Picture Of The Month! Grezzano, Italy (Click Image for a Larger View)

Every month customers send us killer photos and I see no reason to keep them to myself so what better way to say thanks for sharing than to post them in this Picture of the Month spot..

Our Jan/ Feb POTM was contributed by Giovanni Chiappori who lives in Verona, Italy... . He says of the shot.. "Hello and greetings from Italy. The photo was taken in the morning around 08:00 on my way to work. They are narrow roads in the countryside, without traffic, and the eye sweeps across the fields towards the horizon. There was no cold, even if autumn is advancing. That morning the sky was cloudy and it looked like it might rain. So while I was driving I watched the sun rise and when I arrived in Grezzano, a very beautiful little village, I took the road towards the sun. At the end of the village, in the fields, there was the crossroads. I put the bike on the stand and took this shot. The rest was already there: rising sun, clouds, cypresses in the avenue. All I did was stop everything. Well ... What to say ... It's a fantastic way to start the day. Do what you love most in spectacular nature. The photo was taken with an iPhone 13 PRO, and fixed with Snapseed. I am 65 years old and in December. I will be riding a motorbike for 50 years. "

If you would like to contribute your own "worthy" shot for our newsletter, here's what I'll need. First.. just email me 1 or 2 of your best digital shots or send me a link if you've already uploaded them somewhere. It'll need to be at least 1024x768 in size or larger and preferably A. Of any late model BMW .. B. In focus... C. No GSs for God's sake.

Me, My Dad, and Johnny: A Tale of Two Heroes

The father of my youth was a tough, emotionally lean man. In the 17 years that I lived with my parents, I never saw him dance with my mother..buy her flowers... hug her.. kiss her, or even hold her hand. Not once. My sister and I fared a little better. I was told that he wasn't like that before he went off to fight in WW2. He came back changed. The army took a few years of his life and gave him back a chest full of medals and a scarred psyche from seeing things that shouldn't be seen and doing things that I can not imagine. For reasons only known to himself and his God, instead of displaying his medals for all to see, he kept them in a shoe box high in the closet as if they held little importance in the post-war chapter of his life. He didn't need to talk about them. He expected no accolades. He had just done what needed to be done. I guess that's what real heroes do.

It's been 31 years since he passed and I still miss him every single day.. In fact, for some reason I find myself missing him more the older I get. Sadly I only have a handful of pictures of us together. Perhaps as I approach the age that he died (63).. I have a clearer understanding of the man, what he must have went through in the war, and the pressures of supporting a family of four. Just last week I found myself in tears at the thought that I'll never see him again in this life or hear his voice. I wonder if he'd be proud of me. The fact that this ever-present melancholy is probably common to anyone who has lost a father offers little respite.

He was raised old school.. Taught that the man worked.. the wife raised the kids. Period. That's how his father was raised and his father before him. That being said.. while I know my father loved me, I have few memories of father/son activities. I do remember him taking me fishing a few times.. Having a catch now and then.. Him teaching me how to make home-made ice-cream in one of those hand crank machines that was required of every household in the 60s. And of course, the few times he took me for rides on his motorcycle changed me forever. I now wish I had thanked him for the effort he put into fatherhood... and the memories. My guess is.. a simple "thank you" would have meant a lot to him. Just another regret I have to live with. We all have to live with.

There is one memory with my father that stands out above the rest that I'd like to share. I treasure this one........... Read the whole story..

The History of I-BMW Rallies In Pictures: Get Them While They Are Still Available!

A few years ago when Vic Salemme shut down I-BMW.com with virtually no notice to members, we lost access to almost 20 years of rally and personal pictures, articles, and ride reports. Many of them my own. Stupidly I didn't save copies for my own files assuming that I-BMW would be around into infinity and beyond. That's on me, but.... dayum. What an epic loss. Every now and then I think of one or two of my lost stories. There's still a "ghost image" of I-BMW at the Wayback Machine website if you have the time to sort through it's remains. It's kind of like what Superman would find if he visited the remains of Krypton. Bits and pieces. Carnage of what once was.

