I'm doing the GOAT Rally this week. Right now waiting for storms to finish passing.
We had a good ride all day yesterday. Storms at night made a few water crossings impassable, but we found ways to circle around.
My XT225 is one of the smallest bikes here. I keep finding myself looking for another gear when I'm at 55 mph, then remembering if I'm at 55 there's no gears left.
Glad I found a group that had a TW200 and a KLX 300 that kept a good pace for me.
A short video from the ride today. * The ride was about 30% pavement 68% dirt and gravel - Here's some of the 2% 'other'.
My video from this year's GOAT Rally. I hadn't ridden for quite a while. At first my lines on the road and trails were off and handling of the bike was sloppy. After three full days of riding (a little over 500 miles total) I really felt good on the bike again. I made some new friends and had a great time.
Photo Album from this year's GOAT Rally, almost 200 pics: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBoEKz
I was at a near fatal wreck on Thursday afternoon (pretty sure that he survived after surgeries) and last night's crew was at a motorcycle accident where one died on scene and another was flown to the nearest trauma center. Other accidents in the area recently that we did not respond to because they were instantly fatal. Lots of people riding without helmets around here.
I know that at least one rider from the GOAT Rally ended up at the ER with a broken leg.
I'm not going to quit riding, but I am going to be avoiding areas with high traffic and not riding while tired or distracted. I'm going to wear my 'Batman suit' unless I'm going for a short, local ride at low speeds. It won't make me invincible, but will help cut down on punctured lungs and road rash.
I do most of my riding on the weekends, usually in the AM. Best on Sunday, as few people are out and about. And I generally dislike riding in populated areas, which also helps.
ATGATT, of course.
Yup, it's way more dangerous than driving a car. I feel the added risk is still worth it. Have a health scare in your life, and you'll look at risk/reward differently.
ddavidv said:... I feel the added risk is still worth it. Have a health scare in your life, and you'll look at risk/reward differently.
'Send-it' with no regret. In my 60s now, I've been on the pointy operational end of things since I started working. Risk of death or dismemberment on a daily basis for over 40 years has taught me not to avoid dangerous things, but to identify and mitigate hazards to a reasonable extent. In the end I'd much rather fail spectacular doing a thing than regret never having tried it.
In reply to AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) :
100% - Risk was always part of my career as well. You just do what you can to mitigate necessary risk, and avoid unnecessary risk. No such thing as risk elimination...
That said, I finally got fed up about two years ago and sold my bike because I couldn't even take a weekend morning ride without some idiot trying to kill me. Location can have a lot to do with it, and the unrestrained and poorly managed population growth where we lived was making the roads untenable on two wheels. First time in 30 years I'd been without a bike. Now that we've retired and moved to a less congested area, I've got a bike back in the garage. Now, I just need to find the time to ride it...
Rode to work this past Tuesday. Only had one car try to merge into me on the freeway
@Rodan - you're doing retirement wrong. 
In reply to ddavidv :
K24 swapping our race Miata while getting settled in a new house has pretty much dominated the last 6 months for me... 
I barely rode last year. We have been short-staffed at work and I've had little time for recreational rides. Having four bikes sitting for most of a year is not good; Fuel goes bad, batteries die, and the shine fades. I want to ride, but all of the bikes will need some work and refresh - a commitment of time. I love working on projects, but have a long queue of them lined up. As GRMers you may understand my immediate solution: Buy another bike. Tomorrow I expect to buy a 1996 R1100GS with under 65k miles "Ready to Ride".
I did some research and reading on the ADV Rider forum and BMW MOA, and got tired of looking for informative threads. I tired Grok.com to see what current AI would say about the subject. A simple statement to get started. It's surprisingly conversational and cuts through all the BS posts that clutter many of the internet discussions. Very insightful and helpful. Here's the start and I could easily have kept going for an hour prompting and replying to it's prompts back to me.
From there we got into maintenance specifics, riding preferences, highway vs trails, on and on. Of course 'The Hive' knows all, but Grok3's instant responses can be nice.
