BMW launch K 1600 GT and K 1600 GTL at INTERMOT

BMW have launched not one but two new models powered by their new in-line six cylinder 1600cc engine at the German motorcycle show at INTERMOT Cologne this week.

The K 1600 GT is described as the "the new benchmark for dynamic, cross-continent touring", whilst the K 1600 GTL is described as "the pinnacle of luxury, long-distance motorcycle touring". You can find out more about these two luxury BMW motorcycles on www.inter-bike.co.uk.

Ride safe.

Jon Booth
Email: webmaster@inter-bike.co.uk
Blog: http://bestmotorstyle2011.blogspot.com//
Swicki: http://motorcycling-swicki.eurekster.com/

Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Run - Old Bikes Hit the Road

As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, The Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Run has begun. This is a coast-to-coast run of pre-1916 motorcycles starting from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina and ending in Santa Monica, California. Dates for the run are September 10-26, 2010. Check out the Cannonball Run website for everything you might want to know about this historic run. (I've noticed that the website can be slow to load or even produce dreaded Internal Server Errors.)

To give you a flavor for what the bikes look like and sound like and how enthusiastic their riders are, I've listed five videos of interviews with Cannonball riders:

• #44 Jon Szalay - 1911 H-D 7A


• #16 Bill Campbell - 1915 H-D Twin


• #15 Buzz Kanter - 1915 H-D Twin


• #47 Ron Mattson - 1915 Indian F-head V-twin


• #89 Cristine Sommer-Simmons - 1915 H-D 11-J

Keep checking the Cannonball Run website for daily updates. Hopefully, we may see some coverage of this event on TV.

Motorcycle Touring - Take a Long Trip on Your Motorcycle

The dictionary defines a tour as "a journey for business, pleasure or education often involving a series of stops and ending at the starting point." Thus a tour is a complete circuit.

Motorcycle touring has always been a part of motorcycling. Early riders wanted to jump on their motorcycles and ride to see what was over the next hill. Of course the roads weren't too good in those days and travel could be slow. Bill Stermer in his book, Motorcycle Touring and Travel: A Handbook of Travel by Motorcycle, says:

"The bike on which most people choose to tour tends to be the one they own at the time."

This was certainly true early on before the advent of the heavyweight touring motorcycles of the last twenty-five years. The introduction of the Honda Gold Wing has changed all that. Read more.