy and high-speed chase videos where things end poorly. Whatever the impetus, I take the opportunity to try to educate the person a bit on riding and precautions I personally take.

To start, there is all of the gear I own. This includes several different sets of helmets, pants, boots, jackets, and gloves, all intended to be used in different types of riding, but all designed specifically for motorcyclists and are armored accordingly. I review with them the protective nature of the gear, including how the materials are designed to resist abrasion and provide crash protection. On top of that, I also talk to them about some of the safety features that my bike has, such as ABS brakes. Of course this is just the start.

Additionally, I talk about the training that was involved in order to get my license. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation course that I took required a focused effort to learn a number of motorcycle specific safety skills that are intended to train motorcyclists to be defensive riders. That included class time to provide training on the mental aspects, which requires a rider to change their entire approach to road use in order to safely navigate the roads. While this training is not required, it is often offered as an alternative to the traditional licensing process and offers more than just the physical techniques needed to operate the motorcycle.

Finally, I talk about how motorcycling has made me a better driver. I am increasingly more aware of my surroundings now, whether on the bike or in the car, and I now do head-checks for all lane changes. This is also reflected in my treatment of other motorcyclists as well, giving them extra space to maneuver, especially in CA where lane-splitting is allowed.

Of course, I am but one rider. And while motorcycles are inherently less stable than a vehicle with four wheels, it offers a freedom that even the best convertible cannot. That is the trade-off that most riders understand when we decide to ride. By itself, the motorcycle is no more dangerous than any other inanimate vehicle. In the hands of the right rider, the motorcycle is a wonderful way to experience the world.

As for being dangerous, sure, but then so are cars and red meat if you are looking purely at the numbers.

Road Trip: Seeking a great burger in Western MA

Sometimes, I just get a craving for a great burger. It might just stem from growing up in Southern California and having regular access to In'N'Out or it might just be that most burger places I had come across in New England were pretty mediocre at best. Whatever the reason, this particular weekend, I had a craving. Digging through my list of highly recommended places, I spotted one that looked like it would fit the bill - local owned burger place specializing in grass-fed beef on house-made buns with a great selection of options to go on top. Best of all, it was located out in Western Massachusetts, which would mean the opportunity to explore some great roads on the Beemer. Not even 20 minutes later, I was geared up and headed out to start my quest.