BMWNEF Tech Day 06/27/09

Our thanks to Bill Jones for hosting our tech day. With donuts, coffee, soft drinks and a wings lunch, who could ask for more. But, Bill did more, offering tools and shop supplies and whatever anyone needed to get the job done. 

All this and the willing camaraderie made it a great day. Plenty of electric fans were on hand to cool the mechanics and the engines. The day was well attended by many with projects to do on their bikes. HID light upgrages. Oil changes, valve adjusts, installing cam chain tensioner upgrades, new spark plugs, brake bleeding, carb balancing and more. 

Many very talented club members were ready and willing to lend a helping hand with the wrenching while others watched and learned. The best part was at the end of the day, after some serious disassembly, all the bikes ran and made it home.

Here are some more pics on Bill's site http://knifemaker.smugmug.com/gallery/8710263_FPXQ6#575664939_wGWGA

 

                         Summer Picnic at Eagle's Nest

Saturday the 13th. A nice relaxing day of sun, water and good friends. Thanks to John, Mary, Doug and Sara for making us welcome at their home in the fly in community. Doug's airplane hanger served as picnic central for the aprox. 75 members attending. The food was a grilled medley of tasty favorites with sides and deserts galore. While many took the plunge in the water, the lake provided a beautiful view and a refreshing cool breeze for most of us. 

 

June 7, 2009 Post Meeting Ride to Fernandina

Larry Meeker out did himself in leading the Post Meeting Ride, with a group of 15. A really different route over the Ortega River Bridge through Riverside 5 points, downtown past the Landing along the river and Metropolitan Park north on Talleyrand Avenue, Yellow Bluff Road to A1A to  Brett’s Waterway Café in Fernandina Beach. Fl. We only hit a bit of rain on the way, but on the way back the Florida liquid sunshine was plentiful and refreshing. A very interesting ride through roads that were a new adventure for many of us. Good to see Greg Kibble back riding his F650. Thanks Larry  

June 7, 2009 Meeting 

Vice President Bill Wilder filled in for President John Hunt. Alan Singer gave a recap of the Riding Into History event which he said “Was the most well attended and financially successful Concours yet in it’s 10 year history”. Marina Alley chairwoman of the RIH Silent  Auction displayed some left over items for sale. Larry Meeker discussed some new Tech Tips, (these can be found on the new Tech Tips page at http://www.bmwnef.org/Tech Tips.htm

 

The BMWNEF Summer Picnic was discussed, this info can be found at http://www.bmwnef.org/2009 Picnic info.htm

 

Racing Career Update from Past President of BMWNEF Scott Signorini 06/29/09

Millie: 

You asked me to keep you informed about my racing “career.” Sarah and I are on the way home from a 3 week trip to Road America in Elkhart Lake ,WI and Grattan Motor Sports  Park near Grand Rapids, MI. 

At Road America I finished second on Saturday about a minute and a half ahead of third place. Third place was last years champion and fourth was the current points leader in the Vintage Super Bike Middleweight class. It was a thrill for me to finish second at a world class track like Road America on my first race there. Sunday I was again running well in second and pulling away when an oil seal gave up and I had to drop out. The winner both days was a Motorcyclist magazine  project bike built with an unlimited budget.

At Grattan, Michigan I finished first in both Saturday and Sunday’s races again leading the current class leader and also the current champion by a substantial margin (20+ seconds). These are my first events of the season after the injury prior to Savannah/Daytona events. I hope to be in contention after the Virginia International Raceway event in August. 

The Mid-Ohio AHRA races have been canceled for July so the VIR event will count for double points toward the championship. As always feel free to use all, any or none of this as you see fit.

