Beemer Bunny

“I buy motorcycles mainly because I find them pleasing to the eye. That’s how I got into the BMWs. I’d seen a photo of a 1200 GSA in a magazine, and that’s what I wanted. I didn’t care that it was maybe too high, too heavy, too this or too that. I need to have that wow factor when I open the garage door and see my motorcycles. So that’s how I buy them. And I make things work out afterward, one way or another.” – Beemer Bunny

Dominique Joseph is originally from the United Kingdom but has been living in Switzerland for some years now. “I was born in the UK and moved around quite a bit, living in Belgium, France, and The Netherlands. The family home, however, was based as far as the island of Montserrat in the Caribbean, Australia, the USA and now Barbados. It’s probably too much moving around to feel like I can call any of these countries ‘home’. I’m a citizen of the world shall we say? I suppose home is where my motorcycles and my stuff are.”

Dominique is well known on Instagram by her handle Beemer Bunny. “Well, the Beemer part is pretty obvious. However, the bunny part, maybe not so much. Bunny wasn’t an actual rabbit, although I’ve owned some. He was one of the donkeys I owned. And when signing up in motorcycle forums, and not wanting to use my real name, I used Lapin, rabbit in French, which was his actual name, since he was a French donkey. So I changed it to the English “bunny” when I was in a more Anglophone environment.”

“I have been into horses, and donkeys, for pretty much all of my life. Then in 2009, I decided that I was going to get my motorcycle license. I’d been giving it some thought for a while and had met some people that rode, which probably motivated me to go through with it. I bought my first motorcycle, as all my subsequent bikes, without trying it out or even sitting on it. It was delivered in April 2010, and I picked it up with a trailer, being totally clueless as to how one of these things was ridden. By October 2010, I’d already bought my second motorcycle. The first one didn’t fit my developing riding style. Picture going from a Harley Davidson 883 Iron to a Triumph Speed Triple 1050. Quite the change!”

Since Dominique became serious about motorcycling, she’s roughly covered 167 770 mi / 270 000 km on her various motorcycles. “The most kilometers done in one year on one bike was 28 000 mi / 45 000 km. On my recent North America trip I totaled 25 000 mi / 40 000 km alone. As for the number of countries traveled to on my motorcycles and sidecars; the total now stands at thirty-nine.” That’s not counting the other ten countries she’s traveled to by other means. “My latest big trip was a six-month adventure through the western parts of Canada and the United States in 2018. I guess I had reached a point in time, and life, where I needed a break from daily routine as I knew it. I needed some alone time and vast empty landscapes to lose myself into. I knew it would be a bit of a ‘tourist’ trip, for lack of a better term, but there would also be a significant personal trip happening in parallel. As usual, I traveled and rode alone, except for a few sporadic cases.”

For Beemer Bunny, it’s always been important to ride her own motorcycles. “For one, I know my bike and how it is serviced and looked after. Its little quirks and specialties, and there is that point you reach where it’s not just a heap of metal, plastic, and rubber. It becomes an integral part of any trip and a silent travel companion. You even talk to it sometimes, hoping no one notices and thinks you’re a complete weirdo. It is what allows me to travel and visit places. I’ve gotten rather attached to mine, at least to my current ones. And presume it will be the same with the future travel bike, which will be arriving in a couple of months.” Dominique has put her money down on an R1250 GS Adventure that will be arriving at the end of March.

“I ride a total of 870 mi / 1400 km each time I get either one of my current BMWs serviced. The only mechanic I trust a hundred percent is in France. I’ve honestly never had any issues with the bikes since he’s been looking after them until some self-proclaimed ‘adventure bike and BMW specialists’ serviced my R1200 GSA along the way in North America. Having peace of mind is priceless as far as I am concerned. And if it were not for those people, the bike would have performed flawlessly during the entire trip. For the next trip, I intend on being in a position to do most of the work myself while sticking to BMW dealerships where possible. That should help avoid any such future situations.”

Back in 2011, after seeing a photo of an R1200 GS Adventure in a magazine, I walked into one of the local BMW dealerships here in Switzerland and pointed at a brand new R1200 GS Adventure, which was sitting in the showroom. Saying to the owner of the garage, who also dealt with sales, that this was the bike I wanted. He politely refused to sell it to me, stating that it was too high and heavy, and I too short and probably ‘too weak’ for it, being a girl. I hadn’t been riding all that long, so I trusted his judgment, and I left instead with a an R1200 R.”

“Still, my thoughts kept on going back to that specific bike that I originally wanted. Then I saw an ad for an R1200 GSA on a consignment sale in another garage and traded in my Triumph for it. Without even trying it out! It was my first bike with a center stand. And as I was about to leave, I had to ask one of their mechanics to put it on the side stand, as I had no idea how to get it off its center stand. I still remember the look on the guy’s face. A few months later, I returned to the first garage for a service, and couldn’t help but grin as I told the owner that I finally got the bike I wanted elsewhere. That he had lost a sale on a brand new bike, and that low and behold, I did manage to ride it around in a rather decent fashion!”

