So how come all the GS's I see are so clean?

[Flappy613]

Hey folks.

Does BMW give you guys a fleet of elves that clean the bike at every stop or what? All this Summer every time I see a big GS it is immaculately clean. Then again I usually see them in the company of Harleys as well mostly parked at the watering holes. I'm sure you guys on here actually ride but I'd swear that NONE of the bikes sold by BMW of western Oregon here in Tigard will ever see gravel.

I had one guy actually pull over in front of my house last year who was inviting me to ride with him and his GS buddies but he seemed crestfallen when I mentioned the FS roads that I ride on every week. He sort of hemmed and hawed and let out that he and his mates were just into pavement at which point I think he didn't want to be seen around me anymore. God I love it, 40 years go by and I'm STILL a filthy dirt biker and proud of it! Probably won't be invited to the Wine tastings and brew festivals but since I don't drink or smoke anymore I don't really miss it and it gives me more time to ride and accumulate bug art and dirt encrustations.

And the other thing that really sends me.......why oh why would I want to ride to the dealership to "hang out?" How are you riding if all you are doing is patting each other on the butt for joining a social club? Harley is especially known for this, but Triumph is truly trying to give Milwaukee a run for their money. At my locals we can either choose "urban enduro" rides leaving at the early hour of 11 from the split Harley/Triumph store and cover the wilds of suburban PDX or the Tiger Troop based out of the boutique dealership out here in Beaverton which meets every week and is VERY dealership/clique oriented. Expect 65.00 thin hipster t shirts and disapproving looks at all the dirt and damage on your bike. They act like we're leasing them and just act flabbergasted when you don't just throw bucket loads of money at them for sub-par service and do it yourself.

I know there are others like me as I hear about them at the places I stop, but since I'm almost always cursed to ride on Thursdays or Fridays I'm always missing them. There's one GS rider I've heard of that runs my same default run to Hebo over FS 14 and he and I have come so close as to smell each others' exhaust on occasion but we've only met once a couple years ago when I was on my XR exclusively, before I had even thought about a larger bike.

And now that I think about it I do run into other riders out there. KLR guys. Almost always. The only ones crazy enough to be up there last year in the snow besides me. Me and a KLR guy rode around together for a bit in January as I had a GPS and knew the roads and he was a noob to the area and the KLR. Shared some coffee with him and set him on the road he was looking for after we got down out of the hills. So at least KLR guys get the "adventure" part if not the "sensible" part. Then again, K60s in the snow ain't bright either, so........

There's another guy out here in Tig town who has my twin XCx except for his brand of panniers, I've been hoping to run into him as I notice he stands a lot like I do. But unless he checks in here I'm despairing of it as every time I see him I'm driving and as I say I avoid the dealerships.

But it was just my intention to poke fun here.......nothing that BMW riders do is anything on the aping going on over at Triumph. Makes me wanna buy some skinny jeans, a Barbour jacket and a Thruxton. With one of those stupid retro open-face helmets. Speaking of which how did the Triumph models end up on the front cover of American Motorcyclist? Especially perched on that Honda mini-trail. I hate to tell them, that fashion combo never actually existed then and the only people who rode minis on the street then were huge fat people who then got into Guinness. Oh and that one neighbor kid we used to laugh at whose parents weren't smart enough to buy him a CR,YZ or RM like the rest of us had.

[Eric Hall]

You must mean these guys?

 

I don't know what it is about all the clean GS's out there but I suspect it's just human nature.  This whole "Beyond Starbucks" phrase was intended to reach out to those riders and say hey, come join us in a little off road adventure and see what you and your bike are capable of."  These riders are concerned about their safety, don't know anyone who rides off road to go with, don't know where to go, or how to even do it.  I'm sure they're also afraid of getting their bikes dirty or breaking them.  It does take a friendly group of people to coax them into it.

 

I read somewhere that 95% of GS's never see the dirt.  I think that makes what we do even more special.

[PeteMoto]

Flappy - similar observations in my neck of the woods in the North East. I'm no 'round the worlder' or serious enduro offroader , rallyer. Just a rider looking for back roads , woods area exploration and relaxing. If it's dirt/ passable I'll be going down it as far as I possibly can even if I hosed it off a few hours before. Yeah , I've seen KLR's , XL's , DR's and a sprinkling of other bigger bikes but I can't remember when I've ever come across another GS in the out of the way areas I frequent. Man, if I had one that wouldn't be the case! Yeah , I do like my KTM hosed off but I'm not poesing at the dealership/boutique on my days off that's for sure. On a side note , years ago , a long established BMW dealer/family wouldn't buy into the companies plan of going the glitzy boutique Rodeo Drive route. They no longer could sell new BM's. They're still in business for their excellent service. Several of the replacement "high line "" places folded. Go figure.

