Impressed? Yes I am.

[beeper]

Today was indeed a good day as I was able to enjoy the privilege of riding an LT. :cool: I have ridden Suzuki's, Honda's, Yamaha's, Kawasaki's and even a Bultaco but this was my first ride on a BMW and I loved it. :D

The bike I rode was an '05 LT. I took my time getting to know her, looking over every nook and cranny...playing with all the latches and compartments, sitting on the seat and easing her off the side stand and then back down. Not so top heavy as many make her seem but a substantial machine non the less.

Then the ride, the engine purrs almost silently underneath...release the clutch and we are gone. I experience none of the low speed akwardness I was expecting, yet I am cautious. Once on the open highway the machine seemingly melts away as I am quietly thrust forward, is that speedo right? Better slow down, 90 will get a ticket for sure. I ease down to 65 and it still seems as if we're hardly moving..this thing is so damn smoooth. :D

After a nice stretch on the open highway getting used to the feel it's off to a twisty backroad. Now this machine is at home, falling into the curves effortlessly then surging ahead anxious for the next bend in the road. I come to an intersection and yield to a pair of Harleys puttering along, I give them plenty of lead and then proceed. The LT wants to go, and we do...nearly running over the lazy HD's as they slow for a corner. I lay back and take in the scenery for a bit and soon the other bikes turn off leaving me to finish the ride with another quick highway blast then back into the dealership.

Once stopped in the lot a little button on the right handlebar has caught my eye, the power center stand...oh what a delight and I grin endlessly as the bike raises itself into a parked position on the stand.

Can anyone guess what my next bike will be? ;)

[sheldan2]

It always amazes me that such a big bike can handle most everything you throw at her so well. After a 520 mile day at mostly 75 mph, and a quick burst to 93 according to the gps, I find that the bike seems to smooth out at 70 and just gets better as you stretch her legs a bit. We passed many small groups on the interstate of other brands of bikes, and none could even come close to sustaining what we were doing for very long in comfort.

[pushin9s]

If you really want to get impressed by your bike, you should have been with us today. The ride plan was to go from Durango, CO through Monument Valley, down to Grand Canyon and finish the day in Williams, AZ. We left Durango dodging thunderstorms, and did pretty good at that. A little rain, but not enough to put wet suits on for. Then, as we cleared the rain, the wind started blowing. It peaked, we were told, at 60 mph. I could believe it too. We came across US 160 with the pegs nearly dragging the ground just to maintain a straight line. I had to slow to keep the thing in the road, and ran two stop signs (after looking both ways numerous times) because I honestly didn't think I'd be able to hold the bike up. My wife, riding pillion, was a nervous wreck. I had ridden in wind like this before on my RT, and while it wasn't the most pleasant experience, it was still doable. After not many miles on the road, we holed up in Bluff, UT at a quaint little hotel, the Recapture Lodge. The owners were nice enough to let us park the LT on a small concrete walkway in front of our door and out of the wind and sandstorm. My paint owes the owners of the lodge a big thank you.

While resting in the room out of the wind, we heard some men outside our window. "WOW!", said one, "a BMW." We listened as they looked it over and talked about how nice it looked and how the best part of it was that it wasn't a Harley. (No intent to put our fellow cyclist down, just reporting the events!) Later that afternoon, I took the rear seat off to replace a fuse that had blown the day prior when using my heated suit crossing Monarch Pass. While working, our neighbor came over to talk bikes with me. Turns out that he has a Wing and wanted to compare notes.

He asked what kind of fuel mileage it gets, I told him, truthfully, that I can plan 48-50 while on a trip and the bike loaded. I told him the best I ever got was 56.7, but that was riding with my brother on his Voyager and he rides like a little old lady. That high figure was a rare exception for me. He told me he only gets 35 on his Wing. He asked me about doing maintenance on it. I showed him the Tupperware panels and how to take them off. He seemed to think the Wing would be easier to work on than the LT. I don't know, I've never wrenched on a wing. But, when I told him how easy it was to take the rear wheel off, he about dropped his beer. I can have the rear wheel completely off the bike in well less than 20 minutes, even with only the tools in my bike's tool kit. He told me it was an all afternoon job to remove the wheel on his GL1500.

We parted company, and I felt pretty good about our visit. I later overheard him telling some of his buddies about talking to me and about how nice the LT looked.

It's one thing to feel good about your bike, and with the LT that's easy to do. It's yet another thing when other bikers compliment you on your bike. I have MBS, so in my garage sits this LT, and an 1150 RT. I simply LOVE them both. The RT goes with me on my solo rides and the LT goes with me when the wife wants to come along. With almost 70,000 miles on my two bikes in the last three years, I feel qualified to say that these two are the best bikes I have ever owned during the last 35 years I have been riding.

I hope you are able to buy that LT, and I hope you enjoy your new ride as much as I have mine.