Hello there,
here I am, 45 years old, 25 on a BMW!
I live in the french Alps, near Switzerland, a wonderful area to ride.
I had my first BMW at 20, a K100RT; then many other bikes came and went away, probably about 150 or 200, I can't remember exactly. Nothing to do with a silver spoon oral birth, I buy cheap or very cheap bikes then overhaul them completely. This hobby eventually drove me to start a business dedicated to airheads restoration 4 years ago, that I'm currently closing because I 'd rather do a proper and original job than cutting tails to do so-called racers on inadequate bikes. So I'll have more time to work on my bikes.
I've also been working, in a previous life, as a motorcycle custom officer, spending hours and days riding K75RT and K1100LT, well, the way you ride it when it's your job and with a fine immunity. Just imagine...
I've always appreciated particularly the K1100LT, I had 2 on my own, as a daily commuting bike.
Currently, I ride a '85 basic K100 that is very enjoying,

I've finished 2 months ago the restauration on an old dream,  a K1 (previously black, turned in the red/yellow version):

I also ride a K75GS, made last year from a K75C with various BMW parts, trying to respect the pitch that it would have been what BMW should have made in 87.

The next work on a K bike will probably be the preparation of a race K100 or K1100, to race on historic hillclimbs that I already practice with airheads. Or the restauration of a K1100LT, awaiting for its turn in the attic.

Apologizes if my english sounds weird sometimes, it's not my mother tongue...

Nice to meet you!

Welcome from Ireland.

That is a nice collection of K's

Welcome from Oz as well. I'm sure Ringfad especially appreciates the K1. 

You may be close enough to meet in June, as I'll be between Chamonix and Geneva for a time. 

Bill

Welcome from New York State!  That is the nicest looking GS BMW I have ever seen.

Your English is as good as my Frenglish, but who cares...
Here we share passion, friendship and sometimes our personal feeling about general life. Sometimes, it could be hard to decipher slang but as an example, I rapidly learned that a buddy (ou un ami) in North American language is a mate for the Australians (the ones walking upside down and riding on the "wrong" side of the road).
Wait that you read an old post about vegemite   . This is what is the fun on this forum. we have a passion for K-Bikes but are also caring humans and have a lot of respect for each others. We help anybody (which can be a nubby or somebody with a lot of experience).

Nice collection of bikes you have (or had). Maybe the next time I come back to France I can visit you too.

Cheers et bienvenue.
CF (You see, Frenchies are very welcome here and I am one of them)

Welcome to the forum too. If you get the urge to travel feel free to come this way. The ferry from Roscoff to Cork docks 15 minutes from me.

I have taken to taking my K to France along with 88 from the forum and we would like to be down your way. Next year perhaps!

If you get a chance to meet with Indian036. He came to see us last year and we really enjoyed his company.

Welcome jbt.  I have no doubts that you will fit right in here! Your experience, knowledge and passion are shared by a good many of the members.  However, I doubt many can claim to have owned such an impressive collection of bikes.  Some might say you are "livin' the dream!"

Thanks for the welcomings!
Indian036, feel free to visit me in june, I live 40 minutes from Geneva and can provide bed & breakfast & bike if you'd like to tour here. You or anyone else...

Thanks also for the invitation in Ireland, I was there last summer to discover that beautiful sunny and dry island. By car... I wish I could return there on 2 wheels, but a K100 may be too much for the twisty roads of Kerry. I'd prefer ride my Royal Enfield, or my C1 (not sure that a rainfree week is usual up there?).

Il'll be in NYC in 10 days, Point-seven-five, on a family journey for my wife's 40 birthday.
I'd like also to do a long tour by bike in the USA, buying a K on east coast to go west and back. I'm a lucky worker who can have 2 months summer holydays... But not for now, in a few years, when my daughter will be older ( so I can get rid of her in a summer camp, ha ha!) ( In Ireland if she's not nice .)

I like that K75GS, I am building one myself. What is the plastic headlight suround and screen from?

