This Saturday, the BMW-Ducati dealership in New Jersey had its annual spring open house where they offer test rides on the latest BMWs & Ducatis. They have it every year in March/April, once the weather gets better. In the previous years, quite a few dealerships used to have open house events, but this year most of them canceled because of the economy. This was the only dealership that went ahead with it.

I was eagerly waiting for this year's event. I desperately wanted to try the 1198 & the BMW K1300S and this was a god-send.

So me & my wife loaded our gear in the car and headed out. I had planned to take my bike to the event but we needed to do some shopping later. New Jersey has the biggest Indian Market and we do our indian grocery shopping from there whenever we go there. and this dealership is 15 minutes away from the Indian market. So taking my bike was out of question. "the grocery stuff will not fit on the bike..." my wife declared, " we'll have to take the car."... "Yes, Dear"

Since we live 90 miles away, we were late by 20 minutes. All the ducati slots were gone for the day but I got one slot for the new BMW k1300S three hours later. I was pissed that I missed the Ducs but happy that at least I got the K1300S.

Once you get there, you have to sign up for a slot on a bike. The test rides are every hour. The riders go in a group of seven with one escort rider each in the front & back of the group.

You can only sign up for one bike at a time until you take the ride. Then you can sign up for another one. The good part is that one cannot put his name on different bikes in different slots so you have a chance if you come late. The bad part is that you get to ride only one bike as mostly all other slots are filled by the time you finish your first ride. So usually you get to ride only one bike. Last year I was very late and the only bike I got was the behemoth long distance tourer, BMW K1200LT.

Following bikes were available for the test rides:
Ducati:
848
Hypermotard
Monster 1100
Monster 650
(The cancelled the 1198 at the last minute.)

BMW:
K1300S
K1300ST
R1200GS Adventure
R1200GS


So while waiting for our turn, we hung around the place, taking pictures, posing with other bikes, checking out BMW & Ducati gear, having food & refreshments that was free for all visitors and jealously watching other riders while they took the test rides.

Finally, my turn came. The K bike is a long bike with long wheelbase. The bike was completely stock with linked ABS brakes. The sound with the stock mufflers was a throaty growl. The seating posture is very comfortable, very easy on your back. As we rolled out of the lot, the smoothness of the bike floored us. The route taken was 10 miles on the highway & back roads.

As we got on the highway, the 175HP engine showed its true colors and in no time all the riders were going 120+ mph. The acceleration on the bike was mindblowing. Wifey had to hold on to me really tight from being blown away. Due to the escort riders we could not go faster as we were already speeding well over limits. The route had a few entry-exit ramps, that gave the opportunities for cornering. Its effortless and very stable at sharp lean angles even with a pinion rider.

The 10 miles of the ride went by so fast, by the time we realized, we were rolling back in the parking lot. It was quite exhilarating. I went to check if any other slot is available, but... maybe next year....

So, it was a satisfying end of the day and the beginning of the riding season for me.

some pictures:

Test bikes lined up











A Batch of Riders ready to go


The guy at the right on BMW K1300ST is the front escort








This is the back escort...


Some of these are for sale & some belong to visiting riders


The Hypermotard


























MV Agusta Brutale









Ducati 999s Testastretta




BMW K1300S - this is the one I got to ride....sweeeeeeeet...!!!



POSER ALERT....!!!!!










Hope you guys enjoyed the pics...
more pics are in my photo gallery on xBHP.