Suns out, the bikes are out and the roads are dry …for now
After leaving the Broxton butty van stop and having chatted to Ian about his very decent Triumph TR6 (see previous post here) I headed on and took a non direct route back towards Whitchurch before heading for home. On the way I called to the J&S Motorcycle store in Northwich.
My main reason for stopping there was that it was on my route home and I needed a loo break. But when the suns out and the bikes are out I normally enjoy a wander around and looking at what other bikes are in. It was certainly busy there and you can some pictures from my stop there in the Picture Gallery Two below
Make life a ride
I always enjoy riding the RnineT – it’s just a good bike. For a few years now BMW have used the slogan ‘make life a ride‘ and they follow it up on their web site by saying:
Every moment is a crossroads. You can turn left, you can turn right, or you can continue straight ahead. You could return to your starting point and then just keep driving. A million paths lie at your feet, each better than the last and no worse than the next. Choose a new path every second and never look back. Because everything you find on the road is forever yours. And that’s how you Make Life a Ride.
That feels like something of a grand statement to me – but I get the sentiment. In my case it can sometimes be something as simple as a trip out for coffee – but making an 80 mile or so round trip on a bike just for a coffee feels like making more of life than just heading from the armchair to the kitchen.
Sometimes it’s more than just a ride for a coffee
In the 1971 film Le Mans, one of Steve McQueen‘s often quoted lines is when he says “racing is life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting.” I suppose that line represents a pretty extreme view but one that I guess many motorcyclists can feel and understand.
Brad Thor – an American author, has written about motorcycling and that Steve McQueen line. He said : ‘There is a timelessness to the Triumph Bonneville and to Steve McQueen – just like there is a timelessness to fall rides. No matter how cold the winter gets, or how many years may pass, the memories of leaves turning colors and the road stretched out before you will never fade. In my case, I think those memories only get better with time’.
So I suppose we can all take a view where we sit on the line, and it doesn’t have to be at the extreme end – but I think in my case it’s fair to say I remember the rides I have made for a coffee a little more than the times I have walked down the high street for one.
There are some pictures in the first photo set of my BMW RnineT taken from when I ‘headed out for a coffee’ on Sunday – which all in all ended up being around 160 miles for a coffee.
Picture Gallery – one
Clicking on any of the images below will open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through
Picture Gallery – Two
Clicking on any of the images below will open a picture gallery from the J&S car park – these can be clicked or scrolled through