As BMW Motorrad celebrates 100 years in 2023, the sweet spot for the German manufacturer seems to be its popular R nineT, R 1250 GS, S 1000 RR, and R 1250 RT models. Going the distance has been the company’s unofficial motto, it seems, with thousands of customers enjoying the scenery on long trips off-road and on for decades.

So it’s somewhat curious to see the manufacturer enter into the politically-charged EV market, not with a lithe urban marauder dripping with Bauhaus sensibility, but a hefty science experiment reeking of interdepartmental confusion called the CE 04.

Northern California’s ongoing ‘bomb cyclone’ (biblical rain and high winds) since early January got me restless. This – coupled with enjoying my first kidney stone experience through most of December – made answering riding pal Brian’s invitation to join him on his annual four-day Death Valley ride a no-brainer, 1,200-plus miles of chasing Brian’s 2018 Triumph Tiger 800 Adventure on my 2000 Moto Guzzi Quota 1100 ES nearly one year after buying it from McInnis.

I’ve followed Brian on several Sierra rides for five years, but never the southern loop into Death Valley, a place so sinister-sounding it’s not surprising neither have several of my riding pals.