the bike

I've always wanted a motorcycle. I guess it's the sense of freedom that one experiences whilst riding. I either couldn't afford it, or knew that I wasn't going to stay in a city long enough to purchase one. I finally broke down and bought my first bike, it was a 2005 Honda CBR 600RR; a sport bike. Doing 200 km's per hour and more on a straight-away was no problem for this bad boy.

A year later, going to my first ever bike show, and seeing the BMW F650GS, I knew that this was the bike for me. Doing some research over the next few months, I stumbled on now my two favourite websites www.f650.com and www.advrider.com I knew that the F650GS was going to be my next bike. I also had a little inspiration by reading Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon, reading and watching the DVD (numerous times) of The Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, watching Charley Boorman in the Race to Dakar, again numerous times. Given, they had alot of support and help along the way; however if I had the money, I would do that too. Riding around the world is a test of one's character and soul and not for everyone. Now I'm keeping my eyes peeled as both Ewan and Charley do The Long Way Down from Scotland to Cape Town. So it was inevitable that I was going to sell my Honda and had to patiently wait 3 months for my BMW to arrive.

The night before I could pick her up, I was honestly like a little kid on Christmas eve. I was so excited and decided to name her "BlackBeast". It's a 2007 F650GS and came with ABS, heated hand grips, centre stand, BMW hand guards, BMW brush plate and engine guard. No, the modifications and accessories didn't stop there.

"hyperfarkosis"
This is a somewhat rare condition, experienced by mainly adventure motorcycle enthusiasts. It is the constant need to research, source, modify and add accessories and protective equipment to ones bike. I think I may have a little problem.
I also want to thank or blame Bill and Madeleine Towner for kindly agreeing to have most of this shipped directly to them. The modifications so far:-

• Touratech 35L panniers
• Dakar tinted windshield
• Cee-Bailey's protective headlight guard
• Piaa 510's driving lights
• Wolfman Denali tankbag
• Touratech locking GPS mount
• Ram mounting accessories
• Garmin GPS60CSX with City Navigator V.8
• Wunderlich Ergo high seat
• AGM maintenance free battery
• Touratech fairing guards
• Touratech radiator protector
• Touratech hand guard spoilers
• Whale tail luggage carrier
• Wolfman tail bag
• Kidala centre stand skid plate
• Kidala mudguard extension
• Touratech front sprocket cover
• Touratech chain protector
• Touratech rear master cylinder cover
• Touratech carrier bracket for MSR fuel bottles
• Pivotpegz
• Sheepskin buttpad (for those long riding days)
• Gerbings heated jacket
• Rally 2 Pro jacket and riding pants
• BMW rain suit
• Arai XD helmet
• Rev'it winter gloves
• Alpinestars gortex motorcycle boots
• Reflective stickers - lots of them...

Did I mention that I was incurable!