** September 2nd Ride-N-Lunch **
(Not at Pearl’s)
Weather permitting; we will meet on the east side of Cincinnati and follow US 52 east along the Ohio River to the lodge at Shawnee State Park. The intent is NOT to stop for breakfast, but to have lunch at the lodge. From the lodge, work our way north to OH 73 and follow OH 73 north and west to Hillsboro. OH 73 will pass Serpent Mound State Memorial. If there is interest, a stop could be made there. If some of our Kentucky members would prefer to not travel further north into Ohio after the lodge, they could return to US 52 east into Portsmouth and cross the Ohio River into Kentucky and return west to the northern Kentucky area via KY 8 or the AA highway. In Hillsboro, pick up US 50 and head west back to Cincinnati. We can terminate the ride at US 50 and I-275 or decide on another location if necessary/more convenient for the members.
SPECIFICS:
1. Routes/Distances/Estimated Times:
a. Members not preferring to ride the entire route or even all the way to Shawnee S.P. could peel off anywhere along eastbound US 52 on several OH or US routes and head back to the Cincinnati area (bring your maps).
b. Cincinnati (I-275) to Portsmouth area (Shawnee State Park): approx. 130 miles
c. Portsmouth area to Hillsboro: approx. 57 miles
d. Hillsboro to I-275: approx. 38 miles
e. Total approx. distance: approx. 225 miles
f. Anticipated Time Requirements: approx. 4-5 hours, not including the time at the Shawnee SP lodge for lunch nor any extended stay at Serpent Mound.
2. Meeting Time/Location:
a. Assemble at 9:30 a.m. at the parking lot for KELLOGG PARK (an Anderson Twp. Park) on US 52 (Kellogg Avenue) on Sunday, Sept. 2. KELLOGG PARK is east of River Downs and just west of AJ’s Roadhouse Restaurant, whose address is approx. 6735 Kellogg Avenue. Four Mile road dead ends into Kellogg Avenue just west of KELLOGG PARK.
The First Annual Blue Ridge Campout
Recounted by Bill Berry
I arrived at the Waffle House just before 6:00am Friday just as the sun had started to lighten the eastern sky. Shortly after I ordered, in pulls Chris and Ann Long. Having never ridden with them this is a good sign, on time and looks ready to roll. Soon Joe Berry pulls in looking a little ill. Turns out he had to call in “sick” before he could enjoy his breakfast.
A little before 7:00 we’re outa there heading towards Flemingsburg to meet up with Tom Gibson and maybe Bob and Gail Ulrich if they managed to get up at 0 dark thirty. As we turn onto Rt.11 I catch a flash of sunshine off what appears to be a helmet up ahead. Sure enough, by the time we have caught up with that helmet, it is on Bob and Gail’s heads. We all turn into the BP station at Flemingsburg like we had planned it or something. Scary sometimes how a plan comes together.
A few hellos are exchanged, coffee released, and we’re heading deeper into Kentucky on Rt.11 through rolling hills and under cloudless skies, very pleasant for the end of July. We cruise past Red River Gorge, Natural Bridge having the road to ourselves most of the time. By the time we arrive in Oneida and turn onto Rt.66 the sky has become overcast which is not all bad as it keeps the temps comfortable while we travel in our safety gear.
We are now deep into coal country and soon catch up with the coal trucks and the rain at the same time, which makes for an interesting mix on the road. We are talking about rain, coal dust, coal chunks, and the Kentucky clay…lovely, plus the occasional mudslide from road repair. The rain will stay with us through the Cumberland Gap into Tennessee until we pick up I-40 near Newport. When the rain does stop it gets hot in a hurry and it must have been quite a show as 5 motorcycles and 7 motorcyclists pull into the gas station and start to strip as fast as possible before purchasing gas and beverages. I mean, you can’t get those plastic Baggies off quick enough.