Regards,

Scott

Here are a few photos, with more at:

 http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1287979013/a=120920116_120920116/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

 

Stagecoach, the Hill Country, and Tucson for Lunch 06/23/09                             by Ray King

This trip began as a plan to meet my riding buddy Joe and a few hundred other riders at the “Stagecoach” RTE in Stockton, Alabama, on December 27^th, the last Saturday of 2008.  I left Jacksonville on the 26th and rode to Bay Minette, Alabama, and the Windwood Inn, where a lot of the long-distance riders stay on Friday night.  Hundreds of bikes show up for this event from all over the Eastern US.  I heard estimates as high as a thousand riders total, counting all the two-ups.  Not everyone is there at the same time, though.  The huge Stagecoach Café parking lot is full by 10:30 AM, and the doors don’t even open until 11.  Those of us who got in early were amazed at the long line waiting as we left.  This goes on all day!  I knew that Larry Meeker would be there, and I said Hello to CJ Winkle, but later I saw in the January Shop Rag that there were more local riders.  I just don’t know enough faces around here yet.

Above is a shot of Larry talking to Alan Leduc, the founder of the Motorcycle Tourers Forum (MTF).  Later the same day, on the way to San Antonio, Texas, Alan and another rider sideswiped and Alan went down, sliding a couple of hundred feet.  Thanks to ATGATT, Alan only had a sore finger, but his F650GS was severely damaged.  

When I told my friend Barb Smith, who lives in Pearland, Texas, near Houston, that I was going to Stagecoach, she commented that it was only a day’s ride to Houston from there, and then I could join her and some other Motorcycle Tourers Forum (MTF) riders on the ride to the Tucson RTE to be held the following Saturday, Jan 3^rd.  I said something like, “Twist my arm--please,” I’m sure.  I have not been on the road out West in decades, and I have been looking forward to making such a trip.  The plan was to meet Alan Leduc, Bob Moore, and Don Braziel in San Antonio on the 29^th and spend a couple of days riding the Texas Hill Country, the Davis Mountain Loop, and other equally interesting roads on the way to Tucson.

Barb, by the way, is quite an accomplished long-distance rider.  She is a member of the Iron Butt Association and was the 2^nd highest mileage woman rider in the MOA mileage contest in 2007 with about 26,000 miles in 6 months.  I learned a lot from her on this ride about making miles efficiently!

As mentioned previously, Alan and Bob collided on the way to San Antonio, and both dropped out of the rest of the trip.  Bob only had some damage to a saddlebag, and was able to tape it up and ride home.  Don called us on Sunday at Barb’s house to tell us about the accident, and said he would meet us in Kerrville instead.  We decided to be there on the evening of the 30^th and start our Hill Country ride on the 31^st.

On the 31^st , Wednesday morning, we left the hotel in Kerrville and headed south on highway 16.  Our immediate goal was Ranch Road 337, one of the “twisted sisters” of Hill Country fame, the other two being 335 and 336.  Highway 16 was no slouch, either.  Unfortunately, I took NO pictures in the Hill Country or the Davis Mountains.  When I mentioned stopping for pics, as this was my first time riding these areas, I was informed that there really was no place to safely pull over and stop.  As light as the traffic was in the Hill Country, I should have just stopped in the road and snapped a shot or two.  Since our plans included making a lot of miles in two days, I am sure my companions were concerned about making it to our destinations by dinner time.  Texas is BIG. 

Out of the Hill Country we went south to US 90 and then west.  We made a stop at an overlook where the Pecos River flows into the Rio Grande, and also at Langtry, Texas, the home of Judge Roy Bean, “The Law West of the Pecos.”  

We celebrated New Year's Eve having dinner at the Limpia Hotel in Ft Davis, then we all went back to the Ft Davis Motor Inn for champagne and pralines from Buc-EE's (the most famous gas stop in Texas).  I suspect we were all asleep long before midnight.

 We rode the Davis Mountain Loop on New Year's Day, and then headed to Tucson, arriving about 6PM.  We had an extra day to kill before the RTE, so we went to the Pima Air & Space Museum on Friday morning (I had been there before, in 1993--much improved since then) and then had a late lunch and hung out at Brooklyn's, a sports bar down the street from the Red Roof Inn.  We went back again that evening just to have some adult beverages.

