April 2011 Newsletter

April Club Meeting

Spring is finally here! Now that we have Daylight Savings Time once again, along with the warming weather, we can return to our normal schedule of meeting on the second Monday evening of each month.  Our next club meeting will be held on Monday, April 11th, 6:30 p.m., at PTs Olde Fashioned Grille, 1035 Grandiflora Drive in Leland.  This PT's is the location at the entrance into Magnolia Greens.


View Larger Map


April Eat-to-Ride

Even though the Monday evening meetings are resuming, I have heard from a few members that they have enjoyed our monthly ride-to-lunch during the Winter and would like to see these continue. Mark your calendars – our next ride-to-eat, weather and my work schedule permitting, will be held on Saturday, April 16th Sunday, April 17th (rescheduled due to the weather forecast for Saturday). We will be heading to the Front Porch Restaurant in Elizabethtown for lunch.


View Larger Map

 If you are planning to join us for lunch, please let me know a few days in advance, so I can ensure the restaurant has enough seating to accommodate us. For the ride to The Front Porch, we will meet at at the Scotchman Shell Station that is located on the corner of Highway 421 and Highway 133 (Isabelle Holmes Bridge), just north of the U.S.S. North Carolina site.  We will depart around 10:30 a.m.

The planned route for the back road ride to The Front Porch Restaurant will be posted soon to the club's Google Earth Network Link file.  Instructions on how to set up the club's Google Earth Network Link can be found here on our Beemer Ramblings blog.

For last minutes changes due to weather, check your email. As long as there is interest, we will try to continue scheduling a ride-to-eat event every month or so.


Coastal Carolina BMW Riders Club on Twitter

Twitter seems to offer a good way to disseminate fast-breaking news to our club members, so I have recently opened a Twitter account for our club. If you are a Twitter user (I am only recently a Twitter adopter), you can follow the club's updates via our Twitter user name -- @ccbmwridersclub. Currently, I envision using this as another way to remind everyone about upcoming club meetings; announce last minute changes to club ride plans or postponements of club meetings; and forward very limited time offers from vendors (for example, a one-day sale on Garmin nuMaps subscriptions). I am not planning to bombard everyone with daily tweets. If you decide to follow us on Twitter, let me know if you find this to be a useful method of communication with you. And if you are not a Twitter user, don't worry – I plan to continue using our normal method of notifications using emails and our online club newsletter.


New Event Links

The club's Google Earth Network Link now includes the following new events/locations:

• 4th Annual Motorcycle Mountain Retreat
• 10th KY Shinefest Rally
• Cass Rally
• Square Route Rally
• 19th Gathering of the Clans
• 4th Klassic K Lampout
• 9th Annual BMW Riders Campout
• STAR 2011 Ntional Rally
• 11th and Last R90S Rally
• 34th Dan'l Boone Rally & Vintage/Classic Ride-in

Instructions on how to load the network link as a permanent feature of your Google Earth program can be found here on our Beemer Ramblings blog.  Enjoy!

5th Annual International Female Ride Day

International Female Ride Day occurs every year on the first Friday of May. This year's event will be May 6th. It is a synchronized day for women motorcyclists, worldwide, to join together on their motorcycles, no matter the type, size or style and ride. For more information about International Female Ride Day, and to see this year's image icon, head to http://www.motoress.com/readarticle.asp?articleid=551&c=femalerideday.


Ride to Work Day 2011

The annual Ride to Work Day event is now being held on the third Monday in June, with the 2011 event being scheduled for June 20th. The purpose of these Ride to Work Day events is to advocate and support the use of motorcycles for transportation, and to provide information about transportation riding to motorcyclists and to the public. If you are interested in knowing more about the Ride to Work Day event, or want to obtain promotional materials for the event, head to http://www.ridetowork.org/.


