Random Notes from the Rally Site...

[JetDoc]

Stopped out at the Spokane Raceway park this morning to watch the guys play on the track. Looked like a lot of fun but is it really worth $150 per day. I mean, even with lunch thrown in... :burnout

The campsites at the fairgrounds are filling up fast. I don't have any idea how many BMWs are here already, but in some places, you can't turn a corner without running into an old airhead or two. Watch out for the motorcycles too! :bliss

I'd like to thank the folks who staged the volunteers dinner this evening. It ain't easy fixing a sit-down meal for 500 of your closest friends, but this one was good!

I'm leading a ride to Thompson Falls, MT tomorrow morning. Some nice scenery and a good way to beat the heat for part of the day. We'll leave from the red gate (The one on Broadway Ave) at 9AM, or as close as we can get. Come join us! LT's and couples welcome!

[kbasa]

Yep. We just got back to the room from the rally. Ran into Bradford Benn and Boxergrrlie. Rob Nye was there, with a couple Yankee Beemers in tow.

Yeah, this is a great site and it's going to be a great rally!

[94042]

98 degrees today as I returned to Spokane from Post Falls at 3 pm. The beer tent was hopping...

BMW has delivered a demo ride trailer to the rally site, but has posted a "No Demo Rides This Year" to it? I overheard someone say that they took their demo fleet to Ohio Vintage Days instead of to Spokane. Interesting call on the part of the BMW management.

Techs at Beaudry Motorsports in Post Falls were hopping this afternoon, as were the techs in Missoula yesterday. Couple failed rear drive units, on various models. They were recommending folks stop by their shop today for tires and oil changes if they could, because...well..they have air conditioning in post falls. Noticed their two Beaudry Motorsport vans pulling in by the vendors building this afternoon. 800 Metzler tires available for install. They will have techs at the fairgrounds to do basic maintanence and tire changes.

Another vendor set up shop yesterday afternoon and had people booked for service yesterday evening (Tuesday) and all day today. BMW parts for service and michelin tires.

Those that participated in track days today seemed to have had a great time. Some are going back for more tomorrow.

Temps are predicted to be in the mid to high nineties in the afternoons through Friday or Saturday.

The shady spots are gone <G>, but there was still sufficient camping available in the sun when I left this evening. That should be swallowed up in short order by noon tomorrow. Steady stream of arrivals throughout Wednesday.

Mobile showers are up and running. RV parking is filling fast and the vendors are everywhere !!! Appears everyone is having a great time so far!

Later,
Gene

[94042]

Some of the shady camping locations, looking out over the mobile shower and train museum.

[94042]

The other side of the vendor area. Full sun...

[Ghostryder]

Thank you for the posts for those of us that could not make it.:clap :cry :

[HERRBAYEMVAY]

Damn, wish I wuz there.......

[kbasa]

I spotted manic mechanic's great pumpkin, which was sporting a nifty Mr. Happy puppet.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/6180781-M.jpg

[kbasa]

Voni's got a neat red umbrella. It's pretty dang hot here. I think it's just under 100F right now.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/6180803-M.jpg

[kbasa]

I spotted the new R12GS Adventure prototype. It's parked next to a standard R11RS. You can see by this photo that the new bike is going to crush the competition.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/6180831-M.jpg

[Unregistered]

Keep the great pictures and comments coming!!! Some of us couldn't make the trip, but it is great to 'virtually' be there!!1

[94042]

The view of the countryside from the Vista House at the summit of Mount Spokane. The valley is very smoky today because of a fire east of Spokane!

[94042]

The road to the vista house. Couple times I swear I caught a view of my license plate!!

[94042]

As we were getting ready to head down off of the summit after viewing the Vista House on Mt Borah, we had the opportunity to watch some frustrated snow boarders attempting to do the next best thing. Large pneumatic wheels attached to snowboards, skateboards allows them to roll down the hillside. The WOMAN in the back had a handgrip in her hand with a lever for applying braking power to the two disc brakes on the back wheels of her board. We left after they dissappered down the backside of the hill. And they say motorcyclists have issues....

[94042]

We rode up to Tiger, Wa oh highway 2 in the 98 degree heat today. We stumbled upon a corner that the highway department obviously wants to alert everyone about. Think people will pay attention?

