I was simply taken back that the BMW 6 has already been around for 5 years. To me it just came out yesterday. Time flies.

I always lusted for the RT1200T. Never got one. Too late now.

I bought a BMW long sleeve shirt at the Vegas dealer in 08. They gave me a discount as my son trades there. I wore it at a BMW display in Rosemont during the International Bike show one year. A BMW owner started to chat with me and asked questions about my BMW. Had to tell him I only ride H-D's. He turned and left. I guess you are supposed to have what the emblem on your apparel has.

Had the Bar and Shield decals in the back windows of all my trucks decades before I bought a H-D.

I put Honda decals on the back of an enclosed trailer that I hauled the H-D's in. Thought that would be a theft deterrent.

Now that I am a advanced senior citizen I can just ramble on and on.

 

Liking the design or appearance of a bike is an individual decision. I like the looks of alot of different styles of bikes , whether, sport, naked, sport touring, cruisers, baggers, geezer glide tourers. That being said, I choose what I want to ride based on what I feel my needs are and various criteria, so I'm one who bases my decision for function over form. I think the road glides are great looking bikes, way better looking then my BMW. But I love riding my bmw way more then I liked riding a road glide. I guess to quote some of the HD guys, my BMW "speaks to my soul".

 

My local HD dealer carried BMW's for awhile. I was getting serious about getting a new bike at that time, and I test rode a 2014 BMW R1200GS (1st year of the wet head motor). I thought it was probably the finest motorcycle I've ever ridden. It had ESA suspension and fantastic handling. At that time I was on a 2007 Suzuki SV1000S. I thought the motors were similar with the GS having a little more zing, but the BMW was better all around. That suspension was magic. Reading about so many reliability issues with the beemers gave me pause.
Shortly after, I started test riding HD's. The 1st one was a StreetBob. I found myself with a big smile on my face the whole time. It was visceral...it had life...and I loved it. Having crashed on the SV1Ks, I wanted something with a top speed under 120. I've read many times that it's better to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow and the HD gives me that, along with comfort and that visceralness that I love.
Don't get me wrong, I love ALL bikes and I'm happy with my Switchback, but I wouldn't mind picking up a VStrom 1k, or similar at some point just to have a different flavor of mc'ing.

 

I have a huge respect for the BMW 1200. Some of the law enforcement agency's in this area use them and have escorted rides we have been on. They are stupid FAST compared to Harley's and really handle.

Last Sunday my wife and I were on I-40 east bound from Hickory, NC with another couple right behind us on an M8. We were running in the fast lane at 75 to 78 MPH when out of nowhere a BMW 1200 came by us at 20+ MPH over our speed, cut in front of us and was GONE! Damn that thing looked good, looked as smooth as glass and seemed to do it effortlessly. I would love to ride one.

 

Thank you for feedback. Maybe I will ride with both worlds. Kinda hard to sell my Harley after all built up like I wanted. It's like giving up something for adopting and always saying. Maybe I should've have ...

 

Let's see. I have a leather armored jacket from Leatherman's, gaiters from LeatherUp, Kevlar jeans from Motorcycle Superstore and rain gear from Amazon. Not once has anyone come up to me and ragged on me for what I was or wasn't wearing.... Unless you count that time we went to a costume ball and I went as an exhibitionist.

 

Well a new alternative to these machines just got launched, the Indian Challenger and unlike the Harley they are not charging extra for cornering ABS, in the video they purposefully low side the bike (1:30)