BMW MOA Mileage Contest

It's April -- and that means the start of the 2011 BMW MOA Mileage Contest.  The 2011 contest starts on April 9th (be sure to bring your contest starting from to the club meeting on April 12th for signing by me (your club officer) or by two fellow BWM MOA members.  You can print the front side and back side of the contest form using these links, or use the form in your issue of the BMW Owners News magazine.  Watch for the 2010 contest result sin the April issue of the BMW Owners News.

 

Mobile Apps Released For AMA Superbike and Flat Track

The AMA Pro Racing organization has released new mobile smartphone Pro Road Racing and Pro Flat Track apps for the Android and iPhone platforms. Two versions of these apps are available for both series -- Lite and Pro.

Lite apps are free and provide basic live timing and scoring data that updates every eight seconds. The apps display the track name, session name, session time remaining, current flag status, current running order, gaps between riders, each rider's best lap time, each rider's last lap time, color highlighting of a rider's best lap time, and more.

The Pro apps cost .99 cents and include all the features of the Lite versions, with the addition of detailed event schedules, session results, series schedules, points standings, and links to recent news. Facebook and Twitter account integration are slated to be added later.

Direct links to AMA Pro Racing's iPhone Apps are as follows:

AMA Pro Road Racing Pro App: 

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ama-pro-road-racing/id421280266?mt=8
AMA Pro Road Racing Lite App: 

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ama-pro-road-racing/id410442585?mt=8
AMA Pro Flat Track Pro App: 

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ama-pro-flat-track/id421401351?=8
AMA Pro Flat Track Lite App: 

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ama-pro-flat-track-lite/id421407123?mt=8

Direct links to AMA Pro Racing's Droid Apps are as follows:

AMA Pro Road Racing Pro: 

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.amaproracing.livetiming&feature=search_result
AMA Pro Road Racing Lite: 

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.amaproracing.livetiminglite&feature=search_result
AMA Pro Flat Track Pro: 

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.amaproracing.ftlivetiming&feature=search_result
AMA Pro Flat Track Lite: 

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.amaproracing.ftlivetiminglite&feature=search_result

GPS Tip-of-the-Month

Are you looking for a good compilation of mapping and GPS –related resources on the web?  If so, here is one that is worth adding to your favorite web browser's bookmarks.

The folks at AdvRider.com have a permanent web forum post that provides a very good list of web sites and web resources relating to GPS units and mapping.  The list, which can be found at http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13981993&postcount=1, includes resources like:

• Conversion tools
• Address-to-coordinate converters
• Points of Interest converters
• Tutorials
• Google Map Mashups
• and much more.

If you are interesting getting more out of your GPS unit, visiting this link will be worth your time -- I am confident that you will find something new and useful to you!


Britt Motorsports Change

Britt Motorsports has announced they are now an independent pre-owner dealership.  It appears that Britt Motorsports has given up their franchises for Kawasaki and Suzuki.  You can read Scott Britt's personal message about the change on their web site.  I am sure many of you will find this development  disappointing for all motorcycling enthusiasts in our area.  Thank you to club member Jim Villa for passing along this information.


Interesting Product

After his trip to this year's Daytona Bike Week in Daytona, club member Jim Villa sent me information about a very interesting product that he saw.  e-Tint Products is now offering liquid crystal visor insert for motorcyclists.  The e-Tint visor insert provides electronic tinting of your helmet's faceshield.  The visor insert is available both as a manual and an automatic units.  You can obtain more information about the e-Tint visor insert at their web site.  If a club member decides to purchase and try the product, please send us a product review so we can share your experience with your fellow club members.  Thanks, Jim Villa, for send this item to us.


Newsletter Comments

These newsletters are intended to be a two-way communication tool. If you have news or information you would like to share with your fellow club members, you have two different ways to do so -- you can end your information to the editor by email, care of ccbmwridersclub@gmail.com, or you can leave comments using the link found at the bottom of each newsletter posting.  It's simple, easy, and it's fun too!

Ride safe and ride far.  And HaPPy ApRiL FooLs DaY everyone!