Of course, 30 miles down the road we run into the mother of all storms on the interstate, the curviest interstate in the U.S., with no place to stop. So we take a nice bath while snaking through the mountains toward Asheville. The rain stops as we exit the interstate and we get to dry out on the final leg to the campground. Still, all in all, better than a day at the office. 5 bikes, 400 miles, nobody lost.
We arrive at The Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground early evening and are greeted by Steve Thoerner & son, Tom Collins, Henry & Mary Pierce, Travis Brown (now member), plus friends Chris and girlfriend(sorry about the names) and The Phipps. Several of them had left the day before and played in the mountains, i.e. Deals Gap, Cherahola Parkway, and Blue Ridge Parkway.
All agree the campground is excellent, food tasty and plentiful, and the pie is great. We discover you don’t need to bring a cooler or bedroll, as both are rent able from the camp office for a nominal fee. The one-room cabins are outfitted with fresh linens daily and quite accommodating. The sound of the babbling brook tended to drown out some of the other nighttime sounds one usually hears at campgrounds (snoring). The only down side to the campground seems to be the proximity of alcoholic beverages. These require approximately a 30-minute trip into Waynesville to purchase. Most took care of that the following day while out riding.
Speaking of riding, I don’t think anybody found a bad road down around the campground, just lousy weather. Turns out that weekend, the Parkway was socked in with fog in both directions as far as anybody tried to go. I mean thick as pea soup, continual, non-stop, hey where did that guy’s taillight go?, thick.Oh, don’t forget to ask Henry & Mary about the tunnels. 2 miles down either side of the mountain and it was just cloudy, but since most of the good roads cross the parkway, sooner or later you found the fog.
Saturday evening was spent with a nice rib dinner, cold libations, and countless tales of the day’s rides and of rides past. Oh yes, there was a tall tale or two told into the wee hours.
Sunday awoke with, yea you guessed it, rain. A steady, seeming to get harder every hour, rain. Joe and myself was suppose to spend another day touring the area, but after a review of the weather channel in the camp office where they were posting flood warnings for the entire day, we gave into the weather gods. I told Joe I wasn’t riding in the rain for fun (DONE THAT!) and wasn’t going to sit on a picnic bench looking at him all day, would you? So we wadded up all the wet stuff, shoved it onto the bike and took off. 300 of the 400 mile trip home was in the @#$%& rain, won’t bore you with that.
Over all I had a great time. I think the consensus was to perhaps make this an annual club event assuming the campground survives. The campground is for sale, hopefully to someone as committed as the current owners, who will continue to operate it as it currently is. The owners built it 18 years ago and said it is time to move on. We wish they would reconsider, since we just discovered them.
The comment was made that this campout reminded them of when the club was involved with the Buckeye State Rally and the camaraderie the club experienced as a group. We have a lot of new members who haven’t had that experience and they feel this would serve as an excellent way of achieving this. I agree and would be willing to volunteer to set something up next year. Maybe try a different weekend, something without rain if possible.
The Prez Sez
I don’t know about you, but my August was pretty busy. The first Sunday ride along KY 10 was, shall we say, spirited, and a lot of fun. There was a great turnout at the Pierce’s for our meeting the following Saturday (mostly bikes!), although getting home was kinda’ dicey for most of us. The next weekend, Gail and I were off to beautiful Pontiac, IL for the Hard to be Humble Rally. We were quite surprised to find another Greater Cincinnati member there, Tom Gibson! Friday was a gorgeous day for a ride, Saturday was on and off rain with occasional gully-washers, and Sunday was a read-the-sky-and-dodge-the-showers kind of day that insisted on trying to dampen our ride home. We made it home with the rain gear packed. This weekend has been relatively quiet, with only a visit to the Germania Oktoberfest on Friday evening. What a great party that is! And next weekend is first Sunday again. Whew.
And the week after that is our joint “meeting” and social hour at Tom and Joni Raybuck’s with the Battle Creek club! It sounds like this will be quite the gathering. As I’ve said before, don’t expect much in the way of club business to be transacted. Thanks in advance to Tom and Joni for their generosity and for inviting Greater Cincinnati to partake.