In the small burg of Tiger, a young lady on the porch said they had had close to 80 motorcycles stop by today. She could not figure out where they were all coming from. We sat on the porch of the Tiger museum/ store, ate our ice cream sandwiches, drank our water, and watched a family of swallows that have taken up residence over the porch. Eight other bikes stopped by this crossroads store (is only 27 miles from the canadian border) while we sat and cooled off a bit.

What a day..what a ride. It was so hot up on the pass, the pavement had been transformed into a very soft form of tar, very similar to the material that they use to plant the tar snakes upon pavement across the US. A car pulled out in front of me, and his tires deformed the pavement as he accelerated ahead of me. Could feel the bike sliding a bit in the corners. Figured slowing down a bit was the better part of valor here, since my wife was on the back!

[MarkF]

to hear how the closing went. Trenton was good, but long and we've heard enough about last years technical difficulties.

Pics, pics and more pics - Please!

MarkF

[94042]

Who says you cant tow a boat with a bike <G>!!!

Parked by the beer tent before the closing ceremonies.

[94042]

A lot of work went into this ride. Non-BMW, but caught my eye none the less.

[94042]

Closing was a closing. The closing was opened by two native american dancers. Both being the best in their respective styles. This was followed by three horse events. First horses were used to bring in the flags from the states represented, followed by another horse presentation of country flags. Last the military flags were carried in by the female riders. A last horse event had the stars and stripes paraded around the arena while the star spangled banner played in the background.

Most distance riders were from Florida. I dont recall the list of winners in all catagories. Voni Glaves and her husband were awarded the Friend of the Mark awards. BMW AG awarded a rider award for 1.2 million miles on a BMW.

Over 4000 bikes registerd. Over 6000 participants.

Check to the Candlelighters was for an amount exceeding $7K. If the 50/50 winners do not pick up their winnings, will be over $10K.

Three or four New Zealand trips were awarded. (Most were for a two week free motorcycle rental). One award was given for a European vacation. The original winner had been over a number of times, so he tossed it back into the hat so a new winner could be drawn.

Bobs BMW was not in attendance this year, opting to attend the Ohio Vintage Days (as did the BMW rider demo trailer). But, they did put an entire riding getup up for awardingl. Helmet, jacket, pants, boots, etc.

I need to take better notes. Took a while to get some of the items awarded. They were "had to be present to win", and some were not in attendance.

Attendees filed out of the stadium as the bike winners were taking turns trying on their new bikes for fit <G>! A 1974 R90S and a 2004 R1100S were the biggies. They were both custom painted similarly. Very very sharp rigs.

Dont have time to shrink the photos to fit tonight. I will try to post tomorrow after arriving home!!

We left the fairgrounds as the band was getting cranked up to entertain the masses at the beer garden.

Next year, Lima Ohio.

[BradfordBenn]

Check out the following for pictures and stuff...

http://www.bradfordbenn.com/beemer/trips/JulyD11.htm
or
BMWRTGIRL, BoxerGrrlie, and BradfordBenn on the way to the Rally 2004 Day 11 (http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=28771#post28771)

[MarkF]

Originally posted by Hawk Hawthorne
BoiseLT: Clarification on the Demo Rides at the Rally. Ray Zimmerman and I went to Motorrad's headquarters in NJ on June 15. I was concerned aboutthe status of the Demo Fleet relative to our Rally. We were told that their main Demo fleet would be at Ohio, since BMW was the featured marque this year, but that there would be a smaller demo fleet at our Rally. OK. We understood the reasoning there. This was June 15. We found out that no demo fleet was coming to our Rally when Motorrad showed up at the rally. No notice. No time for us to get other bikes in for demos. No nothing. Just "No demo rides"....:dunno


Betcha that was planned. Motorad has always whined about the MOA allowing other brands to demo at the rally. Since BMW is the biggest advertiser in the ON I think MOA listens to what the Motorad has to say. Personally, I can see the Motorad's point in going to Mid-Ohio. Most BMW owners will at least consider another BMW before buying something else. The key for Motorad's success is to get people who aren't riding BMWs to give it a try. I've always advocated that MOA invite the other Euro Brands to the national and I hope they now will as a matter of policy.

