No Time Like the Present

I've had a bit of motorcycles on my brain since meeting these two guys in Mexico on their way from Alberta, Canada to Patagonia. They seem to have piqued an irreversible interest that has quickly consumed me with obsession.

Fast-forward from Mexico a couple of weeks. I'm back at work, back in the daily grind. Brandon, the new kid at work, mentions something about Ewan McGregor riding with one of his buddies around the world on a motorcycle. "What?!" I say. "Yeah, they have this documentary about it. I have it on DVD. I'll let you borrow it." I borrow it. I watch the entire 10-episode series in one weekend -- that's 10 hours of TV in one weekend. Yeah. 10 hours. I start looking for a motorcycle and begin the harder task of trying to figure out how I can manipulate the budget to make it fit...

It's been 5 years since I had a bike so I begin by snooping the BMW owners group forums where I find a relatively well-stocked flea market. I zero in on the model I want by going out to the BMW dealership for some test rides.


The GS is coincidentally the same model Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman rode around the world and again later rode across Africa -- it's also the model my friend Willy (R.I.P.) considered his dream bike. I start talking to various sellers online. I find one in Baton Rouge, LA but it's sold before I can make an offer. I find one in Charlotte, NC; one in Chicago, IL; and one in Sacramento, CA that I'm interested in. The Charlotte bike is an '06 Adventure model (larger gas tank, extra crash bars, better suspension, etc.) and just a little ($1200) more than the '05s in Chicago and Sacramento. I call the credit union to see about raising my preapproval amount. They do it. I offer to buy the Charlotte bike and start making plans to fly out to ride her back.