What was your first bmwst.com experience?

[KMG_365]

My long-winded response is here.

 

I'm still looking for that picture . . . .

[KMG_365]

I stumbled upon this old thread while searching for something else and I thought it might be nice to bring back up as we've got a lot of new members since then who might want to contribute their own experiences to it.

 

I have to say, it's a kind of bittersweet thing seeing Gleno's typically awesome and funny responses and also RickP's response in my linked thread. I guess it's what families are all about: you take the great with the lousy, and the joy with the sadness. I'm still blessed to have known them and all of you, my friends.

 

 

My long-winded response is here.

 

I'm still looking for that picture . . . .

Hah! Found it!

 

 

 

And hey, Raaaaan!! Your link to the Gunnnison pic is dead . . . not that I ever want to see that mangy bald head ever again thankyouverymuch!

[Ben_Ricci]

Great idea to revive this thread. There's great stuff in those original posts for us relative newcomers. I have to go back and read through it all again, because when I read it originally it didn't have half the meaning it does now.

 

My experience is simple. I Googled "R1200ST" and this site and a few others popped up. At the time (last summer) I was thinking about buying an ST. So I posted a couple questions here and I got about 6 or 7 PMs with all kinds of good advice. One of them was from our collective friend Paul Mihalka saying he had an orphaned ST sitting on his showroom floor. I had already put a deposit on a demo at another dealership, but I cancelled it and bought the ST from Paul. And he said so many great things about the site and its members I stuck around. I've learned a lot from afar. Now almost a year later I bought another ST, this time the smaller one, from Paul again, but for my wife, so the chain continues to grow.

 

I'm looking forward to reading more and many of the faces behind the posts at my first UnRally in September.

[Knifemaker]

The meet and great in Cedar Key... My first was 2004 here's a 2007 shot....

 

 

[bakerzdosen]

Mine is a bit similar (in beginnings) to Ben's. This site (the Hexhead section) seems to come up at the top of every R1200ST search I did. I really wanted one, but knew that it wasn't a great idea to get such a big bike as a first/starter bike. So, I bought an f650cs and joined f650.com. However, less than a month later I found myself trading my f650cs in on an r1200st. I joined within a day or two of buying the bike.

 

My first face-to-face experience was with Charlie (Cheechoo) at his Tech Daze last year. He could not have been a more gracious host. Jamie was simply an incredible teacher walking me through my 6k service and tranny oil. Then we all got a crash course in the Hexhead FD fluid replacement. I got to meet several others and frankly, I was hooked.

 

Since then I've been to two Torreys, 2 more Tech Daze, two DVD events, and met countless friends (I do wish I'd gotten to know Gleno better ). I won't go as far as Richard does by saying that "it saved my life", but I'm sure that this board was exactly what I needed even when I didn't realize I needed it.

 

My only problem now is that I'm coming up on 18k and I'm not sure my bike can really be serviced properly outside of a N. Cali Tech Daze. Maybe I'll just ride to Phil's house and do the 18k in his garage. He'll never notice the extra bike.

[philbytx]

Initially as a lurker....I was contemplating a bike purchase after a long hiatus and a BMW was in my sights. Would have loved new (hence the lurking on the RT board) but believed I was being sensible after a long break and thought an older bike would be better to get reacquainted with my ageing skillset.

So I was actually looking for a used air head but when we got into the showroom Deb (God Bless her!) went into the "new" section of the shop(MotorWerks of Barrington), saw Darth in the corner, went over and sat on the pillion, called me over and said "You're buying this one!"

Before completing the deal, I then signed up on the board (Nov 10th 2002) and asked questions about RT's and pricing and some wonderful person said that there was a "secret" dealer rebate at that time. It might have been Effbee or Paul Mihalka, not sure who.

So, using that info, I went back and secured myself a great deal on Nov 13th, 2002.

