What's New In The Parts Department?

New Products & Gear Swap

SPOT GPS - Adventure riders in the know never leave home without one of these.  The SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger can go where cell phones simply cannot.  It provides a vital line of communication with friends and family when you want it and emergency assistance when you need it. Using 100% satellite technology, SPOT works virtually anywhere in the world - all with the push of a button.  Stay safe and connected on all your adventures.  It's also the perfect companion for back country skiers and hikers alike.  Now in stock.

New Revit Women's "Ventura" Adventure Suit - Coming Soon - Ride West is proud to introduce one of the few true dual sport suits made exclusively for women.  It's called the Ventura and will be available starting this March.  Like the Sand and Cayenne Pro Suits, the Ventura will be chock full of features such as separate removable thermal and waterproof liners, CE armor, plenty of vents for warm weather touring and a sleek form fitting contour for added safety.  This suit will lend itself to any type of riding, from touring to commuting, to dual sport, in comfort and style.  Look for it within the next week or so.

Pilot Road 3 - The latest (and greatest) sport touring tire from Michelin - "As the Sport Touring Motorcycle tire market grows, Michelin responds with the new Pilot Road 3 tire," said Gary Midkiff, vice president of Michelin North America's two wheel division. "Tires in this segment have to be adaptable to many different types of motorcycles, as well as a variety of weather and riding conditions. With its XST X-Sipes, the Pilot Road 3 tire will be the benchmark of the Sport Touring Motorcycle Radial class."

The most distinctive feature of the MICHELIN Pilot Road 3 tire is its revolutionary new X-Sipe Technology (XST), which adds a unique look to the distinctive tread pattern pioneered on the MICHELIN Pilot Road 2 tire. The full-depth sipes help evacuate any water underneath the tire by allowing additional draining capacity of the tread as well as generate pressures at the edge of the sipe blade to break up water film. Besides offering superior wet traction, the XST sipes have the added benefit of promoting long tread life and even wear characteristics. 

We're looking forward to offering the new Pilot Road 3 this year.  Select sizes are available now!

Kenda Big Block Knobby Tires for YOUR GS - Ride West welcomes Kenda to our great off road and dual sport tire lineup.  Introducing the new K784 Big Block dual sport tire for your R1200GS, F650GS and G650GS singles (non Dakar).  Now there's an affordable dual sport tire with large tread blocks for those roads that are a bit too far off the beaten path.  Its high impact casing structure provides a high level of puncture resistance. Additionally, they use a bias belted casing for improved stability and a rubber compound designed for wet or dry terrain.  The large knobby design grips the mud, dirt and gravel for excellent off road grip. They're definitely geared towards more off road than street, so don't expect a ton of mileage or a super smooth ride.  But for the money, they look like a great alternative if you're heading for the dirt.  And of course they are also D.O.T. approved.  We should be receiving them within the next few weeks and are taking preorders now!

Ask us about our other great tire options for your GS, including Continental TKC80's, Metzeler Karroo, Mefo and more.

Safety is the key to a great ride! Here's a great money saving way to keep wearing safest riding gear available: Is your riding gear outdated, unsafe or just plain cheap? Don't you deserve to wear the very best in safety equipment?  As technology changes so does motorcycle riding gear.   The latest gear available utilizes state of the art materials which were simply not available 5 years ago.  These fabrics are constantly being improved upon and are much more abrasion resistant than before, rivaling leather in some cases. 

With newly sophisticated energy absorbing CE armor, many that spread impact across the entire surface of the protector, they can minimize an impact to the rider much better than before.   Coupled with the fact that most gear 5 years or older has most likely weakened in abrasion resistance due to UV breakdown of the fibers making up the gear, therefore destroying it's capability to protect and serve.  Your gear may look okay, but think about anything nylon or plastic that's left out in the sun for years on end.  It fades, sure. But it also gets brittle.  Riding gear is no exception.

The Ride West BMW Gearswap Trade-in program - So, have a used jacket that needs updating? Perhaps a set of luggage for a bike you no longer have?  Bring it by the shop and we'll give you a trade-in value towards new gear! Give us a call or stop by for details and use Gearswap to get a break on the new riding gear and accessories you've always wanted! (not applicable towards most sale items, limited to a certain percentage off - see your Parts representative for details).

What's On Sale? - Ongoing closeouts and great deals on gear like closeout helmets, summer mesh gear, luggage and exhaust - it's always a mixed bag!  Check out the store for more details.

eBay Store is Back! - Speaking of great deals, did you know we have an eBay Store?  Occasionally we have closeouts, discontinued items, floor models, etc. that just have to go.  You can check out our eBay site here.

Jeff Conlin - Parts Manager
Bill Niwa - Apparel & Accessories Manager
Contact us  @ (206) 527-5511 or e-mail @
parts@ridewest.com  or apparel@ridewest.com 

A Message From Our Owners

Two years ago we had a sit-down meeting with the brass at BMW Motorrad about our sales performance and what is termed "penetration" in the industry. Ride West BMW has been a "top 10" performer in terms of new BMW unit sales in 12 out of the last 13 years, and normally is in the top 5. We also have one of the largest Area of Responsibility(s) (AOR) in the country, covering King and Snohomish counties, (actually to the Canadian border) as well as the islands. We also have over 3500 Units in Operation (UIO's), which is one of the highest usage areas in the country. And so it is perplexing when BMW tells us that our penetration is not as high as it should be and that there are many sales out there for us yet to gain. We have some interesting geographical challenges with the Puget Sound region being what it is, particularly in the downtown Seattle area; and, we probably do not have to mention that the traffic situation throughout the I-5 corridor is ridiculous and this congestion spreads throughout the region. So in this discussion with Motorrad we indicated that we would take on a number of initiatives in order to increase our penetration and capture some of those sales opportunities.

So how do you do this? We feel we have always done a pretty good job with our community involvement. For fifteen years we have promoted the dealership with winter slide shows, swap meets, seminars, bike swaps, involvement in rally's, and so forth. Being an exclusive BMW dealership we are not big in terms of total revenue or units sold, so we have a limited staff in order to do the off-site events. But we realized that we needed to get even more involved if we wanted to get serious about those additional sales. So we stepped up to the plate and took a big swing. First, we hired a person dedicated to the promotion of events/marketing/advertising. That person is David Preston and he has created Team Ride West with over 450 members, riding motorcycles of all brands. They have about two rides each month as well as monthly dinners and other activities. David also has an amazing array of seminars and activities planned for the balance of the year. Check the events section on our web site to get a full listing of these events. David will also be leading a number of Sunday rides this year. The idea here is to allow anyone interested in riding a new BMW to take one of our demos on the ride, and even to trade off throughout the ride in order to experience different models.

David Swezey, Ride West's General Manager has also been busy in this endeavor. He has affiliated us with the three main MSF schools in our operating area and we are conducting numerous activities with them, including instructor appreciation days (some of these at the track), adventure camps (some for women only) and to hopefully place some of our G650 bikes into their riding instruction courses. New for this year will be at least two off site "demo day" and "bike swap" events, probably in the Everett area as well as the East side. Hopefully this intense activity will lead to new BMW sales.

So we are trying to be all over the place this year, and with a small staff and a busy store it makes for an interesting schedule. Please keep in mind that these activities are only successful if they are well attended, so let us know your area's of interest and get involved, and please spread the word. We hope to see you at many of these events throughout the year. Thanks.

Ann and Keith Thye