Now Bimmers are One Thing...

but Beemers I just don't get. What's the appeal?

Refresh my memory. One refers to cars and the other is motorcycles, correct? I think "Bimmers" is the car term.

...in which case I would have to agree with you about "Beemers".

That said, to each his own I suppose. My best friend just cannot understand some of my automotive lusts...

I always liked the flying bricks...

I had an M5 once, I get it.

Bimmer is the nickname for their cars, Beemer is the nickname for their motorcycles. If you don't get them, that's fine.

914Driver wrote: I had an M5 once, I get it.

I'm not sure you do.

I don't know where you are going with this thread but berkeley if you can't get there on a beemer.

Cause this bike is freaking sweet.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I don't know where you are going with this thread but berkeley if you can't get there on a beemer.

I want an adventure-style bike, too bad I'm 5'8" with a short inseam.

Where am I going with this? Well, what initiated it was something I have observed in the past, and did so again this morning (more on that later). Secondly, I wondered how many people really knew the difference between the two terms beemer and bimmer. So back to my drive to work. I happen to see this guy riding a stripped down Harley that looked kind of like a cross between a rat-rod equivalent and a cafe racer. Pretty cool bike. I follow him a while on a 2-lane, and then we both turned onto a 4 lane road. Just so happened that a guy on a Beemer ended up in the lane next to the HD guy. Now, this isn't like the Beemers you guys show above, which I agree are pretty cool. No, this is the guy you've all see on the older style touring bike (sorry, no up on the model designations) with the flat engine. He sits bolt upright on the bike, has the hard case saddle bags, and is wearing a day-glo jacket for safety. Now, there's nothing wrong with any of this, but I just don't get the appeal. Paleez Esplane!

bravenrace wrote: No, this is the guy you've all see on the older style touring bike (sorry, no up on the model designations) with the flat engine. He sits bolt upright on the bike, has the hard case saddle bags, and is wearing a day-glo jacket for safety. Now, there's nothing wrong with any of this, but I just don't get the appeal. Paleez Esplane!

That's because he rides it 365 days per year.

Unless, of course, it's leap year.

The BMW bikes are really comfortable to ride. I think a lot of them belong to people who have a "I don't care what it looks like or what others think, I want to get out and ride!" mindset.

Woody wrote:

bravenrace wrote: No, this is the guy you've all see on the older style touring bike (sorry, no up on the model designations) with the flat engine. He sits bolt upright on the bike, has the hard case saddle bags, and is wearing a day-glo jacket for safety. Now, there's nothing wrong with any of this, but I just don't get the appeal. Paleez Esplane!

That's because he rides it 365 days per year. Unless, of course, it's leap year.

QFT. I can count on one hand the number of Harleys I've seen with over 10,000 miles. I can't count on all fingers and toes the number of BMW motorcycles I've seen with over 40,000 miles. Maybe if you restrict it to over 100,000 miles I could count them then.

The "cool" bikes just aren't made for long distance rides. You care about posing and generally being a tool, ride a "cross between a rat-rod equivalent and a cafe racer." You want to actually ride, your bike won't look like that.

A good friend of mine is on a cross country trip on his Honda Shadow 750. (has covered 8K miles already)

He's noticed that nearly all of the long distance runners are on BMWs.

Beemers have long been known to be reliable, comfortable, technologically advanced, and the "go-to" choice of serious bikers who put lots and lots of miles on their bikes.

I've pined for a K75 for a while. Great solid bikes.

There's a guy that I pass on my way to work every day who rides a BMW. Probably in his early 60s, wears the reflective suit on nice days or a rain suit when when he needs it. When it snows, he takes the one with the sidecar.

I used to think Harleys were unreliable, until I met a co-worker in SC with over 100k on his who drove it every day. I think they may just be more susceptible to falling apart from those ailments al machines get from disuse.

That aside, BMWs are for sure the go-to choice for covering lots of miles. I remember as a kid in SD seeing an older couple come through every year with a pair of BMW touring bikes each towing a Harley behind it heading out to Sturgis.

I'm a little confused. You think the guy on a cut down HD is "doing it right" and can't figure out touring on a BMW that from the description was a touring model?

BMW motorcycles are usually owned by the more hardcore rider. I'll skip the rest and leave it at that.

Yeah, Harley guys are, for the most part, posers. BMW riders don't buy into a lifestyle, they buy a machine.

pres589 wrote: I'm a little confused. You think the guy on a cut down HD is "doing it right" and can't figure out touring on a BMW that from the description was a touring model? BMW motorcycles are usually owned by the more hardcore rider. I'll skip the rest and leave it at that.

I probably didn't make my point clear about the comparison. I just noticed that the guy on the Harley looked cool and the guy on the BMW didn't. I never intended to imply that the HD guy was "doing it right". I'm not a Harley fan, nor am I a BMW fan, so that's not the issue. And while I am definitely a form follows function kind of guy, there's a point somewhere in there where I would also put style above function. My point is there is a limit to how far I'd go with function over form.
Anyways, I see what you guys are saying about the long distance riding. But I also notice a lot more Honda Goldwings or whatever their newest touring bike is than I do BMW's, so I'm wondering what the BMW has that say that Honda doesn't. Mostly because the Honda rider doesn't look anywhere near as dorky as the BMW rider I saw this morning. If you own a BMW bike or are a fan of them, please don't take offense, I'm just trying to understand. Many people were confused when I was in love with my AWD Civic wagon too.

"I just noticed that the guy on the Harley looked cool and the guy on the BMW didn't."

What's cooler; emulating fashion to look cool, or actually going out there and doing it? The BMW guy could have been your standard nerd on a BMW that bought his outfit because the other BMW guys look that way, but it's way way less common than the HD guy that puts on his costume to ride 40 miles round trip to hang with his buddies that all suspiciously look the same...

Sorry, I just got off a 4,000 mile round trip motorcycle ride yesterday, and the HD's out there that cover real distance have bags and windshields and all that jazz. The ape-hangars stay near home 99.9% of the time, and I saw more BMW's climbing Monarch Pass and those sorts of places than I did HD's.

Oh, and I don't have an HD or a BMW, I have a VFR (oddly, not an RWB like the section shown in my user picture here).

Looking uncool is part of the BMW shtick.

From my local observations, the SV650 riders are kind of a blend of sport bike riders and BMW riders--They (okay, we) think that we look cool, but we wear more gear than almost all of the other sportbike riders, so we never have that nonchalant lack of concern for our own safety.

I dig BMWs, though I don't have one. But I will definitely take my fluorescent yellow-trimmed riding gear over getting hit by some dingbat who needs help noticing the world outside the windshield...

And if you think someone one a Goldwing doesn't look dorkier than someone on a BMW, we're just not going to reach an accord on 'cool'...

My welding teacher in HS rode his BMW bike from the KY to Key West to the tip of Alaska back to KY.

Dorkyness is in the eye of the beholder.

Some people think that anything but full racing leathers look stupid on a bike.

Some people think that anything but a black leather jacket, jeans, and chaps over said jeans, look stupid.

Some people, etc, etc, etc....

Depends on how you ride. I never used leather while riding. It's expensive. I thought cordura would do the job just as well. I always had man made fiber gear.

The guy on the BMW may also subscribe to the "bright colors save lives" credo. I know some very old, and safe, riders who buy high viz yellow helmets. Why? Because it's highly noticeable.

ransom wrote: And if you think someone one a Goldwing doesn't look dorkier than someone on a BMW, we're just not going to reach an accord on 'cool'...

LOLZ. Nothing looks dorkier then a fully dressed Goldwing.