robg@mmintl.UUCP (Robert Goldman) (05/16/85)
I am considering joining the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America. Do any of you on the net have any experience with this club? Is their magazine any good? I'd appreciate any advice you can give. Thanks, Robert
lrd@drusd.UUCP (L. R. DuBroff) (05/19/85)
> I am considering joining the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America. > Do any of you on the net have any experience with this club? > Is their magazine any good? > I'd appreciate any advice you can give. An excellent way to spend $15 a year (or have they raised it to $20?). My biggest gripe about the magazine is the huge amount of space devoted, issue after issue, to the annual national owners' rally; but this is explainable in that it's really the only national activity. Tech Tips and Consumer Interest (product reviews) are monthly sections that are always worth reading. There are many ads for BMW-oriented products that you just won't encounter anywhere else, in addition to pages of (free) classifieds offering everything from used bikes to hard- to-find parts for both recent models and restoration projects. A very valuable extra is the "Anonymous Book" containing a listing, sorted by state and municipality within state, of over 6,000 BMW owners who have said essentially, "if you're travelling through my area and encounter difficulties, breakdown, etc., CALL ME!" Although neither my wife nor I (both BMW riders) have had to use this in over 80,000 miles, it contributes peace of mind when travelling. Don't leave home without it!
darryl@ISM780.UUCP (05/19/85)
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I am a member, and I wait eagerly for the magazine each month. It
straddles the edge between club newsletter and professional magazine.
There are frequent misspellings and grammar isn't always perfect,
but it's printed on high quality glossy paper and sent out with a
dust wrapper around it. There are many standard features, of which
the best (I feel) is the pages of letters. If you are a rally person,
they have a map each month showing where all of the chartered clubs'
rallyes will be; in a separate column they list other rallyes that they
know about. A message from the president apppears only infrequently.
There is a prodeuct evaluation column, and a tech tip column. Another
regular feature is sort of human interest/rallye goings-on humor
column -- last year there was a best rallye lie contest with several
different catagories of competition. There is always a healthy want-ads
section, with subheadings of
BMW Motorcyles For Sale
Sidecars and Rigs
Brand X Motorcycles
BMW Parts
Other
Wanted
Trade
Finally, there are general interest stories and features. The May issue
has an article on a guy that put an R75/5 motor into his BD-5 homebuilt
airplane, an article on humorous road signs, "From IFMA to The World Series
-or- Unterpfaffenhoffen to San Diego's Oktoberfest", a discussion about
drinking and riding, part two of a three part article on a US tour, and
more. 70 pages in all.
I would say that the only thing better than getting the BMWMOA mag is
getting the "Anonymous" book. It is the size of a thick paperback
novel and contains a listing of phone numbers for most every city
in the US and Canada (as well as some places in Europe and Australia)
which you can call if you have an emergency. Special codes indicate
how far the member is willing to go to help a stranded motorcyclist.
Mine is in there under Sepulveda, Ca. I've never had to use it, but
when you need it, there's nothing like it.
--Darryl Richman, INTERACTIVE Systems Corp.
...!cca!ima!ism780!darryl
The views expressed above are my opinions only.