Bubo
Bubo is my 1977 BMW R75/7 motorcycle. This is the cover photo from the ad I read that convinced me to drive to Tulsa, Oklahoma and back on a Sunday. This motorcycle is figuratively Otus' little brother given it's a 750cc Airhead and Otus is a 1000cc Airhead While at one point I was seriously considering a modern motorcycle I couldn't resist adding another /7 to the collection. Some have suggested that the R75/7 is the finest Airhead ever built because the 750cc motor is the smoothest of the 2 valve boxer motors. I'm not certain if I know this is the smoothest running of the Airheads but I will say that as of right this moment it runs very smoothly. It runs so smoothly that I don't feel that I should adjust the valves or sync the carbs which one typically does when acquiring a 45 year old motorcycle. I do, however, plan on changing all the fluids in short order as I'm not sure how regularly the motorcycle was ridden by the previous owner.
Why Bubo?
Naming this motorcycle was a bit trickier than naming Otus and Strix - primarily because keeping with the Owl genus theme and wanting the name on the license plate limited me to how long a name from which I could choose. After researching the genus Bubo I decided this was the right name for the new motorcycle. According to Wikipedia:
The American (North and South America) horned owls and the Old World eagle-owls make up the genus Bubo, at least as traditionally described. The genus name Bubo is Latin for the Eurasian eagle-owl. This genus contains 20 species that are found in many parts of the world. Some of the largest living Strigiformes are in Bubo. Traditionally, only owls with ear-tufts were included in this genus, but that is no longer the case.
I also landed on Bubo because this is the genus of the Snowy Owl and the motorcycle is painted white. And last but not least, BUBO fits on the personalized license plate!
Bubo's Role
After a good deal of thought and internal debate I've decided that Bubo will be the basis for my sidcar rig.