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BMW Riiders....
Like most of us...I lead a dual life.

One of road, grit and riding...the other of work, collegues and c0cktail parties....

My story is as follows....

Each holiday season my clinic (Radiation Oncology) has a small c0cktail party where we invite our refering doctors and staff.
We rub elbows and have hearty laughs about protons vs neutrons, IMRT vs Strereotactic, blah blah blah...lots of brainiac techy talk about what we do and how we do it. Mostly, I try to look good and smile and nod at the appropriate parts.
Doctors, Administrators, Physicists and Dosemitrist abound at these functions...each speaking thier specialized techno language.

I am dressed in c0cktail casual and I am talking with the director of the Hospital system...He is the big man on campus. Someone who you would worry if your small talk did not measure up.
I am pretty socially adept so I casually fill the air with some kind of conversation, yet, I am the nurse, so I am a lessor player when it comes to this group.
Suddenly my eyes glance over at a pin on his lanyard that holds his name tag....in mid conversation I say; "dingle, excuse me but I am totally distracted by your pin, Can you tell me about it?"

It is a BMW Pin with two feathers behind the logo...(it looks oddly familiar to me)

'That', he tells me 'Is from a BMW Motorcycle Rally in.....'

'John Day', I assert.

He and I exchange a knowing look.
The pin is from the Oregon BMW Rally in John Day.
Seems Mr Big rides an '04 R 1150 RT...blue

'Me?' I reply, 'I ride an '04 R 1150 R'... 'NO!' 'YES!' 'Really!' 'Really!'

We spend the next 40 minutes talking bikes, passion and riding...oddly he is breaking a sweat and turning pink....such passion! (has nothing to do with the fact that I look fantastic)
Suddenly the man whom I have only thought of as a Hospital director suddenly has depth and credibility.

A great moment at a c0cktail party.

But wait there is more....

As I am talking with dingle, He tells me 'Mark's' parents ride an R1150 R and he met them at this years Rally. Seems Mark, Who is a medical Oncologist in town has parents who ride.....
I share a few pictures with Mark then get back to the party....


I am wandering at this point from group to group. Adding a nod or a smile.

I meet a young new doctor originally from Germany...went to Loma Linda and now is in charge of a special program at Oregon Health Science University....Somehow our conversation turns to leisure activities.
Seems he rides a 78 Ducati. He tells me that a Duc has a special sound coming down the road....

"Yes", I tell him, "Because of the Desmodronic engine" I explain to the group how each piston is both pushed and pulled.... he is nodding and physically stepping forward, leaning in...connecting, as if there is no on else but he and I in our small group of 4 or 5...
He laughs heartiy saying..."I was not even going to use that word in this crowd" Our eyes meet, we know we have shared a moment.

ah hah hah hah .....

One small section of people at a c0cktail party...affirming to me that

WE ARE EVERYWHERE.

It was a great night.

Yup. It's amazing the sheer variety of people of all kinds of backgrounds I meet who happen to ride. Doctors, executives, mechanics, and even musicians.

I connect with people who:

1) Know the pain of having majored in physics in college
2) Share a deep and abiding love of music, especially classical
3) Love riding - and I mean more than the usual mileage you find with the average rider. I'm talking about people who ride at least 10k miles a year. These are people who usually ride BMWs, or maybe Hondas.
4) People who can talk to me about firearms and their history. I'm talking about "I have a Model 94 lever action in a .38-55 Win." "Oh really? Wow, it's hard to find ammo for that caliber."

I'd have to say that music is my first passion as far as hobbies go. Right after that of course is motorcycling.

Nice post! I have had something similar happen to me!

yjleesvrr wrote:I'd have to say that music is my first passion as far as hobbies go. Right after that of course is motorcycling.

Yong, feel free to stop in and play my baby grand whenever you're up in this neck of the woods. I'm sure you have 10X more talent than me....

Re: Just-Beeming's post, this does happen to me quite a bit in meetings with Partners or clients. I have the BMW Motorrad screen saver on my laptop and sometimes when I'm presenting the screen saver comes up, so that will trigger questions and a conversation. I've noticed motorcycles are a great conversation starter, even with non-riders. Then I tell people (as I'm wearing my IBM dress blues) that my bike is parked outside.

An occasional BMW rider will chime in with, "Yeah, me too !" Some non BMW riders will want to check out my bike after the meeting. Many of my riding buddies (all brands) are business contacts.

I've had similar experiences. But I have also noted that when H-D riders are involved the conversation often vaporizes when they learn you are not on a Milwaukee Marvel.

Interesting to me since I rode a Sportster before my R1150R (Japanese bikes before that) and have always felt a kinship to ANY rider.

Just-Beeming:
Great story. It really is fun to connect with folks who share your passion, whatever it is, on the road or at the office party.

I've had that experience as an erstwhile printmaker when visitors to my office see some of the work I have hanging there (no place else to put it). When I answer the inevitable "what are these... what medium..." with "monotype" I usually have to explain this printmaking process. On a couple of occasions, people have said "are these.... monotypes" out of the blue and instantly I am... are you ready?...

Just Beaming !!

'Tis true. And thanks for sharing your story, so we can all recall those great moments we've all had that are similar. Those are fun and if those folks continue to cross your path-- as the case might be with Mr. Big, for you-- you'll always have something in common and a smile when you pass in the halls.

It only takes the little things to make us

just beaming!

I talked with Mr. Big about my planned month long vacation ....he said my trip sounds great! Since Mr Big IS the man in charge of the whole hospital system....when my boss tells me it is 'really a hardship' for the clinic to let me go for that long.....I will tell her
"hey, Rick and I have already talked about it! and he said it sounds great!"

Tony - Thanks for the invite. We'll definitely have to meet up when I'm on my bike. I'm about to take another trip up on the R to New Jersey, but it's just a day trip so I won't have time this week. Next time I go up after the holidays on the R, I'll give you a holler.

Very few things give people a sense of connection as riding a motorcycle. I find this everywhere I go.

9876

I totally enjoyed that story. And the older I get, the more often similar situations arise. Maybe we become more aware and more accessible ?
Travelling alone, often adds to the frequency of meeting "strangers".
And NOBODY is completely boring.