As much as I don’t want to think about it, when we reconvene in October for our meeting, it will be time to crank up the ol’ election machine. If you haven’t read your by-laws lately, nominations will be open at the October and November meetings, with the elections taking place at the December meeting. If you think you might want to contribute something more to the club than the presence of your smiling face, then please consider running for office. If you have any questions about being a club officer, please contact one of the current officers.
By the way, the RS is on the road again. Several of you who made long distance diagnoses regarding its charging system woes were correct. It was the diode board. At least this last one survived longer than the original.
Enjoy your ride!
Bob
Amendments to the By-Laws of the Greater Cincinnati BMW Club Inc.
Change is good…
Not since 1986 has GCBMWC made a change to the by-laws.
Along with this month’s newsletter is a new copy of our newly revised
by-laws. And, in electronic format.
(after keying it all in I got me a new scanner with OCR (Optical Character
Recognition) Aint technology grand? The
internet has facilitated growth, communication, and coordination within the
club. The eGroup gets the word out to 40 members/subscribers
quickly and efficiently. Did you
know that the Louisville BMW riders now rely solely on their eGroup as their
electronic meeting place? With
1700+ messages and 200 members, that site rocks.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LBMWR
But we aren’t doing too bad ourselves either. The membership has grown and club events are well attended. The club saw a need for change and did something about it. GCBMWC must have done things right for there not to be any changes since 1986. That’s a testament to the long time core membership of the group and what our club is all about. Perhaps that’s why the changes are not so earth shattering. We did away with sponsorship since it never really happened, changed the wording in the voting in procedure, and defined Honorary Membership. By-Laws are necessary, but our group would thrive if we never even had them. It’s all about the people and the passion for riding.
By Mike LaBar
On July 25th I attended the Experienced Rider Course (ERC) at the Honda Plant in Troy, OH. The class was taught by Joe Rogers and Don Kime, both Gold Wing riders. The class consisted of 10 riders (all male), 2 Beemers, 1 Harley, and the rest a mix of Hondas. The morning was spent in the classroom with emphasis on recognizing potential hazards, traction control, cornering, and stopping. The afternoon was spent out in the football field sized parking lot in the heat and intermittent down pours, running our exercises with the cones. Here’s my recollection of the day and what I learned.
Recognizing potential hazards is done by continuous scanning all around you and as far as 12 seconds ahead. Visual perception is making sense of the many visual stimuli we receive while riding. Avoid target fixation. You see the pot hole ahead. Look beyond it and adjust your steering inputs to avoid the pot hole. Remember, look where you want to go, and you will go there. The more time you have to react to hazards, the better your chance for scooting by unscathed.
Traction control and how to make sure you have it when you need it. There are three consumers of traction, side forces, driving forces and braking forces. These 3 coupled with the road surface directly affect traction. The Traction-Pie analogy taught is very effective for understanding traction management situations. Bottom line is to always leave yourself a reserve of traction for the unexpected road hazard… or slow down.
Cornering is what us Beemer types love, and doing it smoothly and safely keeps us grinning. It’s a four step procedure. SLOW, LOOK, LEAN, and ROLL… we do it without even thinking about it. The curve up ahead, is it a wide sweeper, is the surface clean, is it banked, is it off-cambered, is it a decreasing-radius, can you see the exit? These are the visual stimuli your brain is receiving and you need to be able to make decisions while under way, so slowing your speed entering a curve is called for.
When Looking through a curve you want to turn your head in the direction of the curve’s exit. “Visual Directional Control” means that the mind tends to automatically make the control inputs necessary to make the motorcycle go where the rider is looking. Keeping your eyes level with the horizon as you look keeps you from becoming disoriented.
