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Because the final development stages of machine parts and accessories for
motorcycles such as the F 800 GS need to be tested in extreme conditions that
private tracks and in-house simulators just cannot replicate, it is necessary
to go `out in the field'. Luckily, there are engineers such as Touratech
Executive Director, Herbert Schwarz, who are willing to assist BMW Motorrad in
certain areas of product development, helping to ensure that the products and
accessories work in the toughest conditions that a rider could expect to
encounter anywhere in the world.
Several months before the shiny new BMW F 800 GS was unveiled to the world's
motorcycle press in Milan, Schwarz was out in equatorial Africa, helping test
accessories for this eagerly awaited travel enduro. Accompanied by his new
wife Ramona (who completed the Can2Mex trip with him in 2006) on a BMW G 650
Xchallenge, the couple spent over a month exploring Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda
and Burundi in order to test and develop components, and provide travel
features for various motorcycle magazines.
Amazingly, in this world of global communication networks and mobile phone
cameras - and despite being besieged by inquisitive locals wherever they
went - the couple were able to complete their journey in secret, without a
single picture of their journey making the headlines. And because the new
F 800 GS is finally in the public domain, their story can now be told, so
watch this space for a forthcoming interview with Herbert and Ramona, and
find out the full story of what this respected globetrotter thinks of the
exciting new addition to the legendary GS family.
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