AMA and BMW Motorrad USA Announce F800GS Winner

The AMA and BMW Motorrad USA gave an entry to everyone who entered and rode in a AMA BMW National Adventure Riding Series event, which were held all over the US, into a drawing for a 2010 BMW F800GS. Well, today they announced the winner - Doug Carter of Eubank, Kentucky, is the lucky SOB. He will take delivery of the F800GS very soon and will make very good use of it; Carter has been riding since he was five years old! So, in many ways, he is a deserving person, but we can still detest him anyway...

http://tinyurl.com/y8e56jm

S1000RR Boosts BMW Sales & BMW Looks for GS Owners

Almost the entire motorcycle industry in the US is now in a very deep depression, but BMW is not mired in that mess. The BMW S1000RR has since arrived in the States and is selling incredibly well. This has really improved sales for BMW here and it continues to go well for the German marque. The S1000RR is a revolutionary machine, so it is not that surprising as there are still people with money out there...they are just very careful about what they spend their money on. The S1000RR is worth it!

http://tinyurl.com/y8gmkx8

The BMW GS motorcycles are made to go anywhere you want to take them - and they often do. In the UK, a new race series has come about called the BMW Motorrad GS Trophy UK Qualifier. This will put riders through a severely tough course with the three top riders progressing to the International GS Trophy Finals in November of this year. BMW Motorrad UK, Simon Pavey and the BMW Off-Road Skills School have worked together for this purpose. For all the details - and a better description - please take the link.

http://tinyurl.com/y9lt2lo

Saturday Morning Moto News - Bolivia Grand Prix & New Zealand Superbike

Yep, we are in Bolivia for this one. The BMW F800GS has won its first race - the Grand Prix XXVII National Automobile and Motorcycle competition held in the South American nation. The winner of the motorcycle event was Juan Carlos "Chavo" Salvatierra who took his F800GS to the top of the boards rather handily. Most of the other riders were on Honda or Yamaha motorcycles. It was a long ride, but most of it was on asphalt; though, I doubt that made it any easier considering the condition of roads there...

http://tinyurl.com/ydwawxm

In the first round of the 2010 New Zealand Superbike Championship the weather has been the winner so far. In the 600SP class, Nick Cole took his Kawasaki ZX-6R to pole position after only 6 total qualifying laps. In Superbike, the weather really played havoc as the times were way down. Even with the weather, they managed to qualify for the main and Andrew Stroud took the pole. Aussie Robbie Bugden could not even get into the top 5. Let's all hope the weather is much better on Sunday!

http://tinyurl.com/yc54moa

Tuesday General Moto News - BMW, Triumph and Fun

BMW is offering adventure loving riders a chance to get away from everything and ride in Portugal. It is a week-long trip in the Algarve region in the south of the country. It will be hosted by former Rally Dakar competitor Simon Pavey and will be done twice in February. The idea is to get away from the cold and enjoy some warm and fun off-road riding...but, that cold snap in Europe is taking over the entire continent!

http://tinyurl.com/yz2yvhw

The world's largest Triumph dealer, Pure Triumph in the U.K., has built a custom Triumph cafe racer based on the 2009 Thruxton. The number of changes is a very long list, the only parts not changed were the frame and the engine internals. They even replaced the tank with a tank from a T140 and adapted to use on the Thruxton. To learn more, you really need to take the link.

http://tinyurl.com/y9vtv5s

And, lastly in this post, we have a rather funny fake story about a group of animal rights activists show up at a biker rally to protest the biker's use of leather. It looks like something went terribly wrong at the fictional event and you need to see the results!

http://tinyurl.com/yb3hu35

Even More New Year's Eve News from the Moto World

Let's start with some very rare motorcycles for sale...

The blog Rare SportBikes for Sale has listed an incredible collection up for sale. From a classic MV Agusta 850SS to a Ducati 900SS and even a Cagiva Mito! Only some prices are mentioned, but you can expect the very rare ones to sell for somewhere in the 5 to 6 digits - if only I had a trust fund! Please take a look and you might find something you want and can afford...

http://tinyurl.com/ychte3u

We also have a quick note about yet another BMW recall. Almost all models of the F650GS and F800GS - at least those made between January 2008 and January 2009 (which includes model years 2008 - 2010) - are being recalled to fix a stalling problem. Have a look...

http://tinyurl.com/yafnda2

We are also reminded of the 19th Annual MidAmerica Vintage Motorcycle Auction in Las Vegas. It will be held from 7 - 9 January 2010 and will include several machines from all eras of motorcycle production, but with special focus on the 1970's and 1980's Japanese motorcycles. If you can get there, GO!

http://tinyurl.com/ybmavbk

Tuesday Afternoon Moto News from Around the World

Not much going on this afternoon, so I only have one to place here.