It's the original R80G/S headlamp surround, chopped to receive the K75 instruments cluster.
Without the screen, it looks like a spanish franquist policeman:


So the optionnal windscreen ( became an original equipment on the R100GS) masks it.

Welcome!

Bonjour JBT, 

Would that be Clermont Bonneville that you are from?  The last couple of years I have crossed along the Chamonoix - Martigny col but have not been to Geneva.  Whenver I cross from France to Switzerland and vice-versa I am not sure if I am sad to be leaving one and happy to be arriving or the other way round.  Lots and lots of great roads around there. 

Good to see you chiming in Rick about the 75GS.  I can see you salivating from here   

M. Tackleur.

Hi Tackler,
Clermont is a very little village, 50 km from Bonneville (a very small town also!), yes.
And you're right, roads around are idyllic, but sadly more and more often stuck by road traffic around the main touristic places.
So I sometimes prefer to ride for a 1000 km one-day trip in the  South Alps, going to put a toe in the Mediterranean Sea and back for dinner, using only little twisty roads in moutains.  I usually use a R100GS Paris Dakar for that, it justs need a refuel at mid trip and has good ground clearance in curves (many, many curves!), but a K would be fine also.

Looks like the guardia civil !?  lol  Hilarious!    and there's a lot of truth to that.

Jbt,

I would be interested to know which route you ride to get down to the Med.  I have maps of that area but whenever I visit there is never enough time to explore every road. 

Would the tunnel collapse on the D1091 between La Grave and Le Bourg d'Oisans be repaired yet?  I went to use it last year after coming down Col du Galibier and ended up with a massive detour between Briancon and Grenoble.

jbt wrote: (not sure that a rainfree week is usual up there?).

 In the west it's  called a drout (une sécheresse) 

Bienvenue. Riding in France is such a pleasure, an't wait to return to the Dordogne, hopefully later this year.

I like the K75 job you have done, it looks OEM !

Enjoy the forum.

This road won't be repaired, but a provisional gravel road was open on the other side of the lake.
Provisional because it's not rockslide proof either and it's supposed to be a solution waiting for another one.
But I know a "provisional" bridge on the Rhône built in 1950...
From my location, I have the choice of many roads, depending of the traffic...From Grenoble to Sisteron, by Lus la Croix Haute it's a large quick road, very pleasant, but with a lot of traffic depending the day and hour. You can also cross the Vercors to Die (the town, not the end of the trip!) then join Digne, Castellane, Grasse...it depends your destination, but any road seems to be made for bikes by there.

Hum...talking about that is triggering a sudden need to go there to celebrate spring, I've just fit a new front tyre...
Sunny weather tomorrow...I have to go to Grenoble...I'll think about it this night.

For those travelling to France, the absolute nirvana on 2 wheels is the road from Villefort to Mende. Each curve seems to be designed to your exclusive pleasure on 2 wheels, terrific scenary, no cars, no cops...
To ride in April/May with flowers everywhere, in the morning with the sun in the back.
No visa should be delivered if you don't aim to ride there!

jbt wrote:… nirvana on 2 wheels is the road from Villefort to Mende. Each curve seems to be designed to your exclusive pleasure on 2 wheels, terrific scenary, no cars, no cops...
To ride in April/May with flowers everywhere, in the morning with the sun in the back.
No visa should be delivered if you don't aim to ride there!

Good tip! ;-)
This summer I'll pass Carcassonne, maybe I'll have a look at the road you recommend.

Cheers

Welkome jbt!

Love the K75. It's like a blend of my R80G/S and my customised K75.

Cheers

For those travelling to France, the absolute nirvana on 2 wheels is the road from Villefort to Mende. Each curve seems to be designed to your exclusive pleasure on 2 wheels, terrific scenary, no cars, no cops... wrote:To ride in April/May with flowers everywhere, in the morning with the sun in the back.
No visa should be delivered if you don't aim to ride there!

Just looked at it on the maps....Ooooh nice!