I currently do not own a motorcycle. My last bike was a 1988 BMW K75C that I bought in 2012. I used that bike for two extensive tours and a lot of weekend blasts through the mountains in Upstate New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. I loved the motorcycle and referred to it as “The Brick” (short for the nickname of the motor “the flying brick”). Unfortunately, I had to move to a cheaper apartment to cut down on expenses as I have been stuck at the same salary for 5 years due to the CUNY contract negotiations being stalled. This cost cutting included getting rid of the bike and the garage rental. She was also getting a little long in the tooth with over 60,000 miles on the odometer.

I didn’t let the lack of ownership stop me from being a motorcyclist. I joined a group called Jupiter’s MotoShare, and for a yearly flat fee, I get to rent from a collection of bikes for $49 a day. Averaging out the time I ride versus maintenance and parking, the MotoShare deal comes out quite a bit cheaper.

For the time being the MotoShare program will suffice, but for a 48 state tour involving 4 months of travel, I will need my own bike. I’ve owned quite a few bikes and rented even more. After all of this saddle time on many different brands, the choice for this ride is a no brainer – BMW. The 25-year-old Brick gave me absolutely zero trouble on my 7000 cross country trip and only a little fan clatter at the very end of my second one, a problem I remedied myself with a $75 part.

The bike I want to ride for this trip differs from The 3 cylinder Brick in that I have chosen to purchase a bike with BMW’s legendary Boxer twin engine. This motor design has been around for over 90 years and has proven itself time after time. This historical longevity of the engine design intrigues me.  Another interesting fact regarding the company is that one of the three founding fathers of BMW (and their first managing director) is named Franz Josef Popp. I am taking this as sign pointing me towards the brand. I am no huge believer in predestination, but when fate shouts, I tend to listen.

The Boxer motor is known for it’s durability with many examples clocking well over 100,000 miles. The Boxer powered R 1150 GS was the motorcycle used in the series Long Way Down, an episodic tale of Ewan McGregor, along with lessor known actor Charley Boorman, driving on the bikes from London to New York. The pair of movie stars initially wanted to ride KTM motorcycles for the trip, but when the high-brow Austrian Company balked at giving them free bikes, they accepted the BMWs. Boorman is seen on the first episode ripping down the KTM poster in the project office in a diva-esque moment because he didn’t get the free bikes he wanted.

I realize I am not a movie star and I will have a hard time getting anybody to sponsor this project. But witnessing BMW willing to hand out bikes to the actors, I contacted them on a whim and told them about Popp Over America. I got a prompt and kind response from a customer service rep of BMW Motoraad USA referring me to the philanthropy/charity page. According to the guidelines, to get sponsorship I need to be a 501(c)(3) non-profit. I am certain Ewan McGregor does not fall into this category.

My expectations where pretty low with this first contact. I was letting them know that I am out here doing this project. I have zero content and only a page of ideas. I will continue to develop and build on materials as I near the departure of my journey. I am not done pitching to BMW yet. I have a name and a phone number now, and once I get a test episode, I will toss another pitch at them. Hopefully the series get’s picked up by a channel and they will give me the bike of my dreams, the new for 2015 R 1200RS. Yup, it’s a Boxer…