European Motorcycle Day-Larz Anderson Museum

October 10, 2004
I just got back from the European Motorcycle Day at the Larz Anderson Transportation Museum in Brookline, MA.

It was a cool crisp New England fall day and the turnout was amazing. I'd say there were easily 300 bikes on display and probably around 1,000 spectator bikes. Anyone in the Northeast should definately put this event on their schedule every year.
European Motorcycle Day - this was early, around 10:30 before the crowds built.



While I had hoped to run into some of the New England Chain Gang members, I missed the few I knew would be attending. I arrived at about 9:45 and had to leave by around 12:00 'cause of prior commitments. Below are pics of some of the bikes on display followed by a brief write-up on my ride.

I'm anything but a vintage bike expert, so if I mis-labeled any of the bikes, my apologies.

There were tons of vintage BMWs

The last produced R50 (1962)



My personal favorite: a 1980's R80GS


A 1936 R12


A 1976 R90S


Here are some of the Triumphs on display:

1967 Triumph Bonneville


Triumph Trident - in my humble opinion the coolest Triumph there


An entire row of BSAs


Five Absolutely Mint Vincents


All Sorts of Ducatis were there

Ducati Row


A somewhat rare Ducati 750SS


Ducati Single


A special treat was an Australian Drysdale V8 - I think the announcer said it's only one of a few in the US


The really old bikes were amazing

Here's a 1922 Douglas


A 1908 F.N. (whatever that was). The owner had the thing running and it attracted a swarm of people


Lea Francis - circa 1900-1910


Here's the brief summary of my ride up and back.

My ride was great - about 245 miles round trip. I took back roads into Brookline (Just outside of Boston) to avoid the crazies on the Mass 'Pike. Not a bad ride, except I now believe that MA residents must pay pennance for their traffic infractions during the week by driving exceedingly slowly on backroads on Sunday!

On the way back I stopped off at a CT State park (I really need to go bad!)

FWIW, this was the first ride that I wore earplugs during - all the posts regarding earplugs made me decide to try it - I never realized how much wind noise I was being subjected to before. The earplugs made a huge difference. I don't think I'll take another ride without them.

Why I own an F650GS

I caught the bug to start riding in 2001. Except for a brief (and not very good) stint riding a dirt bike when I was 11 - 14 years old, I hadn't ridden before. Now, I'm a pretty level-headed practical by-the-book kind of guy, so it really surprised me that what got me thinking about getting my first "real" bike was BMW's ad campaign for the GS - the one that included the pic's of a guy leaning against his bike in the middle of the desert. It just struck a chord with me - I had two kids, work was becoming all-consuming, the standard exercise routines had become boring and I needed an outlet - I'd buy a motorcycle! (Sounds a bit like a slightly early mid-life crisis to me).

Anyway, being the well trained scientific-type that I am (hydrogeologist by training). I researched the heck out of what was available on the market. I didn't want to mess with a used bike at the time, 'cause I knew nothing about bike maintenance. Yes, I do my own maintenance and wrenching on almost everything else - but without any experience, the thought of screwing up on a crucial part of a two-wheeled conveyance basically scared the s*it out of me - Since, I've overcome this aversion. I took the MSF rider course and took to heart that I didn't want a liter-class squid bike or a huge cruiser. I wasn't exactly sure what type of riding I wanted to do, so everything came to mind - commuting, riding local fire roads, occassional longer tours, and bike camping.

It came down to three choices at the time: the F650GS, the Suzuki SV650, and the Kawasaki KLR650. Being nearly middle-aged the styiling of the KLR650 didn't appeal to me. And, being new to motorcycling, the ABS available on the 650GS did appeal to me. The more I researched, I found The Chain Gang - this site pretty much made up my mind for me - it was going to be the 650GS. Off to the dealer I went and I've been totally thrilled since.

I pretty much do ride as I expected - I commute a couple-few times a week to work, I take at least two 3-4 day tours a year, and occassionally run down a dirt road - my dirt riding confidence hasn't gotten any better from when I was 12 years old!

I love the bike - I have a couple mod's left to make still - taller seat, and a windscreen to make it more comfortable (I'm a bit over 6' 3"). The only maintenance problems I've had is when a mouse made a nest on top of the fuel pump, had babies, and chewed through my fuel feed and fuel return lines!!! Then I learned that with a BMW, you can't run down to the local auto parts store to replace molded lines which have each end of a different diameter.

I'd say I'd buy another one again, or possibly upgrade to the 1150GS - but for its handling, nimbleness, fuel efficiency (regularly over 65 mpg), and just plain-old fun factor - it's a hard bike to beat. Plus, I'm Unique - I don't see many on the road and I certainly don't fall into the so-called "Individualistic Harley-rider" type - who all have the same bikes, of the same style, etc.

I'm very glad I found The Chain Gang . This on-line forum for F650 owners is amazing. The knowledge I learn from the forums and the FAQs can't be found anywhere that I've seen for other bikes.

