The 2012 Dakar Rally rolled to a finish in Lima, Peru on January 15, with France's Cyril Despres taking his fourth Dakar title in the motorcycling category.

There are dozens and dozens of motels, hotels, Inns, and campgrounds in and around Sedalia, for all of those who will not be camping or RVing at the 2012 Rally Site. 

The BMW MOA has four special Weekend Getaway events planned for this year:  Gettysburg, Pennsylvania  April 13 - 15;  Oxford, Alabama  April 20 - 22; Cedar City, Utah  September 28 - 30; Tomah, Wisconsin  October 5 - 7. Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the BMW MOA in style! Sponsored by Touratech and the MOA. Registration for ALL Weekend Getaways begins February 1.

This month begins a year of celebration of our 40th Anniversary, and provides us the opportunity to not only recognize this great milestone but also to appreciate the road we took getting here, and consider the one we'll travel into the future.

The remote hills and back roads of West Virginia provide some of the most breathtaking motorcycle riding to be encountered anywhere in the world, and this includes the Champs Élysées in Paris and the El Camino de la Muerte (Road of Death) in Bolivia.

The award for the K1600GT comes from an international jury representing 25 motorcycle magazines. The K1600GT convinced the motorcycle journalists with its unique combination of comfort, performance and use of innovative technologies. 

IMTBike is proud to present a unique tour designed especially for BMW MOA! This tour starts and ends in beautiful Sevilla Spain and will take you 1200 miles through sunny Andalucia. 

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Beach's Motorcycle Adventures and of the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America this adventure will feature a tour of BMW's plant in Munich as well as great riding.

Whether you've attended every BMW MOA National Rally to date (hello, Pioneers!) or you have yet to get your feet wet, the 40th in Sedalia, Missouri, isn't one you'll want to miss.

The other day I received an e-mail from a member who asked me, "Why don't we have a digital edition of the BMW Owners News?"   My response was simple:  "We do! We launched it in 2009... "

The BMW MOA Board of Directors met on January 14. The Webcast of Open Session is available for viewing until February 14. Click HERE for the archived Webcast

The event will be Saturday, February 18, at the Medina County Fairgrounds  in Medina, Ohio.

The 2011 - 2012 Progressive International Motorcycle Show (IMS) schedule contains 12 venues, and will tour cities that represent the most motorcycle-dense populations in the United States, reaching 75% of the nation's motorcycle enthusiasts. COME VISIT THE BMW MOA BOOTH!

All great things have to come to an end and this trip of a lifetime is no different. Over the period of 3 1/2 months, over 40 000 km's, visiting 14 countries, 4 oil changes, 3 sets of tires, lots of cobbled together repairs, broken mirrors, windshields, turn signals, dented headers, scuffed crash bars, blown bearings, seals and a driveshaft, most of the original group achieved their dream - riding tip to tip in the western hemisphere.