Motorcycling, That’s What Good Weather Is About

This blog has been a quiet place, the last two weeks. Well, I have been busy with organising a motorcycle day trip with friends, and that takes time – even when some of the scouting has already been done. To get in the mood, just have a look at some of the pictures I took on the route of this trip. I’m pleased to say that my friends were impressed with the fact that there are still so many small, rustic and green roads in the province of Antwerp.

Calm and relaxed, near the canal…

As an example, have a look at the bridge in the picture above. I was surprised to find out that there are still iron bridges with a wooden deck in our region. If you don’t believe me (nor Google Streetview – see below), just head over to a road called Mosselgoren in Geel…

(As seen in (c) 2017 Google Streetview)

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More Boxer Stuff

Because the weather today was better than expected (we even had quite a bit of sun)…

Because I continue to find the R1100S the best-looking boxer BMW ever designed…

Because I did find another nice picture on the late Kapaza website…

All that are good reasons to present another picture of a simple, almost standard BMW R1100S.

Based on this image, I’m even starting to like the yellow variant!

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Staying Power For Old Beemers

Last weekend, I spotted two old BMW motorcycles on the road in the port of Antwerp (Belgium). I had my camera in my hands, so I managed a few badly-framed photos – you can see them on Flickr.

By chance, I also spotted an advertisement for a similar bike. I don’t pretend to be a specialist on the subject, but I haven’t seen many BMW R50/2’s in this color scheme (not even on Google Images), and I find this combination quite flattering!

A fine-looking oldie, as seen in one
of the last advertisements on Kapaza

When I said I found this “zoekertje” by chance, I meant that I just had a quick look at the Kapaza website, because the site announced just last week that it will be closing down in a few days. I have visited that site, with its thousands of advertisements for second-hand stuff in many categories, while on the prowl for say another bike or a special lens for my camera. Kapaza is (was) one of the few big Belgian websites that used ColdFusion for at least parts of its site, and that made me pay a bit more attention to it also. This is one more website that won’t last half a century and more, unlike the motorcycle shown here!

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There Is Such A Thing As An Open-Source Motorcycle

Strange as it may seem, it does exist: an open-source motorcycle. At least, that’s what a company called Fictiv is telling us. Their name may not bode well in this context, but the company seems legit, going by their website. The blog post detailing their effort, “Open Source. Open road. Build your own fully customisable, street-legal motorcycle in a weekend“, is unfortunately rather skimpy on details.

The open-source bike on the open road

The bike does look good. I’m certainly not the only one who would like to know how it handles, what it costs, whether it can be done in a weekend, etc. If you have a more detailed report, let it know in the comments!

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First Tour Day of 2017

Sunday March 26th, was one of the best days of the year: sunny and not too cold. Time for a ride on the BMW F800 GT – and a nice ride it was. Proof by pictures: see them all on Flickr.

(Click the picture to go to Flickr)

Note: I wasn’t the only two-wheeler to take a bike to the road!

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A Black Beemer Beauty

No, I haven’t forgotten my own BMW R1100S, and I still enjoy looking at this model in all its forms and colors. Take for instance this black beauty (next to a somewhat hidden white beauty).

A beautiful black R1100S, courtesy of ‘bimmerphan‘ – click the image to see the full resolution photo.

Owner ‘bimmerphan‘ also has (had?) a BMW K75 in his garage – he’s lucky enough to have a big garage (mine can’t fit two motorcycles – yet).

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A Few More Photographs Of My Bike

We were too intent on riding our bikes rather than photographing them, but I still managed a few good stills during our recent Eifel trip. Here’s the black and white version; click on the photo to see them all on my Flickr album for this trip.

Rain in the morning, sun in the afternoon

Not as good as I would like them to be, but that’s an incentive for more touring and more photographing!

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