Bill Murray
April 1, 2011

Google Earth Network Link Tutorial

This is a quick tutorial to show you how to add our club's CCBMW Google Earth file link as a "permanent" place in your collection of Google Earth Places.  This is actually very easy.  The article below provides you step-by-step instructions (including pictures) on how to do this.

Prequisites

If you do not already have the Google Earth browser, you can download it for free from http://www.google.com.  The Google Earth browser is similar to a web browser, but it displays geographical information (locations) rather than web pages.  If you have never tried the Google Earth browser, I high recommend it – it's a lot of fun!

Background

Our club now has a file available that will add a network link to your Places collections in the Google Earth browser.  When you open the Google Earth browser and select the club's network link (by clicking the check box next to that Place entry), Google Earth will access another file stored on our club web site and provide you with the club's latest location information on motorcycling-related rallies and events.

The network link file is a Google KML, or Keyhole Markup Language, file.  KML files are simple text files that tell the Google Earth browser how to find and display geographical information.  The file being accessed by the network link file is also a KML file (it is actually a compressed or Zip file version of a KML file) stored on our club web site's collection of downloadable files.

Once you add the network link to your Places collection, you never need to do so again (unless we make available a "new-and-improved" version of the network link file).

The "Motorcycling Events and Rallies" file provides you location and background information on various motorcycling events and rallies scheduled during 2011.  This includes the International Motorcycle Shows, the BMW MOA and BMW RA national rallies, various local and regional rallies being sponsored by BMW MOA-affiliated and BMW‑RA-affiliated clubs, local motorcycle racing events at Virginia International Raceway and Carolina Motorsports Park, as well the 2011 World Superbike racing events.  I hope to soon add the 2011 AMA and MotoGP motorcycle racing event locations.  When events start being announced for 2012, we will be able to simply add these to the collection – you will not need to do anything different to have the latest information!

Network Link File Download

Using your preferred web browser, you can use the link below to download the network link file.

https://sites.google.com/site/ccbmwridersclub/download-files/EventsandRalliesNetworkLink.kml

In Internet Explorer, right-click on this link and select the Save Target As… option to save the network link file to your computer's hard drive.

In the Firefox web browser, clicking on the link opens a dialog window which will allow you to save file to your computer's hard drive.

In the Google Chrome browser, clicking the link will download the file to your computer's default location for downloaded files.

Adding the Network Link to Google Earth

Locate the network link file that you downloaded to your computer's hard drive.  If you have Google Earth installed on your computer, double-clicking the downloaded network link file should cause this file to open in the Google Earth browser.  The "Motorcycling Events and Rallies" entry should appear in your Places panel on the left, under the Temporary Places folder.

To permanently add the new Motorcycling Events and Rallies entry to your "My Places" folder (which is shown immediately above the Temporary Places folder), all you need to do is answer a question when you close the Google Earth browser.  After you select the File, Close menu option, a dialog will appear on the screen to tell you that you have unsaved places in your "Temporary Places" folder.

If you answer Save (by clicking the Save button), the Motorcycling Events and Rallies entry will automatically be added to your "My Places" folder, and will appear there the next time you start the Google Earth browser.

Notice it will display a special "network" symbol next to the Motorcycling Events and Rallies entry.  To see the latest information, click the check box beside the "+" box located to the left side of the item in the list.  This will expand the list for that entry.  Checking the boxes beside items will make those locations appear in the main window.  Likewise, unchecking items (or folders) will make those items disappear from the main window.

Congratulations!  Your Google Earth browser now includes a network link to access our club's events and rallies information.

The current Motorcycling Events and Rallies list includes "Rallies," "Events," "Race Events," and the "2011 World Superbike Races."  On occasion, additional entries will be shown for things like a planned club ride event (for example, to show the proposed club ride route).

After you click the "+" box, you can scroll through the list and click on any item your want to display.

