Frances Sayre wasn’t always into motorcycles. She didn’t always have a motorcycle repair shop just off Siler Road. She wasn’t born to ride, as they say. Instead, it was a contest about nine years ago that caught her eye. BMW was sponsoring it. It was called MotoFemina. The contest was aimed at women between 25 and 45, to see if they might like motorcycles. To see if they were capable of riding them. To see if they could pass a series of tests, both on and off the road. To see if they could score a huge amount of points in the process. Those with the highest number of points could win a BMW motorcycle. It was the perfect ad, doubling as a contest, aimed at the perfect age group. Sayre gave it a shot. She didn’t win, but she got hooked. Since then, she hasn’t looked back. Rrrrrmmmmmmm. "Some take to the wide fire roads in the mountains with their dirt bikes…others to the racetrack with their old-school Yamaha crotch rockets."And these days, from the confines of her shop, she encourages just about anybody and everybody to see if riding motorcycles is their thing, their calling.

And in New Mexico, with no helmet requirement, that means you can have the wind in your hair, right? “Our culture is to wear helmets,” says Sayre, referring to her group of friends, fellow motorcycle riders who meet at the Santa Fe Baking Co. every Sunday morning. “We’re not of the ‘no-helmet’ culture. 1200cc harley engine for saleIf you’re not wearing one, I don’t think anything about it or judge. motorcycle tires valdosta gaBut you’ve got to be careful out there, because there’s a whole ’nother world that’s not looking for us.”motorcycle test centre bolton Those would be the drivers of those pesty four-wheel vehicles, those trucks, SUVs, Jeeps and what-nots.sydney motorcycle wreckers & workshop

Motorcycle riding: It’s a mode of transportation that often doubles as a sport. Some take to the wide fire roads in the mountains with their dirt bikes, others to the highway with their Harleys, others to the racetrack with their old-school Yamaha crotch rockets. With summer here, Sayre’s pleasure is the racetrack out at Sandia Speedway in Albuquerque, where she gets to let the throttle out on one of the many vintage motorcycles from her shop, OCD Custom Cycles and Repair, established four years ago. A few weeks ago, she took the 1975 Honda CB400F. Anybody who has vintage bike can participate, as long as the cycle was built in 1985 or earlier. And, of course, as long as you have $100 to burn. But Sayre claims the experience is worth it. “You don’t really have to race,” says Sayre, who grew up in West Virginia and attended college in Ohio before winding up in Santa Fe in the late 1980s, as an artist who specialized in making jewelry. Sayre adds that if you’re not into racing and you’re more into showing your ride, or if you merely want to check out some classic bikes, there’s the 4th Annual Motorado Classic Motorcycle Show, scheduled for Sunday, June 21, in Eldorado.

More than 100 motorcycles are expected to be on display for everyone to see. So why not mount that hog and ride out to see what it’s like? Take the back roads there and feel the wind in your hair in a state that doesn’t require helmets. Or put on a helmet. Classic international bikes are just one of the highlights of the show, along with motorcycle trials, brought to you by the New Mexico Motorcycle Trials Association, which will set up a cool course. Using a specialized motorcycle that doesn’t have a seat and is more in sync with motocross or enduro, the trials course climbs over rocky terrain, and riders perform all sorts of technical maneuvers that will blow you away. The show runs from 10 am to 3 pm. And of course, if you just want to be alone and get away from the crowds, you can take to the multitude of highways on the periphery of Santa Fe. There’s Hwy. 14, the obvious choice, the old Turquoise Trail, which winds past Madrid and eventually leads to I-40, including a side trek up the road to the Sandia Crest;

if neither of those gets you revved, then you could always take the high road to Taos. One of Sayre’s favorites is Highway 64, between Tierra Amarilla and Taos. “There’s a mountain pass and lots of sweeps,” Sayres says, referring to open curves where you can see the entire landscape rolling out before you. Which reminds her: She has to get back to work, a necessity for the fun out on the open highway or keeping it tight around the curves of a track. Consider this: She went from fledgling struggling artist to graphic designer for a major company in Santa Fe to co-owner of what is turning out to be a thriving business, in both sales and repairs. “I like working for myself,” she says. “It’s always better to work for yourself, especially if you’re going to be working hard, and I work hard.”1,106,058 kms / 687,273 miles of motorcycle ridesSearch (Log In) | 48 posts, read 66,429 times 257 posts, read 439,713 times We've had multiple mini coopers over the years and have had great luck with them.

As far as service goes, i'd avoid the ABQ mini/bmw dealer at all costs. if its under manufacturers warranty, then you wont have much choice other than the dealer. We bought our minis out of warranty and serviced/repaired them ourselves, so im not much help there. I'm sure there are some local shops in SF that can help as the mini is a fairly simple car to service for any shop with BMW experience. This was a great resource for us when we got started: MINI COOPER :: North American Motoring 21,583 posts, read 31,197,763 times Originally Posted by newmarket2 The only Mini Cooper dealer in New Mexico is in Albuquerque. We know two owners, they live in Albuquerque and Belen. They both enjoy their Mini's. ADDED: They both bought new and have their maintenance done at the dealer. 39,703 posts, read 42,422,247 times If you buy new or a mini that's still under manufacturers warranty, you'll have to take it to ABQ for service other than routine maintenance.