May 2013 Newsletter

The May 2013 edition of Beemer Ramblings is finally here. I apologize for the late publication this month. Because of work, I have not had much time for anything (including riding). Without further ado, here is the latest news.

Club Meeting 

Our next club meeting will be held on Monday, May 13th, 6:30 p.m., at Five Guys Burgers and Fries in the Mayfaire Shopping Center, Wilmington. As usual, come early and chat about your Spring and Summer riding plans.

The 2013 BMW MOA Mileage Contest has started, so be sure to bring your starting mileage form to the meeting so get it signed by me (or two other BMW MOA members). The mileage forms must be mailed (postmarked) no later than midnight on May 13th (the evening of the meeting).

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May 11 Club Get-Together 

Omar and Nora Kharbat are inviting everyone to their house for "Mediterranean hors d'oeuvres" on Saturday, May 11, at 12 Noon. Omar and Nora live at 6911 Finian Drive in Wilmington [GPS coordinates N34.177124 W-77.854969]. All club members are invited, but RSVPs are requested. If you are planning to attend, please send an email reply to ccbmwridersclub@gmail.com. If you are planning to come and want to contribute some of your favorite beverage, please bring it with you. As far as I know, this will be a rain or shine event. We'll see you there!

If it is not raining, anyone who is interested in a short back road ride before the get-together is invited to join me. We will leave from the Buy & Go Exxon located at 808 North College Road in Wilmington [GPS coordinates N34.260317 W-77.869839], probably around 10 or 10:30 a.m. An email announcement with further details will be sent out a few days beforehand.

New Water-Cooled BMW R1200RT 

All the recent media attention has been focused on the new water-cooled 2013 BMW R1200GS. Meanwhile, BMW continues to prepare the R1200RT for the water-cooled boxer motor. A new online  article features some recent "in the wild" photos of the prototype 2014 BMW R1200RT. You can see the photos here.

Bob's BMW on April Fool's Day 

Speaking of the new water-cooled boxer, the Bob's BMW dealership in Jessup, Maryland, provided a funny April Fool's Day announcement based on BMW's new water-cooled boxer engine. The announcement featured the all new 2013 BMW H2O, nicknamed the THE STEAMER BEEMER. Bob's BMW said that with this model, "BMW again shows it's technological prowess by offering the only motorcycle on the planet that is fueled by water. Efficient, environmentally friendly, and Steam Punk cool." A well done April Fool's Day item!

2012 BMW MOA Mileage Contest Results 

Each year, the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America sponsors a mileage contest which is open to all members of the organization. The contest usually runs for a six-month period, from a date in April until sometime in October.

The results of the 2012 contest have been published in the April issue of the BMW MOA's magazine, BMW Owners News. The top national men's finisher of the 2012 contest was Ken "Mac" McHugh (MOA #6735) with 44,013 miles on two different R1150Rs. The top women's finisher was Heidi Still (#39115) with 33,246 miles on her F650GSA and F800ST.

Here are the tallies for our club members who participated:

Eddie Lynch 13,217 NC
Bill Murray 10,525 NC
Jeff Mense 8,832 SC
Ron Manley 8,361 SC
Benton Blalock 6,376 NC
Bill Gasque 5,913 SC
Tony Barcia 3,513 NC
Roy Dougherty 2,076 NC

Interestingly, North Carolina finished as the 8th place state by mileage with 481,162 miles and ninth place by the number of finishers (51).

Congratulations to the club members who completed the 2012 contest. Hopefully you enjoyed some great rides while participating.

2013 BMW MOA Mileage Contest 

In a prior post, we celebrated the results of the 2012 BMW MOA Mileage Contest results, for our club members who participated in last year's event. Now it is time to get ready for the 2013 BMW MOA Mileage Contest.

Some of you are already probably saying to yourself "I just don't ride enough miles to be worthwhile participating." It does not matter whether you only have the opportunity to ride 100 miles for the season or 10,000 miles – what is important is that you participate. Aside from recognition of your individual mileage for the 2013 riding season, the club's cumulative mileage can also be recognized, so if you are a BMW MOA member, I encourage you to join us and participate in the contest. As a reminder, finishers of each year's contest receive a pin, like the one shown below, from the BMW MOA as recognition of their accomplishment.

