- Joined
- Nov 7, 2004
- Messages
- 19,243
- Reaction score
- 7,201
- Location
- Sun Lakes & Show Low, Arizona
- First Name
- Brian
Today the AZ Beemers and some AZ members of the Motorcyclist Cafe Forum made a trip to Dean Lear's Motorcyclist Cafe Barn and Bunkhouse (B & B). If you have followed Beemerchef's (Ara and Spirit) exploits over the years you are already familiar with the B&B.
If you are not familiar with Dean Lear, he is a co-founder of San Jose BMW and has been big in the BMW Motorcycles and BMW Motorcycle Racing world for a long time. For more info on him see this thread...
http://www.sjbmwracing.com/HISTORY.html
He is now retired and living off the grid (full solar power) with his wife "Ms Pam" near Show Low, Arizona. Dean has a home, garages, carports, sheds, and the famous Barn & Bunkhouse which he built with his own hands. For the full background on the B&B construction just review this thread...
http://www.motorcyclistcafe.com/forums/showthread.php?1560-The-Motorcyclist-Cafe-Bunk-House-and-Barn
We left Chandler AZ at 0700, fueled up in Fountain Hills and then headed north on the 87/Beeline at 0745. Our (me and Brenda) first stop was next to the Zane Grey cabin in Payson to get a photo of the Mogollon Rim Country Firefighter Memorial. This was part of the Tour Of Honor Memorial Sites Rally that began at 0001 this morning.
Then it was back on the road to Show Low. It was 46 degrees at 0930 between Payson and Heber, but that area is at 7500-7600 elevation and there was still snow on the ground. We caught up with three other members of the AZB and rode the rest of the way to Dean's place. The final three miles to his "ranch" is all dirt and gravel on unmaintained county roads and private drives. A piece of cake on a DS, but on my Hondapotamous Wing with Brenda on the back it... was... not... fun.
Soon enough we arrived and the others began trickling in until we had about 20 or so bikes. We had expected more, but the temps were 20 degrees cooler than normal and high winds were expected later in the day. We saw a low of 46 degrees at 0930 and another low of 45 degrees at 1430 on the way home. Winds were 25-35 mph with gusts to 50 and it was NOT fun taking sweepers while leaning the bike away from the curve just to stay in the lane.
Here's a shot of some of the bikes and part of the B&B.
Drive in entrance to the barn.
If there was any confusion as to where we were...
Represent! Dean is originally from Spring Branch so we were bringing a little taste of home to him.
This is hanging inside the barn.
This is the wall of fame where invited guests are asked to sign the wall.
At the 1 o'clock position just outside the black ring...
Some of the cool stuff inside the barn.
You never know when you are going to run into another TWT member. Cathy/Kathy(?) is from the Ft Worth area and is now living in Arizona.
For more / misc photos take a look at my Flickr page...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethorn/sets/72157629720048699/
We had a great time and it was a real pleasure to meet Dean and Ms Pam. Dean also gave us a full tour of the entire solar set-up - panels, inverter, batteries, back up genny, etc. A sweet operation.
If you are not familiar with Dean Lear, he is a co-founder of San Jose BMW and has been big in the BMW Motorcycles and BMW Motorcycle Racing world for a long time. For more info on him see this thread...
http://www.sjbmwracing.com/HISTORY.html
He is now retired and living off the grid (full solar power) with his wife "Ms Pam" near Show Low, Arizona. Dean has a home, garages, carports, sheds, and the famous Barn & Bunkhouse which he built with his own hands. For the full background on the B&B construction just review this thread...
http://www.motorcyclistcafe.com/forums/showthread.php?1560-The-Motorcyclist-Cafe-Bunk-House-and-Barn
We left Chandler AZ at 0700, fueled up in Fountain Hills and then headed north on the 87/Beeline at 0745. Our (me and Brenda) first stop was next to the Zane Grey cabin in Payson to get a photo of the Mogollon Rim Country Firefighter Memorial. This was part of the Tour Of Honor Memorial Sites Rally that began at 0001 this morning.
Then it was back on the road to Show Low. It was 46 degrees at 0930 between Payson and Heber, but that area is at 7500-7600 elevation and there was still snow on the ground. We caught up with three other members of the AZB and rode the rest of the way to Dean's place. The final three miles to his "ranch" is all dirt and gravel on unmaintained county roads and private drives. A piece of cake on a DS, but on my Hondapotamous Wing with Brenda on the back it... was... not... fun.
Soon enough we arrived and the others began trickling in until we had about 20 or so bikes. We had expected more, but the temps were 20 degrees cooler than normal and high winds were expected later in the day. We saw a low of 46 degrees at 0930 and another low of 45 degrees at 1430 on the way home. Winds were 25-35 mph with gusts to 50 and it was NOT fun taking sweepers while leaning the bike away from the curve just to stay in the lane.
Here's a shot of some of the bikes and part of the B&B.

Drive in entrance to the barn.
If there was any confusion as to where we were...
Represent! Dean is originally from Spring Branch so we were bringing a little taste of home to him.
This is hanging inside the barn.

This is the wall of fame where invited guests are asked to sign the wall.
At the 1 o'clock position just outside the black ring...

Some of the cool stuff inside the barn.

You never know when you are going to run into another TWT member. Cathy/Kathy(?) is from the Ft Worth area and is now living in Arizona.

For more / misc photos take a look at my Flickr page...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethorn/sets/72157629720048699/
We had a great time and it was a real pleasure to meet Dean and Ms Pam. Dean also gave us a full tour of the entire solar set-up - panels, inverter, batteries, back up genny, etc. A sweet operation.