immigrant
Race Dog
I got invited to a BMW Motorrad Demo day. Luck had it that is was 350km from my home, so I decided to make a day of it. Took off from work, passed the kids to the wife and got up early to see the sun rise "on the road".
This "demo day" gives you the opportunity to ride 99% of BMW's lineup. You don't get to ride the HP4. That is reserved for the gods! You get to ride a loop of about 50-60 km which gives you enough milage to get a good feel of the bike. There is a lead rider and you cannot pass him. But he does not ride slow! :ricky:
So i got to ride the following. They are ranked according to "Wow Factor":
S1000RR
S1000R
K1600GTL
F800GSA
F800R
R1200GSA
R nine T ( this was like riding a wild stallion. That subframe is so weak every time you change gears up or down and apply throttle it wants to throw you off the bike to the right. I was going to stop at first cause i thought I had a flat tire)
I do not want to get in to a bike debate. Whatever floats your boat is good with me. But i was expecting the R1200GSA to be " al off that and then some". I am not selling my Super Ten anytime soon!
Those Akra pipes sound really cool.
Yes there were muffins, cookies, coffee and juice, and bacon and eggs and sausages and fried mushrooms. Yes the girls were nice to look at! Also got fed lunch and snacks between rides. BMW knows how to market their product. As always there are three types of people at these events. Those that actually ride BMW and are on a first name basis with all the staff and salespeople. You spot them wearing their all BMW apparel. Then there are the guys that can never afford a BMW, let alone ride a bike properly. They miss gears, stall in the parking lot, over rev the hell out of the poor bike and cannot hold a line on the highway to save their life. Then there are the guys that love bikes, toy with the idea of maybe getting a BMW but then reality sets in and they go back home on their Yamaha's
I took a different route back home. The long way round. The road that you always drive past and ask yourself " I wonder where that goes?" The route that is not mapped on your GPS. Those are the best....
I rode mainly back (gravel) roads through farmland. There are hundreds of these old "homesteads" that were built by the "homesteaders". Mainly immigrants that felt the pressure in the old country and decided to seek greener pastures.
Canada gave 160acre lots for free, or rather for $10 registration fee. The condition was you had to clear the land and put a crop in within three years and build a house within 3 months and fence the land (???)
These people came here with pretty much nothing. Definitely not farm implements. They had to build a house, break land and put a crop in with zero "local experience"
They must have had a real tough life, considering it is -30C for at least 4 months of the year and -15C for another 2 months. So building and farming had to take place in a 5-6 month window. And they had to stay warm in their "cabins"
I would have loved to meet this farmer. He clearly spent more time and money ensuring his animals were well looked after than on his own house. I also wonder how these people looked, were they happy, where did they come from, why did they leave their home country, why did they choose this spot to build and farm. How did they die. My neighbour said these homesteaders had to make it work. He is damn near 90 years old now.He tells me stories how they travelled 150km on a horse sleigh to sell hides and skins There was no turning back. Most of them spent all their money getting here and buying material for barns and houses
These were hand carved to fit in to each other
This "demo day" gives you the opportunity to ride 99% of BMW's lineup. You don't get to ride the HP4. That is reserved for the gods! You get to ride a loop of about 50-60 km which gives you enough milage to get a good feel of the bike. There is a lead rider and you cannot pass him. But he does not ride slow! :ricky:
So i got to ride the following. They are ranked according to "Wow Factor":
S1000RR
S1000R
K1600GTL
F800GSA
F800R
R1200GSA
R nine T ( this was like riding a wild stallion. That subframe is so weak every time you change gears up or down and apply throttle it wants to throw you off the bike to the right. I was going to stop at first cause i thought I had a flat tire)
I do not want to get in to a bike debate. Whatever floats your boat is good with me. But i was expecting the R1200GSA to be " al off that and then some". I am not selling my Super Ten anytime soon!
Those Akra pipes sound really cool.
Yes there were muffins, cookies, coffee and juice, and bacon and eggs and sausages and fried mushrooms. Yes the girls were nice to look at! Also got fed lunch and snacks between rides. BMW knows how to market their product. As always there are three types of people at these events. Those that actually ride BMW and are on a first name basis with all the staff and salespeople. You spot them wearing their all BMW apparel. Then there are the guys that can never afford a BMW, let alone ride a bike properly. They miss gears, stall in the parking lot, over rev the hell out of the poor bike and cannot hold a line on the highway to save their life. Then there are the guys that love bikes, toy with the idea of maybe getting a BMW but then reality sets in and they go back home on their Yamaha's
I took a different route back home. The long way round. The road that you always drive past and ask yourself " I wonder where that goes?" The route that is not mapped on your GPS. Those are the best....
I rode mainly back (gravel) roads through farmland. There are hundreds of these old "homesteads" that were built by the "homesteaders". Mainly immigrants that felt the pressure in the old country and decided to seek greener pastures.
Canada gave 160acre lots for free, or rather for $10 registration fee. The condition was you had to clear the land and put a crop in within three years and build a house within 3 months and fence the land (???)
These people came here with pretty much nothing. Definitely not farm implements. They had to build a house, break land and put a crop in with zero "local experience"
They must have had a real tough life, considering it is -30C for at least 4 months of the year and -15C for another 2 months. So building and farming had to take place in a 5-6 month window. And they had to stay warm in their "cabins"
I would have loved to meet this farmer. He clearly spent more time and money ensuring his animals were well looked after than on his own house. I also wonder how these people looked, were they happy, where did they come from, why did they leave their home country, why did they choose this spot to build and farm. How did they die. My neighbour said these homesteaders had to make it work. He is damn near 90 years old now.He tells me stories how they travelled 150km on a horse sleigh to sell hides and skins There was no turning back. Most of them spent all their money getting here and buying material for barns and houses
These were hand carved to fit in to each other
