Motorcycle Trip Out West

Motorcycle diaries – 2007

Arriving in New Mexico in 2007

Nineteen years ago, my mother called me up late at night. She was sobbing uncontrollably. “Son, you will sell that motorcycle of yours, or I will never speak to you again.”

My younger brother Darrel had recently been paralyzed while he was a passenger in a car. One of the drivers had been drinking. So what did I say to my crying mother? “Yes mom, I will sell it.” She repeated herself, and then quickly ended the conversation.
And so I sold my wonderful 1981 BMW RT-65 touring motorcycle. It had carried me across country a few times without fail. It was my third BMW cycle. The first two were classic R 50/2s. Those two had been incredibly reliable, steadfast machines also, carrying me in total well over 150,000 miles without any significant failure. And in all of this time I had never had a motorcycle accident, or even laid one down. I had been driven off the road a few times by careless drivers, but that was it. Knock on wood.

My mother passed away over a year ago. So I could now, in good conscience, ride a motorcycle again. I went shopping. At first, I was shocked by how big motorcycles had grown to. Super sized, like many of the bodies that rode them. Cycles weighing 900+ pounds with engines of up to 2 liters displacement. Motorcycles that actually needed a reverse to get out of tight places. Those were 2-wheeled cars that fell over at stop lights. Not for me. Read the rest of this entry »