Many years ago, I was a regular reader of the 'Used Motorcycle Guide,' a self published fanzine filled with readers stories of their bikes as well as a brief review of everything available for the previous 20 years. This was a fairly cult read at the time. The author was a noted crusty old cynic who seemingly didn't like any of the bikes he rode. Some of his quotes in the reviews still come to mind "Cheap way into speed and an early grave" (GSX 1100) "A tendency to blow up when thrashed" (GPZ 250) "Pistons, crank and suspension all give trouble" (250 X7 which I'd actually owned, they did) and pertinently "Heavy, bouncy handling but capable of huge mileages, GS version looks good but if used off road has a tendency to go through rather an over things" (R80 and 100, plus the GS versions)
These comically large 'trail' bikes seemed a total anachronism given the generally accepted wisdom that such things should be as small and light as possible. I'd always liked off road bikes and this seemed to be a way of having a mile muncher which didn't vibrate hideously, have no headlight to speak of and would do more than 50 miles on a tankful. The 'Paris Dakar' thing was kicking off with various large trail bikes being churned out by all the big manu's aping the lairy beasts that heroes were thrashing through the dunes of the Sahara. The GS seemed to be the thinking persons version and interestingly, when the fad died out, the GS's continued to be refined, eventually gaining the oil head engines at 1100 and 1150cc's. In any case, they were well out of my price range and the MZ was fulfilling my modern motorcycle needs.
Then the guy who spannered at Motocal where I bought the MZ had one and lent me it whilst the Baggy was getting serviced. It was smooth, gutsy, quirky and seemed capable of destroying all in it's path. But it was heavy and the 1150 (which looked cooler still) was heavier still. BMW had also made a bigger, fatter and more hardcore GS and called it an adventure (it would be if you dropped it). KTM did their own thing, touted as being race bred and far superior than the big fat GS's but still needing a rebuild every 100 hours... Then two blokes who were famous rode a couple round the world and the rest was history.
At this point I was selling up in Edinburgh and moving to fair Fife. It seemed right that I set aside some cash from the house sale to buy toys with. BMW obliged by launching the 1200 - more oomph, but crucially 30 less kilos. I was straight in there, the money burning a hole in my pocket. Of course, in my usual style, I was totally oblivious to the whole 'Long Way Round' thing and so was somewhat bemused when told it would be a 3 month wait for my machine (spoked wheels, no ABS) Humph. By the time it had arrived the Manx had been and gone and I'd gained a girlfriend, thanks to the mighty Greeves; but still managed a few rides ahead of that winter.
Oh yes, this was a whole new world. Big, fabulous handling, super strong brakes, and it went like the clappers. No more chain faffing, and an air of quality I'd not ever experienced on a motorcycle to that point.
The next spring it was clear I needed to ride it up North. Despite its bulk, rough single track roads with grass growing up the middle were dealt with as well as fast A roads. It was also an effortless cruise down the A1 / A17 / A47 to see my girlfriend, a far cry than various desperate trips on the old 650's. Two up it seemed to handle better!
To that end Our annual Manx trip was preceded by a tour of Ireland, north and south. I totally under-estimated distances, and the weather was far from kind but the GS took it all in it's stride.
2007 saw a posse of us head to the northern isles for the Simmer Dim Rally once more. Preceding this we had a few days in Orkney, once again on Westray. I'd met up with VFR750 riding Scott and we stayed over at his folks place in Aberdeenshire on the Friday after a leisurely run up through Deeside. On the Saturday we met up with Chris at Huntly. It was rather damp but that didn't stop the inevitable thrash along the A95 and A9 up to Tore Services. We had a leisurely lunch and then I suddenly noted that it was 12.30. We had to get to Gills Bay for the 2.30 boat. Gills bay was 120 miles away.... What followed was probably my fastest run anywhere.
