The R1100S Remains Fascinating

Most motorcyclists know it: no matter what bike you’re riding today, there’s always another, very special bike that no other can replace. Perhaps you rode it already, perhaps you are just wishing you owned it. Readers of this blog know of my love for the BMW R1100S, and I’m just adding this post as further proof of that fact.

Pelican Parts user ‘LGB’ expresses this feeling very succinctly: “It was fun while I owned it… sold to a friend. Now I’m looking for another.” I can dig that, and his bike was truly made for touring: it even includes additional lights low on the fork – nice touch!

I’m not (yet?) looking for a replacement for my F800GT. But the R1100S remains in my heart, that’s certain.

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A Late Autumn Ride Turned Out Better Than Expected

Past Sunday saw us ride our annual Autumn Motorcycle Trip – us being a dozen like-minded bikers of different walks of life. Usually we plan this trip in October, to hopefully enjoy the last summer-like days of the year. But we had to change our plans this year, and the weather forecasts weren’t too great. It is November, after all.

But somehow the ten of us managed to ride the whole trip with just a few drips of rain, not enough to don our rain gear. Better: we even had a few minutes of nice sunshine, right in the middle of the Dutchess Hedwigepolder (sorry, in dutch only) in the Netherlands.

Yellow is the best colour for a motorcycle in this autumn sun!

We went there for a last visit – on a bike – to a part of the Schelde estuary that will soon be returned to the river and the Northsea, in order to diminish the risks of floods further up the river. Combined with the “Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe” the Hedwige and Prosper polders will be converted to a single natural reserve. Perhaps I will be able to go there on a bird-watching safari in a few years?

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Last Chance To Visit The Hertogin Hedwigepolder?

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon on my motorcycle. My tour included a visit to the dutch Hertogin Hedwigepolder, a piece of land that will be “given back” to the river Schelde in 2019, together with the belgian Prosperpolder. It was a bit strange to see that were so many people cycling and walking on the remaining roads and dykes, on a piece of land that will soon be mud and water. But migratory birds will be happy in the future: there are already large flocks of geese that use the meadows and the creeks as a stop on their travels.

I snapped a picture of the marker that indicates the border between the Netherlands and Belgium on the dyke next to the Schelde, wondering whether there will still be a way to get to it a year from now…

(A larger version can be see on Flickr –
just click on the picture to go there)

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BMW R1100S Pictures From The Past

BMW R1100S rider ‘John Lyon’ recently added a few great pictures to the Pelican Parts Forum for this bike. And this time it was not just a photo of his bike, he managed to upload a picture of an R1100S meeting somewhere in 2006. Nice work, John!

Just click on the images to got to the original posts, so you can read the comments as well ;-)

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Custom Paint Job On An R1100S

The BMW R1100S riders on the ADV Rider forum continue to post pictures of their (favourite) bike. Like UK user ‘Bryn’ who found an R1100S with an unusual but very BMW-inspired paint job:

There’s another view of this bike over the ADV Forum – just click this one to go there.

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Move Over, Cowasaki!

Many moons ago, I managed to publish the picture of a weird but funny motorcycle: the Cowasaki.

The Cowasaki

But two weeks ago, BoingBoing upped the ante and pointed its readers to the_van_man__, an American gentleman who showed off his motorcycle while transporting a horse. OK, he needs a sidecar to do so, but let’s be honest: that’s weirder and funnier than the Cowasaki!

(Click on the picture for the full story as told on BoingBoing)

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Great Bike, Great Picture

Much as I like the BMW R1100S, this picture first and foremost drew my attention because it is an excellent picture. It’s an excellent portrait of a great bike.

User ‘bimmerphan’s well tended R1100S in a nice pose

American bikers certainly have the advantage over us Europeans: we can only dream of such small license plates for motorcycles!

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