Pic of the week game

[dorkburger]

To add... picking a favorite photo to me is like picking a favorite motorcycle, song, etc.
i may be tempted to break one of my self imposed rules in a this game, which is to not re use pictures that I?ve used in the game already...

 

[Burque73]

I've tried for years to catch a picture like this. Finally nailing it makes it one of my favorites, if not the favorite in my collection. About five seconds after that bolt of lightning, a crazy strong gust of wind blew my bike over. As I picked the bike up it started raining. The carbs were flooded from laying down and it took a while to get going. No harm done to the bike, just minor scratches. The windjammmer is crazy tough! Too bad the bags were off at that time. They would have kept the right exhaust from being scratched.

 

[marvinsc]

Very cool pic, probably worth a scratched exhaust.

 

[trevor]

So many reasons why this is a favorite pic

As many know a few years ago a friend and fellow member here crashed my beloved 83 gs1100e...My dad had just painted it the year before...it was a right of...the friend did the right thing and paid me for the bike...to lick my wounds and clear my head I decided to ride my BMW to Las Vegas for my Wife's brother's wedding...I mentioned all this on a BMW forum I'm on and a member there said...."Do you want my 1980 GS 1000 ? I think it's a WesCooley replica in need of restoring".
So based on the pics...I bought the bike and had it shipped over 2000kms from Colorado to BC
I did a light restoration and the following year rode it to California to enter it into The Quail Motorcycle Gathering in Monterey where it won Cycle World Magazine's "Best of Tour" award.
If this wasn't all enough I became friends with the "real Wes Cooley on facebook...he told me he was looking to get around the motorcycle scene again...I emailed Freddie Spencer and to my surprise he emailed me back with contact info for his agent for me to share with Wes.
I asked Wes if he would like to be the guest of honour at my friends "Vintage in the Valley show...and he said yes...so he and his partner Melody stayed with us at our house in Victoria...I'll never forget the feeling of knowing my motorcycle racing hero was sleeping in our guest room next to me and my wife...lol
Anyway I threw a garage party for Wes and some close friends...this pic was taken just after Wes had signed the tank of my bike in my garage. Sometimes they say it may not good to meet your hero's ...well Wes could not have been a more humble man...there are so many great stories of that 4 fays I spent with him and Melody....the best part was sharing the experience with my friends. The t-shirts we are wearing, I had them made up to raise some money for Wes...sold them literally all over the world.

So sorry for the long story...but I had to tell you why...

 

[Baatfam]

So this is one of my top five for sure, and maybe even my number one. Everything about this photo works for me.
Oct 2013, I was heading home from a Wisconsin rally a couple days early, because my wife's care broke down.
When I saw the view of the Driftless area to my left, I pulled over in someone's driveway and took several pictures.
The R1100S is an absolutely beautiful bike, one of my favorites when it comes to looking cool.
With the nice sky and view of the valley, with the yellow strip in the road, working with the yellow on the bike, I just think it is a great photo.

Of course, I may be biased, but a version of this picture is going on my office wall in an 11x17 print.

That was also the moment I decided, after just a few months of riding, she had to go.
I disliked riding her and I hated working on her. Sold her in the spring to a guy that fell in love with her looks.
Don't know if they're still together.

 

[DaveR]

The images with 'reasons why' are a wonder to look at. I can begin to understand why every one of them is special. And not one of them stands out as best, all are evocative images and successful on their own. The 'reason why' is like a name is on an instrumental jazz composition or a title on an abstract painting. It is a suggestion to what the maker intended the piece to communicate.
My pie delivery vehicle pic was a fortunate accident, realized after the fact, that allowed the 'reason' to neatly coincide with the structure of the image. That's not artistry, its serendipity. Still works though.

 

[gustovh]

This photo was taken leaving the first GS rally that I attended. It was a Western States rally and held in Shasta Ca., Sandy or Charlie G can tell you what year that was. It was a great time and the only rally that my wife has attended. We weren't leaving for home yet but going to head up 97 to Madras and lake Billy Chinook for another 3 days of camping. As you can see, the bike is a tad overloaded.

V

 

[Sandy]

This photo was taken leaving the first GS rally that I attended. It was a Western States rally and held in Shasta Ca., Sandy or Charlie G can tell you what year that was. It was a great time and the only rally that my wife has attended. We weren't leaving for home yet but going to head up 97 to Madras and lake Billy Chinook for another 3 days of camping. As you can see, the bike is a tad overloaded.