MarkF

[Visian]

Thanks, everyone, for posting pics from the rally.

It made not being there at least a little bearable.

If ya got more, and you get some time when you get home from your ride, please post more!

:clap

Ian

[gcsitts]

Posted without comment....

[gcsitts]

Panorama of the "Quiet Area"

[gcsitts]

More...

[gcsitts]

The "Noisy Area"

[BradfordBenn]

A more accurate description...

[gcsitts]

More bikes...

[gcsitts]

David Hough and Fred Rau at the 7 AM "Breakfast with Dave"

[94042]

Toaster anyone?

[94042]

Hack..hack..hack. Hairball...

[94042]

The clock tower from the old train station in River Front Park, Spokane. This was the location of the 1974 worlds fair.

[94042]

The city of Spokane was a most gracious host. They had parking marked specifically for the BMW rally attendees in the River Front Park area in downtown Spokane.

[94042]

Downtown Spokane. Fitting for this gathering. How many countries were represented at the rally?

[94042]

The carousel at River Front Park. View towards downtown, across the water.

[94042]

View from the top. A range fire west of Spokane obscured the view a bit. The highway department had just recently chip sealed the road leading into the park. Loose gravel on the road was minimal. Just enough to keep folks from tailgating <G>!!

[94042]

Vista House <?> sits atop Mt Spokane offers spectacular views of the valleys below.

[94042]

First nation dancers perform the push dance for the rally goers in attendance.

[94042]

There is a bike rack on this bike. Road bike for the 650?

[clawman]

Hey, Who won the two top prizes at teh rally?

[pmcclain]

The Wagon

[pmcclain]

Quiet Camping

[pmcclain]

More Quiet Campers

[pmcclain]

The ride to Spokane

[pmcclain]

Can't get better than this!

[pmcclain]

Getting to the rally was the fun part!

[pmcclain]

Hard to focus on the road with this stuff...

[pmcclain]

Getting to Spokane...

[Hawk Hawthorne]

Mark F: I meant to point this out earlier, but better late than never. You made a comment about BMW being the biggest advertiser in the ON, so MOA "listens" to Motorrad. Please start with your August issue of the ON and go back to January. Count the number of ads from Motorrad USA and let me know how many you find....:eek

[Hawk Hawthorne]

Mark F: I meant to reply earlier, but better late than never. Last month you commented that since BMW is the biggest advertiser in the ON, MOA "listens" to Motorrad. Please start with your August issue and go back to January. Let me know how many ads you find from BMW Motorrad USA.....I'm talking paid ads, not articles on Beemers that we run "without charge" (new bike reviews, etc.).....:eek

[BradfordBenn]

Should BMW Rider's Apparel advertisements be counted :p

Gee what is that big ad on the back cover?

[Visian]

Originally posted by Hawk Hawthorne
Please start with your August issue of the ON and go back to January.

Hawk -- I don't have room for back issues, and I left all my Ambassador's copies at places like T.W.O. (http://www.twowheelsonly.com), Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground (http://www.blueridgemotorcyclecamp.com/), and various and sundry hangouts where prospective members are likely to see them.

Are there a lot of ads, a few ads, decent number of ads?

Your concern about the perception of favorable bias toward the US distributor is understandable. Every independent affinity organization walks the same fine line.

As I've said to you before, and to Ray... our strategy for the relationship between us and the big beemer mothership, worldwide, is like a mouse dancing with the elephants. A cooperative relationship is mutually beneficial (as opposed to an arm's-length one) but getting too close could get dangerous.

And always remember... elephants are afraid of mice.

Especially independent ones.

Ones with a global presence.

:)

Ian

[MarkF]

It wasn't my statement, it was what I was told. So I did check back a couple issues. No multiple page ads but BMW did have one of the three cover, full page, color ads. I think those are the big money ads so I did not dispute what I had been told. If I was in error I am sorry.

MarkF

[Hawk Hawthorne]

Mark F: No sorry necessary. I hear a lot about "all the money" Motorrad spends with us and how it "taints" our (BMWMOA) view. Well, "all that money" just taint true... And frankly, it wouldn't taint my view if they did.

Thanks for the quick shout.:wow