“So ladies, no matter what anyone says, there are ways to customize big ADV bikes to make them manageable. As far as height goes, I just reduced the width of the saddle on mine, and that was all it required. But many other modifications can be made to help. So unless neither of your feet touches the ground, no matter how you might try, there is always something that can be done to lower a bike. That being said though, little can be done to reduce the weight significantly. So there is a skill you will need to work on, to get it back on its wheels after it falls over. I still struggle, especially when it’s loaded for traveling. But it is possible. And it is not just a question of muscle and sheer strength. There are techniques to help make this easier and possible. Get the bike you want, the one that makes you smile when you see it, customize it, so it works for you. And work on your skills for the rest.”

“I currently own two BMWs. Generally referred to as the fat ladies. A 2002 R1150 GS Adventure named Duck, and my main travel companion, a red 2008 R1200 GS Adventure named Panda. I purchased Panda from her previous owner back in 2014, with about 47 000 MI / 75 000 km on her. She was already quite well equipped for traveling, although I did add some things that were missing for me and removed some things that were useless to me. Now she is pretty much perfectly personalized for my needs.

Panda boasts a wide range of personalization. Currently fitted from Black Dog Cycle Works are their Ultimate Skid Plate, center stand skid plate, Helo pad, and bottle opener. From Wunderlich a set of supplementary crash bars, a paralever slider, handguard extensions, and upgraded gear and brake levers. The most extended list of accessories comes from Touratech though. The engine was treated to a ceramic clutch and Y pipe without a catalyst. Up front rides a Desierto 3 fairing, GPS bracket bar and lockable GPS holder. On the sides of the engine sit a pair of fuel line guards and a throttle potentiometer guard. Guards for the rest of Panda includes an oil cooler guard, rear brake fluid reservoir guard, and a front ABS sensor guard. The BMW upper crash bars have been fitted with a crash bar bags while the front fender now holds a handy extender. Double Take Mirrors help with the rear view while Pivot Pegz Mark 3 foot pegs give Dominique a stable footing. The slip-on exhaust is by Akrapovic while the suspension has been taken care of with a set from Wilbers. Two Rotopax canisters are mounted below the OEM panniers while a set of Kriega dry bags rides on top. All of this rests on the AKS Engineering SideKicker side stand.

“During the Canada and USA trip there was one very emotional moment for me, which I will never forget; It was the first time I was riding into Death Valley, and it was around 6:15 am as I was trying to get an early start due to the heat. As I rode into the park, the sheer beauty of it caught me completely off-guard. It was so different from what I had been expecting or imagining. The sun was beginning to rise, the colors were changing, and the flats, hills, and mountains were all coming to life. Right at that moment, my favorite music piece of all times entitled Time by Hans Zimmer started playing inside my helmet. The combination of all this brought tears to my eyes. The sheer beauty and magic of this, all combined. For years, I’d been watching beautiful documentaries on TV, where you have these perfect images with just the perfect music. At that moment I realized that I was living my own personal perfect documentary moment. I had to stop on the side of the road for a few minutes, just to take it all in. Not wanting to waste one precious second of it. These moments are so brief and fleeting, gone in a few seconds.”

“In Oregon, while riding towards the Painted Hills, there was the long way road on a paved road. There was also the short way road, on a 31 mi / 50 km long unpaved trail. So I chose the latter, as I didn’t have a lot of time left that day and was getting tired. It was a little rocky in places, going uphill and downhill, beautiful though. However, I was aware that I had only seen one car in the last couple of hours. The landscape generally looked rather parched and dry. But there were tell-tale signs of water and flash flood damage such as deep dried out ruts along or across the trail. I remember thinking that it probably hadn’t rained in a while. But then I hit my first rather large puddle. I made it through just fine, so I went on.”

“That was when I got to this little creek. It should have been an uncomplicated crossing. I walked it first, and despite this, managed to choose the worst possible line to get through it. The bike tipped over, to the right where her air intake manifold is, and I managed to hit the kill switch just before she hit the water. I took off as much of the luggage as possible and tried to get her back up. Unfortunately, the bottom of the creek was rocky and very slippery. I tried and tried, and achieved little else than the bike doing a full 360° on her side.”

“After almost an hour, I was spent and tired, and slowly getting used to the idea that I was going to camp here, with the bike lying in the middle of the creek. Or that I should start walking in either direction in the hope of finding help. Eventually, a couple came over the hill in their truck and stopped wide-eyed at the sight. Me waving frantically and a whale of a motorcycle lying down in the water. They helped me get her back up and stayed there until I started her and walked her out of the creek. My heroes of the day! This refers to something I always say; Most any bike will work for you, although some may add some difficulties.”

Dominique is well known on social media for her love of collecting stickers. “The first few bikes I had, I actually removed every single sticker that was on them. Be it from the brand or the dealership. I hated those things, and I usually made fun of a friend of mine who had some on his bike. I believe the first stickers I got, around four years ago, were from the WLF Enduro team when I ordered something. So I started by putting on one, and then another, and another… and another… Some I purchased, some were sent to me by companies. I only put on the ones that I like, although I am starting to run out of space on Panda. They came from riding groups, teams or non-profit organizations, private individuals, friends, strangers you meet along the way. I was also happy to trade, once I had my own made. Each sticker means that I’ve had some sort of an exchange with the person or company that send it to me. Some stayed at that. And some became friends that I got to meet in person during my trip. Now that was the cherry on the cake!”

Follow Dominique’s adventures on her Instagram page.

Images by Dominique Joseph and Luke Takahashi from WLFenduro.