2,200 miles later, Joel Bosman’s dream motorcycle is home

HUNTLEY – Joel Bosman found the motorcycle of his dreams online.

It was a silver-and-black Triumph Bonneville T120 with only 3,300 miles on it, and it was for sale.

But the bike was in Clover, California, a community near Fresno. And Bosman felt shipping it to his home in Huntley would cost either a lot of money, time or worry.

So Bosman took matters into his own hands.

The campus supervisor at Marlowe Middle School in Lake in the Hills flew into Fresno International Airport in the wee hours of Aug. 11, using frequent flyer miles given to him by his mother. He then began a journey home to Huntley atop the Triumph the next morning.

“I landed in Fresno at 11 p.m. (local time), slept in the airport until 4:30 a.m., took an Uber to Clovis and arrived at [the seller’s home] at 5:45 a.m., 15 minutes early,” he said.

“I left Clovis to come back home at 6:40 a.m.”

Bosman’s 2,200-mile journey back to Huntley ended at 12:30 a.m. Aug. 14.

After not having any weather issues on the ride home, other than having no protection from the wind, he ran into a torrential rainstorm five minutes from his house.

“I got to Richland, Utah, on the first day of my trip home; Westminster, Colorado, on the second day, then I went 19 hours straight on the third day,” he said. “I stopped for gas every 2½ hours or so during the trip.

“I spent only $489 getting back home for gas, a 6-inch Subway, a 12-inch Jimmy John’s and a hotel in Richfield. I stayed with friends in Westminster,” he said. “I had food and water in my backpack.”

While Bosman was driving cross-country, his family back home kept track of him using the Apple Maps app.

“I was a dot on a map,” he said.

Bosman, 50, is a motorcycle enthusiast.

“I’ve ridden them for a long time,” he said.

But he never owned one until taking the plunge this summer. It took 3½ months of research, talk and travel to find what he wanted and bring it home.

His wife Julia’s purchase of a 2023 Vespa GTS Super 300 motorcycle in April and a family trip to Scotland in late May were the driving forces behind Bosman’s decision to finally buy a bike.

“Driving around on that Vespa was a lot of fun,” he said. “So was driving in Scotland in a car on twisting, mountainous roads, although that also was terrifying.”

Julia Bosman, 50, is a longtime owner of dirt bikes and motorcycles.

“The Vespa is her first bike that requires a Class M license,” Joel Bosman said, referring to the type of license in Illinois that qualifies a motorist to drive any motorcycle or motor-driven vehicle.