Fortunately the A9 was quiet and there were no Polis in evidence. We kept the bikes above the ton as much as the road and light traffic allowed and we were regularly doing twice the speed limit. On the long straight to Thurso there is a somewhat hump-backed bridge over the railway line. I was at the back at this point. As I saw Scott and Chris approach it, I looked down at my speedo which was indicating 125. I backed off big style, just about kept on the deck over the bridge and was relieved to see Scott and Chris on the far side, terra firma and still going. Both later noted that they spent enough time in the air to appreciate the sensation of flying. Needless to say we got to the ferry port in plenty of time.
On arrival. No police = no lids, no problem.
A breezy Durness campsite on another North West thrash
And I rode it off road - On the Isle of Man which has a very refreshing attitude to trail riding - all routes signed! Having explored the trails on the Greeves trials bike the previous year, I knew what was what (and what to avoid on a 225kg machine) and it was fairly dry so the tourances should be fine. What struck me was how good it was. I started up one particular trail on a steady stony climb which I recalled was easy from my previous years excursions, only to encounter an eroded bit with a significant step up. The trail was too narrow to turn round so I stood back, gassed it, and up we went, the momentum helping. Further on there was another one, and another. I felt a cold sweat forming as even if I did manage to get turned round, going down would be tricky. Plus I was on 9k's worth of motorcycle! The big GS blasted up the lot.
Of course, a year after I bought this one, BM announced the adventure version, which did look good. By this time all the other manus were jumping on the band wagon. People were realising that you could have a state of the art pose machine and not have to get off to stretch stiff legs every half hour, or be in constant fear of life and license as you would with a sports bike. The 1200adv was the best of the lot - lighter, faster and better looking. Well proven also as people were doing silly things on them, all over the world. In 2009 I once again found my finances in a healthy position. BMW had just announced the overhead cam engines, much to the dealers disgust as this was spring and they weren't due in until later that year. But there were good deals going on the previous versions. I got a pearler - a bike with all the toys and free side boxes for less than what a new basic spec one would be, and top dollar on the trade in.
Definitely a looker (not me)
Two up adventures followed: Orkney and various other parts of Scotland, we rode it down south, my girlfriend regularly falling asleep on the back, and I did some more easy dirt on the IOM.
On departure of my pillion passenger, speeds crept up once more and more epic burn ups round the North West followed.
I also did the roman road near Mum and Dad's caravan in the Yorkshire dales.
Not the first time I've mixed bikes and motorbikes. A lot of people seem to think it must be terrible carrying a bike on the back but an average pillion weighs 75kg and even my fat bike only weighs 15 or so...
2013 was a funny year. The monster winter ran right through April so my usual spring thrash would have been a test of cold tolerance, willpower and corrosion resistance. Just as things were coming good, weatherwise, I broke my collarbone... On my first motorcycle trip after this, its fair to say I took it pretty steady. Hitherto, my trips on the big GS had tended towards point to point races between destinations. The 2012 trip had been the epitome of this where I seemed to ride across most of Scotland in one weekend, and at high speed. It suddenly occurred to me that pretty much all I would see was the road in front of me. A gentler pace, already perfected on the old bikes, was called for. Not wanting to break anything else was also a consideration.
2014 saw my entry into the world of Bikepacking ITT's and it got off to a shaky start with an epic fail on that year's Highland Trail. Of course after I pulled out the weather turned stunning and I still had the week off. So it was obvious to jump on the Beemer and have a ride around the route to see who was still out there. In the event, I only passed Richard Seip, who probably had no idea why a passing motorcyclist gave him a grin and a thumbs up.
Things were changing, I was more interested in long distance cycling (off road) than motorcycling. The north west was becoming busy and brain out hoons were becoming more difficult and more dangerous as a result. My Adventure Motorcycle became a commuter machine with an occasional run down to Mum and Dads thrown in. It's mileage crept up and eventually, in 2022, I figured it had done me well enough. It had 45k on it, I'd changed the rear wheel bearing, the top yoke bearing, the clutch slave cylinder and serviced it many times. A few things occurred to me - to date it had never missed a beat but some big bills were in the offing - electronic suspension, multiple linkage bearings, brake disks... Plus it weighed a quarter of a ton and I was not getting any younger. An impulse buy saw it swapped for a Triumph tiger 800 xc....
