Hello, Everyone,
I confess that my instinctive reaction to learning that I must make an initial posting within 7 days of registering was, "HUH?" Normally I like to kibitz a while in order to get the flavor of a board before jumping into the conversational stream. The rules in this case don't let me do that, and it took me 5 days to get around to it. Anyway, I'm here.
Discovering this site was an accidental delight. For some reason, when I googled "R65" in my pre-purchase research, r65.org did not pop up. It was only when I was browsing through postings on bmwmoa.org that I found out that you exist. I'm sure glad I did.
I rode very light bikes and scooters in high school and college, and I owned probably the first Yamaha in my home town (50,000 population). I terminated the Yamaha while still in high school by t-boning a car that pulled out of a service station from behind a parked truck (classic MSF hazard scenario), and I walked away with only a broken right hand (no helmet laws in those days). Though I figure now that I used up my lifetime supply of luck that day, it didn't stop me from riding loaner Hondas and Vespas in college every chance I had. I was tempted to buy a Triumph 650 while in the Army, but never got around to it. (It was a huge hassle then to own a bike while in the military, especially when transferring geographically.) So I quit riding.
Last fall I returned to riding after an interruption of 40 years or so. I took the MSF Basic Rider Course Labor Day Weekend 2007, completed, & passed it despite dropping their loaner Honda 250 on my leg early on the last day (and I spent all Sunday night in the ER getting sonograms and MRIs to determine that I wasn't developing compartment syndrome from the massive hematoma I got), received the motorcycle endorsement on my license, then began researching a bike to buy.
After about a month of study, I concluded that I should look for an R65 because of my height, driving conditions in the Northern Virginia nightmare (I live in Fairfax, VA, and work in downtown DC), and my disinclination to deal with the local "other-than-BMW" dealers. I tested a new 650 thumper, but I preferred the feel and handling of the R65 boxer. So, when I noticed that a nearby dealer had a 1981 R65 in Avus Black in good condition, with a cafe fairing and 22K miles, I jumped at it despite a price that wasn't exactly rock-bottom. (At this point in my life and riding career, I wasn't interested in a project bike.) I bought it at the end of October, rode it when I could during the winter, and spent my time putting stuff (e.g., touring cases and safety/visibility gear) on it to make it a better urban survival bike.
I'm delighted to make contact with other riders. I joined the local Washington-area riders' club (BMWBMW) in November, and I got around to joining BMWMOA last week. Haven't decided yet whether to join airheads.org. I figure the memberships are necessary, for what I *don't* know about riding & maintaining an R65 would fill a library.
Best wishes to all,
John Trevey (Altritter)
previous BMW product: 2002tii (1973), Deutschland, 1973-75
Topic: Introductory remarks from a newbie but oldie (Read 1444 times)