Double clicking the individual item will cause the Google Earth browser to zoom to that item.  For example, double clicking the Rallies folder will display all the rally locations in the main window.

Double clicking on any item in the Places panel will zoom to that location in the main window and display a "bubble" which provides further information about the location/event.

GPS coordinates for the location can be obtained by looking at the status bar at the bottom of your Google Earth browser's window (as shown above) or by right-clicking on the individual item in the Places panel and looking at it's properties (also shown below).

Future Information

Please help keep this information up-to-date for your fellow club members!  If you know about an upcoming rally or event of interest to our club members, please forward any information you have (especially the location and date) to ccbmwridersclub@gmail.com.  These can be events you have read about online or in a magazine, or events that you have learned of by word-of-mouth.

Let me know whether this is a useful tool for you.  You can leave comments at the bottom of this post, or provide them via email to ccbmwridersclub@gmail.com.

A future addition being considered is adding the locations for all BMW dealers in the U.S.  This could be done as part of the club's rallies and event places collection, or it could be done as a separate collection of places (which would you prefer?).  Since this is a lot of work to assemble, I would first appreciate feedback on the usefulness of this tool, before I invest the time.

Thanks for contributing!

Bill Murray
March 9, 2011

March 2011 Newsletter

Welcome to the March 2011 edition of Beemer Ramblings.

March 2011 Club Meeting

Our next club meeting is another lunch gathering and is scheduled for Saturday, March 12th (weather permitting), at the Dale's Seafood in Tabor City, NC. This Google Maps link will show you the location, if you are not familiar with Dale's Seafood (GPS Coordinates: N34.75692 W77.94810]. We will meet there at approximately 12 Noon.

If you are planning to attend, please send me an RSVP, via email at ccbmwridersclub@gmail.com, so I can call ahead and "warn" the restaurant. I would appreciate receiving every one's RSVP by Thursday, March 10th.

Per our normal pracice 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 February meeting at The Mad Boar, we enjoyed some great weather and an excellent turn-out. A few pictures from our meeting are available on our club's Google Picasa web album.

Although my annual plant outage period will have started at work by the time we hold our club meeting, I am still planning for a back road ride to and from Dale's Seafood. If you are interested in joining me, send me an email at ccbmwridersclub@gmail.com and I will ensure you are kept up-to-date on the plans.  The departure location will be the Maco Depot Mart (Mobil Station) located at the intersection of Highways 87 and 74/76.  We will be leaving the Maco Mobil Mart around 10 A.M.   If you use the Google Earth network link discussed in the "2011 Rallies and Events" article below, you will see several options for ride routes that I have planned from the Maco Mobil to Dale's Seafood, and from Dale's back to Wilmington.

If you are already planning ahead for our April meeting, it is posted on the CCBMW Riders Club calendar on our web site.

K1600GT/GTL Pricing Announcement

BMW Motorrad USA has announced pricing for the 2012 model year K1600GT and K1600GTL tourers. The K1600GT will have a base Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $20,900, while the K1600GTL will have a base MSRP of $23,200.  There is an additional destination charge of $495. Both new models will be available this Spring.

Both Base models come equipped with:

• Xenon headlight with dynamic leveling
• Heated seat
• Heated grips
• Cruise control
• Multifunction display, on-board computer and multi-controller
• Integral ABS
• Luggage rack
• E-Gas throttle with three power modes
• White LED turn signals
• Power adjustable windshield

The Base Model K 1600 GTL also includes:

• Bluetooth
• Audio system with tuner, Sirius satellite radio with one-year complimentary subscription, iPod/USB integration, 3.5mm Aux input, GPS preparation
• Top case in body color
• Comfort backrest for top case
• Third stop light for top case
• Comfort windshield
• Comfort footrests
• Chrome body kit

SpeedTV Television Coverage for Daytona Bike Week

Daytona Bike Week is here and SpeedTV is going to be providing great coverage for those of us who cannot make the trip there. Here are the broadcast dates and times for some of the events being covered by SpeedTV:

AMA Supercross (March 5, 8 p.m. ET, LIVE)
The Daytona 200 (March 12, 1 p.m. ET, LIVE)
AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike (March 12, 11 p.m. ET, SDD)
AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship (March 13, 3 p.m. ET)

SPEED2, the network’s broadband channel, will be offering live coverage of AMA Supersport from Daytona on March 11 at 2:15 p.m. ET and March 12 at 10 a.m. ET.

