REV’IT! Rider Spotlight Video Series Launches Ep. 5: Erika ‘Tango’ Bean
New 5-part video series puts the spotlight on REV’IT! Women’s ADV Team.
Adventure isn’t always about what bike you ride, or even where it takes you. Just ask REV’IT! Women’s Adventure Team member Erika “Tango “Bean, the rider featured in the final episode of the company’s #weADV video series. She says she can feel the same thrill and satisfaction whether she’s riding Mexico’s Copper Canyon on her BMW F650GS, exploring Colombia on a Yamaha XT660R, kicking up some dirt on a KTM 250 XC-W at a rally, or even piloting the borrowed Indian FTR Carbon press bike we see her riding around New York City in the video.

“Adventure to me is less about what you ride or where you ride and more of a mindset,” she says, adding that her adventure mindset is about being open to the unknown and prepared to tackle challenges, no matter the situation or road surface.
Turns out to be a good mindset for life challenges as well. Moving from the relative calm of Tucson, Arizona, her hometown, to a high-rise apartment in Midtown Manhattan just months ahead of a pandemic during which New York City would become America’s ground zero, was definitely not the kind of adventure Erika was used to. Yet she rolled with the challenge, staying safe as she quarantined with husband, Justin, while focusing on her marketing job at Pfizer.

A year later and the country is beginning to breathe more easily, thanks in no small part to Pfizer’s joint effort with BioNTech in creating one of the world’s first and most effective vaccines. Erika is deeply proud of her work for a company she says has been “dedicated to finding a way to protect human lives so we can all get back to normal.”
Normal for Erika means spending as much time as possible on two-wheels. Growing up in the Sonoran Desert she was already riding quads and dirt bikes by the time she was eight, often in Baja, just a short jump from Tucson. It was her father, a lifelong, hard-core motorcycle enthusiast who sparked her passion for the sport. She says some of her earliest memories involve watching with curiosity as her dad, Mike (“Mexico Mike” or “Baja Miguel” to his family), geared up and rode off toward untold adventures.

After college Erika bought and quickly became proficient at riding her first adventure mount, a lowered BMW G650GS. Lots of local rides later, she took her first international moto excursion when she and her dad flew to Europe to partake in an Edelweiss organized tour through Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. It would be the first of many familial adventures to come.
The next landmark family ride, which included mom Jeannie on the back of Mike’s R1200GS, was a 5000-mile journey through Mexico to Guatemala. For Erika, this trip would spark a deep passion for self-supported international motorcycle travel. It would also test her commitment to the sport when she suffered a major crash just two days into the ride.

The trio were just cresting a hill on a divided two-lane highway near Culiacán, Mexico, when a truck traveling the wrong way on the highway appeared in Erika’s path. She was struck on the right side at 65 mph, which sent her bumping and sliding down the highway as her parents watched on in horror.
Erika suffered a broken finger in the crash, and was badly shaken and bruised, but after resting for a few days as her BMW was cobbled back together by a local welder, she decided to carry on. She credits the quality, well-fitted gear she was wearing — BMW boots, Schubert helmet and REV’IT Tornado suit — for saving her life that day in Mexico. She also says it was her profound crash-inspired appreciation for high-quality gear that led her to pursue an ambassadorship with REV’IT!

After that portentous trip Erika replaced the G650 with a standard suspended F650GS, citing her first mount’s habit of high-centering. She has since ridden the Pyrenees of Northern Spain and the South of France, married fellow rider Justin Bean, who along with his F850GS, was quickly accepted into the family’s adventure-riding fold. Even Justin’s father has since bought a GS and now joins in on the fun, which includes lots of trips to Mexico, with Copper Canyon as a favorite destination.
Just before Covid-19 upended the world, Erika and Justin were able to sneak in an EpiCo Moto Adventures dual-sport tour of Colombia, one of her favorite experiences to date. Next up is a trip to Peru, which the couple has been planning during the lockdowns. And of course she’s extra stoked to reconnect with her REV’IT! Women’s Adventure Teammates Amelia Nunn, Katelyn Barnecut, Kris Fant and Jenna West in person.

Of being on the team, Erika says she’s proud to represent a brand that has taken a vested interest in growing the women’s adventure riding segment. She also says she’s always happy to connect with other riders to offer advice or inspiration, regardless to what style of bike they ride or how they might define adventure.
“Adventure is what you make it,” she says. “It’s up to you to come up with the definition.”
To follow Erika as she “rides the world, one country at a time” find her @bmwmotorcyclegirl on Instagram.
REV’IT! Women’s Adventure Team Video Series
Below find the complete schedule of episodes in the #weADV series:
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