V

August 31, 2009. I remember following you and Wanda to Madras, I think, before I headed east and home. That's my 1000 to the right. Good times buddy, I don't think we've missed a year since.

 

[Jedz123]

This is probably my favorite.

 

[Spyder]

Well, this is my favorite shot. Because these are my first GS's. That '82 650 was so clean, and original...

 

[Steve]

"Favorite" is going to mean different things to different people and for different reasons. I have several pictures that I really like, but could not decide which one. Mrs. Steve was asking about the current theme for the week and expressed her opinion on which would be hers. That helped me make up my mind. :encouragement:

The artistic composition is probably lacking. Color saturation is probably off. The picture was not taken for artistic intents and purposes, it was taken to celebrate the fact that this was the first time we were all together with our bikes.

10 years ago, at one of our trips to Elkins, WV, with our Goldwing group, we finally managed to get a family portrait.
From left to right: my older sister and her hubby, me and Mrs. Steve, my middle sister and her hubby, then baby sister and her hubby.

Between all of us, there are six children and/or step-children. Five of them also have bikes.
We have enough to start our own gang.

.

 

[cowboyup3371]

I'm going to post my favorite picture but I don't know if this will work because my bike isn't in the picture and you can only see part of Wingsconsin's Goldwing. So I am also going to post the rest of the picture taken after this.

This was Charmayne's first Brown County trip and I only caught this picture by luck when we stopped at the Overlook restaurant but it was fantastic timing and one I remember fondly.

Charmayne Eating Helmet by Scott Baker, on Flickr

Here is the full picture (my GS is at the far end next to the tree and slightly behind Mrs. Steve's)

Bikes at Overlook by Scott Baker, on Flickr

 

[Sandy]

So many reasons why this is a favorite pic

As many know a few years ago a friend and fellow member here crashed my beloved 83 gs1100e...My dad had just painted it the year before...it was a right of...the friend did the right thing and paid me for the bike...to lick my wounds and clear my head I decided to ride my BMW to Las Vegas for my Wife's brother's wedding...I mentioned all this on a BMW forum I'm on and a member there said...."Do you want my 1980 GS 1000 ? I think it's a WesCooley replica in need of restoring".
So based on the pics...I bought the bike and had it shipped over 2000kms from Colorado to BC
I did a light restoration and the following year rode it to California to enter it into The Quail Motorcycle Gathering in Monterey where it won Cycle World Magazine's "Best of Tour" award.
If this wasn't all enough I became friends with the "real Wes Cooley on facebook...he told me he was looking to get around the motorcycle scene again...I emailed Freddie Spencer and to my surprise he emailed me back with contact info for his agent for me to share with Wes.
I asked Wes if he would like to be the guest of honour at my friends "Vintage in the Valley show...and he said yes...so he and his partner Melody stayed with us at our house in Victoria...I'll never forget the feeling of knowing my motorcycle racing hero was sleeping in our guest room next to me and my wife...lol
Anyway I threw a garage party for Wes and some close friends...this pic was taken just after Wes had signed the tank of my bike in my garage. Sometimes they say it may not good to meet your hero's ...well Wes could not have been a more humble man...there are so many great stories of that 4 fays I spent with him and Melody....the best part was sharing the experience with my friends. The t-shirts we are wearing, I had them made up to raise some money for Wes...sold them literally all over the world.

So sorry for the long story...but I had to tell you why...

You guys really have to stop dressing the same. Jeez.

 

[trevor]

You guys really have to stop dressing the same. Jeez.

Lol...people kept saying how much we looked a like...

 

[Guest]

Like Steve said, I had a picture in mind when he mentioned the theme. Like his, it's hardly a glamour shot, but this was also documentation of a "family first". Although all four of us have been on bike trips before, this was the first time we were all on separate bikes. :encouragement:
We had just returned from an afternoon ride and decided to get the picture before other evening activities got underway.

 

[Charlie G]

This is a picture of me riding my GS1100g in 2014 while on a PNW Rally in British Columbia near Sandy's place in Cranbrook. Rich "Wizard" took the photo and posted it on GSR . I managed to copy it before it before he left. My skills at improving or editing are non-existant, but I hit some button that turns a photo into a color negative and I like the result. I'm a fan of purple and blue, what can I say? You can see the unaltered version on my facebook Home. Thanks Rich!