SW-Motech Sideracks and Givi E360 hard bags

In the Spring of '04, I purchased a set of SW-Motech sideracks and Givi E360 hard bags from Twisted Throttle.com . I figured I'd put my impressions on the racks and side bags up here.

The racks (pair) cost $199 and the bags (pair) cost $366.

For the F650GS, there is one rear mounting bracket that is installed under the license plate holder.


On the left and right sides there are mounting tabs that fit pre-exisiting bolt holes beneath the muffler and the catalytic converter can.


A third mounting point is through the removable plastic discs above the muffler and can.


The installation instructions that came with the sideracks are in german, but the diagram is clear enough, it wasn't necessary to read anything. Installation of all the brackets took about an hour. All mounting bolts got a dab of "Blue" threadlock.

The main advantage of the SW-Motech racks is that they can be quickly removed from the permanent mounting tabs via quick-connect cam-like fasteners.


So far the quick connect fasteners have been very secure over about 2,000 miles on pavement. The racks are well-built flat steel and align perfectly with the mounting tabs. There's an optional keyed lock that can be installed on each rack, that I didn't get (but may be nice). If I'm leaving the bike somewhere with luggage installed, I simply run a cable through each bag and through one of the grab handles and lock it so the bags can't be removed without destroying them.

The Givi E360 bags are just wide enough to fit my Arai Quantum full face, but fit a surprising amount of gear.


The whole set up has been great for commuting and for two solo camping trips so far. The only downside is that with the E360 bags, the set up sticks out quite a bit.


I think I have a visual cross-section of a Goldwing with this setup. All the better to be seen! Plus, you'll note I added retro-reflective tape to the Givi bags - VERY visible at night.

So far, I've been very pleased.

The Start of my Moto-Journey

This is circuitous and potentially too self absorbed and self-analyzing, but you guys asked...I had actually started this for a similar post a year or two ago, but never finished it.

At around 13 years old my relatively conservative, always uptight parents surprised the hell out of me one Christmas morning by having a Suzuki 50cc dirtbike parked in the middle of our living room. No one I knew rode – no parents, friends, neighbors, etc. I kinda figured out how to ride the thing and kinda figured out how to clean and adjust the carb on my own. We lived in suburban Long Island, NY. I was a pretty sedate tyke and as the first child always followed the rules. Therefore, I didn’t ride the bike on public roads. My parents didn’t really encourage my riding and didn’t have a trailer. So, after a year or two of riding around in circles in the woods behind our house, I got bored. We sold the bike sometime around when I was 16. Thus ended my early years.

Fast-forward about 20 years.

I'm a scientist - a hydrogeologist by training, but really a scientist by nature - I just like to know how things work. Except, I'm now a middle manager - a place in life that conjures up thoughts of expendability, of having no real expertise; not quite a power-broker or rainmaker, yet too far removed from technical expertise to be of real value.

About 4-5 years ago, I started having a hard time reconciling technical facts and "truth" against a world where politics, personal posturing, and he-who-shouts-loudest wins. In short, I'm in conflict. I wonder how I got here when I used to be the “wonder kid”. I did everything expected of me. Wait....I did everything expected of me... I managed the details, the budgets, the schedules, the staff training, the creation of standards, and somewhere along the way I forgot to look out for my interests.

The best phrase I've ever heard to describe me is a Type B soul wrapped in a Type A exterior. Laid-back by nature, but only when I can be. Utterly intense and the epitome of perfectionism when I have to be - most of the time since no one else sees it the way I do. It' s not a bad description, but my Type A exterior has been learned over time and isn't really me.

Maybe I'm just being self-absorbed and every person in the middle part of their lives goes through the same conflict, but a Type B soul trapped in a Type A exterior accurately captures the constant battle going on in my head. My type A persona is a product of a bachelors in geology, a masters in hydrogeology, working with uptight engineering-types and even more uptight clients for over 15 years. Somehow I went from being a beer-drinking laid-back enjoy-the-scenery geologist to the get-it-done guy. Unfortunately (or in the big picture, fortunately), I still remember I have a Type B soul.

So I suppose it shouldn't surprise me too much that a few years back, for the first time in my life, I was drawn in by an advertising campaign. It struck a chord with in my conflicted life. It was BMW's ad campaign featuring grainy black and white photographs of a lone rider leaning up against his F650GS motorcycle in the middle of a hot dusty desert road. It screamed freedom and I've been screaming "I'm trapped".

I needed an outlet. I took the MSF Rider Safety Course, figured out I can still ride and took the lessons to heart. I walked into the BMW dealership looked at the F650GS, looked at a Triumph Bonneville, looked at a Triumph America (almost went that direction), and decided I wanted versatility – I bought the 2002 F650GS right there.

So far, it’s been the best decision I’ve made in my 40 or so years on this planet. I love the solitude of riding alone, I love the people I’ve met, and it’s helped me put things in perspective. My wife even likes the fact that I’m happier since I bought the bike and am not quite as stressed out.

Go ahead – flay me alive for being a typical mid-life crisis dweeb – but you guys asked how I got started, and that’s it.