SpeedTV World Superbike Television Coverage

In addition to the Daytona Bike Week Coverage, the SpeedTV channel will begin their broadcast coverage of the 2011 World Superbike season.  The first event of the season in this weekend, with the Phillip Island, Australia.  Here are the broadcast dates and times:

Phillip Island Race 1 (February 27, 5 p.m. ET)
Phillip Island Race 2 (February 27, 6 p.m. ET)

Phillip Island Race 1 (February 28, 3 a.m. ET)

Phillip Island Race 2 (February 28, 4 a.m. ET)

Phillip Island Race 1 (March 1, 3 a.m. ET)

Phillip Island Race 2 (March 1, 4 a.m. ET)

Phillip Island Supersport Race (March 1, 2:30 p.m. ET)

Phillip Island Supersport Race (March 3, 4 a.m. ET)

You can get up to speed on 2011 WSBK (I could not resist the pun) at the SpeedTV's World Superbike web page.  Troy Corser will be back as a member of the BMW Motorrad Motorsports factory team, and he will be joined this year my a new team member, Leon Haslam.  The full 2011 WSBK season schedule is  available on the SpeedTV web site.

Garmin nüMaps Update

Garmin has issued a new quarterly update to their map sets (the latest is version 2011.40). If you are a nüMaps Lifetime subscriber, you can download them from Garmin.com. Visit the Garmin Map Updates web page for more information on the nüMaps product.

2011 Rallies and Events

If you are interested in knowing when and where some of this year's motorcycling events, rallies, and races are being held, and are a Google Earth user, then I have developed a great tool for you.  This link is a file that you can add to your current list of places in Google Earth.  The file contains a link to a file on our web site that I will be periodically revising with more up-to-date information.  Currently, I have the IMS events (most of which have unfortunately now been held), a few racing events (more will be coming), and many of the east coast BMW-related rallies (and a few more around other areas of the country).  It takes  some time to maintain this information, so I welcome your feedback on the usefulness of this tool.

Wrap-Up

Thanks for staying in touch.  I will see on the roadways.  Until then, ride safe and ride far!

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.

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.

Greenville, SC IMS Location

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

January 2011 Newsletter

Happy New Year

I want to wish all our Coastal Carolina BMW Riders Club members a Happy New Year!  I hope you enjoy safe travels and many new riding adventures in 2011.


January Meeting Reminder

Our next club meeting is scheduled for Saturday, January 8th (weather permitting), at the Boundary House Restaurant, which is located at 1045 River Road in Calabash, NC [GPS coordinates:N33.88965 W78.56796].  Use this Google Maps link if you are not familiar with the location.  We will meet at the Boundary House Restaurant around 11:45 a.m., with lunch starting at 12 Noon.

An RSVP is requested, so I can make a reservation for group seating. If you are planning to come, by Thursday, January 6th, please send me an email at ccbmwridersclub@gmail.com.

As usual, if the weather looks uncertain (possible rain, etc.), please check your email on Friday evening and/or Saturday morning for a meeting postponement notice.

For anyone interested in riding together from Wilmington to the Boundary House, the group will depart at 10:45 a.m. from the B-P/C-Store located at the corner of Highway 17 and Grandiflora Drive (i.e., at the entrance to Magnolia Greens in Leland).

December 2010 Club Meeting

After having to postpone and relocate our December club meeting due to poor weather, we were finally able to get the meeting scheduled at The Harp Irish Restaurant.  Despite the shortened notice, we had a great turnout!  In case you missed the meeting, here are some pictures taken by club member Jerry Dockery and I.