 

So, my first experience was.......Nice folks saving me money

[OoPEZoO]

My Dad was planning a cross country trip for the summer of 2005, and wanted me to go along. At the time, I had a Suzuki GSXR1100 (crotch rocket) and knew I needed a new bike if I was going to do it. I drove to every shop I knew of looking at bikes that could potentialy drag my arse across the US. BMW never even crossed my mind. It turns out that our local BMW dealership had a VERY used Kawi Concourse that I stopped to look at. I hated it. The salesman was very helpfull and directed me towards a left over R1150R that he said he could give me a hell of a deal on. I told him that I couldn't afford a brand new bike and that I needed something outfitted to get get me to CA and back. He said that was fine, but to sit on it anyway. I absolutely fell in love with the ergos......it felt perfect, but I knew I needed something with a fairing. Then he then informed me about the R11xxRT (I had never seen one to my knowledge) even though they didn't have any in stock. He told me to shop around and I should be able to find one for about the amount I was looking to spend.

 

Enter BMWST.com. I stumbled onto the classifieds here and came across a few good leads. I had 2 bikes slip through my fingers, but then I came across this listing by a guy named Spike. A few emails and a drive down to MD later.....I was the proud owner of a '00 R1100RT. He also informed me that this was a good place with great people so I decided to stick around. 20k miles, 3 sets of tires, a crown bearing, and a HES later.......I'm still smiling.

 

I attended my first get together this year for a very rainy MAYhem in the mountains. The few people who actually showed up were as nice as could be, but unfortunatly I ended up working on my bike more than riding it. My HES died on day number 2 right outside of the hotel. That is a whole story in itself (Here) , but I was saved by a former board member named Greg (used to go by Buck on here). Since the Mayhem, I had a mini Tech Daze here at my house with the guest of honor being one of the guys I met at the Mayhem. A few other local guys showed up to join us to make sure the beer didn't get warm and we all had a great time. I'm following that up and looking forward to a trip to the UNrally this year in WV.

 

I'm looking forward to many years of riding and having fun with the crowd I've met so far, and I can't wait to get to WV to meet some more of the faces behind the avitars

[lawnchairboy]

" you are going to ride 300 miles to meet some people you don't know to work on your bike? "

 

I had to laugh at that, that has been said to me as well as " you are going to do 250 miles to go have lunch with somebody you haven't met yet? "

 

First experience with meeting board members: spring el paseo, then another spring el P, then ride smart, multiple tech days, various other lunches and quick trips and a scouting trip with Shawn for some El P routes, some of which were not quite RT-able. A trip over to Fayetteville, NC (3 hours) to help somebody change tires, running into proprieter emeritus recently at Barber for CSS level one and two. Another tech day at Chris Kinney's place in Conyers... The hospitality of Shawn and Rainy, Woody just being Woody at the El P's.. Ken and Brian and savannah steve and enterprise steve and marty and Many others... what a great group, what a great place.

 

Damn fine folks, great knowledge and camaraderie. I regret that I will not have as much time to make the events over the next period of two years or so due to my Navy duty but I SHALL RETURN!

 

PS, I will be in Baltimore most of the time now... and I have my RT up here!!!

 

PS, Savannah Steve, your PM mailbox is full! hope to make it when your son comes back in August.

 

chris

[sgendler]

I found the site before I bought my first BMW. In fact, there is no question that the site is owed a commission by Honda of Hollywood (also a BMW dealer), as the sales guys didn't know half of what I knew about the bike I was looking to buy, and I gleaned all of that by reading the site. This was the summer of 2000. The forums did exist, but weren't terribly active, and I spent most of my time reading the the farklizing guide (caled the FAQ at the time) and dreaming about the stuff I would eventually spend way too much time and money on. I think I only started participating in the forums sometime after I bought the bike, and just as I got involved, Cary decided to host a gathering of folks for a NorCal ride and group trip to the bike show. I'd only been riding for a couple of months at the time, and I'd certainly never been to one of the industry shows, so it was a pretty eye-opening experience. The folks I remember meeting most were Dick Frantz, Kris, Cary, Wurty, and Bob (who's last name I can't remember, but he was a mechanic for United). I believe it was either Wurty or Kris who showed up with a sidecase full of Krispy Kremes, which become something of a theme for those early group gatherings. There were others who attended, but I am terrible at names and even worse at faces, so I'm not even going to try to list them. I do remember giving my BMW heated vest to someone after purchasing a full set of heated stuff from Gerbings at the show. Hopefully, it is still getting good use from someone.

