A Beemer Vacation

Another February vacation in Florida. I lucked out, because after many days of rain there was finally nothing falling from the sky. I drove to Eagle Rider to pick up the bike that I reserved a month ago. In Florida, they had 10 BMW GSs to rent in that specific location and more BMWs in other locations. Why aren’t there any BMW bikes in MA to rent? Maybe I do not know something.

Anyway, the day was perfect, the bike looked great, and the paperwork took 10 minutes. While waiting for a friend, I took the bike for a couple of spins. It sounded great, but it became obvious very fast that the seat was too high for me. I came back and Eagle Rider’s technicians tried to adjust the height for me. They put the seat in the lowest possible position and put the suspension in Sports mode. This did not change things a lot, but I appreciated them trying.

My riding partner for that day was Mike Ryan. Mike currently works as a dive instructor at Horizon Divers in Key Largo. He is a very interesting person to be around. It seems that his life was never ordinary and shaped him into a unique and strong individual. If you like real life stories, Mike has many of them and he knows how to tell them. If you ever go to Key Largo for diving, make sure to dive with Mike.

That morning Mike showed up on his brand new Honda Touring bike and we drove to the Everglades. We stopped at the Robert Is Here shop, and then drove to the entrance of the Everglades. Between walking on the board walk and driving to the end of the Everglades we chose the latter. We sat for 15 minutes on the bench at the last stop of the park, stared at the peaceful ocean and chatting about why there in no diving on this side of the Keys. We drove back without any stops and had to skip lunch, since I was getting late for my plane. We put 160 miles on bikes that day.

I loved the bike. If I would be shopping for one, I would seriously consider some version of this bike. I could hardly touch the ground with my toes, so it was hard to handle it during stops and backing up, but it was an absolute beauty once you start rolling. It felt stable, powerful, and obedient; great brakes, smooth clutch, and great acceleration.

Looking back, between great diving and riding the BMW (a true Beemer), I remember riding more. I hope Mike will not mind that.