Took the Long Way To Work

I took the long way to work this morning, with a little swing out on the farmland flats to the west of town.

I've been commuting on the new F800GS pretty frequently since it's purchase last November. Only when the roads are iced up do I drive the car. I've been surprised at how little the temperature bothers me; I rode in one morning and noticed that the temperature was 7.7° at one point. I was glad my commute is only 20 miles that morning, though.

Today it was a balmy 27° and felt fine. It sure was nice to enjoy the early morning farm roads.

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.