Last week I got to thinking.. Sometime within the next 2 years when this aging pirate retires and shuts down the biz, there's gonna be some collateral damage.. ie.. our Pirates Lair SmugMug Photo Gallery will also go away. It costs me a nice sum to keep all the I-BMW rally photos stored and displayed there. I keep those photos available as a courtesy of our customers..

Unlike Vic, I'm giving all my customers and friends a heads up now (and in the remaining newsletters) that if you want to save any old rally pics... now would be the time to find and download them. They are free for the taking. I'll assume you just pull up a picture, right click on it, and save to your hard drive. Or you could just pull up the picture and use your Windows "Snippet Tool." It's that easy.. FYI.. I saved pics from dozens of I-BMW rallies going back to 1999... Blue Ridge Parkway Rally, Deals Gap Rally , Texas Hill Country Rally, Sierra Gold Rush Rally, Rocky Mountain Rally, Australian I-BMW Rally, and our infamous Wall of Shame photos. Enjoy.

1. Here's something waaaaay cool to start 2023 for the K1600 crowd who wants to remove the top case for a sleeker ride.. Check out the PUSH Topcase Delete Kit for the BMW Grand America. It's sleek, sexy, IMHO reasonably priced and easy to install.. I actually reached out to the one man operation to see If we could sell them, but he wasn't interested... Apparently he makes them to order on his 3D Printer.. Details are on the website.

2. K16 Headers: We found out the hard way that BMW made a change to K16 headers on mid or early 2022 models. The headers that have fit all the K16's thru (as best as we can tell) late 2021 had (2) O2 sensor ports in them. The mid-2022 headers now have (4) O2 sensor ports due to the 2022 Euro 5 emission standards, similar to cars. Subsequently, we now know that the Remus part# 0101 089911 headers (sold exclusively in the US by Pirates Lair) fit only the 2017-2021 K1600 series BMWs. We have asked Remus to produce kits for the 2022 (4 port) bikes and hope to see those soon. It was our #1 selling product.

I'll also add, a customer of ours actually took the early (current version) K16 (2) port K16 headers and converted it to a (4) port kit and has it installed on his 2022 K1600. If anyone is interested in converting the current Remus header kit to work on their 2022+ K1600 Bagger/GT/GTL, Grand America, let me know and I can put you in touch with the customer. He has detailed info and pics. Apparently it's not that hard or expensive..

3. Just seen this on the FEMA site. Looks like there's a new Recall for the BMW K1600 Series... This was issued around Halloween last year and I just found it... Applicable to US bikes? I do not know..

4. Here's some info on the 2023 BMW R1250R.... While I've never been a fan of BMW twins, I have to admit.. this is a damn good looking bike..

5. And for those with bank accounts much larger than mine, there's the upcoming 2023 BMW M1000RR. 423lbs dry... 200+hp and $38,000 dollars. Holy mother of Jesus. Guaranteed to get her wet... or hard depending on sexual identification. I shudder to think of the cost of insurance on this beauty.

6. Some good news to start the year.. In case you've not been paying attention, Staintune exhausts have a new owner and they've been making great progress getting the company back up to ramming speed. They've been producing systems for mostly smaller (under 650cc) bikes thus far, but.. we just got news a week ago that they are in pre-production for some kits for the BMW R1250 GS/GSA and should start production in February closely followed by their famous Conti Replicas including a version for the early Boxers. I'll post pics as soon as they are available. You can check out the all new Staintune website here.. and if you scroll down to the bottom of the page there's a very cool 13 minute video showing where the company is today, the new facility, and an idea of where they're going with the product line.

7. and some bad news to start the year... Slingshot Racing is closing their doors as soon as stock runs out.. We've been selling their billet gas caps, footpeg lowering kits, and a few other choice goodies for over a decade. Apparently they're another victim of "Build Back Better." Like Pirates Lair, they're a small company with a small staff. Hate to see them go as their K1600 gas caps was our single best selling product. We wish them well wherever they may travel..

