Friday, February 25, 2011

Greenville, SC International Motorcycle Show

The International Motorcycle Show (IMS) is coming to the Carolina First Center in Greenville, South Carolina next weekend (February 25-27, 2011).  Several club members have been asking about who from the club is planning to attend.  To assist, I have set up this post to list any club members who have plans to attend.  Her is who is currently planning to attend:

  • Jim Bain (Attending on Saturday only)
  • Tony and Jill Barcia (Attending on Saturday and heading home on Sunday)
  • Jerry Dockery (Spending Friday night in Columbia, SC and heading to the show early Saturday. Staying at the Days Inn Greenville,60 Roper Mountain Road, I-385 Exit 37, Greenville, SC.  Cell: 910-262-2843.)
  • Jeff Mense (Jeff and a couple others may head up to Clinton, SC Friday evening, then into the show Saturday morning and back to the beach by Saturday evening.)
  • Bill Pennington and wife (driving to Greenville Saturday and staying until Sunday)
  • Lee Shreve (Attending with a group from VA and NC)

If you need a little encouragement, check out these Picasa web album photos from this year's New York City IMS.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

February 2010 Newsletter

Welcome to the February 2011 edition of Beemer Ramblings.


February 2011 Club Meeting

Our next club meeting is another lunch gathering and is scheduled for Saturday, February 12th (weather permitting), at the Mad Boar Restaurant in Wallace, NC.  This Google Maps link will show you the location, if you are not familiar with The Mad Boar (GPS Coordinates: N34.75692 W77.94810].  We will meet at approximately 12 Noon.

If you are planning to attend, please send me an RSVP, via email at ccbmwridersclub@gmail.com, so I can set up a reservation and arrange enough seating together for our group.  I would appreciate receiving every one's RSVP by Thursday, February 10th.

Per our normal procedure for winter meetings, if the weather forecast for the meeting date looks questionable, watch your email for a last-minute postponement notification.  You are also welcome to contact me to confirm whether the meeting is going forward as planned, or is being postponed.

If you missed our January meeting at The Boundary House Restaurant in Calabash, I hope you will have time to join us at The Mad Boar in February.  Pictures from our January meeting are now available on our Google Picasa web album.

Once again, I am planning a 75-mile back road ride from Wilmington to Wallace for the meeting, and anyone who is interested is welcome to join me.  The starting location for the ride will be the Buy & Go Exxon Station located at 808 North College Road (about one-half mile north of the Corning Plant).  If you are interested in joining the ride, please let me know via email at ccbmwridersclub@gmail.com and I will confirm the departure time for the ride.  Currently, I am planning on a 10:30 a.m. departure to support arriving at The Mad Boar by 11:45 a.m.

If you are already planning ahead for our March meeting, it is posted on the CCBMW Riders Club calendar on our web site.  Please note the change in meeting location.


CycleGadgets.com

I have some disheartening news ‑  I learned a few days ago that CycleGadgets.com has closed effective Friday, January 14th.  Since 2000, CycleGadgets had been a great source for many motorcycling accessories.  They have also been represented at many BMW MOA National Rallies.  I have been one of CycleGadget's customers, and if you were too, I am sure you will agree that they will be missed.  Their closure notice is posted online at cyclegadgets.com.


New York International Motorcycle Show

Through a special package offered by Bob's BMW Motorcycles of Jessup, Maryland, club member Ed O'Neil and I attended the International Motorcycle Show (IMS) in New York City on Saturday, January 22nd.  The NYC IMS event was the second of two shows that BMW North America was officially attending and displaying their new K1600GLT model (the other show that BMW NA attended was the IMS show held in Long Beach, CA).  Our trip was done through a special package offered by Bob's BMW.  The $50 package provided round-trip chartered bus transportation from Bob's BMW to the IMS location in NYC, including a box lunch on the trip to NYC, a snack on the return trip, and your IMS show ticket.  The bus package tickets sold out quickly!

There were a total of 58 dedicated enthusiasts enjoying this year's trip to the NYC IMS event.  Everyone was very interested in seeing the new K1600GTL model – especially the four or five individuals who had already pre-ordered the K1600, sight unseen.  The Bob's BMW representative said they have already taken six or seven pre-orders for the bike, and that there are currently approximately 180 K1600 pre-orders nationwide, with the total expected to reach around 300 to 350 by the March-April delivery date.