Lean – that’s how we turn. Countersteering initiates and maintains the lean with the use of pressures on the handgrips. Press on the right grip and lean right. Press on the left grip and lean left. Ever go wide exiting a curve? Maybe cross the yellow line. With a decreasing radius curve (one that is sharper than you thought), you may have to make adjustments in the middle of a curve. Applying the brakes is the 2nd last resort. You need to increase your lean angle by applying more countersteering input or shifting your body weight to the inside to make the turn. If you find yourself making these kinds of corrections in the middle of a curve, it’s time to slow your entry speed down.
Gentle rolling on the throttle at the exit of curves straightens the bike and adds to the overall stability and control of your bike.
We practiced braking techniques also. We stopped in a straight line from 35-45 mph using firm gradual pressure on the front brake while using the rear brake to stop quickly, remembering to pull the clutch in. We learned about how brake in the middle of a curve. You must first straighten the bike up and use a combination of both front and rear brakes with gradual firm control. Many inexperienced rider lock up their rear brakes in a panic situation. If this happens, (to the non-ABS bikes) ride out the skid. Releasing the rear brake while skidding may result in a high-side. This exercise was only done by a few bike as most all of us had ABS or linked braking.
The last exercise encompassed much of what we practiced and was timed and scored. Everyone passed and I was fastest (must be the bike). I think everyone learned more about the safe handling of their bikes than they did walking in. I truly enjoyed the day and the comradere the group formed. That always seems to happen when you get motorcyclist together. The day ended as Honda’s Rider Ed set up for the beginners evening course. Twelve Honda Rebel lined up ready to give new riders the thrill we love.
From Troy I headed up 75 to Bellefontaine, OH to set up for the Honda Homecoming. On the way the skies opened up, cooling me off as I put my skills to the real test.
If you haven’t taken the course, I highly recommend it. When you’re done, call your insurance agent and get you rider education discount. It will more than pay for your $25 fee you pay for the ERC.
Honda Rider Education Center
(937) 332-6177 or email tkonya@ahm.honda.com
OUR RIDE TO REDMOND, THE 2001 BMWMOA NATIONAL RALLY
By: Ed Eismann and Greg Cullers
Many months before the rally, we began discussing about actually making the pilgrimage, thinking about our available vacation time, and how much we might need to cover the still undefined routes. As the time of the rally drew near, we met a couple of times and exchanged phone calls, discussing the potential sights we would like to see going out and coming back, as well as the “high” or “low” routes for the outbound and return “flights”. Ed had previous experience riding in the West, as he had ridden with Ernie and Alice to the BMWMOA National Rally at Missoula, Montana a few years back (’98?), and had some sightseeing spots in mind. Ed and Jane prepared the trip plan in a readable format for the map windows of our tank bags.
We’ll attempt to be somewhat brief with the trip description, so as not to bore anyone too much. We decided on 3 weeks of vacation time for the entire trip. Leaving on Friday, July 13, we basically “slabbed it” (like that term) from Cincinnati to Mason City, Iowa the first day via I-74 and various other routes (no significant sightseeing, about 620 miles total). The next day we worked out way west to Sioux Falls, SD and picked up I-90 for the westward trip to Wall, SD, famous for free ice water in the old days, now a tourist town. Lots of rolling hills, scrub the “Corn Palace” and Cabela’s in Mitchell (we just got gas). One amusing item - at one of our gas stops along I-90, there were a couple of church vans from Texas loaded with teenagers. When Greg went in to pay for his gas, the normal questions about the bikes began from one of the young males. Greg was wearing one of the long sleeve MOA shirts with the BMW logo and the “legendary motorcycles of Germany” lettering on the back. The teenager asked if we were “Professional” riders for BMW! Maybe us wearing all of the appropriate riding gear also confused him. Wall was the jumping off point for the beginning of our sightseeing the next day. First it was the Badlands National Park, sort of a mini Grand Canyon perhaps, without the Colorado, (or any?) river. Then to Rapid City, where the sky was looking very serious at distance, dark, lightening, and rain. After refueling, strong winds and torrential rain began and ultimately hail, maybe ¼ to 3/8 inch diameter. The streets were flooded. We sat this out inside the gas station convenient store. This was the first bad weather we encountered. After letting the city storm sewers catch up, we dodged the washed out gravel and debris and made our way to Mt. Rushmore, doing the drive-by thing and getting the picture. Then followed Wy 585 north (very scenic), wondering at times if anyone actually lived in Wyoming, we saw so few vehicles, houses, etc., and arrived at Devils Tower National Monument. What a day! Sensory overload!
