Mid-Life Rider

Finally.

It wasn’t warm, or even cool, but it was dry and it was clear.  After a truly interminable run of wretched weather, clearish skies and dryish roads were finally visited on lower Canadia, ne Seattle.  For weeks my spanking fresh K1200GT has sat patiently in the garage, waiting to shake a tail feather and start chewing into those wretched first 600 miles that must pass before rider and bike can get properly serious.

Go East?  Not likely.  The mountain passes were closed under tons of fresh snow.  Go North?  Boring.  Go West?  Never a bad idea.  So west it was to be, but to get there, first south from Seattle to and through Olympia and from there up the Olympic Peninsula via 101 North, there to dance along a surprisingly clear road (no sand thank the stars) with the Hood Canal holding down scenic duties to the right, and the Olympic range coming in and out of view up ahead.

With temperatures in the low 40s, gearing up to ride is a production that always reminds me of winter days when I was just a wee lad. Layers upon layers . . .

• REI Poly Pro
• North Face expedition weight Poly Pro
• Bioskin back brace
• Gerbings socks, bottoms, and top
• Gortex bottom and top liners
• Cycleport Jacket and Trousers
• Buff Neck Gator
• Gerbings Gloves
• Sidi boots

. . . it just goes on and on (literally), weighs more than 20 lbs all in and on, and takes forever to get properly rigged. And then there is the bike . . .

• Zumo GPS
• Valentine 1 Radar Detector
• Bags Connection Eclipse (the easiest of the lot to rig).

Finally, and it does feel like forever, rider and bike are ready and we’re pointed south on Route 5 towards Olympia.  The K1200GT shrugs off roads like these.  In this way, there is no real difference between the mighty GT and my previous mount, the ever faithful FJR.  Both are big, heavy (in a good way), fast, and exceedingly surefooted.  Even holding revs below 6000 RPM, the big K-bike has power to spare; extra legal speeds flash by with astonishing ease.

This part of the ride is always my least favorite: the road is straight, the constabulary is everywhere, and I’m ten reasons into why I should go back and I’m only 30 miles from home.

While the overall package is similar, the K1200GT is hundreds of details (well maybe not that many) finer than the big Yamaha.  Both bikes are available with heated grips.  My FJR didn’t have them, my K-bike does.  The version on the K seem just that much better sorted.  Same all the way down the line.  None of the little things matter in the grand scheme of things, and they add to the nosebleed price, but taken as a whole, they add up to a fabulously well sorted bike.

The ride north along the Hood Canal is more scenic by twice and less boring by half than the trip down I-5.  Unfortunately, even in the best of conditions, it’s not a road where you can give a bike like the K1200 its head.  It’s posted between 30 and 50 with houses here, towns there.  In the summer, it’s well patrolled.  Today, my concern was less any of that and more about black ice and the possibility of sand on the road from last week’s massive snow blow.

The temperatures sniggled between 39 and 32, the helpful onboard temperature gauge blinking a warning every time we punched through 37 degrees to the downside.  Happily, the dreaded sand was gone from the driving surface and only once was there evidence of ice on a bridge.  I tiptoed round corners and over bridges, hanging off through the curves to keep the bike standing as tall as possible.

I rowed the bike up and down and up and down through the gearbox to keep everything moving properly.  Several times the road opened up and the bike played tractor beam with the cars ahead.  No real need to change gears, just roll and go. My GPS will show that I hit 104 on one blast.  Surprised the heck out of me how fast the ton came and went.

Even with all the heated kit, 32 F is cold. I stopped a couple of times to pee, wishing that I had something hot to drink.  But rather than stop, I kept pressing until I finally rolled onto the Bainbridge ferry for the over-water leg home. A bowl of Ivar’s chowder took the chill out as the sun painted the city a glorious yellow and orange.

The K1200GT is a mighty steed.  With a grand total of 205 miles on the clock, that’s all I can really say about it.  Is it a better bike than my FJR?  Yes. No.  Does it really matter?  Bikes like these live in rare air.  They do so many things so well.  I’m not sure about the saddle (having spent the last 20,000 miles on a custom built perch), but other than that, I’m thrilled.  Stay tuned.

Tags: K1200GT, Hood Canal, Bags Connection Eclipse, Garmin Zumo, Valentine 1, Gerbings, Bioskin, Cycleport