Well, if you missed the SIG (Special Interest Group) Tech Session on August 28th you missed a fun session, good food and entertaining afternoon ride. The morning opened with cooler weather than we have been having. I notice my interest in riding is inversely correlated with the heat index. In the winter I can put on enough clothes to stay warm but I have never figured out how to take enough clothes off to stay cool and safely ride my motorcycle.
About a dozen or more club members gathered to watch Steve Lissner show us how to properly check and change the oil on a variety of bikes. Then several of the attendees worked on their own specific problems with coaching from both Steve Lissner and Steve Page. I was watching closely as one member checked his bike and added oil. Unfortunately, I was not watching closely enough. I did not notice that he had failed to replace the oil plug until he fired the motorcycle up and it slung oil over me and the concrete floor! What I found interesting is that three of the newest club members came to the tech session. This participation by new club members is a good sign that we are still on the road to being an active and viable club.
We cleaned up and headed down to Sonic for lunch then embarked on our ride. Steve Page led the way in a brisk turn through Williamson County. One of the newest club members was making only her third ride on a motorcycle since she got her license. What did Steve do? He leads us down Old Hwy 96. Hwy 96 is a fun road with some curves and changes in latitude through bucolic country scenery. Except it was under construction and we had about a mile of rough gravel to transverse on the big touring bikes. The newest rider hung in there and made it safely through the rough stuff without dropping the bike. Good thing, too, ‘cause the bike was borrowed from Steve!
Don’t forget the Ribfest and club meeting next week. Thanks to David and Virginia Bloodworth, we will be meeting at the BMW dealership. Come check out the new bikes and programs David has added for his customers. Look forward to seeing you there.
September 1st, 2010
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When the midsummer heat closes around us like yellow rubber gloves, and we give up any thought of riding unless it’s toward a mountain, lake or river, it’s easy to turn our thoughts toward the cool of October and the Ribfest Rally. This year the Alabama club is making the Ribfest Rally their monthly meeting so they should be out in force. I know there are several people coming from the BMW clubs in Louisiana and Indiana so we should have a good group to ride the dual sport rides. We will also have those who, for whatever reason, prefer to ride paved roads. There will be plenty of riders going that direction.
We had a few people who made the ride to the BMWMOA Rally in Redmond, this year. We will have a report from them at the August meeting. Your president rode west but only as far as Colorado. I met my brother, Jay, who rode up from Louisiana to meet me in Oklahoma City on his new R1200RT. He has been a Harley Davidson owner for years but he is totally sold on the RT. Every bike has its good points but Jay says he would have been a lot less comfortable riding the Harley with the long hours we put in the saddle. The mountains were wonderful. After putting over 4,000 miles on the clock we still had places to see. Oh well, maybe next year.
The Executive Board did not have a July meeting due to all the vacation schedules but we will meet in August to continue the business of the club. We have now been incorporated in the State of Tennessee as a not for profit association. We also have our tax number from the Federal government and can now begin to work on our tax status and Board insurance. None of this is as much fun as riding but it is a very important step for the club. A big thank you to all the members of the Executive Board who worked on this protection for the club members.
In August, the Executive Board will address the question of our Charitable Donation from the Rally proceeds. These Board meetings are open to members of the club. If you are interested in attending, please do so.
Ride safe, stay cool and come to the August club meeting. Polly will be sending out the information.
August 2nd, 2010
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I will be posting here from time to time. Check back to see if I have anything new.
May 18th, 2010
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Looks like the posting works so let’s take a minute to talk about the recent European Riders Rally. Someone suggested we change the name to Rainy European Riders Rally since we seem to always get at least a shower or two over the weekend of the rally. This year, 2010, was no exception! I rode up to the rally in Burkesville, KY early Friday morning on “Lilith”, my 2003 anthracite K1200 LTE, under cloudy skies. As I was parking, a couple of drops of rain fell from the first of several showers on Friday. As riders arrived, I asked them about their experience of the rain on the way in. It varied from “Wow, we rode through a storm!” to “not a drop, just the threat”, depending on the time and direction of the ride.
Saturday, however, turned warmer and, while humid, stayed sunny most of the day. Bob, the Rally Chair, made the call to have the band set up inside rather than in the amphitheater and good thing. About the time the band kicked off at 7pm the skies opened up for a couple of hours. We danced to the Bicho Brothers in dry comfort while rain fell. About nine o’clock it was clear once again and we didn’t get much the rest of the rally.
Sunday we got a drizzle for our ride back to Nashville, No problem, just enough to keep us cool. Thanks to everyone who made the trip–enough of you guys to set a record for attendence and a special thanks to the volunteers who made the rally possible. I will get with Steve (our amazing webmaster) about posting the pictures of the rally. Be safe and remember ATGATT.
May 18th, 2010
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