This year's contest starts at midnight on Saturday, April 13th and runs until Sunday, October 13th, 2013. The contest is open to all members of the BMW MOA, and participation is easy. The Starting Mileage Contest Form was provided in your April issue of the BMW Owners News, or it can be downloaded from the BMW MOA web site at http://www.bmwmoa.org/Portals/0/Documents/2013_Mileage_Contest_start.pdf. I have also posted a PDF copy of the form on the club's Google Drive, at https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6x0OObD8JEES1I3YzhadmpuQjg/edit?usp=sharing.

Complete the form with your information and have it signed by a club officer (contact me at ccbmwridersclub@gmail.com) or have it signed by two BMW MOA members in good standing. All forms must be mailed (postmarked) no later than May 13, 2013.

Thanks for participating, good luck, and safe travels in 2013!

2013 Georgia Mountain Rally 

The BMW Motorcycle Club of Georgia (BMW MCOGA) is sponsoring the 2013 Georgia Mountain Rally this weekend, May 3-5, 2013. The rally is being held at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds, 1311 Music Hall Road, in Hiawassee, GA [GPS coordinates N34 57.919 W83 46.346]. This annual event is one of the premier Spring motorcycling events - it's not too late to join them for a great weekend in the Smokey Mountains.

Gerbings Recall 

Gerbings has announced a recall for their 12-volt heated jacket liner, model number JKLN.

The announcement on the Gerbings web site indicates an improperly crimped connector in the heating element in the back portion of some of the jacket liners is prone to overheating, causing damage to the jacket and minor burns.

Links to the recall notice on the Gerbings site, as well as the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The ADVRider.com web forum already includes some accounts of people recently receiving burns from their Gerbings jackets.

If you own a Gerbings jacket liner, please check it against the recall information.

http://gerbing.com/Recall/warningsandrecalls.php

http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/2013/Gerbings-Recalls-Heated-Jacket-Liners/#Remedy

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=879766

Unique Gear 

Club member +Omar Kharbat shared an interesting post on Google+ about a very unique piece of motorcycling gear --  a custom helmet motorcycle helmet that comes straight from the Predator movies. Several customization are available, including carbon fiber tips for the Predator's dreadlocks and an LED-based "laser-controlled aimer." Now you can terrorize that driver on the cell phone with a startling stare.

Video-of-the-Month - Riding in the Rain 

This month's video is a YouTube video from the Roadcraft School of Motorcycling in Great Britain. The video provides some great tips about riding in the rain or on wet roads. Whether you are new to riding a motorcycle in the rain, or you are an experienced rider, this video provides an excellent summary about wet weather riding technique.

That's the news for this month. Until the June newsletter, ride safely and ride far!

April 2013 Newsletter

April Club Meeting

Our next club meeting will be on Monday, April 8th, 6:30 p.m., at the Two Guys Grille located at the entrance to the Waterford subdivision in Leland, NC.  The address is 2013 Olde Waterford Way in Leland. For my fellow GPS geeks, Two Guys is located at N34.22055 W78.01920.

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I hope you will come for our first Monday evening meeting for the 2013 season. We'll see you there!

2013 Rally Season 

Spring has finally arrived, and it's time to begin planning some of your motorcycling trips for the 2013 riding season. If you enjoy attending BMW-related motorcycling rallies, information on upcoming events is available from a number of online sources.

Most BMW-related rallies are listed on the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America (BMW MOA) and the BMW Riders Association (BMW RA) web sites.

BMW MOA Rally Calendar

BMW RA Rally Link

You can also find upcoming motorcycling event information at Sport-Touring.net, HSTA, ADVRider.com, and BMWSportTouring.com.

As most of you already know, the BMW MOA National Rally is being held this year in Salem, Oregon, July 18-21, 2013. Closer to home, the BMW RA National Rally is returning to its 2007 location at the Biltmore Estates in Asheville, North Carolina, on June 20-23, 2013. If you do not have the time or ability to travel to Oregon, the BMW RA rally is a good alternative to the BMW MOA event.

Another great rally being held during the week following the BMW RA National is the 12th annual Un Rally, in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. You can register for the Un Rally online.

For those of you who enjoy long-distance trips, there is the annual Americade event held in Lake George, New York in June. And don't forget this year's Curve Cowboy Reunion, which is being held August 27-28, 2013, in Bend, Oregon.

