Of Motorcycles And Men

I'm a long way off from buying my next bike, but that doesn't stop me from thinking about what I'd like to get.  A Street Glide with mid-sized apes has been running at the forefront of these thoughts - I like the lowered, sleeker look of those, compared to the relatively cumbersome Electra Glide.  Sure, I'd have to give up some packing space, but that wouldn't be a problem.  My earlier bikes had no saddlebags at all, and I did just fine.  The rolled up bedroll, complete with clothes wrapped inside and strapped to the handlebars was great!  Ok, so perhaps I got a little wetter when it rained, or wasn't able to pack that extra change of clothes for the longer trips, but I still did ok.

All this aside, though...I keep hearing things about other bikes and how nice they are.  Matty loves his  Victory, and there are all kinds of love stories about the Yamaha V-Star out there.  Honda is another one that has a great repuation, too.

But BMW...they have one of the best reputations out there, especially when it comes to the bike that is best for the long hauls.  My buddy Pete, a former 1%'er and devout Harley rider for over 40 years, is *marginally* kicking around the idea of picking up one of these.  He was telling me last night that he'd visited a buddy of his who happens to be a Harley salesman.  When Pete mentioned the new BMX 1600 GTL, his buddy replied "If you bought that bike, the guys at the shop would tell you that you sold out, but I'd tell you that you made a great decision.  Those are seriously amazing bikes."

It reminds me of Michigan Paul.  He was all Harley, all day long.  Now?  Now he's the service manager of the Grand Rapids BMW dealership.  The stories he tells me about all the new bikes makes them all the more tempting.  At the very least, I should test ride them, right?

It would make a great excuse for a roap trip.  Google Maps says it's only 850 miles away.  Hell, Matt and I did that in something like 13 hours.

Hmmm...