[Flappy613]

Thanks guys.

It's just a bit frustrating when a guy actually stops in the middle of the street to talk to me about the Tiger then get so put off at the thought of using it for its'(apparently) intended purpose. That's one thing I gotta give you guys on the orange kool aid, you usually ride your stuff. Hardly ever see a spotless Katoom which is as it should be. I don't ride orange out of respect to an injured friend but I recognize that KTM is the undisputed king of ADV as far as performance goes and the few I do see going the other way are usually as filthy as I'm trying to get. But the Beemers just seem abnormally clean even out in the sticks. Came across a couple fellas outside of the Alvord desert who were using a Valet for their luggage! Here I am sitting at a light in the middle of nowhere covered in equal parts dust, bugs and cow flop looking at these two bozos get their luggage rolled away from their nice shiny GSs. Just boggles the mind sometimes.

And yes, Eric that was the pic. Just cracked me up to see these two hipster kids on a mini on the cover of the AMA rag. I think someone ought to look into exactly WHY such squiddishness is allowed let alone on a rag that ought to be preaching safety to these selfsame kids.

[Rooster72]

Pretty funny but true. I ran across a sparkling clean GS12 at the fuel pump today on my way up the mountain to one of my favorite rocky passes and this dude had every piece of fark in the book, I mean EVERTHING ALL HIGH DOLLAR and I have to admit I had a little fark and KLIM envy. My stuff is actually low budget very used and kinda ghetto with the exception of my 990, come to think of it my beat up gear probably freaked him out a little. Of coarse there was the usual how do you like your BMW (no mention of my KTM from him) conversation and I was very nice and interested in his deal as I usually am to a fellow ADV rider and I proceeded to offer him a close-by off-road day if he wanted to tag along, he actually had a decent set of Heidenau tires which btw had no tell tale chunked up evidence of rock damage (yes I glanced at them) and they were half worn. He proceeded to pass on the opportunity and said he doesn't really ride off-road especially in rocky conditions, DUDE WE'RE IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS IM THINKING?......Oh well I could really care or less, but he missed an opportunity to brag to his Starbucks friends with some cool pictures and it's very very sad that his 2 wheel mercedes will probably never see anything more technical than a speed bump!!

 

All that said, one of my friends has an GS800 and he is a sick rider and rides the crap out of it. 

[PierreADV]

Well guys, I don't know about the US, but down here in Italy, 80% of the big enduros you see are GS's.

Doesn't matter the year, model, cc, or whatever. It has to be a GS.

 

And then again, of all those GS's, I'm pretty sure that 99% will never see dirt, gravel, heck, not even a grassy field.

Case in point, when I still had the GSA 1200 and I had to review the KLIM Latitude jacket, I told people that "yeah, I was riding the trail that goes from where I live to the next village, y'know, the one that follows the little river", people were absolutely SHOCKED about the whole thing, and gave me that "Are you insane?" look.

 

Not only that...I was (WAS) registered to the biggest italian BMW community, and the offroad section had like...3 topics. Keep in mind the community was composed of like 200.000 users, if not more.

[Bryan Bosch]

Hey folks.

Does BMW give you guys a fleet of elves that clean the bike at every stop or what? All this Summer every time I see a big GS it is immaculately clean. Then again I usually see them in the company of Harleys as well mostly parked at the watering holes. I'm sure you guys on here actually ride but I'd swear that NONE of the bikes sold by BMW of western Oregon here in Tigard will ever see gravel.

I had one guy actually pull over in front of my house last year who was inviting me to ride with him and his GS buddies but he seemed crestfallen when I mentioned the FS roads that I ride on every week. He sort of hemmed and hawed and let out that he and his mates were just into pavement at which point I think he didn't want to be seen around me anymore. God I love it, 40 years go by and I'm STILL a filthy dirt biker and proud of it! Probably won't be invited to the Wine tastings and brew festivals but since I don't drink or smoke anymore I don't really miss it and it gives me more time to ride and accumulate bug art and dirt encrustations.

