Like so many of us, some of the customers were greatly affected by COVID 19. One of our customers in particular, however, chose to make the most of a bad situation and turn it into an awesome adventure.

Cristiano has been our customer since 2017 when he was looking for a bike and his good friend Owen Baldulf recommended coming to see him at Long Beach BMW Motorcycles. 

“I know that Owen works only with the best and I wasn’t wrong because they are not just a motorcycle dealer, but they become a good friend and they never make you spend more money that you need.”

That’s when Cristiano purchased his R 1250 GS and has been coming to LBBMW MOTO for accessories and tune ups ever since. Fast forward to the year 2020 and everything stopped with the news of the pandemic. That’s when Cristiano, who works in the cruise ship industry, decided to do something he had always dreamed of. 

“Due to Covid19 my company put me in furlough and instead of staying home and doing nothing, I started to organize my trip. Putting all the pieces together kept my mind busy and didn’t have to focus on any of the crazy stuff going on around me”

Cristiano had long wanted to organize a bike trip that would cross several states and several days, all while camping solely from his R 1250 GS. He realized this was the time to do it, now or never.  

“I planned my trip with the pandemic in mind, which meant it would be a camping trip and no hotels! In being safe, I was also keeping in mind that this was a time to save money and camping seemed to check all the boxes. With the seasons changing,  I decided to visit all Northern American States: Oregon-Montana – Wyoming- Idaho and end in South Dakota for Sturgis. 

“On the way to Sturgis I would visit all those states in their Northern part and on my way back the same state but their Southern part. I planned my route with BMW GPS and it worked perfectly! I don’t usually plan my stops and or my camping ground just because I don’t want to be on a schedule. I think a motorcycle is freedom, I plan my itinerary based on 250 miles per day, some days I do more, some days I do less. I don’t want to be committed to time travel on a motorcycle, the goal is to enjoy the moment  not going from A to B. I like what is between A and B.

With such a big trip, we were curious how Cristiano’s bike would perform, and we were happy to hear that it exceeded his expectations. 

 “The 1200 GS is a great bike and is worth all the money. I know many people say that can be expensive,  but you can see the value when you make a big trip. You see,  I didn’t have an issue during my trip and to be honest I didn’t even think about that I was 2 fully loaded soft-side luggage (BMW) one BMW double bags and back hard case and the bike performed with no issue”

A trip this incredible, must have had some amazing moments, so we asked Cristiano to try and narrow down his favorite experience.

“Well this is a very difficult question, all of the trip was amazing. Glacier National Park is absolutely amazing and the same for YellowStone and all the other National Parks I visited. However, the Sturgis event is an experience in itself. I was in Sturgis for 13 days, during that time I camped in the backyard of a local family. My favorite memory was of riding on the road and getting visited by wild horses every time I stopped they’d come and stay close to the bike. Actually one pony bit my direction light!”

We truly enjoyed getting to be a part of this journey, and look forward to helping Cristiano get ready for his next big adventure, whenever that may be!