The RTE was on Saturday, Jan 3rd.  Prior to the RTE one of the local MTF members led us on a ride through the West Unit of the Saguaro National Forest and around the Tucson Mountains and then in the general direction of Bubb's Grub in Catalina, a small town north of Tucson.  Here is a link to more pics from the trip west and the RTE:

After lunch on Saturday we headed back east, toward El Paso.  The weather had been pretty awesome most of the trip--40s and 50s early and warming up.  (The day that I rode from Alabama to Pearland was very windy, and I hit some heavy rain as I rode through the cold front approaching Houston.)  When we left Tucson the afternoon of the 3rd we knew there was another cold front coming and that we needed to make El Paso that night and then would probably have to ride from El Paso straight through to Houston on Sunday to stay ahead of it.  Don left El Paso earlier than Barb and I on Sunday morning as he would be splitting off on I-20 anyway and going further north, and he was concerned about possible snow.  Barb and I left El Paso about 7:15.  We encountered some of the coldest weather and strongest winds in which I have ever ridden.  Temps in the 20s in West Texas and incredible wind gusts in a couple of mountain passes--glad I had my Gerbing gear!  We pulled into Barb's driveway 13.5 hours and 790 miles later.

 Another riding friend asked me, "Any mishaps?"  Gee, thanks for asking . . .

Chad, the local MTF guy in Tucson, is a really big guy who makes a Honda ST1300 (similar to an RT) look like a little scooter.  He can back the bike out of a parking place while putting his helmet on and fastening the strap.  Barb, on the other hand, is a petite lady.  She rides a BMW R1200R, lowered, but she is still on the very tips of her boots if she has to have both feet down when backing up, etc.  For normal stops she puts only the left foot down, flat.  She is an excellent rider, but she is normally extremely careful about where she chooses to park the bike because of her height.

On the ride Saturday morning, Chad led us into a small parking lot/overlook in the Saguaro Forest.  The lot had a considerable slope, and even before I turned in I thought, "Barb is gonna hate this."  She rode in and did a u-turn to park next to Chad and Don, facing downhill.  There was also some slope from right to left, which she could not determine, and when she put her left foot down it was too far to the ground and she went over.  I was halfway into my u-turn when that happened, and I guess I must have grabbed the brake a little harder, or those @#$%!! servo-assisted brakes caught me off guard again, and I was still pointed a little bit sideways across the slope, and there probably was not room to straighten out and get it pointed downhill behind Don and Chad, and MY left foot met air, too, and I went over.  When you do 99% of your riding in flat country like Florida, you don’t think about these things.

Damage to both bikes was minor.  We both lost the left turn signal lens, and I got a few scratches on the left saddlebag.  I already have some touch-up paint, arrived a few days ago from Holt BMW in Athens, OH.

No physical damage to Barb; I hyper-extended my left knee and could barely walk Saturday night, but by Sunday AM it was much better, so I didn't tear anything, I think.  Still a little sore, but not a big deal. 

I left Pearland on the 7th and took two days getting home.  When I pulled into my driveway in Jacksonville at 3:30PM on the 8th I had ridden 4,234 miles in 14 days.  Rolling average was 68.6 MPH for 61 hrs 43 minutes on the bike.  Speed limit in West Texas--400+ miles of I-10--is 80 MPH!  

