Feature Story
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
BMW R 1200 GS and GS/Adventure
Story by Tom Van Beveren
Photos by Kevin Wing
Think of a big adventure touring bike, one that could take you to Tierra del Fuego and back as easy as it can take you to the Rock Store, and chances are you’ll think of the BMW R-GS series.
And for good reason. After all, BMW did start the adventure touring segment of motorcycling nirvana way back in 1980 with the introduction of the R 80 GS and it has whittled and refined that basic bike through two different engine designations (from airheads to oilheads), two different fuel mixing designs (from two Bing carburetors to electronic fuel injection) and a whole host of other improvements.
More refinements just got made for the  2008 GS and GS/ Adventure, which were unleashed to the press in Scottsdale, Arizona in mid-April, and these tweaks have turned a wonderful motorcycle into something that is, quite frankly, one of the nicest motorcycles I’ve ever ridden. Period. That’s a lot to say about a motorcycle and, before you accuse me of being prejudiced because I own a GS (an R 1100 GS to be exact), let me explain why I am so enamored with these newest of BMW motorbikes.
First of all, the bikes are BMWs and, as such, have quite a bit of heritage about them. If you’ve been building the same basic boxer-designed twin cylinder motorcycle since 1932, things should be pretty well sorted out by now. A certain American motorcycle manufacturer knows just how import-ant it is to stick with tradition, and BMW is following the same mantra, doing the right thing here by sticking with what it knows best.
2nd Feature
SON OF A HOOLIGAN
Aprilia's SXV450 Supermoto
Story by Neale Bayly
Photos by Neale Bayly and Cindy Castano
Heading toward turn 11 at Carolina Motorsports Park, my brain is attempting to override 30 years of my personal motorcycle evolution.
Fighting the desire to chop the throttle at the first brake marker, I lock my sights on the yellow GSXR 750 in front of me. Blitzing past the first mark, the tension is almost unbearable as my feeble mind wrestles with the right wrist control circuit. Battling everything I know to be true, I hold it a little longer, before rolling off and brushing the front brake lever. Simultaneously stabbing the rear brake and grabbing a bunch of down shifts, we easily make the turn. Cursing my lack of minerals one more time, I twist the go handle back to wide open as I exit the turn, having gained a few more yards on the Suzuki up ahead.
Pecking away like this for the next few laps,  I begin to reel him in. This dance goes in a predictable pattern, with him making distance out of the corners and the SXV 450 making it all back and more into the turns, as I nibble away at his advantage. Running the compact V-twin to 12,500 rpm before clutch-less up shifting, with only 60 horsepower at my disposal, one missed shift is going to end this dual in a heartbeat
Interview:
THE CHINA SYNDROME
Story and photos by Paul Garson
If I told you there’s a motorcycle company making history and it is not in Japan or Italy or even Milwaukee, but right here in Southern California, I bet I would have you scratching your head.
What’s different about this  line of bikes? What’s its name? Why haven’t I heard about it?
You probably will, very soon, and the reason is value. I call it the Biggest Bang for Your Buck Bike--the one that seems to have found the magic balance in the price/performance equation. And it is catching on fast. In the company’s first year, 2,000 bikes were sold and there’s a waiting list from 125 dealers across the country. Even the police are chasing them down, and in the best possible way.
The driving force behind what is turning into a major success story for Yankee ingenuity is a man named Johnny Pag, who is headquartered in Riverside, California. Pag has been building custom bikes in Southern California for more than 25 years and his show winning creations have ridden onto the covers of a number of major motorcycle magazines.
 But as the years rolled by and the custom industry hit its boom days—and boom prices—Pag started thinking out of the box. He wanted to design a custom bike to American standards but manufacture and assemble it over-seas to cut the price to the bone and make it available to almost anyone.
For more on this story, pick up a current issue of FREE 2 WHEEL at your local dealer, or use the handy order form page found on our web site.
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Scuttle Putt:
The AMA has announced the Trophy Team that will defend U.S. honor at the 83rd International Six Days Enduro to be held in Serres, Greece, in early September. The top U.S. team will consist of Destry Abbott, Kurt Caselli, Ricky Dietrich, Jimmy Jarrett, Nathan Kanney and Nathan Woods.
The Team USA veteran is 35-year-old Abbott, who is racing the AMA FMF Racing National Hare & Hound Series for Monster Energy Kawasaki. A four-time AMA National Hare & Hound Champion, Abbott is also a-two-time ISDE Gold Medallist and will be representing the United States on the Trophy Team for the fourth time. It will be his fifth time competing in the event.
“The team is very prepared this year. All six of us are committed and see this as a true team effort. We want to do what’s best for the team and we’re going to do whatever it takes,” said Abbott, who is planning to ride a Kawasaki KX450.
It will be the fifth journey to the ISDE for Ohio’s Jimmy Jarrett, 31, who race's off-road events for Team FMF Suzuki.
"It's really cool for riders of different teams here in the U.S. to come together for this event," said Jarrett, who plans to ride a Suzuki RM250 in the ISDE. "It doesn't matter what kind of bike you're riding or who you race for here. When we go to the ISDE, we're all riding for one team, one goal."
On the other end of the ISDE-experience spectrum is ISDE rookie Nathan Woods, a 30-year-old off-road racer who competes for Team FMF Suzuki and competes in the AMA Endurocross series.
