BMW

Riding hundreds of miles can be fun. Riding hundreds of miles on twisting roads can be sublime, provided those curvy roads are navigated with the proper mount. And in our modern motorcycle kingdom one genus has evolved to best tackle this task – the Sport Tourers.

The hybrid sport-touring niche bridges the gap between the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink touring approach of the Gold Wing crew (you know the guys with the trailers) and the ergonomic masochism of long-distance rides aboard a production supersport.

An inherent compromise between performance and comfort, the sport-tourer is a tricky concept to master, and it’s a relatively small segment. Most manufacturers produce only one purpose-built ST bike and some do it better than others. That’s the purpose of our fourth Sport-Touring Shootout, so let’s introduce this year’s contenders.

Click here to read more "2009 Sport-Touring Shootout IV"

The guys over at SportRider.com have just posted their latest review of bikes in the "Sport Touring" segment.

They chose the 2008 BMW K1200GT, the Kawasaki Concours 14 and Yamaha FJR1300A (my bike!). Interesting discussion of what they think of the bikes and surprisingly, they *don't* include any of the other "contenders" in the segment, namely the Honda ST1300.

Click here to read more "Sport Rider's Sport-Touring Shootout"

BMW have released new pics of its S1000RR superbike, with model Ann Kathrin Ruhl upping the glam quotient. While bikes like the BMW K1300R, K1300S and HP2 Sport do offer a fair bit of performance, the S1000RR – the machine which BMW will be racing in World Superbikes this year – is in a different league altogether.

With its aluminium beam frame, high-spec USD fork and monoshock (both ends fully adjustable), Brembo brakes, carbonfibre bodywork and high-revving 1,000cc inline-four that makes about 200bhp at the crank, the S1000RR is more in line with Japanese litre-class superbikes. That, and perhaps even more, because the S1000RR is likely to be equipped with advanced traction control, ABS, variable length air-intake tracts and positive valve actuation of some sort, the details of which have not been revealed yet by BMW.

When the road going version of the S1000RR goes on sale – probably towards the end of this year – the bike is expected to cost around US$15,000.

Click here to read more about "The BMW S1000RR"

Did you miss us?

Did you even notice we were gone? :)

For those of you who don't know us personally, Lesa and I moved from Nashville, TN a couple of years ago to Westport CT....and Westport sucked the joy of life right out of us... :(

But we now live in Danbury CT and are *much* happier. Now that we've settled in and are more comfortable here, we are getting back into the Your Bike Life podcast.

We didn't stop riding though! After an unfortunate drop of my beloved '05 Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe, we purchased a replacement - an '08 Yamaha FJR 1300 and I'm *loving* it! Lesa has gotten herself an '08 BMW F800ST and we plan on riding the wheels off them in 09!

So, we welcome you back and we hope you welcome us back!