We had about four hours to enjoy the show, which was more than enough time considering how crowded it became as the day progressed.  The K1600GTL attracted a large group of people to view the bike and waiting for the opportunity to sit on the display motorcycle.  Also on display was BMW's Concept C scooter, recently described in the BMW Owners News magazine and on the BMW MOA web site.  A BMW representative indicated a gas-powered version of the scooter will be released at some future date.

Also on display was the new R1200R classic limited-edition.  The bike has a "classic" black with white pin stripe paint scheme (not clear in my photos) and has the classic spoke wheels.

You can all my pictures from the IMS trip in my Picasa web album.





Greenville, SC IMS

The closest remaining International Motorcycle Show scheduled near us will be the IMS event being held in the Carolina First Center in Greenville, SC on the weekend of February 25-27.  Since you have already missed the opportunity to see the IMS in Washington, DC (held earlier in January), the Greenville show is closest show to attend this year.  The IMS also visits Daytona during Bike Week.  The Google Map below shows you the location of the Carolina First Center in Greenville.


If you have never visited an IMS, they are a great way to see (and often sit on) many of the motorcycle models offered by almost all of the major manufacturers.  In addition, many national accessory vendors such as Arai, Gerbings, the Service Pavilion (a great Arai helmet dealer that I will talk about at our club meeting), Twisted Throttle, and many more will also be represented.


Wunderlich Catalog

Wunderlich is a German source for many terrific accessories for our BMW motorcycles.  In case you have not heard, their new catalog is now available and can be downloaded as Adobe Acrobat PDF files from the Wunderlich web site.  The catalog may provide you with some new ideas on how to improve your BMW motorcycle, so check it out.


CCBMW Riders Club Calendar

More 2011 rallies and events are being announced every week, and as I hear about these, I am adding them to the CCBMW Riders Club calendar on our web site.  I encourage everyone to visit the calendar and browse the upcoming months to see whether there is an upcoming rally or event that you may be interested in attending.  You can click on the event entries to see additional information about the event.  New entries include the 2011 Curve Cowboy Reunion (CCR), the SC Sandblast Rally, the 2011 UnRally, the Spring Blue Ridge Rendezvous (BRR), National Ride-to-Work Day, and more.


Vintage Motorcycles

I recently received an interesting PowerPoint slide show from club member Tony Barcia.  The slide show contains pictures of 42 classic, vintage motorcycles.  Tony Barcia later made a great suggestion -- start a "registry" where our club members can list the vintage motorcycles they have previously owned and/or currently own.  Based on Tony's suggestion, I have set up the CCBMW Rider Club Vintage Bike Registry.  The registry is a Google Document in which you can identify your self and list any vintage motorcycles you have had the pleasure of owning.  To inspire you, take a look at the Vintage Motorcycle Slide Show, which is also available as a Google Document.  Thanks for the suggestion, Tony!


Garmin nuMaps Update Offer

Post-Publication Notice:  Here is a great offer that I discovered after this newsletter was published online.  If you have not purchased a update for your Garmin GPS unit's maps, now is a great time.  From February 1 until February 7, you can purchase a one-time nuMaps update for your Garmin GPS for $39.99 from Newegg.com.  To obtain this special price, you must use the coupon code EMCKHKJ75.


BMW in 2011 AMA Superbike Series

It looks like BMW enthusiasts will be able to once again cheer for the marquee in AMA Superbike racing.  According to this SpeedTV article, Larry Pegram is planning to be riding a BMW S1000RR for the 2011 racing season.


Wrap-up


The new format for our newsletter (this blog) allows you to leave comments, so I invite you to do so.  You will find the Comments link at the end of each Beemer Ramblings post.  In addition, if you should see an item in Beemer Ramblings that needs to be updated or corrected, please send me an email at ccbmwridersclub@gmail.com and I will make the change.


I am looking forward to seeing everyone at The Mad Boar for our February club meeting.  Until then, ride safe and ride far.
Bill Murray