Then equally scenic routes from Dayton (Wy, not OH) via alt. US 14, experiencing the climb into some mountains, free range livestock on the road that Ed navigated (we have photographic proof), working our way into southern Montana via US 310. This was the setup for US 212 south through Custer National Forest and the Bear Tooth Pass (10,147 feet). Ed had done this on the Missoula trip and it was well worth it. Hugh valleys, sunny weather, the road twisting higher and higher. As we neared the top, the weather changed with the clouds rolling in and the cold rain began. We saw what we think was a wolf in this area. We made it through and stopped for the night in Cooke City, MT, where a group of Beemers that followed us by about 10 minutes told Ed that it was snowing when they went through the pass. After surviving something that didn’t agree with us from the previous night’s meal, we traveled the few miles to the northeast (Silver) gate of Yellowstone National Park. There were a few solitary bison alongside the road and a large herd in a valley. Saw the falls at Inspiration Point and visited Roosevelt Lodge as well as the lodge at Lake Village (complete with a male elk with a full set of antlers), on the banks of Yellowstone Lake. Then on to Old Faithful geyser, which must have just finished erupting, as the huge parking lot was emptying. The weather was windy and raining, so we left our helmets and rain gear on, we must have looked like spacemen/aliens to the “regular” tourists. Waiting for the rain to clear, we met a nice couple from Wilson, near Jackson, WY, who had motorcycled up for the day. The conversation led to our route plans and due to road construction outside the west gate, they graciously offered to lead us out the south gate to Jackson, via Grand Teton National Park, which hadn’t been on the itinerary. They were riding Harleys (she a Fat Boy and he we’re not sure, although he had recently purchased a new Gold Wing). Beautiful scenery! The night was spent in Jackson, WY and NO, we didn’t start ANY of the fires! Through the recommended Teton Pass (8,429 feet) the next day, lots of bicycles (an event), into Idaho and the volcanic sights at Craters of the Moon National Monument on US 20, finishing the day in Vale, OR (the Bates Motel, no kidding). The next day was Thursday, 7-19, and it was a sunny, easy, scenic, and enjoyable ride on US 26 into Redmond. The John Day Fossil Beds were noteworthy. The closer we got to Oregon and Redmond, the more and more Beemers we saw. As Ed said, “The gathering of the Clan!”.
The rally was much like previous MOA nationals, lots of people and tents (a.k.a. the “refugee camp”), vendors, the BMW NA semis with the demo bikes, which had driven straight through from Vintage Days at Lexington, OH the previous weekend, etc.. All at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds, a new facility. We were told that this was the first event held at the fairgrounds and the county fair had been postponed until after the MOA rally. The closing ceremonies on Saturday were held inside this year at the “events center”, but there wasn’t any rain as at Midland last year. If we wrote down the numbers correctly, about 6,677 souls attended this year, on 4,254 BMWs and 397 non-BMWs, the farthest traveler from Key West, FL. The next issue of ON will likely give the official, correct numbers. Two BMW motorcycles were given away, an R-1200C and a R-1150RT, no one from Cincinnati won, although our club was recognized with about 9 others for contributing to the MOA Charity Challenge. It was great to see so many Beemers in one place and meet other Beemer pilots!
