Today was the first warm day of the year. Temperature was in the 70s so I went for a Sunday ride: To Monroe via 522 then Fales/Elliot/Highbridge/Crescent lake roads, then Monroe to Sultan on Ben Howard road followed by Highway 2 to Index and Reiter road out of Index (closed 3 miles from Index due to flood damage). Around 150 miles round trip.

Link to route map on Bing Maps: http://binged.it/ImyO5i

Here are a couple pictures of my new 2012 R1200GS. It has ABS, ESA, OBC, and TPM options. I also purchased the BMW Vario side cases and top case. These are nice because all three are keyed to the ignition lock.

I took a short ride to Dash Point on a typical February day in Seattle, temperature around 45F and light rain. I have had better days riding, but it was good to get out. Dash Point State Park was closed for repairs so I rode down to the small public parking area to the south. There was a restaurant there called The Lobster Shop that I would like to go back and visit.

Took a trip to Maui with the family in December, 2010. It was nice to go running in 75F sunny weather instead of running through cold rain.

Kaanapali Beach

Photo of Mark on US 129, aka "Tail of the Dragon". From our trip last summer. http://xs-adventure.com/motorcycle/BMW-MOA-Rally-2009-trip

At the BMW MOA rally last summer, I came across a vendor showing off hi-intensity led lights: P3 led flashing brake lights and the "Photon Blaster" forward facing running lights. I recently started commuting to work through downtown Seattle and decided it was time to increase my visibility. I purchased P3 and Photon Blaster lights for front and rear on my R1150RT. The lights were purchased from http://www.skenedesign.com.

My current visibility efforts consist of:

Front

Mark and I were back in the Southeast from July 11-18 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Deals Gap and surrounding areas. We can't seem to get enough of the roads down here. The purpose of the trip was to hit the BMW MOA rally in Johnson City, TN. Total distance was 2,156 miles.

Mark is taking a solo trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway this week on his BMW R1100S.

The original shocks on my RT were starting to feel a little soft so I decided to replace them. Since I am planning to keep this bike a while, I figured I would spring for some quality shocks and looked at Wilburs and Ohlins. My first decision was to purchase Wilburs from Ted Porter BMW in CA, but then I got a great deal^* on a set of Ohlins from Kyle racing through group buy pricing on advrider.com http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=408664

Winter 2008/2009

My 2004 BMW R1150RT was exhibiting signs that the original OEM battery was about to fail. It was starting to crank a little slow and needed extra time on the battery tender. Five years is outside the service lifetime for this battery, so I decided to replace it before it failed while I was out on a trip somewhere.

My wife and I spent a week in Maui in early October. It was a great trip with great weather. We did some snorkeling and listened to a lot of Hawaiian music at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel.

Looks like rain for the weekend, so I took Friday off from work and headed up to Mt Baker on my BMW R1150RT. This is one of the best motorcyle rides in Western Washington.

The goal for the day

Smokey Mountains Motorcycle Trip 2008 6/27/2008 - 7/2/2008

The Goal
The goals of this trip are simple: Spend 6 days riding through the mountains of the Southeast, USA.
See some great sites. Avoid radar toting police and park rangers. Don't crash or run into any suicidal deer.

I spent the last week of May in Amsterdam. My wife had to travel there on business and I tagged along for a short vacation. This was my first visit to Amsterdam. I did not do any research in advance of the trip, deciding to just take everything in on first impressions. Here is what I found.