flashback 25 years ago
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, THE BMW Owners News ran a follow-up piece on the ongoing California court case brought on by angry GEICO insurance policy holders. In the case, the Government
Employees Insurance Company (GEICO) was defeated in its bid to deny insurance coverage to radar detector owners, reported RADAR, the Radio Association Defending Air- wave Rights. In September of that year, the California Insurance Com- mission ordered GEICO to cease and desist from its practice of discriminat- ing against radar detector owners. The commission concluded GEICO failed to offer actuarial evidence that demonstrated radar detector owner- ship can be used to identify high risk drivers. Another news story told of how
motorcyclists from across the country had joined comedian Jay Leno and
Robert Forbes, son of publisher and motor- cycling enthusiast Malcolm Forbes, that summer during the christening of the Motorcycle Heritage Museum at the Amer- ican Motorcyclist Association’s national offices in Westerville, Ohio. Leno, who donated $5,000 to establish
the Motorcycle Heritage Museum, spoke of his excitement at the opening and said, “The exciting thing for me is to know that younger people will be able to walk through the museum and see what’s been done in the past.” Thank you Jay for stating the obvious.
–Editor Finally, a BMW K 75 S officially became
the fastest street legal 750cc motorcycle in the world. The bike was equipped with a turbocharged Luftmeister State IV engine with dual-bank programmable fuel injec- tion and powered by ELF racing gas. The fleet-of-wheel Beemer was piloted by Rich- ard Dratz and recorded a one-way speed of 166.715 in full street trim. In a story under the headline “Packing
has more to do with Attitude than Equip- ment,” Susan Sancken of Mackinaw, Illi- nois, offers her packing tips and begins by saying, “I know how to pack. I had the good fortune to learn this art from years of going places. Even people who only think about adventures know how to travel.” Offering her rules of packing she contin-
ues, “One of my rules of packing is to never unpack. This makes being prepared an exceedingly quick procedure.” Profound! –Editor Meanwhile, at a time when market strat-
egists in the motorcycle industry didn’t find it appropriate or worthwhile to increase engine size beyong 500cc in the enduro cat- egory, BMW was celebrating 10 successful years of the GS. Whether it was used for crossing African
deserts or the Brazilian rain forest, for ultra-long tours from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego or for crossing passes in the Himala- yas all the way to China, BMW’s flat twin enduro did not take long to become the first choice among motorcycle globetrot- ters in the 1980s. Today it’s BMW’s best selling model today.
–Editor 110 BMW OWNERS NEWS December 2015 10 years ago
IN HIS PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE IN THE December 2005 issue of BMW Owners News, Dave Swider wrote about the change in the MOA media plan as Sandy Cohen was near- ing the end of her run as Managing Editor of the magazine. Swider began by defining what’s not going
to happen–BMW Owners News is not going away. According to Swider, “The largest and most valuable asset we have is the informa- tion that club members have produced over the last 30 years. Going forward we’re going to have an ability to share those experiences at the demand of the membership.” Bringing everything in-house meant Own-
ers News content would always remain the property of the club; an issue that been grow- ing for some time prior to this change. Closing his piece, Swider said, “I know
change is hard. We’re all very comfortable with the way we’ve always done things. But this board and their predecessors, over the years, have realized that we need to imple- ment this strategy to keep the club vital and healthy in the future.” Club vitality and health was as important
then as today. –Editor Answering a question asked by many,
Garry Nelson penned “Why I Ride an Airhead.” In his piece, Nelson describes the 1978 R
100 RS he’s just returned to the road after a 14-year nap in his garden shed. While heading back to Pittsburgh after a
family visit, Nelson noticed “the slight chuff- ing noise of a blown head gasket” coming from his engine. Pulling over and taking a nap as the engine
cooled, Nelson noticed the upper front cylin- der head was loose. As he tightened the bolt, it broke. With no alternatives, he replaced the cover and headed east until the gasket let
lifestyle
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