We departed Redmond on Sunday and at the suggestion of fellow rally-goer Jack Basham, went west on OR 242 through the volcanic McKenzie Pass (5,325 feet), north of the 3 Sisters mountains. A very scenic and twisty at times ride through the Willamette National Forest and a few major routes delivered us to Crater Lake National Park (very impressive), with the day ending in Roseburg. Then on to Coos Bay and the ride up the Pacific coasts of Oregon and Washington via US 101, crossing the Columbia River at Astoria. Lots of nice scenery, overlooks, touristy towns, LOTS of RVs. We encoutered some fog in Washington, with the day ending in Shelton. We had discussed the possibility of going up the Pacific coast of the Olympic peninsula to Port Angeles and taking a ferry to Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. We instead opted for and planned a ride up the east side of the peninsula to Port Townsend and a short ferry ride to Keystone on Whidbey Island, which allowed us to miss all of traffic in the Seattle/Tacoma area. Traveling east and then north on WA 9, we entered British Columbia at Sumas, then took TC 1 west into Vancouver. We regrouped to figure out the lay of the land (and water) in Vancouver (i.e. Ed got a map) and then found the local BMW dealer (John Valk BMW), where we inquired about scheduling an oil change for our trusty steeds. John Valk informed us he was booked up, but graciously suggested that we could borrow tools and change the oil ourselves, and he assisted as well. Talk about “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”!! John V. recommended the Granville Island Hotel, which provided very pleasant accommodations on the waterfront, with its own brewery, and lots of touristy shops on the island to check out before we left. Vancouver is a very interesting city that would warrant further investigation, time permitting. The next day we took a quick trip through the large Stanley Park and after dealing with traffic jams, we were on our way north on BC 99, the “sea to sky highway”, to Whistler, a touristy/skiing town in the mountains. Whistler was followed by a scenic, mountainous run on BC 99, where we were joined for some miles by a BC rider on a sharp Triumph Trophy touring machine on his way to Prince George. After a stop by the RCMP out in the boonies for a drivers license and insurance card check, we parted ways and headed east on TC 1, ending the day in Kamloops. From Kamloops, it was north on BC 5 (the Yellowhead South Hwy.) and TC 16 east through more mountains, stopping for the day in Jasper, Alberta. The next day was south and east through Jasper and Banff National Parks in the Canadian Rockies. Rivers, snow-capped mountains, tourist buses, waterfalls, the Columbia Icefield, avalanche areas (good thing it was July), Lake Louise, with a stop in Banff (heavy duty touristy) for a walkabout and some brief shopping, leaving the mountains, and on to Calgary for rush hour traffic as TC 1 is routed through city streets! (whose idea was that?), ending the day in Medicine Hat (“the city built on gas” (?), and the world’s largest teepee - sorry, no pictures). After Medicine Hat, it was all TC 1 east through Swift Current, Moose Jaw, skirting Regina in Saskatchewan, the day ending in Brandon, Manitoba. The map indicates that TC 1 is a scenic route and it does have its moments, nice sunsets and pronghorn antelope, but we experienced a lot of continuous wind, dodging grasshoppers, and heat. Nice people everywhere we stopped, asking questions about the bikes and where we were from and were going, etc.. The next day was Sunday and TC 1 went right through Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, but we gambled that the traffic would be light and wouldn’t have the problems we had in Calgary. It was a good gamble, as traffic was light. We stopped and saw the legislative building and rode on to the Ontario border, TC 1 changing to TC 17. TC 71 around Lake of the Woods and south, re-entering the US and negotiating yet another grated deck bridge at the border crossing at International Falls, MN. Then US 53 to Virginia for the night after umpteen miles of grooved highway as the asphalt had been removed for repaving. Almost as much fun as grated deck bridges! At one point we tired of the “groovy” highway and rode on the ungrooved, but narrower, berm/skirt. No problems. The next day was Duluth, MN and Aerostitch! We had stopped there last year after the Midland rally and we lucked out this year as well and found it fairly quickly,.. not the easiest thing to do. Met an F-650 rider heading back from Redmond to Connecticut, getting ready to head north into Canada and around the Great Lakes, as well as a couple on an R-1100RT trike (he said he had previously owned an R-1100GS, but as age and loss of balance set in, he tired of picking it up!). Nice people. Mike LaBar’s right: “Beemers Rule!” From Duluth, we traveled south into Wisconsin, stopping a while to visit some friends of Ed at Taylors Falls, MN. Greg managed to drop the GS (gently) while moving it off the sidestand on a crowned street at the curb (it just kept going over). Luckily, Ed was there to help pick it up. Loaded as it was I tried, but couldn’t/didn’t. Only dropped bike incident of the entire trip - embarrassing, but confession is good for the soul? Yet another lesson learned? The day ended in Hudson, WI, just east of Minneapolis / St. Paul.
