Note: Larry "Hawk" Hawthorne passed away on September 10, 2005, after a lenghty illness. On September 1, 2005, Dave Swider, Vice President of the MOA, stepped up to fill Hawk's very big shoes.
 

BMW MOA President Larry Hawthorne

As the President of the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America I’d like to welcome you to our website.  The site has been constructed for the benefit of not only BMW MOA members, but also prospective members and those just interested in BMW motorcycles. 

The BMW MOA was established around thirty years ago “to foster communications and a sense of family among BMW motorcycle enthusiasts.”  We take that to mean that we are here to take care of each other by pooling our collective experiences for everyone’s benefit.  Or to make that even simpler, it is not the machines, but the people that they hang around with that make the difference.  The diversity of today’s BMW motorcycle owners and their motorcycles makes for some interesting and exciting prospects.

Since our humble beginning, we’ve grown to over 37,000 members and become the largest BMW motorcycle club on the face of the earth!  To foster that communications and sense of family among our members we publish a monthly magazine called the BMW Owners News; distribute a voluntary helping hand book of member telephone numbers to directly fill the individual needs of touring riders called the BMW Owners Anonymous; sponsor an International Rally for the entertainment and benefit of all BMW motorcycle enthusiasts; and provide discounts and upgrades on things like motorcycle insurance, hotels, roadside assistance programs and even rental cars.

To further enhance the BMW motorcycle experience we have affiliated ourselves with over 230 BMW MOA Chartered Clubs in not only the United States, but around the world.  These organizations help build the personal hometown relationships so valuable in any extended family.  They sponsor local rallies and activities for enjoying your own back yard. 

If that’s still not enough motorcycle activity for you, we even try to get the word out on other non-BMW MOA events through our "Heard on the Road" sections of both the BMW Owners News and this web site. 

To make all this happen we have a full time professional staff backed up by some of the most effective volunteers on the planet!  So that we can keep this a welcoming group of BMW motorcycle enthusiasts, the organizations top management consists of a member elected, all volunteer Board of Directors.   Stability and continuity are maintained by staggering the Board’s terms.  That way there’s always experienced leaders available to ease the transition of membership representation.

Some of the goals we’ll be working toward over the next year include: having "balanced" (self-sustaining) revenues to activities, an even more member useful Internet presence, more member useful benefits programs, and furthering our awards programs.  These might seem easy on the surface, but assuring that the BMW MOA continues to provide worthwhile support and services to its current and prospective members is going to require a lot of effort on all our parts.  Our overall goal is to be sure that we are helping all members get the greatest enjoyment possible from their memberships.

Again, the BMW MOA enjoys a financially solid, professionally run organization that is backed up by some of the most effective volunteers on the planet.  Past boards have left us a legacy of strong leadership and success to build upon. With that kind of a starting point, just imagine where we will be next year! 

So look around this site and enjoy yourself.  Somewhere in one of the nooks and crannies there should be something for every BMW MOA member, prospective member, or someone just interested in BMW motorcycles.  When you see something you like, consider joining us.  Then you can see why we feel that, “BMW MOA membership is the essential BMW motorcycle accessory!”

Larry Hawthorne
President, BMW Motorcycle Owners of America