Let me jump in here. I did ride a Kawasaki Mach-III 500cc 2-stroke, once—and that was scary enough for an 18-year-old kid whose only motorcycle experience was a BMW 500 twin I'd just bought weeks before. In fact, I was taking the BMW in for its first service and the shop gave me the Kawasaki to ride while I waited. Scared the crap out of me. The BMW required full-throttle for modest acceleration, so when I tried that leaving the dealership on the Kawasaki I found myself reaching for the handlebars as I struggled to stay on the seat!
That was 1971. My father had told me I was never to get on a motorcycle while I lived under his roof. So on my last day of high-school, he drove me to the BMW-Honda dealership and co-signed for a loan with me on a new BMW R50/5. Then he left me there while I paid the down-payment from my summer job earlings. When they brought my bike out, I asked them how it worked and what the controls were. They thought I was kidding. I managed to ride it to the State Police headquarters to test for my M-endorsement but there was some guy on his Captain America wannabe extended-fork HD attempting to negotiate the pylon course without hitting anything or putting his feet down. The officer gave up on him and, looking at me, asked what I was doing there. I told him I came to get my license and he asked how I got there. I showed him my new bike and he said "Well you'd better pass or you're walking!" He asked if I understood what was expected and I told him I'd been watching the struggling Harley rider for over 20-minutes, so he put me out on the course. Down and back and stop before putting a foot down. Easy on the first try. He told me I'd passed and to get out of there as he went back to Captain America.
Fifty-two-years later I'm still riding BMWs. In fact in this year, the 100th Anniversary of BMW Motorcycles, I've purchased two more for a total of eight currently owned. My latest is a 1984 R100RS Last Edition model BMW sold 250 of with certificates claiming them to be the last edition of the R100RS Airhead—and then stopped production of all the R100 models. When they came back with that model again, but slightly different, in 1989, they got sued by the collectors and settled their claims with free helmets and other stuff. I rode this bike, after some service and updates, to two rallies commemorating the 100th Anniversary this summer, a total of around 1,500 miles—eight hours of which were in driving rain storms while I was safely tucked behind my Hans Muth-designed full fairing which had debuted on BMW in 1976 as the first production motorcycle with a full fairing. I had once owned a '78 model I purchased in November of 1977. I've missed that bike.
So, short story long, the other bike I bought this year is a 1994 R100R Mystic, itself a limited production model which actually did signify the end of the production for the Airhead BMWs. It also went to a 100th Anniversary celebration just a month prior to the RS rides. And here's what the basement bike storage looks like now. There are three more upstairs in the garage. Whatever you ride, keep doing it and be careful. Like me, you may not have that many years left to enjoy the ride!