The next (and last) day were scenic routes along the Mississippi River in Wisconsin and Iowa, finally arriving at the Quad Cities, picking up I-74 at Moline, IL. We discussed the possibility of making it back to Cincinnati, the real sightseeing was basically done, not wanting to deal with another hotel/unpack/repack again, but we were a long way from home. We gassed up and kept moving. As we traveled further and further east, somehow not feeling too bad (maybe because of the cool night air?), it seemed plausible that we could make it home. The last day became sort of an “iron butt” day, resulting in about 820 miles and just under 18 hours, arriving in Cincinnati around 3:30 a.m. on August 1.
Altogether, “Our Ride to Redmond” was about 7,150 miles, quite an odyssey and experience. An excellent trip plan by Ed and Jane. Thanks to Jane, Kathy, and others for cat and house-sitting to reduce the number of things to worry about during the journey. The West is truly huge and awesome / overwhelming, lots of room to explore and possibilities for future rides. And it is a very comforting, secure feeling to be able to mount up every day on a reliable machine in which you have a great deal of confidence and know can “go the distance”, hours and days on end. Beemers truly do rule!
The BMWMOA National Rally next year is in Trenton, Ontario, Canada (first time outside of the US?). Hopefully, if our work/vacation schedules permit, we will be able to join the “Clan” there once again. It seems SO CLOSE though, we may have to check out Quebec and/or northern Ontario to keep it interesting!! Should we start the trip planning now? Ha!!
2002 MOA National Rally
"The Land O'Loon Rally"
Trenton Ontario Canada
July 11 - 14, 2002
By Don
Faichney
2002 Rally Chair
The 2002 BMW MOA International Rally is to be held in Centennial Park in Trenton Ontario (info) and is located South of Highway #2 or West of #2 depending on which way you enter the park (Map).
When entering the park at the Registration tent area ( which will be South of Highway #2) you will find that the park is situated on the Trent River to the West and if you follow the entrance roadway to the end you will find it on the Bay of Quinte to the South. The park itself is well treed and will provide shade for many of the campers that set up their tents in the park.
The focal point of the park is the Royal Canadian Air Force "Sabre" fighter plane (for those of you with GPS systems the co-ordinates of the "Sabre" are N44 degrees 06.142 minutes and W077 degrees 34.132 minutes) that is located outside the 2 major buildings. One of the buildings will be used for the inside vendors and the other building will be used for a major Vintage bike display as well as other display attractions. Above one of the buildings is an auditorium that will be used by the Country store, the pin & patch booth, the sewing committee, the Cyber Café' and other MOA displays. The rest of the Vendors, BMW NA , and BMW Canada will be located in a parking area close to the "Sabre" fighter location.
Motorcycle Safety Tidbits
FTWO – Tip of the Day
Leaning into a nice clean curve is something we all do and love and do it with relative ease. Initiating the lean and the right point of entry is second nature, but when you read “Push right and go right.” it somehow just does seem right. To better understand how counter steering works, while out riding on a straight road with no one around, get you speed up to 35 or so and if you have a throttle lock, use it to maintain your speed. Now let your hands just hover at the bars to see how the bike tracks with no steering input. Ok, now give the right handlebar a slight push, readying to grab the bars. Your bike will lean slightly to the right. Try the left side slightly pushing the left handlebar… You go left. The greater the steering input the great the lean angle. Ok grab the handle bars…