If you are curious where some of the upcoming motorcycle events are being held this year, try using this link  to see the event locations in Google Maps. And if you know about a BMW-related event that is not shown, post the information here or send it to us via email, at ccbmwridersclub@gmail.com, and I will add the event location to the map.

Finally, for those of you who are local members of the Coastal Carolina BMW Riders Club, if you have joined Google+, you can create post on our Community page about your plans for attending these events. This can be a great tool for you and your fellow club members to communicate and coordinate your trip to a rally or event. And don't forget to post a short ride report and/or pictures when you get home!

Packing for the Road 

I discovered an interesting article on the Cycle World web site about Helge Pedersen and how he packs his motorcycle for a 15,000 mile strip from Seattle to Tierra del Fuego. The article describes his approach, but I found the various photographs very enlightening. We can all learn something from this master-of-motorcycle-travel.

Volunteers for the 41st annual BMW MOA International Rally 

The 41st annual BMW MOA International Rally in Salem, Oregon is quickly approaching. The rally offers numerous opportunities to pitch in and help make the event a great experience for everyone. The BMW MOA asking for volunteer staffing for the rally. If you are planning to attend the rally and are interested in being a volunteer, contact the Volunteers chairs atrallyvolunteer@bmwmoa.org.

Paul Mulhern
BMW MOA Chartered Club Liaison
pmulhern@swbell.net
210-279-6074

Garmin BaseCamp Update 

Garmin released two updates to their BaseCamp software (for Windows PCs) during the month of March. The latest version is 4.1.2. Here is a list of the changes made from version 4.1.1 to 4.1.2:

• Fixed an issue with Basestation mode.
• Fixed an issue where BaseCamp would not remember the positioning of the toolbars correctly.
• Fixed an issue where the Custom POI symbols from POI files where incorrect.
• Fixed an issue with the address search.
• Fixed an issue where refreshing a search was using the last location on the map, not the current one.
• Fixed an issue where Cutting (Ctrl-X) a photo on a device would delete the photo and prevent the user from pasting it.
• Fixed an issue with some Asian language map products.
• Fixed an issue with deleting track points.
• Fixed an issue with route creation in a folder.
• Fixed an issue where the hand tool was not always set as the default tool.
• Fixed some menu inconsistencies between find results, context menus, and map popup menus.

The update can be downloaded from this link.

BaseCamp Feature – Managing Custom POIs 

I recently discovered that BaseCamp now includes a feature to manage Custom Points of Interest (POIs). I am unsure when the feature was added – a review of Garmin's change history seems to indicate it may have appeared in version 4.1.1. In any case, if you use Custom POIs, you may find this feature in BaseCamp helpful.

So where can I find this feature in BaseCamp and what does this feature offer?

Under the BaseCamp Maps menu, you will now see a menu entry for Manage Custom POIs... Selecting the Maps | Managing Custom POIs menu without your GPS connected will yield only an empty display window. However, if you have Custom POIs loaded on your GPS and your GPS is connected to your computer when you select the Maps | Managing Custom POIs menu, a window will open that lists the POI files residing on your GPS receiver.

Note: I have a \Garmin\POI folder residing on both my GPS receiver and on the µSD card I have installed in my GPS. My experience was that BaseCamp saw the custom POI files residing on my GPS receiver, but did not see the custom POI files on the µSD card.

Each set of POIs listed include a checkbox on the left hand side. By default, all of your POIs will be checked. 

Unchecking a POI in the list will hide the POI on your BaseCamp map. 

When trying to view your Custom POIs, keep in mind that the map zoom level when they are displayed will depend on the detail level that you have set in BaseCamp. For example, when I had the BaseCamp detail level set to Highest, the Custom POIs started appearing on the map when the zoom was at 0.5 miles or less, whereas when the detail level was set to Higher, they did not appear until zooming to the 800 foot level.

Being able to displaying your Custom POIs is helpful, there is another part of this feature that is also useful. When you select the Section Arrow tool and double click on the POI, a pop-up balloon will be displayed. The balloon shows the POI's name and will provide you with several icon buttons underneath. One button allows you to create a Waypoint at the POI location. Another button allows you to create a Route starting with the POI's location. A third button allows you to add the POI to your current Route. A fourth button provides you with more information about the POI including some of the same data fields that you can normally see for a Waypoint.

