The Roto Tiller is gone, long live the F800ST

After the mothers day ride it was clear that I made a mistake when I let the kid pick out the Suzuki S40 for a real motorcycle. It was crude, low tech, and if used for anything other than short around town slow speed hops was as useless as a kick stand on a bass boat.

I have loved riding motorcycles ever since my mom got me a garage sale 50cc Sears Puch moped when I was in 5th or 6th grade. I have raced motocross, ridden every kind of left over junk bike imaginable, had several bad spills, and lots of not so bad ones in probably 300,000+ miles of riding over 40 years.

I want to introduce the Kid to this and see if it becomes a life long passion as it has with me, but I also know the dangers of riding motorcycles, and as a Dad want to teach safety, and I worry about the Kid getting splattered.

I think I have done a pretty good job, she wears ful gear, rides well, looks at all traffic as the enemy, never trusts turn signals, really rides safely. The one thing that was missing was a good modern bike with ABS and real brakes, and handling to get you out of bad situations that will eventually happen.

The kid and I have a long trip planned for the 1st 3 weeks of July, and this being her summer after her 1st year of college, she may not have this kind of time in her life as easily in the future. Also, if she really is going to ride a lot, I want to do everything I can to keep her safe.

So, I decided to ditch the roto tiller Suzuki S40 and get her a new 07 BMW F800ST.

What a wonderful bike, safe, ABS, handling, smooth even power curve, I love it, and I know she can handle it.

The dealer will install the hard side bags and the low seat at the 600 mile service, and for those BMW folks that get near Chicago, TAG Sport in Geneva Il is a great place to do business.

Well, I feel much better about the trip, and the Kid riding in general now. As far as the cost, I say it costs nothing as of the 1st time the ABS kicks in while stopping at a busy intersection with the front wheel sliding on a grease spot.

This was the right thing to do.