I want my money back. I bought Floyd’s autobiography, the one where he professed his innocence, claimed he never doped, and that his Tour de France win was taken away unjustly. Here’s the deal: Floyd can’t handle getting destroyed by 19 year old amateurs in domestic U.S. races, so now he is going to point fingers at the top. Ironic this news comes out while his once “best friend” Dave Zabriskie is wearing the leader’s jersey in a race that Floyd once won. Expect more on this topic in the coming days.

I don’t know what possessed BMW to give the R80 G/S a red saddle back in 1980. But it’s become one of the most enduring motorcycle liveries of all time. The G/S was designed to combine on-road and off-road qualities, just like a traditional scrambler—but unlike most scramblers, it was also an accomplished long-distance tourer. Then Hubert Auriol won the 1981 Paris—Dakar Rally, and the G/S reputation for reliability was born. The “G/S” designation (Gelände/Straße, or off-road/on-road) soon became the GS (Gelände Sport) we know today, and the Germans have dominated the adventure touring market ever since. Next month, BMW celebrates 30 years of the GS with new bikes harking back to the original livery—including that iconic red saddle, white bodywork, white indicators and a tinted windshield. There’s a great overview of the GS bikes on webBikeworld, and if that’s whetted your appetite, a terrific new book you can order called BMW GS: Adventure Motorcycle: A 30 Year Catalog, by Hans-Jugen Schneider. [Available on Amazon.]

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Bike EXIF has been sharing some great knobby tire bikes lately. This post has some great history on the GS line, as well as a look at the new F800 GS special edition. Wow. An instant classic, although I am quite content with my Bumble Bee.