Picking the bikes out...

Now Mike described the motorcycles themselves but it is at least a little interesting to know how we came to get these two particular bikes. We had done a lot of talking and even some looking but until we actually had something to ride this whole process was just an exercise- there’s many a slip between cup and lip, as the saying goes. I had told Mike that I would be looking at a bike that I was interested in for him on a particular Thursday, my day off. That afternoon he called to ask if I was, in fact, going to see it. I was and told him I’d let him know what I thought after I had looked at it. The bike was everything that the seller had represented it to be and I bought it after a brief test ride. The guy we bought it from was kind of a service nut, in the sense that he loved working on and improving this bike. Anyway, I had not called Mike back and his curiosity must have kicked in because he called me back before I could call and tell him that the deal was done. He asked, “How did you like it? What do you think, is this the one?” He said he’d be glad to ride over if I thought it might help to have a second opinion. After we talked about it another minute or so Mike said something like, “So, what ‘cha think?” I said I think I’m on the way to Clemson to deliver you a bike! It took me about 1 ½ hours to get to Clemson from Greenwood. When I got the bike to Mike’s house it took about 10 minutes to unload and check over and talk about and touch and sit on and all the sudden, Mike cranked it up (I didn’t know how!) and rode off. That was one fun afternoon!

My story is not as fun. It was more a matter of persistence. I looked at maybe 100 bikes, calling owners or dealers and getting specifics on their listings. I made a few offers on bikes similar to the one we’d gotten for Mike but never could get to the point of making a deal. Finally one day I saw an on-line add for a BMW R1150R bike at Rider’s Hill in Dahlonega, Georgia. The dealer described the current owner as kind of a nerd- he said, “You know, the kind that likes to perform all the required services at the right intervals, a little OCD.” I told him that I knew someone a little like that myself and that was OK! Mike and I rode to Dahlonega in our Toyota Tundra, picked it up and rode home. When we got home Mike wanted to unload it right away. He was in a hurry to get over to his girlfriend Megan’s house to help with a 10K race taking place the following morning. It also took about 10 minutes to unload and check over and touch and sit on and all the sudden, Mike cranked it up and rode off. Hey, that’s getting to be a common theme!

-Alan