Gotta be kidding me. It was 4 years ago today that I left my home in Atlanta and headed north/west on my KTM motorcycle. My house was emptied and rented out, everything I depended on to live was there on the motorcycle with me, and as I just blathered about on Facebook, what has happened to me since then has been absolutely incredible.
In what could be described as an "excited state of exhaustion," my days and nights now revolve around RIDE Adventures, LLC and making this motorcycle touring and renting business grow and prosper. When I'm not out of the U.S. guiding or researching tours, I'm traveling around the U.S. promoting the business. An endless string of bike nights, races, rallies, shows, and events will fill out the summer months for me before heading back out of the country for tours (looks like it'll be Colombia in November.) What might sound like work is actually a TON of fun, as I get to hang out with and meet new motorcycle enthusiasts all the time. If it were not for this, and the fact that RIDE Adventures is definitely prospering....I don't know how I could keep up with this travel.
Sad/Glad News:
That KTM 950 Adventure S, (the bike that I ended up riding across the U.S., down to South America, and living with for the last 4 years) had to be retired just a couple of weeks ago. Existing electrical issues and upcoming non-routine expenses reassured me that it was time to sell "Julius" before having to sink major money into a bike that was worth so little. I had always envisioned keeping that incredible motorcycle in storage or somewhere, as we'd been through so much together, but with my home rented out and no practical place to keep the KTM, it was sold recently at auction. What an absolutely incredible motorcycle it was...
The upside to that change is that the new "company vehicle" for RIDE Adventures, LLC is shown above: The 2012 BMW R1200GS Adventure. What a great machine this is, with all the suspension, carrying ability, power, and handling I could ever ask for. The "Swiss Army" of motorcycles in many ways.
The BMW is actually not that "new" to me though, as I managed a fleet of these and use them all the time on different tours throughout South America. Instead of continuing with another KTM, this bike was chosen for that reason: BMW is still the rental/touring bike the world is relying on. In fact, we don't even have a KTM Adventure bike for rent/tour anywhere on www.rideadv.com.
So as you can see in the photo, the BMW named "Cosmo" is being adorned with all the marketing pieces possible, as he'll be at rallies, races, and motorcycle events all summer long (the majority of them being BMW-based events.) Aside from materials to promote RIDE Adventures, I'm also working with a handful of manufacturers to promote their businesses. Little add-on parts, protection pieces, and accessories are constantly being added in trade for publicity. This, I might add....is one fine part of working in the motorcycle travel business : )
Anyway, thanks if you tuned into this, and I hope it's not so long again before I update with more news. Back to the other mountain of writing projects I have to keep up with....
In what could be described as an "excited state of exhaustion," my days and nights now revolve around RIDE Adventures, LLC and making this motorcycle touring and renting business grow and prosper. When I'm not out of the U.S. guiding or researching tours, I'm traveling around the U.S. promoting the business. An endless string of bike nights, races, rallies, shows, and events will fill out the summer months for me before heading back out of the country for tours (looks like it'll be Colombia in November.) What might sound like work is actually a TON of fun, as I get to hang out with and meet new motorcycle enthusiasts all the time. If it were not for this, and the fact that RIDE Adventures is definitely prospering....I don't know how I could keep up with this travel.
Sad/Glad News:
That KTM 950 Adventure S, (the bike that I ended up riding across the U.S., down to South America, and living with for the last 4 years) had to be retired just a couple of weeks ago. Existing electrical issues and upcoming non-routine expenses reassured me that it was time to sell "Julius" before having to sink major money into a bike that was worth so little. I had always envisioned keeping that incredible motorcycle in storage or somewhere, as we'd been through so much together, but with my home rented out and no practical place to keep the KTM, it was sold recently at auction. What an absolutely incredible motorcycle it was...
The upside to that change is that the new "company vehicle" for RIDE Adventures, LLC is shown above: The 2012 BMW R1200GS Adventure. What a great machine this is, with all the suspension, carrying ability, power, and handling I could ever ask for. The "Swiss Army" of motorcycles in many ways.
The BMW is actually not that "new" to me though, as I managed a fleet of these and use them all the time on different tours throughout South America. Instead of continuing with another KTM, this bike was chosen for that reason: BMW is still the rental/touring bike the world is relying on. In fact, we don't even have a KTM Adventure bike for rent/tour anywhere on www.rideadv.com.
So as you can see in the photo, the BMW named "Cosmo" is being adorned with all the marketing pieces possible, as he'll be at rallies, races, and motorcycle events all summer long (the majority of them being BMW-based events.) Aside from materials to promote RIDE Adventures, I'm also working with a handful of manufacturers to promote their businesses. Little add-on parts, protection pieces, and accessories are constantly being added in trade for publicity. This, I might add....is one fine part of working in the motorcycle travel business : )
Anyway, thanks if you tuned into this, and I hope it's not so long again before I update with more news. Back to the other mountain of writing projects I have to keep up with....
