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Give that model to ANY one around here and it would be treated as it should


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I like the green color scheme. That exhaust is different. Like a barber's pole, but for coffee?
 
I for one would ride it properly. It would get properly ridden offroad daily, on my lawn between the patio and the driveway on its way to the street. And then it would carry me to McDonald's where coffee is good, vets are welcome, and seniors get discounts. :-P

Actually, I don't get the whole Beemer-Starbucks connection. On the rare occasions I've been dragged kicking and screaming to a Starbucks, I've never seen one, or any other type of bike, or anybody who looks like any type of rider. Mostly, I see college kids with that cultivated intellectually indifferent look, driving cars that look like oversized Chinese takeout containers.
 
I'm not sure when the connection started, but it's been around as long as I've been following motorcycle forums. Being a BMW guy I've always found it more humorous than offensive. For me coffee is just a caffeine delivery device. I don't care where I get it as long as it's not scalding hot. Like that Chinese take out container simile. Seems like to many cars these days look like the box they came in.
 
My neighbor boasted he rode his Ducati 848 EVERY weekend, rain or shine. He wasn't lying. He rode it religiously, 3.2 miles to Starbucks, and rode it home. Every Saturday. 8AM KSU. 10AM return home. Without. Fail.

Hilarious. A 848 never taken out of 3rd gear (his admission) or over 50 MPH.
 
I think it's probably to shame all those 1200GS owners that got one planning to adventure around and promptly just use it to commute on the street, mostly on coffee runs.
 
I figured it was the price of a fancy BMW bike or a fancy cup of coffee. Both cost more than I can afford. Helps I don't drink coffee.
 
One could argue that the reason for Starbucks GS comments is based on the fact that most people forget what the GS actually is, a “standard” style motorcycle. I believe it was the past owner of San Diego BMW who described the GS is the multi-tool of motorcycling and if you owned just one bike it would be a GS (or one like it.) While it’s equally at home on the interstate or the back roads of Botswana, there is no commitment by the owner to do either. Sure there are starry eyed dreamers who buy a GS, add a ton of Touratech and then go nowhere, but there are also a lot of other posers in every area of motorcycling and other motorsports for that matter. The key to the ADV bike popularity is that they can handle general riding pretty well.

The Harley vs non-Harley thing is more complicated and long running. It’s tied up with, among other things, the biker subculture, social identity, AMA racing rulemaking, etc. There’s so much to write about that a sociology grad student could do their thesis on the topic and some have. I think most of us couldn’t care less about the competition. I ride with friends who have HDs and have family members who won’t ride with me because I don’t have one. Go figure. The only thing I find tedious about it is the general non-riding public who assume I have Harley as soon as they learn I’m a rider and the HD faithful who get their egos bruised every time someone isn’t fawning over the brand of choice.

Both the GS and HD are aspirational brands and as such they get a premium price and some posers. I know guys that are very good riders who love their Harleys and guys in the BMW club who spend their summers riding their GS in Alaska and their winters riding in Mexico. Put anything on a podium and somebody will make jokes about it and try to knock it off. Now, what I want to know is why anyone in their right mind would pay $800 for an ice chest. Man that’s marketing!

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I agree, that would make a really interesting paper, if I were a Sociology student today (I was one close to 50 years ago). What makes it REALLY interesting is that riding isn't just a single subculture. It's more like a dozen, most of which are indistinguishable to nonriders. Harleys, outlaw Harleys, adventure riders, adventure riders who actually do any serious time off pavement, hardcore dualsporters, sport riders, stunters.....

But nonriders just see Harleys. Something that keeps popping up on my FB feed is "Hemi or Harley", one of those tests you can take after which the creator can tell you if you prefer trucks or motorcycles. Of course, being that that their entire representation of both sets seems to be either a 900 lb V-twin or a fire-breathing Dodge, I'd say whoever created the survey doesn't know a lot about either.
 
Given my long braided beard, long hair (which I cut off this spring) and knarley good looks, :trust: when people that don't know me find out I ride, they are taken back when they find I don't ride a Harley. Fun really starts when I tell them how much I ride and it's all is on a BMW, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha. :rider:
 
So much for stereotypes. Speaking of, I often get funny looks from people when I climb off my VStrom and remove my helmet. A 67 y/o face and gray hair hair aren't what people expect on anything that doesn't look like a cruiser of some sort.
 
That seems a total norm to me Tim. Old men rule! :mrgreen:
 
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I rode to Boerne and back today . Did not see ONE other adv/dualsport bike . Saw one sport bike and about 10 HD`s . Was it the heat ? Chance of rain or what ? Where were all the adventure riders :giveup:

PS . I only buy SB coffee for the house and I gave 5000 for my 3 street legal bikes :rider:Crap , I forgot to add one , make that 5500 :lol2:
 
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I for one would ride it properly. It would get properly ridden offroad daily, on my lawn between the patio and the driveway on its way to the street. And then it would carry me to McDonald's where coffee is good, vets are welcome, and seniors get discounts. :-P

Actually, I don't get the whole Beemer-Starbucks connection. On the rare occasions I've been dragged kicking and screaming to a Starbucks, I've never seen one, or any other type of bike, or anybody who looks like any type of rider. Mostly, I see college kids with that cultivated intellectually indifferent look, driving cars that look like oversized Chinese takeout containers.

:rofl:
 
As someone new to riding, all the inside jokes are interesting to me as I have no idea why they are there in the first place.

BMW's and Starbucks, Harley vs. non-Harley, etc.

And some of this "joking" is really just class envy to those who can afford a $26,000 motorcycle. Kind of like the SUV owners of the 90's about how they never saw any off pavement in their lives yet fully equipped with 4 wheel drive.

I say , hats off , if you got it , spend it. Money and profit make the world go around
 
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