As planned I got a 2010 BMW R1200GS for an extended test ride over the weekend. Yesterday I was playing around a little bit after I picked it up, had to filter through quite some traffic on Highway 17 until I could leave the traffic behind and ride on some nicer roads. It was a lot of fun - more than expected actually.

Last weekend we decided we could ride to Big Basin Redwoods State Park, which is basically just on the other side of the Santa Cruz Mountains from here.

So we rode up to Skyline, it was a bit cold here in Sunnyvale, but we broke through a very low hanging cloud cover on our way up, crossed Skyline and had a really breathtaking view over the mountains with really low hanging clouds which covered most of the valleys. Not a good sign for the temperatures down there!

Finally I got the two recalls done today:

1. Chain recall - BMW seems to have been cheap and got low quality chains which were breaking during riding. Bad thing. I'm really happy that this recall is done. Not so happy that the chain is still from the same manufacturer (CZ).
2. Stalling issues - when riding in the rain, the bike could stall as it would suck in water through a drain hose coming from the charcoal canister. "Canister?" you ask? Yes, only poor America needs canisters because people here are too stupid to not overfill their bikes and leave them sitting in the heat so that gasoline vapors could get out and blow up the house ... interesting that this is not a problem anywhere else in the world ...

Nevertheless, after all parts finally arrived here, BMW San Jose took care of the work. For the day I had a loaner bike, a single cylinder F650GS which was interesting to ride. Very easy going, much less powerful and direct compared to the F800GS. Really good beginner bike I guess. Therefore also perfect as a loaner and much easier to push around than the monstrous R1150GS I had last week.

On Wednesday we were at a Shelby Lynne Concert in San Francisco and it was really worth it! Nice atmosphere, good music and fun! I can only recommend going to a live concert with her.

Yesterday I brought my F800GS to the shop to have two recalls done. One was to reroute the drain hose from the charcoal canister tank venting system and the other to get a new chain and sprockets. For the day I got a loaner bike. As seen in the picture, it's a 2003 R1150GS - a real dinosaur. Felt like a heavy pig to lug around compared to my F800GS, also the seat felt higher (might be in the high setting, haven't checked) and the foot pegs are really in the way, I hit my legs a couple times. Overall, the bike is really old and with around 129,500 miles really not the newest ...

As planned for this weekend - we did some more road trips so that I could get used to riding "Baby Sue" and would feel step by step a little less like a very newbie. The Bay Area has so many awesome routes that it is not hard for Guido to find something nice, but rather hard to decide which one of the really good trips to do.

What a nice day today! First, the German soccer team sent the Brits home in a beautiful 4:1 game. And second, Guido and I did our first ride on two bikes again. After practicing on a parking lot some days ago, I finally wanted to ride my new DR200SE on the road. And it was FUN!! Riding the V-Strom was always kind of stressful and sometimes even scary. With Baby Sue (our friend Sonja helped us finding the name for this tiny Suzuki bike) however, the experience was sooo different! This bike is so light and easy to handle and finally I really feel that I have everything under control.

With around 28 miles, it was a fairly short ride, but this should be only the beginning of a great summer on two wheels. Thanks to Guido, who chose the route very carefully and did a nice job on leading the way, this tour gave me lots of confidence. I can't wait to get back on the road again with Baby Sue who has done only about 550 miles in the 9 years of 'her' life so far. More to come!

So, I was curious enough to do a test ride today. Came back with very mixed feelings about the bike. Coming from an F800GS there are some very obvious differences:

This is a must read article if you are riding a motorcycle!

Very interesting and might safe a life!

Some additional information.