1. Once again, Pirates Lair is forced to offer a solution to a problem that BMW's designers created and without their astronomical pay. We are now offering a two piece frame side panel cover kit to cover up those butt-ugly holes on the sides of your 2018+ K1600B Bagger & Grand America. Made from genuine ABS plastic (not that fake shit), install is *chimp-easy and takes only minutes and without tools or Ivy League college degree. While these frame panels come in a smooth matte black finish and make the sides of your magnificent bike look 100% better as delivered, some will want to paint them to match their bike. Not a problem. A little Scotch Brite and they'll be paint-ready. - * Chimp not included. You can order your K16 Bagger / Grand America Frame Side Panel Cover Kit here...

2.The all new Akrapovic Black Titanium Slip-On Exhaust System for the K16 Bagger / Grand America was developed for riders who want to make a change to the bike's look and sound with minimum modification. Ride in style with the Akrapovič Black Ti Slip-On exhaust system for the world's top-of-the-line BMW touring motorcycle. You will love its unique design, which is outstandingly executed using top-quality titanium canisters and carbon fiber outlet caps. Like every aftermarket exhaust available for the K1600 series, your O2 sensors remains plugged into your factory header. How does it sound? Fucking awesome. We're trying to determine if these kits fit the 2022 bikes..

3. Pirates Lair has an all new newsletter notification service in place. If you've subscribed and missed some notices we apologize. All kinds of shit has been going on behind the curtain. We think we've got it all sorted out. If you'd like to be notified when each new newsletter is posted, just email me with your request and I'll make that happen. Our email database is 100% secure. Never shared or sold to third parties unless sexual favors are involved.

4. In case you hadn't noticed, the price of everything has skyrocketed over the last year or so. We all know who's to blame so I won't dwell on it. I'm bringing this up as most of our customers have probably noticed that prices on our menu have started creeping (or even rocketing) up in an exponential way. Besides the weekly increases in shipping costs (both here and abroad) virtually every month one of my vendors is contacting me with price changes that I'll be required to implement. Just wanted to say.. '"I'm sorry.. It's out of my control."

6. The Pirates Lair email address of 20 years recently changed from pirate@acelink.net to pirateslair@gmail.com. Our newsletter notices will be sent from pirateslair@charter.net I suggest you OK that address in your spam filter otherwise you may or may not get the newsletter notices..

7. We'll be implementing price hikes on multiple products during the month of January. It appears most vendors are trying to adapt to (and survive) "Build Back Better." Consider yourself forewarned.

I-BMW Reunion.. Pirates Lair Is Throwing Another Party! October 14th, 2023 (Tentative)

Where: 122 Flat Top Mountain Rd, Fairview, NC 28730
Remember, when you Google directions to our property to make sure you put in the zip code as there are TWO 122 Flat Top Mountain Rds in North Carolina. We don't want you getting lost or showing up at the wrong one.. Awkward.
GPS Coordinates: N 35 degrees, W 082 degrees
When: Sat. October 14th, 2023
Contact : 828-628-7093 or Pirateslair@gmail.com
Nearby Motel: Ramada by Wyndham Asheville Southeast

Amber and I are thinking about hosting this one-day event (our first since 2007) for former I-BMW members, posters, or lurkers. Guests are welcome. This will be held on our mountain property (Paradise Ridge Permaculture Campground) just a few miles east of Asheville and 7 miles off the Blue Ridge Parkway. If all goes as planned we'll have food @ noon, non-alcoholic drinks, campfires, outdoor toilets, scantily clad jugglers, annoying mimes, maybe even live music around 5pm. Keep in mind, we do NOT have electricity on site.

Note: This will NOT be a "rain or shine" event. If it's gonna be wet or rainy.. we will cancel. Check with us a week prior to the event to make sure we're still a go. As of this newsletter... it's still tentative.

We don't care if you ride or drive. There will be plenty of parking although most of it will be in a grassy pasture. There are motels nearby if attendees want to overnight in the area, but you'll need to book in advance as this is near the peak leaf-peeping season. Limited on-site camping will be available. Bring your own intoxicants. Email me for EXACT DIRECTIONS.