 

The riding was fantastic - the first time I'd been on roads like those that are found all over Marin. I remember thinking that the engineers responsible for Lucas Valley Road were owed some kind of prize. I have no idea where we rode that weekend (but I wish I knew). I do remember spending significant time riding way the heck over my head. This was very early in my riding career, and running wide in a corner was definitely not uncommon. In fact, it didn't even worry me too much - only because I'd never been faced with running wide into an oncoming car. Ripping along the coast out by Point Reyes, I remember watching Cary and Bob just pull away from me and there was nothing I could do about it. Fortunately, it wasn't long after that ride that I took my first Keith Code class, which graduated me from newbie to intermediate rider in a single day. I can count on one hand the number of times I've run wide on a turn since taking that class, and 3 of them were in the weeks immediately after. I have little doubt that taking that class so early in my riding career spared me, at the least, buy a lot ofnew bodywork and could very well have spared me some pain or death. I tried to get others on the board to join me, but it took years before I saw anyone else on this forum talk about doing track days - right about the time I stopped.

 

The weekend culminated in a solo ride down PCH back to Santa Barbara, which was a night and day difference from the previous (and first) time I rode through Big Sur - on a Harley Softail Deuce - uncomfortable, slow, and evil handling. BY the time I got home, I had resolved to ditch the Harley forever. It took me a couple more months, but I did eventually get rid of it.

 

I had the good fortune to move to what was, at the time, BMWRT.com central - the Bay Area - shortly thereafter. I couldnt participate in the Pied Piper ride other than the dinner the night before the crew left town. That's when I met Glen and Tom and some of the other early crew, and I did make it up to Redmond a day behind them all - in time for shortcut's BBQ which was really the first event that had any kind of national scale - and Gleno's first tech daze event definitely sticks in my mind. I am surprised out how good some of the memories around here are. I sure as heck can't remember what we ate at that tech daze. I do remember falling asleep on the loft during Dick's suspension workshop and getting quite a bit of ribbing for it later, and Dick's and my lane split adventure back to SoCal at the end of the weekend definitely sticks in my mind. I am possibly the victim of the one time Dick's been known to be irresponsible in a 'group' setting. I was parked on the side of the highway waiting for him to catch up after lighting a cigarette, and he came by me so fast and so close that our saddlebags actually impacted each other as he went by. This was after a solid 100 miles of ilpsting through labour day weekend traffic heading back into LA, so the exuberance upon encountering some open road was certainly understandable. My bikes always look like crap anyway, so it never bothered me, but I bet Dick wound up with a rub mark on his saddlebags that annoyed him to no end.

 

The one early event I regret missing was Torrey 1. I absolutely would have gone on that ride, but I was not yet in the habit of reading all the forums so regularly, so the first I was aware of the trip was when the ride reports started pouring in upon their return. That was a weekend I'll probably regret missing for a long time to come. I think I count every member of that first crew among my friends today (I wish I knew where Guido was - we lost touch after we stopped being roommates in 2003), but that was clearly one of those precious and memorable bonding events that just don't come around so often.

 

In fact, I miss the sense of adventure that came with every single ride I went on back in those early days - The sense of wonder I felt when leaving on that very first solo long distance trip (to New Orleans) just isn't matched by how I'd feel about such a trip today. Heck, today I'd be barely likely to pack in advance. Back then, it was the culmination of months of planning and anticipation. Anyone know how to find that again?

 

--sam

[HappyMan]

What a wonderful resource and great group of people I have met here!! I found this site while researching the motorcycle I had always dreamed of and after purchasing received much help learning about my bike. I listen more than talk but am grateful for all the info I receive and the people I come across in my travels! BMWST is part of my cycling experience.

[Green RT]

Hey Russell, good idea for a thread.

 

I have only met a few of the people on this Board in person. Mostly a few local Colorado riders and one Vermont participant. But one of the first that I met was you, when you let me use your garage and spare throttle cable to get me home from California a couple of years ago. A great example of the sharing and help that we provide to each other.

 

Thanks again,

[WURTY]

Ok I was freaking out for a moment.

I didn't notice the date this thread was first posted and I was reading the entire thing when I read Gleno's posts.

My first time meeting Gleno and teri was in paonia Colorado.

One of the great memories brought to me by this board.

Thank you all.