Gar-Mission

Every year BMW hold a party in Bavaria like no other. There are more bikes, beer and birds than you can shake your bratwurst at, so Boothy went to check it out…

I’ve got a problem; I just can’t seem to say no. When a bunch of my mates said they were going to Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria for BMW’s annual ‘Motorrad Days’ festival (piss-up) it didn’t take me long to get my name down. I’d never been to the event before, but I’d heard plenty about how bloody brilliant it’s supposed to be, with bikes and beer tents left, right and centre, so I thought it ought to be right up my street.

The idea was that we would take three days to ride down there, taking the scenic route, take in all the festival had to offer, and then try and tackle the 1,000-mile journey home in one hit. And all on some of the finest motorcycles BMW have to offer. Now the other lads all had pretty sensible bikes for doing that sort of mileage, GSs and R1250RTs and that sort of thing.

But that’s neither how I roll, nor the Fast Bikes way, so I thought I would wait until Bruce wasn’t looking and nab his S1000RR long termer for the weekend.

With my roll bag packed to the brim with pants, socks and pile cream I strapped it to the back of the Beemer and headed south to meet the crew at Folkestone to catch ‘Le Shuttle’ (the Channel Tunnel, in English). My German pilgrimage on the Bavarian Barnstormer had begun…

Flexiplus