Dad (Fred) and I went to the Triumph Demo Rides in Hillsboro, because it sounded like fun. We had a great time, though there was a wreck.

Our first rides were on the BMW R1200GS (Ted) and the BMW F800ST (Fred).

Ted rode the R1200GS, which had BMW's Electronic Suspension Adjustment, which allows motorcycle handling to be adjusted on the fly. He loved the feel of it, loved the advanced trip computer, but didn't care for the quirky BMW controls or the boxer motor.

Fred rode the F800ST. He loved the lower fairing, but was distracted by the controls, especially the turn signal cancel switch.

Our second rides were on the Triumph Scrambler 900 (Ted) and the Triumph Street Triple 675R (Fred).

Ted was annoyed by the high pipes, which meant he couldn't tuck his legs tight against the tank. Further, it didn't feel like it made any power, and the distance from the seat to the tank was too long.

Fred loved the 675R. It was his second favorite bike of the day, loved cornering, but the brakes felt soft.

Our third bikes were the BMW K1200LT and the F650GS (twin).

Ted rode the K1200LT because it was available. It's a massive barge, and not only didn't have a powerband, but also didn't have a soul. The adjustable windshield was nice, the electrohydraulic centerstand was amusing, but it seemed better suited for hauling farm implements than being on the road.

Fred rode the F650GS, a detuned version of the new 800cc twin engine with a confusing name. He thought it was slow and was sluggish in the corners, but the engine felt smooth.

The next rides were on the BMW F800GS (Ted) and the BMW R1200GS (Fred).

Ted thought Fred would like the boxer motor. Fred loved the powerband, but disliked the extra weight of the bike.

Ted loved the F800GS. The very narrow front fairing was nice, the parallel-twin was surprisingly smooth and had a great bark, but the symbols on the trip computer would take a while to learn, as would the weird BMW controls.

The final rides were on the Triumph Daytona 675 (Ted) and the Sprint ST (Fred).

Ted loved the power of the 675cc mill, though the superbike seating position was way too extreme, especially with a peaked Arai XD3 helmet. He also couldn't get comfortable cornering on the bike- having your head nearly in line with the front axle is different.

Fred really enjoyed the Sprint ST. It was his favorite bike of the day- it is a fast bike, and comfortable for long distance. He felt the engine has a wide powerband and is very smooth.

Overall, Fred was disappointed in the BMWs. He felt they didn't have any soul.

We both felt that Triumph could have run their part of the event better. They didn't allow many test rides, and they required riders to wait around for many hours between rides. They were more aggressive on the sales, which is good, but completely ignored Ted and spent their time pitching the bikes to Fred. That was strange, considering which one is more likely to buy a bike!

Finally, BMW was more laid back on their test rides. They allowed riders to ride their own line in the corners, weren't as militant about rules, and in general seemed to trust their riders.

Ted and Fred both got a short chance to ride Gustavo's Versys. Ted expected to like the motor, especially since the F800GS was so enjoyable. It turned out he didn't like the motor- too much vibration, and less power than he expected. Fred thought it felt too much like a sportbike, required too much RPM to develop power, but LOVED the color.

On the way home, Fred rode Ted's V-Strom 650. He thought "it felt like going home" and was instantly comfortable. By the end of the day, we both rode 8 different bikes.

After riding the demo bikes, I really wanted to ride Gustavo's Versys. He gave me the keys, so I went out on his bike while Fred was on my DL650.

We came up on a 90 degree left-hander, and there were stopped cars and motorcycles on the road. Never a good sign.

It turns out a demo rider, on the F800ST, felt he was too fast in the turn. So he target-fixated straight ahead and proceeded to run through a ditch and into soft dirt. (See the corner below- the rider went just left of the driveway)

I suspect he highsided as he hit the far edge of the ditch, which explains why the crash damage was on the right side of the bike (remember, left-hand turn). He had chest trauma, probably a few broken ribs.

It had happened literally seconds before we arrived, so we were able to help by moving bikes off the road, moving a witnesses' car off the road, and then going back and helping to assess the rider.