Do you, by any chance, know George Rahn, the Fairbanks BMW motorcycle "dealer"?

Only for the last 42 years.

Really. I first met him in 1962 when I had my first BMW motorcycle (a 250cc R-26). In 1967 he was my landlord until the big '67 flood pretty much washed away the trailer I was renting from him.

George and I made many a trip together -- he usually rode his antique R-68, I rode my new R-69S.

When I traded the R-69S in on my first Porsche, George and I drifted apart. He still rides, sometimes I see him in the winter time riding his BMW with the sidecar on it.

He once told a good story about a trip he made down the Al-Can highway in the middle of winter. Riding at night, overcast sky, complete darkness, he slid out, the bike went down and (of course) him along with it. No big deal -- sliding along on the ice doesn't hurt, he and the bike probably slid for a hundred yards before stopping. He picked up the bike, engine still idling, got on, and.... uh, oh -- which way to go? In the dark, the road is just a featureless white strip extending to the limits of the headlight in each direction. He finally had to get down on the ice and look for the scrapes made by his footpegs to figure out which way he'd come from from.

Last I heard, George had given up the BMW franchise, said he didn't like the direction the company was going. My interpretation of that is that he couldn't deal with all the electronics in the new bikes, perhaps BMW was requiring him to purchase test equipment he couldn't afford.

Ah, Tiger, you bring back memories...

tanstaafl.