My “other” R1200C Phoenix.
When you get your first motorcycle, or join the professional culinary world, you can’t help but join fascinating and unspoken secret clubs.
Despite underlying currents of machismo in the motorcycle and the cheffing worlds (which we’ll certainly explore on Food Biker), there’s a huge club mentality that exists. We try to take care of each other, as we all share a passion for riding and/or cooking…to the point that we all know we’re a little bit crazy.
When you’re stranded on the side of the road with your bike, other motorcyclists stop to help you. When you’re out riding, many riders will wave back – not unlike the tradition of boaters waving to each other when out sailing. Regardless of what marque you’re riding, people stop and talk motorcycles in parking lots. We teach each other how to fix our own bikes. We make custom items or tweaks for our particular models. You’re not one of those “cagers.” You’re a rider. It’s one big club.
If you’re in the professional culinary world, bartenders genuinely want to see what you think of their new cocktail. Chefs sometimes send out small plates of delicious things for you to sample. Again, in the culinary world, we take care of each other. We’re passionate about our fields, putting in long hours to cook to ultimately make others happy. Cook, chef, sommelier, bartender, whatever. Again, you’re in the club.
What got me thinking about this topic recently? Well, I’m a poster on a wonderful online website called “Chromeheads,” which is devoted to the BMW R1200C motorcycle. You can’t even imagine how helpful fellow members are to each other there, given that the R1200C was the only cruiser that BMW made (aside from the R850C, which pretty much identical but with a smaller 850cc displacement) from 1998-2004. We’re fanatics about our bikes, and we’re getting a lot of web traffic from Chromeheads readers. (Thanks, guys!)
To give you an idea… In 2009, my final drive blew out on the road in the middle of Pennsylvania. What did I do? I quickly posted a quick note to Chromeheads. Support poured in from everywhere, and one fellow Chromehead (a R1200C rider) even offered to drive up from Delaware to tow my bike. Per Food Biker, these days I’m hearing from people from R1200C riders from Alaska to Australia.
So, last week, a fellow Chromehead who knew that I had a Phoenix, dropped the above toy a toy R1200C Phoenix in the mail for me last week. It really looks a bit like Ellabelle. How thoughtful is that?
Again, if you ride or cook professionally, you’re automatically enrolled in unspoken clubs. Aside from the fun of cooking and riding themselves, they’re really wonderful perks that augment what we already enjoy.