2011 Rallies and Events

There are many terrific rallies and events already announced for 2011, and it's not too early to start looking ahead and making your plans for which events you want to attend this year. In the past week, more rallies have been added to the club's Google calendar.

Coming up soon at the International Motorcycle Shows , with the the Washington, DC show scheduled for January 14-16 and Greenville, SC show scheduled for February 25-27.

The 2011 BMW Motorcycle Owners of America International Rally is scheduled for July 21-24 in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania and the 2011 BMW Riders Association National Rally is being held June 30 - July 3 in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

I encourage everyone to take a few minutes and browse the club calendar to familiarize yourself with some of the BMW rallies scheduled for this Spring and Summer.  (You will also find the planned dates for the February and March club meetings too!)


2011 Rallies and Events for Google Earth

For those of you who use Google Earth, I want to provide you a link to a new file that will allow you to see where many of the 2011 rallies and events are being held.  Use the link shown below and to download the 2011 Rallies and Events KML file to your computer.

http://sites.google.com/site/ccbmwridersclub/download-files/2011RalliesandEventsNetworkLink.kml

If you save this KML file in your personal collection of places in Google Earth, it will always update with the latest additions that I make showing new rallies and events in 2011.  Check it out and let me know if you find it useful.

If you are not currently a Google Earth user, I encourage you to download the software, which is free, and try it out.  I am currently working on a series of articles explaining how you can exchange information between Google Maps, Google Earth, and your GPS unit and mapping software.  Watch for an announcement soon.

BMW MOA Superstakes Contest

I want to remind our BMW MOA members again about the BMW MOA's 2011 Superstakes II Contest. The BMW MOA is selling tickets to provide a chance to win a very special R1200GS bike as a grand prize. For every 10,000 tickets sold, another R1200GS will be added to the prize pot. And, for each additional 1,000 tickets sold, an additional $1,000 shopping spree will be included. The contest is only open to BMW MOA members. For more information, check the BMW MOA's 2011 Superstakes web page.

Tip-of-the-Month

If you are a GPS user, you probably have struggled, from time to time, with converting the format of GPS coordinates you have been given.  For example, the web site for a club's rally may give you the coordinates in a format like N29°58.893 W081°59.045 or like N29°58'53.58" W81°59'2.7", whereas your GPS unit only accepts coordinates in a format like N12.34567 W87.65432, whereas .  Good news -- there is a web site that makes it easy to convert GPS coordinates between formats.  The GPSVisualizer web site offers a geo calculator function that makes these conversions easy.  Just enter the coordintaes in the Latitude and Longitude input boxes, click the Convert button, and you have your convertered cordinates.

Coordinate conversion is just one of the many useful features you will find at the GPS Visualizer web site.  You can find GPS Visualizer at http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/.

December 2010 Newsletter

New Newsletter Format

Welcome, Coastal Carolina BMW Riders Club members. Going forward, I plan to start "publishing" our member newsletters here as a blog. The blog format should allow including more graphics (photos, maps, etc.). I welcome everyone's feedback on the new format. If there are things your especially like, please let me know. If there are things you would like to see added or changed, let me know that as well.

Meeting Reminder

Our next club is scheduled for Saturday, December 11th (weather permitting), at the Boundary House Restaurant, which is located at 1045 River Road in Calabash, NC [GPS coordinates:N33.88965 W78.56796]. See this Google Maps link if you are not familiar with the location. Some of you may remember we enjoyed some great food at the Boundary House Restaurant last February. We are planning to meet there starting around 11:30 a.m.

An RSVP is requested, so I can make a reservation for group seating. If you are plannign to come, by Thursday, December 9th, please send me an email at ccbmwridersclub@gmail.com.