My plan is to consolidate my riding into one bike and sell off at least three of the others as time permits to get them cleaned and prepped for sale. I'll post pics tomorrow night if the purchase works out.
Buying another bike is always the GRM answer! 
I've ridden a half-dozen times in the last year, and I'm always looking at CL, FB, BAT, etc... LOL
My biggest complaint with the Paralever/Telelever BMWs is that the stock shocks crap out at ~50-60k miles, and there isn't much in the way of replacements available, at least there wasn't when I had mine (R1100RSL) in the early aughts. Wilbers was about the only aftermarket option at ~50% of the value of the bike. Maybe that's changed, but I didn't love the bike enough to put that much $$$$ into it.
In reply to Rodan :
Back to Grok then...
Details:
What’s Involved
Time and Difficulty
Resources
Verdict
Yes, it’s doable. A car guy with a decent toolbox, a service manual, and some YouTube backup can handle it. Worst case, you mess up a seal and leak oil—nothing catastrophic. If you’re hesitant, start with the rear shock; it’s simpler. Got a garage and a weekend? You’re golden.
Glad to hear parts to rebuild the stock shocks are now available. They weren't BITD... at least I never saw a single reference to rebuilding the stockers back then. It was new/takeoff OEM or aftermarket.
ddavidv said:I do most of my riding on the weekends, usually in the AM. Best on Sunday, as few people are out and about.
I always found Sunday morn to be the worst. Everyone is late for church, not stopping, not looking and speeding like hell. Apparently Jesus is unforgiving about showing up late for church, but killing somebody on the way is OK.
If I was going to haggle, I would have pushed for $2,800 from the asking of $3,200. The seller was great to work with and has taken care of all the issues I have concern about except for the shocks and the shocks are fine for now. The bike is a 'rider' with some scratches and wear - exactly what I want. I paid asking price after going over the bike with him, not hiding any flaws and giving me all the info he had. I'm happy with it.
That's a deal, even at $3200. Just those Jesse panniers were ~$1500 20 years ago!
Coming to the conversation late.... I just put a new tire on my wife's XT225 yesterday. It's a great bike. We have a small herd of bikes and cars, each one has a maintenance log. I was shocked to find that there was no log for the XT225. It has just kept running for years, probably ten years since we bought it, with little or no maintenance. I dimly recall changing the oil once.... It has never let us down. We lived off grid in the Arizona desert a couple winters ago, rode all over the place every day, the only thing we did to the bike was put a little gas in it and bolt a milk crate to the rear rack. Styling!
I ride a DR-Z 400 and it's better for some things. Other things not. I see that this thread has veered into ADV bike territory, and that's OK. But I gotta say, the farther off road you go, the more lightness is beautiful, and the less power matters. I have big displacement street bikes... but for off road I'm considering swapping my DRZ400 for a CRF150. Even my son's "cheap beginner bike" Honda 100 was a better tool on the single track than the DRZ400.
Happy riding!
Yeah, you did great on the purchase price, as pointed out, those Jesse panniers are expensive!
ekauppi7 said:Coming to the conversation late.... I just put a new tire on my wife's XT225 yesterday. It's a great bike. We have a small herd of bikes and cars, each one has a maintenance log. I was shocked to find that there was no log for the XT225. It has just kept running for years, probably ten years since we bought it, with little or no maintenance. I dimly recall changing the oil once.... It has never let us down. We lived off grid in the Arizona desert a couple winters ago, rode all over the place every day, the only thing we did to the bike was put a little gas in it and bolt a milk crate to the rear rack. Styling!
I ride a DR-Z 400 and it's better for some things. Other things not. I see that this thread has veered into ADV bike territory, and that's OK. But I gotta say, the farther off road you go, the more lightness is beautiful, and the less power matters. I have big displacement street bikes... but for off road I'm considering swapping my DRZ400 for a CRF150. Even my son's "cheap beginner bike" Honda 100 was a better tool on the single track than the DRZ400.
Happy riding!
The XT225 has been a great bike to get back into riding. Along with being great for getting around town, I have ridden it in stream beds and gone off the trails into raw rough terrain. I know that I will miss it when I sell it.
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