 

I’m ready to go back, and probably will.   by Ray King

 

  Riding Into History May 16, 2009

 Mike Crone RIH Best in Show winner

 

Bill Robinson Riding Into History Co-Chairman

We'd like to thank the 150 volunteers, 350 Concours entries and 4000 spectators for their support of the 10th Annual Riding Into History. Our sponsors, exhibitors, clubs and bands also did a great job of helping us to have the most successful Riding Into History ever. We will reach our goal of hitting the $200,000 mark in contributions to Buddy Check 12 over the past several years, and I believe we also accomplished the goal of having one of the premier vintage motorcycle shows in the country. A special word of thanks goes to Carol & Craig Vetter and to Dennis Gage and his son Sam. Our Grand Marshals did a sensational job this year, and we are in their debt. Be sure to keep your eyes open for Dennis' Speed TV show on his trip to RIH. It will probably be called "Trippin' Back in Time", and it will be on the air in a few months. We hope to see you next year on May 15 when we feature the Great Motorcycles of Great Britain.

 

New Shop Rag Format

You may have noticed the Shop Rag has a new look along with a new Editor, me Don Sipler. I have been maintaining the BMWNEF website for the past year or so. Now, I’m taking on the Shop Rag  which has a rich history of being the place where you find the latest BMWNEF news and information.

 

The Shop Rag began publication many moons ago as a newsletter on paper that was mailed to members. With the advent of the internet and the development of a club website the Shop Rag has been distributed electronically in PDF format from the BMWNEF website once a month the week following the monthly meeting. This will change only slightly.

 

The Shop Rag will now be a web page and will continue to be a monthly publication with stories and articles remaining throughout the month.

But, the big change will be, if there is new information that members need to know, new material will be added to the Shop Rag anytime during the month, as the information becomes available.

 

So, when you look at the Shop Rag you’ll be getting the latest info, not information that is a month old. I’ll put the date that the Shop Rag has been updated on the top of the Shop Rag first page and on the Home Page plus draw attention to those things that have changed.

 

Things pop up all the time during the month so check the website and the Shop Rag often if you want to stay up to date.

 

I’m depending on you to provide me with material of interest to your fellow BMWNEF members. The Shop Rag is a little light this month due to the change over of the editor.

 

We would like to publish, content categories that mirror those found in past Shop Rags. Travel,  Product Reviews, Tech Tips, Classifieds, New Members, items for sale, etc. Send me what you have and I'll sort it out.

 

Please send your material to me via email at drscrib@comcast.net no later than the first Sunday of the month. I will shoot for publishing a new Shop Rag on the BMWNEF website during the week following the monthly meeting.

   

 

Motorcycle Mama's Ride In Maggie Valley, NC

This is a reminder about our Ladies Motorcycle Rally on July 23-26 at the Maggie Valley Inn and Conference Center.  You can get all the information on the rally by going to www.mountaingoldproductions.com.  I am attaching a few ads that have been in magazines.  We made the cover of Thunder Roads in Virginia!  Also listen to the radio ad!  Please pass the word on to fellow motorcycle enthusiasts.  We have had a wonderful response already and don’t want anyone to miss this event!  We need a few more vendors should you know of any that might want to set up.

Hope to see all of you at the Rally!

Wendy  

BMWNEF Discussion Group

We implemented the Google Discussion Group a few months ago and it has proven to be a good way for some members to share information. What is surprising to me is that our club, with over 300 members, only has 46 signed up to use it. It can be a great way to be able to ask a question or find others with mutual interests. So, give it a try. http://groups.google.com/group/bmwnef

   

BMWMOA International Rally in Johnson City TN

July 16-19  in Gray, TN, just north of Johnson City

The MOA rallies are held in various locations throughout the U.S. Last year it was in Gillette WY. This year it is just 500 easy miles up the interstate. If you have never been to an MOA Rally you are missing something very special. They are very well planned and attended with a huge number of vendors, events and entertainment throughout the day and night. Check it out http://www.bmwmoa.org/

 

Friday July 17th will be our Dinner on the Road at Russo's 300 E Main St. in Johnson City.   Dinner at  6:30pm. 

Larry Meeker is hoping that we can win “the most BMW Club Members Attending” trophy again this year.  He picked up quite a few more of the members planning to attend at the June meeting. He will prepare a Master List to pass around at the July meeting to make sure we have everyone.  