A blog which I have linked to many times in the past few months, Luxist, had some of the authors of the site take a ride at the BMW Performace Center in Spartanburg - outside of Greenville, South Carolina. They had one hell of a time, as you might expect. They also provided us with a look into the school and the BMW machines they use to train their students. There are even several quality photos of the time which was spent there. Take a look as you may one day attend this school as well...

http://tinyurl.com/ylctnrp

Christmas Day Moto News - A Little Something for You

Yep, it is Christmas Day and people are stuffing themselves and getting gifts, but some of us are still paying attention to the news of the day - not everyone celebrates this day. And, even those who are having a great day will still be checking their blogs and newsletters.

With that in mind, we start with a rather beautiful machine from French designers Frank Charriaut and VincentPrat. They visited the Legend of the Motorcycle International Concours d’Elegance in June 2008 and decided to build a machine for themselves. They took a featherbed frame and a Norton 750 engine and turned it into the bike you see pictured here, the CP Project One. It is an incredible design exercise which would look perfect in my garage!

http://tinyurl.com/y98mnya

Now we have a 'Best of 2009' from MotorcycleUSA which brings us their picks for the best machines and best companies in the motorcycle industry from 2009. They have some controversial choices, but they do back them up with good reporting and good information. Take a look and see if you agree with them...

http://tinyurl.com/yekovwg

Lastly, for this post, comes some news on the Czech Dakar Team - one of the best European entries - is getting ready to head out for the Rally Dakar in South America. They have 36 team members total across all class entries, and they will be riding a Yamaha WR450F in the motorcycle competition. They have a quality team and good support, which only makes the racing more interesting!

http://tinyurl.com/y8gsadu

An Argument for Less is More with Adventure Riding

Have you priced the BMW R1200GS Adventure lately - or, even the KTM 990 Adventure? Well, this author argues that buying a less expensive - and a bit less radical - adventure machine is a better deal in the long run. He is all about the Suzuki DR650, and he does make sense!

http://tinyurl.com/yctle4p

First Look: 2010 BMW F800GS

Technically, this is not the first look we have had of the F800GS, but it is the first simple technical detail posting about the 2010 machine. Just take the link and get the basics on this very cool adventure bike from our friends at BMW.

http://tinyurl.com/y9tc6k5

A Baja Adventure for Five Journalists

Over at MotorcycleUSA, five of their writers managed to get together with a tour and head down to Baja for some serious off-road fun. They took several different motorcycles and really pushed them to their limits in the process of conquering that most awesome of peninsulas for adventure. They took along a Kawasaki KLX250S, a Yamaha WR250X, a BMW F800GS, and a Kawasaki KLR650; read the story after the link.

http://tinyurl.com/ybvukg5

The Arctic Challenge: A Test of Three Adventure Bikes

This is what I call a true test of capability! They took three bikes - KTM 990 Adventure, BMW R1200GS Adventure, F800GS - to the Dempster Highway in northern Canada where it crosses the Arctic Circle. It was a simple choice as they are, in fact, on an adventure through the frozen tundra (what's left of it) to decide which of these bikes best meets their needs...have a read of Part I.

http://tinyurl.com/yldwjwc

Now, we have Part II of the adventure. It is interesting to see how things changed once they got off of the pavement for some hard slogging in the back-country and mud.

http://tinyurl.com/y8qh5vq

PR: BMW Happy With EICMA Show and With Awards

The BMW K1300S won the Best Sports Tourer of 2009 and the F800GS won the Best Trailie category for the second year running. Overall, the EICMA event went much better than expected for many companies, but BMW walked away with these well-regarded awards which put them near the top of the successful list. This is a press release, so expect the usual marketing hype - BMW, though, does deserve the accolades.

http://tinyurl.com/yzypoz5

Third Annual BMW Canadian GS Challenge

The event went off during 18 - 20 September 2009, but this is the first report I have seen about it. The GS Challenge consisted of three fantastic itineraries which were categorized as Panoramic (beginner), Challenge (intermediate) and Double Diamond (advanced). All of those included sand, gravel, water and mud - love that mud! Riders came from around the world (as far away as Argentina and Germany) to tackle the challenge. And, it was perfect weather and all participants had one heck of a good time!

http://tinyurl.com/y9otdv5

A South African Adventure on a BMW

Wow, this guy is very lucky - or, just very good at getting what he wants. Neale Bayly flew down to South Africa at the invitation of BMW Motorrad for the F800GS launch, but BMW also provided the attendees with an Edelweiss three-day tour...

http://tinyurl.com/m76zbb

What a Journey! The Dempster Highway

The Dempster Highway is a road north to the Arctic Circle in Canada's Yukon Territory. It is a rough ride for any vehicle, now try it on a couple of motorcycles!

http://tinyurl.com/mkqw5a