A Birthday Present

Every year for the past 15 years when my wife asked me what I want for my birthday I would reply, “A motorcycle.” This year she said, “Okay.” I’m now riding a BMW K75 motorcycle.

The machine will join my beloved Vespa as partners in exploration, adventure and joy as I prowl the landscape of central Pennsylvania. I’m excited to investigate how these two nearly polar opposite vehicles will affect my experience on the road. I know how it will affect the physical aspects of riding, but it’s the mental and psychological effects that are of interest. Will the same serenity I find on the Vespa occur with the BMW?

This post will be short because I don’t have a lot to say.

Yet.

But here are a few ideas and revelations that led to the decision to ACTUALLY buy a motorcycle when I am so happy with the scooter.

As I’ve thought about motorcycles I rejected the idea of big and powerful to instead find something small and nimble. Like the Vespa. But then it occurred to me rather recently I was just trying to duplicate the Vespa experience on a motorcycle. So when it came time to actually buy something, it seemed more experientially interesting to acquire something that was the polar opposite of the scooter — big, heavy, powerful and not so nimble.

So now I will be riding a BMW K75 motorcycle. A 1992 BMW K75 motorcycle is pristine condition with 16K miles on the clock. I’ve only put 100 miles on it so far and won’t be doing a lot of riding until I have Kissell Motorsports do the Pennsylvania Safety Inspection along with a few other service needs in early August.

And then I start sharing the road with my Vespa. I’ll be riding a BMW K75 motorcycle and hopefully have something interesting to share from that experience. Scooter and motorcycle.

New adventures ahead.