The Pink Panther, a BMW R1100GS

New and shiny: the Pink Panther

The Pink Panther was my second R1100GS. It was an anniversary model, or in German: a Jubileumausführung.

We didn't relate: it felt much slower than my first, the gearbox kept giving false neutrals, and the ABS engaged almost every time I braked on a surface that was not like a race circuit.

According to the dealer there was nothing wrong, so I traded it in (for a Bimota Mantra) after half a year.

The name: the Pink Panther

Rebuilt Kalahari yellow and original red and white R1100GS — The Pink Panther facing the R3B-in-the-making

After my beloved Bumble Bee fell in such a way that the subframe broke and it was declared total-loss, the insurance allowed me to buy a new one. I got a red-and-white 75-anniversary model, which I called the Pink Panther (red and white making pink).

Here the Pink Panther is seen on her first day, shiny and all. She has seen sand and mud since then...

She brought us to Norway and Greece, but somehow, I never related to her as I had done to the BB.

Apart from that, I sometimes felt that the perfect behaviour of the GS had its boring side: the fact that the bike feels secure in every circumstance, also has the effect that it doesn't matter how you ride. On the XT500, everything feels exciting at half the speed (or even much less) of the GS.

Unfortunately, I had lots of problems with this one: The gearbox had to be changed, the shocks at the back had to be changed, the ABS malfunctioned (the pause between two brake periods, when the ABS came in, was much too long, with the result that almost no brakes were applied; this has never been resolved), and somehow, the engine never had as much torque as my old one did. I should have had both on a dynojet or something...

So, at a certain moment, I traded her in for the Bimota Mantra...

Traveling with the Pink Panther

Red and white R1100GS on the beach — The Pink Panther in Denmark

We did a lot of traveling with the Pink Panther

I don't have any photographs of our trip to Greece anymore, but I do have pictures of our trip to Denmark, as you see here.

This was on a beach in Jutland. There is a beach, in the north, where you really are allowed to ride on the beach, but here, we ignored som written signs in Danish to get here.

Red and white R1100GS and a wooden house — The Pink Panther in Norway

This photo was taken somewhere in Norway (I don't have a travel report of that trip).

Red and white R1100GS with a dead bird — A dead Reed Bunting

It was on that trip in Norway that I found, when we paused, a dead Reed Bunting in its beak :-(

Red and white R1100GS and snow — Norway covered in snow

The Pink Panther saw some beautiful stretches in Norway, covered with snow and lonely.

Red and white R1100GS and garden — Garden full of miniature buildings in Sweden

And on the way back, we rode through Sweden as well.

So you see: the Pink Panther had a good life with us ;-)

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The Pink Panther, a BMW R1100GS

BMW GS overview