More scuttle >>
Project Motorcycle:
GOOD SPORT
Story and photos by Reid Libby
According to Webster, the definition of the term sport is, “to amuse ones self or to frolic.” This is a concept that the Italians seem to have taken to heart.
 Motorcycles are a good case in point. Italy has always been adept at building competent, if somewhat quirky, basic transportation for the masses. Those of you who remember motorcycling as it was in the 1960s and 1970s know you could make book that if a manufacturer hailing from the Mediterranean boot produced a mundane motorcycle best suited for daily duties of the point A to point B variety, a sporting model would come shortly thereafter. It is in the blood and they can’t help themselves. Italians seem to be born with an instinctive need to race about on their motorcycles, if only for the sheer joy of the aforementioned frolic on some sun drenched, country two-lane.
O ver the years, Ducati has sold a lot of motorcycles by playing on the competitive needs of motorcyclists worldwide, and the introduction of its now legendary V-twin line of engines in the early 1970s proved to be no exception. While its initial offering of the GT 750, a standard-styled, multi-purpose type of motorcycle, was commendably proper, the juices really began to flow when Ducati introduced its iconic green and silver Super Sports, road burners suitable for the track with just enough of a nod to civility to enable them to be legal for street use. Pricey, desirable, and rare machines then, they have become the providence of well-heeled collectors now.
Ask the Sergeant:
Is it illegal to flash your lights or otherwise warn oncoming motorists of a radar cop?
Eddie Rasmussen,
Long Beach
Many years ago, and long before I became a police officer, I used to ride my sport bikes all through the canyons of Southern California. I have to admit that I got to know all the hiding places for the local constables but, in new areas, I remember fellow riders giving me the heads-up by flashing their lights, or making a circular swing of the finger. Everyone knew what that meant. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t appreciate knowing what was ahead and maybe, just maybe, it did keep me from getting a traffic school pass once or twice.
Ever since the first cop figured out that hiding might help him nab lawbreakers, people have been trying to keep other motorists from getting caught. Now that I am a police officer and I’m the one doing the hiding, I often find it humorous to see what people will do to try and “out” our hiding spots. Recently, I found some of my favorite spots listed on a ‘speed trap’ website. Some of the comments made on the site were hysterical and my partners and I have laughed our tails off reading some of the interpretations of the law as it relates to speed traps, and contributors’ comments on how it is illegal for us to park in this place or that spot, and generally how unfair it is of us to hide. Both the definition of speed traps and the legality of our ability to hide were covered recently in a previous article (see Free 2 Wheel November 2007).
When it comes to warning fellow motorists about our hiding places, my personal favorite happened a few years ago to my partner. He was working at night on a dark connector road between two neighborhoods. Normally this road was very productive but for some reason, none of the fish were biting this night so he left the spot and was driving down the road when he saw why the night was less than jumping. Someone had placed a large, white, wooden sign, approximately six feet high and eight feet wide, on the sidewalk and spray painted it with black letters, “Speed trap ahead!” We couldn’t help ourselves and had our pictures taken alongside the sign. My partner still has the photo in his album.
California does not have a specific law that says you can’t warn another driver about any condition ahead. However, there is a law about flashing your lights, specifically California Vehicle Code (CVC) Section 24409(a) that states that you can’t have your high beams on within 500 feet of an approaching car. But that only applies during the hours of darkness. The State of California does allow the use of modulating headlamps during the daytime and that is fundamentally the same as flashing your lights to warn your buddies.
As far as other methods that might be used to warn fellow motorists, there are no restrictions on finger waving, sign flashing, or hand gesturing. Just make sure your gesture is easily understood so you don’t make a movement that makes the rider going the other way think you did something illicit to his mother so he comes back to get you!
Do not use your horn. CVC Section 27001(a) makes unlawful use of the horn a citable offense. The horn may only be used as either part of a theft alarm or as an emergency signaling device. I know what you’re thinking—that warning a friend can be an emergency, but that won’t work as an excuse if you get caught. Horns are not to be used to express your opinion of other people’s driving habits or to warn others that you just saw a cop hiding in the trees.
The best advice I can give is to slow down and not put yourself in a situation where you need to worry about where the cops are hiding. While it is not illegal to warn others, maybe you should take a minute to think about who you are warning. Do you really want the guy who passes groups of cars wholesale over double yellows on one wheel not to get the tickets he so rightfully deserves? How many times have you been riding and had someone just blow past you, making you think, “Geez, what a moron! He needs to have his license yanked!” He may have just been warned by a friendly motorist and successfully avoided another ticket, and, as a result of that motorist’s warning, will be able to hold onto his license to terrorize for another week.
Think of it as the Darwin Theory in practice. You, the educated and skilled rider, will continue to ride at safe and sane speeds thereby living to tell great stories to your adoring grandchildren. Those who ride too fast, live too hard, and think others are there to care for them, will either adapt and change, or get busted enough to lose the privilege to ride.
As I wrote earlier, I remember my youth and, as the saying goes, “To be old and wise, you must first be young and stupid.” The best warnings you can provide for other riders come, not by flashing your lights, but by talking—to your fellow riders, your friends, and the clubs that you belong to—about riding responsibly on the street. By the time you get the opportunity to wave your finger around in a circle at the guy passing you at 100 plus, it may be too late.
Ride safe, keep smiling, and take care of yourselves and each other out there.
For more on this story, pick up a current issue of FREE 2 WHEEL at your local dealer, or use the handy order form page found on our web site.
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