Articles

Mark on the tail of the dragon

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

Dragon

New P3 LED running lights

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

2009 BMW MOA Rally

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.

High point on Blue Ridge Parkway

R1100S Blue Ridge Parkway Ride May 2009

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

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Replacing the Battery in my BMW R1150RT

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.

Maui 2008

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.

maui_2008_la_perouse_bay

Mt Baker Ride 2008

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

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.

brp-moto-warning

Amsterdam

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.
amsterdam_boat

Thanksgiving Day Ride BMW R1100S

Mark sent me this picture from his 70F Thanksgiving Day ride in DE.
r1100s-thanksgiving-ride

San Diego Trip abort

Carmel By The Sea looking back at the Carmel Beach City Park. The finest white sand beach on the West coast.
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BMW K-bikes

I've been neglecting this website lately. So I finally get around to doing some maintenance work this morning and after filtering through the 500#@#! spam messages in my inbox I see a note from kick-ass programmer and all-around nice guy, Russell. He bought a really sweet looking all black K1200R. Nice bike! It's always great to see another BMW rider in Seattle.

Key Largo 2007

I spent the week of May 13, 2007 at the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo. My wife attended a conference there and I traveled along to sit beside the pool and get some much needed sun.



Buccaneer Island at Ocean Reef Club

Sailing videos

Two interesting open ocean heavy weather sailing videos.

From the Volvo Ocean Race. Turn the volume all the way up for this one to get the full impact.

Redwood National Forest

I like this picture.

Paul Farrall BMW Redwoods