 

 

BMWRA International Rally in Canaan Valley WV

July 23-26

The weekend following MOA. Special recognition will be given to those who attend both, and there is even a special "ride" that connects the two. Check it out http://www.bmwra.org/rally/

Upcoming club events http://www.bmwnef.org/calendar.htm

June 13, 2009 BMWNEF Summer Picnic http://www.bmwnef.org/2009 Picnic info.htm

June 27, 2009 BMWNEF Tech Day http://www.bmwnef.org/June 27 2009 Tech Day.htm

   

Travel

Eight of our members are leaving this Thursday June 11^th on their Edelweiss tour of the Alps returning June 20th. We’ll look for a report and pictures of the trip next month.  

Tech Tips (06/10/09)

If you have an Oilhead 850, R1100, R1150 or type R259 flat engine read the Motorcycle Consumer News article on Cam Chain Tensioner

Jesse James is a dead man (06/10/09)

Watch Jesse James talk about his new show and the BMW R 1200 GS Adventure on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Jesse James is a dead man, Spike TV Sunday at 10:00pm 

New Members-- Gary Foxworthy Membership Director 06/20/09

Joining in mid June we have Stan Rogaski of Jacksonville. He is a Senior IT Analyst with Vistakon, a division of Johnson & Johnson. He has been riding 10 years, currently aboard his 2007 red (the faster color) F800S BMW. Previous to this he owned a 2000 Kawasaki ZR-7, a 2003 Suzuki SV1000s, a 2003 Victory Vegas, a 2001 ZR-7S, and a 1999 Honda CB250.

 Armando, the sales manager from BMW Miami told him about the group when he took the trip there to pickup the bike. He joined because one of his co-workers, Jose Perez, also has a F800s. “Unfortunately it's the slower yellow version. But anyways, I am interested to meet new riding friends and find some fun local roads. We take a lot of trips to the mountains and are looking forward to finding some decent rides locally to fill in the time we're in Florida”

Joining us at RIH we have José M. Pérez of St. Augustine. He is a Director of Sales Operations at Johnson & Johnson, and has been riding 23 years.

He is currently riding his first BMW, which is a 2007 Yellow BMW F800S.  Previous bikes: Vespino, Yamaha DT 80, Honda NX 250, Merlín Nómada 450 (Cagiva motor), Suzuki DR650, Moto Guzzi Le Mans, Suzuki Katana 600.  First ride ever was on a 1980s Gilera 50cc dual sport.

He liked what he saw of our club at RIH, and wanted to join to ride with others that have similar motorcycle interests and to learn more about the world of motorcycles.

Joining us in early May we have Chris and Marina Alley of Jacksonville.

They have been riding 48 years.  Currently riding - 2005 Yamaha FJR 1300, 2008 Ducati Hypermotard, and a 2008 Genuine Buddy 50 Scooter

Previously owned - 1971 Yamaha 125, 1971 Husqvarna 125, 1972 Husqvarna 250, 1971 Husqvarna 400, 1976 BMW R90S, 1996 ATK 406

They got to know us through their volunteer work with the RIH staff, and joined to be associated with bikers with similar likes and beliefs about riding. They are hoping to take rides and trips with like-minded bikers, and to participate in track days.

UnClassified Section

For sale BMW K1200RS 1998 Yellow and Silver Without checkered flag graphics Approximately 24,000 miles Corbin seat and black rims Bike runs great. Price $5200. Contact 904-571-2655 Leave a message and I will return call or e-mail: bill_wilder@yahoo.com

For Sale 1999 BMW R100R special edition 14500 miles ABS , Saddlebag brackets rust on spokes serviced 1400 miles ago scratches on both valve covers and right hand oil cooler cover (plastic). Original tool kit and owners manual. $5500 Call Jose at cell 305-303-2934 for bike details.