Your First Time:

[ARValkguy]

I have been thinking about a new Thread. I was trying to decide if it should go in Campfire or Photo. I have a very fond memory of my first time on my RT. I had only been home from Iraq about a week. It was the Spring of 2005, I went down to Houston, TX to pick it up. It was one of those love at first site kind of encounters. I would love to hear about your first time and see your face. I am usually such an ATGATT guy but in these first pics I just circled around the cul-de-sac a few times. After these pics I geared up and we rode.

[ARValkguy]

One more shot.

[GSLad]

Man, that is one UGLY scooter. Where's all the chrome? Does it have straight pipes? Where's your dew rag. You need a leather dew rag if you're gonna ride w/o a helmet. What were you thinking???

Ok, just kidding. Don't have a photo of my first Beemer ride, but I need to dig up the photos I took the first time I saw George's shop in Fairbanks. That's when I bought my first Beemer. It was a R1150GS, when they first came out. George had just put it together, and was about to put it in his showroom. I rode up and started talking with George. He had to run an errand, and he threw me the key and said for me to follow him. I kept refusing and trying to give him the key back. I knew that if I rode it, I would have to buy it. He wouldn't take the key back, so I resigned myself. I didn't even get out of his drive before I stalled that tall geared sucker. He didn't see, and kept going. It took me a few minutes to find the starter and get re-started. By this time he has disappeared, so I rode around a few blocks and circled back to his shop. :D

He comes blasting up behind me, wanting to know where I'd gone. If you know George, you'll understand. I think he thought I was trying to steal his bike (well it would have been a trade for the Honda that was parked in his drive). Then he starts fussing at me because I turned the blinker on and not turned if off while I was riding. I tried to explain that I didn't know where the cancel button was, so I hadn't been able to turn it off (Beemers are different from everything else, you know). Now ol' George is worked into a lather, and I kept trying to calm him down, but he wasn't listening. I kept saying, 'George, it's OK, I want to buy it. I really wasn't joy riding or stealing your bike. George, it's OK, I want to buy it. I want to BUY it George'. Finally he heard, 'You do??? Really?'

And, that's how I bought my first Beemer. I turned out to be a good customer for George, and bought a couple of other bikes from him while I lived in Fairbanks. It's pretty rotten the BMW quit letting him sell bikes, because he wouldn't upgrade his shop to their new standards:cry . I loved his old shop. So did everyone that I know who went there.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/SourdoughLAD/Motorcycles/119_1995.jpg

Here's me, with that GS, in the middle of a cow pasture, somewhere west of BFE, way, way past the boondocks, in the middle of nowhere. That moto has been everywhere, and done everything, including riding miles and miles of sand, loose gravel and misc. scheeeit, and mostly while fully loaded with touring/ camping gear. How's that for an ugly scooter?:heart