And the other thing that really sends me.......why oh why would I want to ride to the dealership to "hang out?" How are you riding if all you are doing is patting each other on the butt for joining a social club? Harley is especially known for this, but Triumph is truly trying to give Milwaukee a run for their money. At my locals we can either choose "urban enduro" rides leaving at the early hour of 11 from the split Harley/Triumph store and cover the wilds of suburban PDX or the Tiger Troop based out of the boutique dealership out here in Beaverton which meets every week and is VERY dealership/clique oriented. Expect 65.00 thin hipster t shirts and disapproving looks at all the dirt and damage on your bike. They act like we're leasing them and just act flabbergasted when you don't just throw bucket loads of money at them for sub-par service and do it yourself.

 

I know there are others like me as I hear about them at the places I stop, but since I'm almost always cursed to ride on Thursdays or Fridays I'm always missing them. There's one GS rider I've heard of that runs my same default run to Hebo over FS 14 and he and I have come so close as to smell each others' exhaust on occasion but we've only met once a couple years ago when I was on my XR exclusively, before I had even thought about a larger bike.

And now that I think about it I do run into other riders out there. KLR guys. Almost always. The only ones crazy enough to be up there last year in the snow besides me. Me and a KLR guy rode around together for a bit in January as I had a GPS and knew the roads and he was a noob to the area and the KLR. Shared some coffee with him and set him on the road he was looking for after we got down out of the hills. So at least KLR guys get the "adventure" part if not the "sensible" part. Then again, K60s in the snow ain't bright either, so........

There's another guy out here in Tig town who has my twin XCx except for his brand of panniers, I've been hoping to run into him as I notice he stands a lot like I do. But unless he checks in here I'm despairing of it as every time I see him I'm driving and as I say I avoid the dealerships.

But it was just my intention to poke fun here.......nothing that BMW riders do is anything on the aping going on over at Triumph. Makes me wanna buy some skinny jeans, a Barbour jacket and a Thruxton. With one of those stupid retro open-face helmets. Speaking of which how did the Triumph models end up on the front cover of American Motorcyclist? Especially perched on that Honda mini-trail. I hate to tell them, that fashion combo never actually existed then and the only people who rode minis on the street then were huge fat people who then got into Guinness. Oh and that one neighbor kid we used to laugh at whose parents weren't smart enough to buy him a CR,YZ or RM like the rest of us had.

 

 

 

Representin' out east...

 

But to be fair, when riding our fairly dry winters in the sand, the bike doesn't get dirty. A bit dusty, but from 10 feet, she looks pretty clean.

[Flappy613]

OK Bryan.

You're using that spray-on mud to get it only on the headlights aren't you? They sell pre-muddied ISDT jackets at Triumph too, with the rubber mud applied exactly as Steve's was right down to the splatter pattern. All for the low cost of about 750.00 IIRC although I think they might've been discounting them for the flash sales they have periodically. I wouldn't know because I can't seem to keep myself topside of the bloody thing and consequentially it eats delicious expensive Triumph parts instead of letting me spend my hard earned dollars on fashion as Hinckley intends.

Seriously though it's great to see you getting it as dirty as you are especially given your location. We can get ours dirty in a heartbeat here as you know what with being less than an hour from the Coast Range.

And my observations don't cover the little beemers like the f800 or the like, I see those dirty ALL the time. I'm talking the Charlie and Ewan specials, the big GS12s. Always pristine white and grey with nary a fleck of dust and as Rooster noted above the guys act petrified at the idea of actually soiling the thing. I try to be supportive and encouraging but frankly I think a good adv school would be the best bet as I'm not too keen on trying to educate someone in how to ride one of our big bikes who is fresh to the dirt. The only time I'll generally volunteer to ride with a newb on his first dirt ride is if he is on a dirt oriented bike ala DR, XR or better yet a little Kawi or Yamaha DS bike. Much easier to master the little bike then transfer the skills then do it the hard way and pay with broken bikes and bones. Nonetheless I believe that the best education possible is the one that we provide ourselves via our mistakes and successes obtained through actually "doing it" not just by rote and repetition. Rote and repetition promote muscle memory which is a good thing but forgetting modes and locking the rear tire and sliding in the gravel for 15-20 feet while watching the drop off get closer and closer has its' own way of educating, equally effective. The key is in doing enough of the one, and surviving the other to become an educated, experienced rider.

I wish to be an ambassador of our sport and actually reach out to these folks but if they aren't interested then let them enjoy the bikes the way they wish and we'll all enjoy the nice shiny used bikes that'll be for sale here shortly when they bore with their new hobby. I'm not looking for a GS but I bet some of you guys could make some room for one. Kinda like an ARVN rifle- never fired and only dropped once.- they'll be a great buy!

Edited September 5, 2016 by Flappy613