 

[Spyder]

This was a great day, and an awesome shot. I still have the bite marks on my helmet, lol...


AND ! ! ! How wonderful to have Mrs. Steve join us here ! ! ! Hello there, long time no see! Have to change that this June...

 

[storm 64]

This picture is kind of special to me. My buddy Paul detailing my motorcycles. Getting them ready for the Vintage Motorcycle Days at Mid-Ohio. I've known Paul since we were young kids. We've been riding together for 40 years. I trust Paul to ride any of my motorcycles, he's a better rider than me!

 

[dorkburger]

My selection this week is a nostalgia fuelled memory although I do like the picture otherwise also.
This was taken in the fall of '99 returning home from a three day weekend to see the vintage grand prix (highly recommended for antique auto racing fans) at Watkins Glen NY.

The original plan was to leave Jersey on Friday mid morning so we could catch the reenactment of the original race route on the streets after the PO of my current bike delivered it to me, but it was raining heavily so we waited around debating on when to leave - later or Saturday morning. The weather cleared by mid afternoon so we made a bee line for it, riding thru a beautiful sunset, dusk, and into the night. It was a great weekend. This would regrettably be the only road trip I took on the 1150e before selling it, but at least it was a good one.

Of note in the picture - the black 1100e was my first GS. A family acquaintance bought it new, sold it to my brother, who sold it to me, who sold it to my cousin. It still exists, but is in pieces awaiting it's day to return to glory.

The 1150 - nicest bike I've ever owned..... I still miss it.

In the back is my Uncle Tom. He bought the Nighthawk 650 after all of us kids got into street bikes. He rode Triumphs back in the day and when he started riding again he just happily rode and rode. He ended up buying a then new Triumph Legend that he put 82k miles on before his accident.

......and how times change. My cousin went the balding then buzz cut route, I had to cut my my hair about a year later for apprentice school, and my Uncle is no longer with us.

http://Memories..... by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

 

[Redman]

Friday Vote day.

I will summarize the entries, will include some of each story of "why", just enough to serve as a reminder of the story.

.
The theme for this week is 'my favourite picture'.

Yes, that's entirely subjective and every submission will be a winner
so a short explanation of why it is your favourite so that viewers can interpret it through your eyes would be helpful. Will that work?

edit - my reason - a well loved bike on a family mission on an empty familiar road on a beautiful day in the area I grew up in = happy times

And the other submissions:

This one, my first trip to the Brown County Rally in Southern Indiana. I am in the Yellow helmet on my 1980 GS850G. .
.I. believe it was taken by the late George Burroughs (Koolaid Kid) ....
........Georges ashes were scattered in areas he loved to ride and almost certainly along this route. ////.

....................... Rusty and Barry were members of my congregation when I got my first bike in 2008. ..
.....and then every week or two the three of us would ride somewhere around southeastern PA. Good times.

I...................To me it shows one of the main reasons I'm still riding after 50+ years. Back roads, quaint small historic towns and taking time for a break for beer and food with friends. ...........

Riding With Painter Dave

THis is at BC 2008, my 3rd time there.
First two times were so great and such an experience that I was wanting to get pics to show my great experience.............

So this picture brings up great memeorys every time, ............

I've tried for years to catch a picture like this. Finally nailing it makes it one of my favorites, if not the favorite in my collection. About five seconds after that bolt of lightning, a crazy strong gust of wind blew my bike over. .....

............. I became friends with the "real Wes Cooley on facebook.......
Anyway I threw a garage party for Wes and some close friends...this pic was taken just after Wes had signed the tank of my bike in my garage. Sometimes they say it may not good to meet your hero's ...well Wes could not have been a more humble man...there are so many great stories of that 4 fays I spent with him

...... Everything about this photo works for me.
,
The R1100S is an absolutely beautiful bike, one of my favorites when it comes to looking cool.
With the nice sky and view of the valley, with the yellow strip in the road, working with the yellow on the bike, I just think it is a great photo.
.
That was also the moment I decided, after just a few months of riding, she had to go.

This photo was taken leaving the first GS rally that I attended. It was a Western States rally ..
...As you can see, the bike is a tad overloaded.

V

more....................