Remember -- we have shifted to our winter meeting schedule, which means we will be trying to hold our monthly get-togethers as lunch meetings, on either a Saturday or Sunday, for the months of December through March.

Upcoming Events

Winter may have finally arrived and be slowing your riding, at present, but it's not too early to start planning your rides for 2011. We are already adding rallies and events that have been announced for 2011 to the club's Google calendar. The calendar already includes the upcoming International Motorcycle Shows (the closest being in Washington, DC and Greenville, SC), the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America International Rally scheduled this July in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, the BMW Riders Association National Rally in Chippewa Falls,Wisconsin, a new Spring rally being sponsored by Morton's BMW, the 2011 BMW SportTouring-sponsored UnRally being here in North Carolina, and more. I invite you to spend a few minutes browsing the calendar to start planning your 2011 riding season.

Club Challenge Rides

In 2010, we provided two challenge rides for our club members -- the North Carolina Four Corners Challenge Ride and the North Carolina State Historic Sites Challenge Ride. One club member -- Jerry McCumby -- successfully completed the North Carolina Four Corners Challenge Ride . Please join me in congratulating Jerry on this accomplishment.

These challenge ride were begun to give everyone a destination to seek out, or a place to stop and visit while travelling throughout the state. For 2011, we will be continuing several of our challenge rides. In addition, we are going to provide some of you a little recognition for your efforts. For 2011, the first three members who complete either the County Courthouse Challenge Ride, the North Carolina State Parks Challenge Ride, or the North Carolina State Historic Sites Challenge Ride will receive a copy of the BMW MOA's 35th Anniversary Book. The BMW MOA has graciously made a few copies of these books available to our club as recognition awards and I thought awarding these for a few 2011 challenge ride finishers would be a great way to reward their efforts.

To remind everyone, the County Courthouse Challenge Ride involves visiting each county courthouse in the state, stopping to take a picture of your bike and the courthouse in the photo. Some of you may recall that club members John and Joan Bower completed this challenge ride on their K1200LT back in 2008. The North Carolina State Parks Challenge Ride involves visiting each of the North Carolina State Parks and Recreational Areas, taking a picture of your motorcycle and the state park sign. The North Carolina State Historic Sites Challenge Ride involves visiting each of the twenty-seven state historic sites and, you guessed it, taking a picture of your motorcycle and the site's sign. Visiting some of these locations provides an opportunity to see some interesting locations and enjoy some nice roads along the way. I look forward to seeing some of you add to the challenge ride destinations you have already visited.

Trip Report

We have a new trip posted on the club web site. Club members Paul Winter and Jerry Dockery attended the Savannah 2010 Rally during the weekend of December 3-5. Paul has written a great trip report, including some photos. You can find Paul's write-up under the Ride Reports page. Thank you, Paul, for the write-up and photos!

BMW MOA Superstakes Contest

If you are a BMW MOA member (something I highly recommend), you hopefully know about the BMW MOA's 2011 Superstakes II Contest. The BMW MOA is selling tickets to provide a chance to win a very special R1200GS bike as a grand prize. For every 10,000 tickets sold, another R1200GS will be added to the prize pot. And, for each additional 1,000 tickets sold, an additional $1,000 shopping spree will be included. The contest is only open to BMW MOA members. For more information, check the BMW MOA's 2011 Superstakes web page.

Upcoming Club Rides

Keep your eyes on your email inbox during the next few weeks. If my time and the weather permit, you may see one or two short-notice announcements of club rides during the holiday season. I hope to be able to enjoy some time off from work during the next few weeks and, if the weather cooperates, may send out an invitation for a lunch ride or two to anyone who is interested in joining me.

Acknowledgment

Finally, I want to thank everyone for their interest in the club this past year. I have really enjoyed seeing everyone who has had time to attend our club meetings and ride, and staying in touch with those of you who have not been able to join us in person. I am looking forward to sharing new adventures with you in 2011, and I want to wish you and your families a great holiday.

Ride safe and ride far!