2012 has been an interesting year...Leslie got a new job and is now working for BC Transplant as an Organ Donation Coordinator and Organ Donation Specialist.
Cheryl continues to do well in her police career and we got engaged. Wedding will be next August 2013. More info please read below.
Cheryl and I met in 1997 in Bellingham, Washington. We kept in touch over the year via the internet plus flying back and forth. Before we both knew it I moved all the way across the country to a new country no less in march 1998 and been here ever since. I, meaning Leslie grew up in New York on Long Island where her family still remains except my brother.
Went to College in upstate NY and grad school back on Long Island where I got my Masters Degree in Social Work. In 1999 I started working as an Intensive Care Unit Social Worker at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, BC and loved my job after all those years.
Cheryl grew up in the lower mainland of BC and many of her family members are here as well. Beautiful place to grow up and go to school. Throughout Cheryl's teenage years and adulthood she worked for her mother's family business. However, at the ripe old age of 35 she decided to embark upon a career in law enforcement which she has been enjoying for over 5 years. Cheryl has found a passion within the Police force working with kids in schools.
We have been together as partner's for 15 years and after Cheryl graduated Depot (Police Training) we both got motorcycles and our licenses. I grew up on bikes and Cheryl always wanted to learn to ride. Learning was easy for Cheryl and getting back on a bike for me just made sense. Cheryl thinks I am obsessed with bikes but to be honest once she is on the road I can't stop her.
Cheryl loves video games, I love wild life, Cheryl dreams about white sandy tropical beaches, I dream about seeing the polar bears in Hudson Bay, Manitoba.
Opposites attract and we both share a passion for adventure motorcycle touring. We learned this after buying our first 2010 BMW F650GS bikes. We travel well together making sure we are both taking care of ourselves. Cheryl is the brains, mechanic, navigator and packer, I am the organizer/planner.
Cheryl is the quiet one, I am the loud New Yorker. Cheryl loves video games, I love live web cams featuring Bald Eagles, Falcons, osprey's and Owls. In the end it seems to work.
KTM would be great if your a big Dakar fan and like getting down and dirty, I don’t like it all box in panels though, The BMW nice bike hate the Beak below head light needs a real front fender a little on the heavy side, Yamaha I don’t like the looks of it and the suspension look a little soft for off road in the test, out of the three I would take the BMW and Yes where was the Triumph !!!
Even after reading this magazines reviews on their actual magazine I feel their reviews are soft LOL
With any bikes the size of these “dirt worthy” is relative at the least. Looks like Yamaha may be onto something.
I guess in the end it would come down to final ride price after farkling etc. and the availability of after market farkles and extras, which probably leans to the BMW just through current market share.
Will stick with my F800 for now but take a serious look at these units in the years to come when the new BMW liquid cool and the Triumph are out there with a few years of growing pains under their belts.
marketing is brilliant isn’t it…makes you think maybe bigger is better…as tempted as we might be to invest in one of the BIG bikes I have to remind myself what my BMW sales guys said to us when we bought our F650GS bikes….”what type of riding do you do you do 90% of the time?”
When you answer this question for yourself…the answer is easy. We ride to work…so street comfort a PLUS with decent off road capabilities….a need….weight of the bike, price and power all important. Hence the F800GS and Tiger 800XC still front runners for our next bikes. We have to times everything by 2 in our house…big factor with thinking of buying new bikes in the end.
Triumph 800XC – I would pick it over those three.
Have you been on both bikes Damir?