The 2017 BMW R nineT Pure. Photos by Kevin Wing.
You don?t need a touring bike to travel. Robert M. Pirsig did his legendary 17-day, Minnesota-to-California journey, carrying his son and an inordinate amount of cargo, on a 28-horsepower Honda CB77, which is credited as the company?s first sportbike. When I threw a leg over the BMW R nineT Pure and fired it up, my first thought was, ?Let?s go!? Something about it made me just want to hit the road, so I loaded some soft luggage with essentials, strapped on a lightweight tent and off I went. Nothing grand or epic, just a solo escape for a couple days.
Read about our two-day ride on the BMW R nineT Scrambler.
For my overnight campout, I packed light, and everything fit in a Cortech tank bag, a Tour Master tail bag and an REI stuff sack Rok-strapped to the back. Many of us believe a motorcycle ride is more about the journey than the destination?in part because the notion applies more generally to a life well lived?but how often do we set out without knowing where we?re going" As a compulsive planner, I always have a destination in mind, and this trip was no exception. I headed north, toward a secret camping spot high on a ridge overlooking the Pacific. But several hours into my ride I found out that, due to landslides, California?s Highway 1 was closed south of my planned turn off, forcing me to reevaluate my priorities. First I backtracked, then I just ambled, poking my front wheel down roads that had always piqued my curi...