If you use Custom POI files on your GPS, take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with this handy new feature in BaseCamp.

Google+ Community Page Reminder 

Once again, I would like to encourage everyone to join our Google+ Community page. You do not have to be have a Google account to read the items posted to the community page. However, if you want to be able to contribute comments or new posts to the community page, you will need to have a free Google account. Please joining the club's Community so you can keep up with the very latest news and announcements for our club members.

Video-of-the-Month 

And we end this month's newsletter with a short video called The Chase.  It is set at the Barber Motorcycle Museum and racetrack and includes AMA motorcycle racer Jason DiSalvo and two very talented motorcycle drifting riders. It is extremely well done and worth your time to view. Be sure to watch it in HD resolution. If you are like me, it will rekindle your desire to go see the Barber Motorcycle Museum.

That's the news for this month. Until the May newsletter, ride safely and ride far!

March 2013 Newsletter

March Club Meeting

Come join us for our March club meeting at the Cape Fear Restaurant in Southport on March 9, 2013, at 12 Noon, for some good seafood and a great view of the Cape Fear River. 

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RSVPs are appreciated, and will help ensure we have a large enough table for us to sit together as a group.

In the event of rain, our first alternate date will be Sunday, March 10th and our second alternate date will be the following Saturday, March 16th.

February 9, 2013 Post-Club Meeting Report 

We had a terrific turnout for our February club meeting, despite a rather chilly start to the morning ride (temperatures in the mid-40s). Club members Roy and Carol Dougherty arranged for us to have lunch at the River Landing Country Club, and it was a wonderful place for us to get together. Thanks to everyone who was able to join us, and hopefully those of you who could not attend will be able to do so this month. You can view a few photos from the event on our Picasa web album for the meeting.

New 2013 BMW R1200GS 

Cycle World magazine has posted an excellent online first-ride review of the new 2013 BMW R1200GS.

The article summaries many of the new features of the motorcycle, such as the five riding modes, as well as the riding characteristics of the new engine. An excellent technical discussion of the new boxer engine was posted earlier in our January 2013 club newsletter, Beemer Ramblings, and can be read here on the Cycle World web site. The new Cycle World article also includes some good photographs of the new motorcycle. Overall, it looks like the new R1200GS is an outstanding machine.

BMW Concept Motorcycle 

It looks like a cafe-style concept motorcycle shown by BMW four years ago at the Milan motorcycle show is going to be put into production. The motorbike was greeted with enthusiasm at the time it was originally shown. The question is -- do you think it will sell? You can read a short discussion of the motorcycle here.

BMW Sells Husqvarna Motorcycles 

As announced earlier on our Google+ Community page, in a January 31, 2013, press release, BMW Motorrad announced the sale of the Husqvarna Motorcycles to Pierer Industrie AG of Austria (i.e., the owner of the KTM motorcycle brand). You can read the BMW press release here.

Major Race Circuits Mapped 

If you are a racing enthusiast, automotive or motorcycling, you may find this web site of interest. The GPcircuits web site shows the location and layout of most of the world's race circuits. You can choose to see the circuits in a specific race series, or you can instead see the circuits within a particular country. The satellite view of each circuit includes highlighting of the track layout. Details about each circuit include a short description, GPS coordinates, and a link to the circuit's official web site. The GPcircuits web site has been produced by the same folks who own the Sunday Morning Rides web site.

Garmin Updates 

If you are a Garmin GPS user, you may want to visit the Garmin web site to download some recent updates.

First, Garmin has released an update to their BaseCamp mapping software for your desktop computer. This update (BaseCamp version 4.1.1) provides mostly minor bug fixes. You can find a list of the fixes athttp://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=4435.

Next, if you are a nuMaps lifetime subscriber, you will probably be interested in downloading the latest City Navigator North America (CNNA) NT map set, which is now version 2013.40.

Finally, if you are a Garmin Montana GPS user, you may want to download the latest firmware to your GPSr, which is firmware version 4.70 released on January 30, 2013. You can see a list of fixes for this update on the Montana GPS wiki site, at http://garminmontanagpsr.wikispaces.com/Firmware#x-Firmware History-4.70.

