Lynn Landis
Home: New York, NY
Age: ageless :^)
Profession: Theater Production
Marital: Single.
Children:
Years of riding: 10
Longest ride: A Saddle Sore last May 1026 miles in a day!!From Sequatchie Tennessee to NYC the long way. But now I wear that IronButt Association plate VERY PROUDLY.
Most memorable trip: ALL OF THEM -- really from two trips out west, 3wks with one other person in the alps (65mountain passes in 21 days I called that tour) and everytime I go to West Va.. However, I just did 3weeks in New Zealand and would go back in a heartbeat. It's got everything including NO TRAFFIC .
First bike: 1984 Honda Ascot 500
Total bikes: I only have one bike as I do live in Manhattan and don't feel like funding the parking garages that heavily!! I did own two bikes for a while and saw the error of my ways!! However, this is my 4th bike.
Current rides: 1999 R1100s (named RRRamona)

Having been riding 10 years, some would consider Lynn Landis a relative new comer to the sport of motorcycling. Lynn however has seen her share of seat time. During these past ten years, she already has passed the 100,000 mile mark. She is also a certified member of the Iron Butt community, having ridden a Saddle Sore 1000. Right now, she is on her second Beemer a 1999 R11S, which she certainly does enjoy. However, she admits that the K75S she formerly owned was truly a wonderful ride. She purchased it new at a charity auction for only $6 grand, and if the sidewalk in front of her New York City apartment were wider, she would probably still have the K75. As with many BMW riders, for Lynn, the ride is the thing. Real miles on the motorcycle and the unique experiences are what seem to have attracted her to the BMW family of riders. 

Why did she changed to the R11? Her reason is rather typical. After a test ride at the Reinbeck National Rally, she could see some real advantages in weight distribution, and of course, torque with the big twin. Also, the R11S just fit her a bit better, being not quite as tall. She gives a lot of credit to the engineers at BMW and the R11 for helping her become a better rider. 

Lynn does not just rely on the high quality of her mount to aid her riding skills though. According to her, she takes her riding skills seriously enough to make herself learn something periodically. How? Well, in recent years she has taken two Keith Code’s racetrack riding school classes, as well as two Reg Pridmore’s and has also attended the Ducati Lady’s track day in New Hampshire. Sounds like many of us could follow Lynn’s example and take the time to get some professional advise now and again.

Additionally, living in Manhattan by itself does make one’s riding skills improve. As Lynn puts it, it takes about the same amount of time to ride to work as it does to take the subway, but taking the subway requires no brain work. Just get on and let the public transportation of NYC do it’s thing.

Riding in New York City does require one’s riding persona to be at a constant elevated state. Although she does seem to like the challenge of riding in the city, there was an incident with a car door that, as she puts it, "so I even have to deal with car doors now?," which turned her commute to work over to the capable hands of public transportation, and her motorcycling into a less strenuous avocation. 

For the past 18 years, she has been involved in Theater Production. While in the management side of production, her job entails monitoring it’s day to day operation. Essentially, she is responsible for dealing with finances, marketing and the back stage logistics of a production. Incidentally, she has schmoozed with the likes of Steve Martin and Mel Brooks. How cool is that?

Lynn terms herself as "ageless" and someone who loves to vacation on her motorcycle. Some of her trips include three to West Virginia, two out west, one to the Swiss Alps, and most recently a major jaunt to New Zealand. A shrewd traveler, she shipped her K75 to Europe for the three week Swiss trip because she found that she could save money over flying and renting a bike there.

Lynn also likes going to rallies. Along with her trips to West Virginia, she enjoys the other many fine roads found in the Eastern Mountain region. She looks forward to such rallies as the Georgia Mountain Rally, one she plans on returning to. She is also, of course, looking forward to the Charleston Rally this year.

If you talk to her long, she will probably use the word, "passion" when speaking of her feelings for motorcycling. She believes this sport keeps her young. She looks forward to many more years of riding to the unlimited number of great destinations and encountering the same number of interesting riders who most, but not all will be on BMW’s.