Where did you go today on your Roadster?

Yesterday, headed to my local dealer to see what was on offer for test rides with the BMW Demo Tour (next stop is Irv Seaver in Orange, CA for those that might be interested and close.) I dragged a riding friend along to try and get him hooked on the brand, it might have worked.

I rode the new R1250RS to see if I was missing anything. The TFT would be nice, but not enough of a difference to make it something to think about for a few more years. My friend rode the S1000R, their RR had gotten a flat the day before and a spare tire wasn't available (and the service department was closed.) He's pretty sold on the R, though. Different gearing and fueling apparently makes the R a much more usable bike for anything but the track. He said it felt incredibly like compared to his 2016 Suzuki GSX1000S, and he really likes the quickshifter.

After that we rode up to Crystal Lake Cafe (Finally! I went on a ride!) Getting back into the swing of riding a good pace on twisty mountain roads was nice. I'd only been commuting since December with all the closures, rain, and other events.

As you can see, there's still quite a bit of snow at 5600 feet (1700 metes) in the Angeles Forest (NE of Los Angeles). Which is really pretty unheard of in the last couple of decades... At the worst of the storms the snow was almost to the top of the chimney on the stone fireplace at the left edge of the picture. (Buddy's GSX1kS and his wife's GSX1kF on each side of the R12R.)

I got out on LC yesterday as the weekend weather forecast was rain and more rain. So I took the opportunity to ride Putty Road on Friday; very few knuckle-heads out pushing their riding skills to the limit. I couldn't have picked a better day; the weather was just fabulous, and I managed to cover over 500km. I rode Putty Road to the Broke turn-off to complete the Wollombi Putty Road Loop. I had a close call on the way into Wollombi, travelling at speed and on a tight, narrow bend way over on my side of the bend. Anyway, LC took care of business and kept the rubber side down. I also got to test my GOPRO side mount modification and very happy with the end result.

Heres some info on the Putty Road and Wollombi Putty Loop if anyone is interested:



Here's some random PIX I took both side and helmet mounts.











I guess this guy wasn't having the best of days:

It was a privilege to honour the memory of CPL Ashley Birt this morning by participating in the Ride 4 Vets fundraiser. Reading the poster about him and his service, and seeing his photo, was rather sobering.
I don’t normally do group rides - too often there are boy racers doing stupidly dangerous overtakes, or cruiser riders travelling bunched up and making as much noise as they can to be noticed. But it was a good cause and one that touched my heart given Ashley was a geospatial engineer when killed by a rogue Afghani soldier within their barracks while on operations in Afghanistan in 2011. I wore a simple Royal Australian Survey Corps badge on my jacket, given our geospatial connection, while many others wore military motorcycle patches and paraphernalia suited to their cruiser motorcycling style.There were 130 bikes in total, mainly cruisers.
From Beerwah, I slotted in behind a Ducati ST3 and a Kawasaki ER6n as we took a leisurely ride in column of blob up through Peachester and Maleney to Kenilworth for refreshments and a chat. All the time I kept a good eye on the cruiser behind me, but he kept a respectable distance. We travelled back in dribs and drabs through Mapleton, Montville and Maleney.
Unfortunately there was an incident near Kidaman Creek where it seems a tail-ender in a cruiser mob wasn’t paying sufficient attention and came off. There was a one-lane bridge just over a crest on a curve, and I assume the group had slowed/stopped in front of him. Two skid marks on the same track indicated rear wheel lockups, the second being rather squiggly at the end.
There were plenty in attendance, so I didn’t stop, but a young woman was a bit scuffed up and lying by the roadside. My travelling companion Gary was a nurse so he stopped, and a friend of his, also a nurse, pulled over, so I knew she was in good hands. [UPDATE: Those involved escaped with some scratches and bruising, fortunately.]
Other than that, it was a great day to be out and about on the bike, with a sausage sizzle and live music back at Beerwah.
Before the ride got underway, Gary started up a conversation with me among the assembled riders and it turned out we’re both BMW owners. His is the very tidy 1989 R100RS, which he’s owned for over 30 years. It seems BMW owners naturally flock together.

Forming up at Beerwah


Gary’s R100RS at Kenilworth

Note the warning sign.

Scene of the crime on the left.

Back at Beerwah.

So much life left to live.

My recent ride with the Ride 4 Vets reminded me how pretty the Sunshine Coast Hinterland is, and that I hadn’t taken the Panzerfrau for a scoot for a long while. With rain forecast for the rest of this week, I figured it was time to remedy that oversight and do the Kenilworth loop together, giving her new AGV Sport Modular a run.
There’s a cold spell in the south east of Australia at the moment, but sunny here, so a late morning departure was in order to allow the chill to disperse. It was so cold at Oakey overnight (160km to our SW) locals were prompted to wear socks with their thongs (Aussie name for flip flops).
We stopped at the lovely Poets Cafe in Montville for coffee. We paid handsomely for the privilege though - I was somewhat alarmed to find our coffee (cup of ‘flat white’ and a cappuccino in a mug on oat milk) came to $18! I’m hoping Federal Treasurer Chalmers’ budget handed down tonight can curb this rampant inflation.
We tootled out along the ridge line to Maleney, pretty much sticking with the traffic as the road has limited passing opportunities. Nonetheless, the scenery makes up for any lack of exciting progress.
Once out of Maleney, the ride was a bit more vigorous, through the twisties, before cruising the last section to Kenilworth. We dined well at McGinn’s Cafe, which is always a welcoming venue - pea and ham soup for me and a vegan brekky wrap for the Panzerfrau.
There was little traffic up through Obi Obi but once at Mapleton we again played follow the leader through to Montville. Back down Hunchy Road to Palmwood was fun, the first section being very well paved and curvaceous.
We both enjoyed the outing very much.