Through a series of shrewd financial transactions (my description, not my wife’s) our old 1990 Volvo 240 was retired as the family’s college commuter car, and leveraged into a trade for a “vintage” 1983 BMW motorcycle. My daughters now have a very nice, older Jeep Cherokee that is even slower than the Volvo. I know some of you who have owned Volvo 240s and thought they were the slowest vehicles on earth – but you were wrong. The Cherokee’s top “comfortable” speed is 70 mph on the freeway, and the dad in me says that is fast enough. But, the really important thing here is that I now have another motorcycle. And, unbelievably, this one actually runs. And -- this is the really amazing part -- it has this magic red button that you just push and it starts. Magnificent! What will they think of next? Which reminds me: In the 1969 “Then Came Bronson” TV series, the Harley Speedster that Michael Parks so elegantly started with just one kick each time, actually had an electric starter. It is reported that he thumbed the starter at the same time he jumped on the kick-start lever, thus insuring a one-kick start every time. It probably wasn’t great for the gears, but it made for good TV. And to think that I went through my youth thinking it was my lack of some inner zen-like coolness that prevented me from starting my bike in less than three kicks – more when the engine was hot or if there were more than three people watching.
Unless you closely followed the BMW motorcycle line in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the model BMW R80 RT won’t mean anything to you. It is a cheaper 800cc version of what was then the top-of-the-line R100 RT full-fairing touring bike. It was designed from the BMW parts bin to give America a touring bike at a low price. It worked. The R100 RT was the most expensive bike sold in America at the time, and it didn’t sell. But, the smaller-engine, no-frills R80 RT sold very well. It has a reputation as a strong, smooth (if underpowered) cruiser; good for all-day riding. Police departments all over Europe also liked this model. So much so, that a search of Google photos shows almost as many police R80 RTs as civilian models. In the late ‘70s when I first saw a BMW R100 with the RT fairing, I thought it was a travesty. How could the company that makes the sexy R100S sport bike, turn it into something so … well, so hideously massive? Huge! Gigantic! The Queen Mary of motorcycles. Blagh! Time does change one’s perspective. The RT’s cutting-edge aerodynamic fairing which I thought so ugly, now seems almost pretty. And what was then the latest in aero technology is almost a barn door by today’s standards. Yes, it seemed a behemoth in 1983. But riding it today it seems big, but not overly large. It has great low-speed balance and is amazingly nimble. Compare it to a modern Honda Gold Wing, a BMW K1200LT, or any of the Harley “baggers” and it seems almost petite -- weighing anywhere from 250-400 pounds less than those bikes.
The guy I bought it from used “vintage” in the description in his Craig’s List ad. A 1983 bike is vintage? If it is vintage, what does that make me – really, really ancient? Perspective: to the 20-something guy who sold me the bike, it was vintage. It was made about the time he was born. It is something from the past to be included with Moses parting the sea and the American Civil War. But, in my perspective, as a guy who started riding in 1964, it is but one of a series of the modern bikes of my lifetime; and a fine one at that. It should be a great summer. Only 43 years after my first ride and still having fun!
