I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m more of a GS guy. Around town I’ll go with a more sporty riding position (I have an old Airhead BMW for that), but for longer rides I’m a GS guy. I just sold my 1150GS Adventure and bought a 1200GS Adventure last week. Looking forward to the improvements of the 1200 vs. the…

So basically, Critical Mass is to cycling as groups of stunting idiots with no gear are to motorcycling...

It was truly gorgeous. I loved it, and loved the engine...but I quickly learned that at the ripe old age of 27, I wasn’t a big fan of the sport bike riding position. I rode it down the Pacific Coast Highway from the Bay Area to San Diego (home), then rode it maybe 10-15 more times in the year that I owned it. It was…

Just for clarification, BMW already has made an R1200S. It was only imported to the USA in 2007, and they only brought in about 300 of them. The bike was quite capable on the track — it won the inaugural 8 Hours of Daytona race in 2006, obviously having been race-prepped.

As someone who’s ridden a motorcycle as a camera vehicle for a bike race, as well as an avid road and mountain bike rider, I can tell you that it’s VERY challenging to ride a motorcycle in a bike race — especially maneuvering a 600+ LB motorcycle with two people onboard around a ton of very nimble bicycles. Decisions…

I hope the Tesla owner is at home right now ordering drag slicks...

Because nothing enhances your e-cred like dropping the names of cars your "friends" own...even if you don't get the names right.

I'm curious to know the answer to that myself. I imagine they have a "minimum" fine...

Ahh, I haven't caught up with the ADV thread lately. I remember something about you making a beeline for the UK, thought you were going to hang there — guess that was just a place to store the bike while you came back stateside?

Hey, hey, don't you have some Western European country to be cruising through on a Ducati? Enough with the sense-making.

I see where you're going though, D. I suppose the mentality over here wouldn't necessarily support the sliding-scale fine system...

I feel sorry for your situation; I've never been "unfairly" targeted for a ticket, though I did one time get pulled over for going just about 5MPH over the limit — while someone else was passing me!

Having said that, calling police "full time revenue generators" is painting with such a broad brush that it kind of…

I agree with you 100%. Here's the difference in our arguments:

You use the word "appropriate punishment". I feel that if you're making $7mil, a $50,000 fine is appropriate punishment relative to your income...

Just to put the numbers out there, a $7mil salary is roughly $3375/hour. That means a $50,000 fine is just…

I like that social media (and, in fact, your own tags, Chris) are calling this a "crash".

As a half-Finn, half-American who's lived in the States all his life, I don't see a problem with this. I've been hit with some insane tickets over the years (relative to the amount I've been speeding) and it is what it is — you understand the laws in the place where you're breaking them, and you pay the penalty if you…

What I'm saying is that they require those safety items because YOUR CAR IS GOING TO BE ABLE TO GO FAST ENOUGH TO NEED THEM WHEN THE SHIT HITS THE FAN.

Did you just say "$15k in safety gear you'll never use"...?

I don't think you understand how safety gear works, my friend...it's a very basic concept.

I'm talking about even without a HANS.

Trust me here — as someone who owns a caged car with 5 point harnesses and Recaros, as well as a regular street car with a backup camera...the backup camera isn't enough. You absolutely need to be able to turn your head and check your blind spots. It's NOT easy or fun in the caged car. At all.

Well, for perspective, my girlfriend has a 2010 Jetta Sportwagen TDI which she bought new. It's got 76,000 miles on it now and has had a few problems (covered under warranty) but has otherwise been totally reliable.

As others have said, on the MK7 platform like my 2015 Golf, the sunroof slides up and out of the car. It takes very little space.