Sunday, October 07, 2007

What to Ride

Well...there's another two-wheeled vehicle at the 'rastus house. I've wanted a BMW F650GS Dakar for some time now, but didn't think I would buy one, especially since BMW halted imports of the Dakar into the USA several months ago. I was very happy to find a local rider with one for sale last week. It's a 2007 model with less than 2000 miles on it, in perfect shape, and the price was very nice; I couldn't pass it up. I took several hours off from work Monday and drove it down from the big city.

Now, keep in mind that, as dual-sport motorcycles go, it's not the largest nor the fastest by a long shot; I still travel slowly, but to a lot more places than I did before. These photos were taken at the top of a local mountain this morning, accessible only by a long, steep, and rocky dirt road. There is no way I could have made this ride on a scooter, though I have been here plenty of times before on a mountain bike. Today I did not have the time to ride the bicycle, nor, frankly, am I in decent-enough shape to enjoy the climb.

However, on the new BMW, it was a pleasure indeed. I enjoyed the cool, crisp morning and the lack of fellow travelers on the way up. I had no trouble handling the bike even at slow speeds and on sketchy surfaces. I'm very happy; the Dakar is exactly what I'd hoped it'd be.

5 comments:

vespajitsu said...

Congrats on the new ride. My Vespa is the only motorized two wheeler vehicle that I've owned. I really have no interest in going to a motorcycle(hate shifting gears). They are definitely two different types of bikes and I'm sure you'll get lots of use out of both of them. No matter what, always enjoy the ride!!
It has been along time between blogs for you, but me too, and couple of other bloggers that i follow. Don't know why.
Some folks can blog every day, heck I don't have that interesting of a life to do it that often. Lately I just am not into it as much. I do find I blog more when I am out taking photos, and I go hot and cold with that also.
Glad to see you back, I enjoy reading what you have to say. Always informative.

Eurastus said...

Thanks for the good words, Cody.

Like you, I'm hot and cold on the frequency of blogging, depending mostly on whether I think I have anything new and interesting to say or not. And then there's the time to properly gather my thoughts and format the words on the screen to make sure they're clear and without mistakes.

It sure helps to know there's someone out there reading along. I don't think I would take the effort to keep it up if it were only for my own enjoyment.

vespajitsu said...

FYI,
I've changed my signature to the same title as my blog, which I also changed. I haven't surfed in a long time so I figure my title should change accordingly.
Cody

vespajitsu said...

Eurastus, go to my blog.
Cody

Eurastus said...

Cody,

Sorry to see you hang it up, but I understand the situation.

I'll look forward to your return, if it comes to pass.

Thanks again,
Eurastus