Day 2

These are the people that are responsible for my latest "hobby" of adventure touring. This is Allen Naille (aka "The Devil") and his very sweet wife Carol, and their '06 BMW R1200GS Adventure (AKA The Accessory Platform) They took off for Alaska last Friday with two other lost souls, John Graves (KTM 950 Adventure) and Hayne Ellis (ditto). The plan is for Frank Mayorga (94 BMW 1100 Paris to Dakar, PD for short, airhead) and I to leave 4 days later and catch up to them a week later in Anchorage for our first tire and oil change.

A few years ago Allen convinced me, an old dirt track racer, that if I really wanted to do the dual sport thing right, I had to get a KTM 950 Adventure as it was the ultimate Dual Sport bike. So I bought one and I've been to Baja, Mexico a couple of times on it, a couple Lucky Explorer Rallies in Nevada, several trips to Utah and a really great trip to New Mexico on the bike and I swear it has more giggles per mile than any bike that I've ever owned. It's marvelous in the dirt especially if you like to ride fast dirt, and I do. I have about 14000 miles on the KTM and recently had the water pump serviced so I felt confident that the bike would make the trip OK. Yes, it has some teething problems but I love the bike.

Of course, after only a couple of years on the KTM Allen discovers the new "ultimate dual sport bike" and gets a BMW R1200 Adventure, and starts trying to sell as many of these as he can. (Ergo the moniker "The Devil")

Recently my wife decided that she was ready to start riding again (on the back), after a 35 year hiatus to have three wonderful children. I was looking for a nice street bike that was low enough to the ground to accommodate her on the back and my short legs (28 inch inseam) when the "Devil" Allen started whispering in my ear that the new R1200GS was the bike to buy. I was convinced that I wanted a Yamaha FJR but to shush Allen I went and took a test tide on a GS, and was hooked.

I found a good deal on a used 05 GS on Ebay, and have been trying to get used to the differences between the bikes. The BMW is definitely more street oriented than the KTM. If I'm going to be thrashing down a sand wash or riding hard on the dirt, the KTM is my choice. Because it is so tall and I'm not, the most dangerous part on any trip for me on the KTM is getting out of the parking lot.

The BMW, on the other hand, is lower to the ground than the KTM, offers more wind protection and they have been making it for over 60 years so have worked out most all the problems. After looking at the map and seeing that 95% of what we will be riding is pavement, the natural choice is the BMW. There will be times when riding roads "under construction" in Alaska and Canada, and then the Haul Road (Dalton Highway) that I will miss the KTM, but overall the BMW is the better compromise for a trip like this.