50 (Shaping/Via) Point Limits on the Montana 

Recently, there has been an ongoing discussion on the ADVRider.com "New Garmin Montana" discussion thread about the Montana's "50 point via/shaping point limitation." Since a few club members own Garmin Montana GPSs, I am sharing a post that I wrote which outlined an experiment I performed concerning the 50 point limit when creating routes. The experiment helps to illustrate some of the advantages offered by using tracks versus using routes.

Google+ Community Page Reminder 

Once again, I would like to encourage everyone to join our Google+ Community page. You do not have to be have a Google account to read the items posted to the community page. However, if you want to be able to contribute comments or new posts to the community page, you will need to have a free Google account. Please joining the club's Community so you can keep up with the very latest news and announcements for our club members.


That's the news for this month. Until the April newsletter, ride safely and ride far!

February 2013 Newsletter

February Club Meeting 

By special arrangement of fellow club members Roy and Carole Dougherty, our next monthly club meeting will be held on Saturday, February 9th, 12 Noon, at the River Landing Country Club in Wallace.

Roy Dougherty has make special arrangements with the River Landing gatehouse -- please tell them you are with the BMW group.

The River Landing Country Club accepts only credit cards -- no cash -- so please come prepared accordingly.

A back road ride from Wilmington to Wallace is being planned, with the details to be announced during the week prior to the club meeting on our Google+ Community page. An email announcement about the ride will be sent to club members.

I hope you will join us for this get-together at the River Landing Country Club.

January 2013 Newsletter

Happy New Year 

Happy New Year to all of our club members!  It was great to see those of you who were able to come to December 10th club meeting at The Harp and our Winter Solstice Gathering at P.T.'s Grille on December 21st.  We missed all of you whose schedules did not allow you to join us, and we hope you will be able to attend our January "Oyster Roast" meeting (more information provided in the next section).

I hope you are busy planning your motorcycling adventures for the 2013 riding season. 2013 promises to be another great riding season.  The BMW MOA National Rally will be held in Salem, Orgeon, and the Curve Cowboy Reunion is also being held in the west (in Bend, Oregon) this year.  For those who cannot take the time for a cross-country trip, we will have the BMW Riders Association National Rally, which is being hosted at the Biltmore Estates in Asheville, North Carolina on June 20-23, 2013

Even with the (somewhat) cooler weather we are now "enjoying," we are still planning to holding several  day-ride events during the next couple of months. Watch your email inbox, our club web site, and our new club Google+ Community page, for these announcements.

December 2012 Newsletter

December Club Meeting

Our annual holiday club meeting will be held once again at The Harp Restaurant on Monday, December 10th, at 6:30 p.m.

A reservation has already been made for our group.  However, to ensure adequate seating for the group, please provide a RSVP (if you are planning on attending) no later than Wednesday, December 5th responding via email at ccbmwridersclub@gmail.com.

The Harp Restaurant is located at 1423 South 3rd Street, Wilmington, NC [GPS coordinates N34.21701, W77.94342].

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November 2012 Newsletter

With the pleasant temperatures and beautiful fall colors, October is one of our best months of the year for motorcycle riding in this area.  I hope all of you getting a chance to enjoy some time in the saddle.  There is a lot to cover in this edition of our newsletter, so without further ado:

Winter Meeting Schedule

Starting with November, we are switching to our "Winter meeting schedule."  We make this change so everyone can enjoy riding to our club meetings during daylight hours, and hopefully when the weather is bit warmer.  We will make an exception to the winter schedule for our December club meeting, which you can read about later in this newsletter.

November Club Meeting 

The November club meeting will be held on Saturday, November 10th, 12 Noon, at Ducati's Pizzeria & Trattoria, 960 Cipriana Dr. in Myrtle Beach, SC.  GPS coordinates for Ducati's Pizzeria are N33.76089 W78.81461.

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For a long time, we have wanted to schedule a club meeting near Myrtle Beach, to accomodate our loyal members who frequently make the ride to Wilmington for our meetings.  Club member Marty Schmitz offered us the suggestion for using Ducati's Pizzeria in Myrtle Beach, and it provides a great excuse for our Wilmington members to enjoy a ride this month.

If the weather forecast is not favorable, please monitor your email, in case it becomes necessary to postpone the meeting (hopefully not!).

For those interested in riding together to Myrtle Beach, we will meet at BP/Convenience Store located at the entrance to Magnolia Greens in Leland.  We will depart at 10:30 a.m.