RIDERTORIDER Send your letters and comments to:
editor@bmwmoa.org
Hats off to Gateway BMW I’ve been a BMW rider since about 2005
and bought my first K 1200 LT with 46K on it from Grassroots BMW down in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where I got a great deal on my trade-in. Because I live in St Charles, Missouri, I’ve been taking my bike to Gateway BMW in St. Louis for service, sales, advice and the Saturday donuts. Since 2005 I’ve had the pleasure to
come in contact with the service, parts and sales staff at Gateway and every time I’ve left it has been with a positive impres- sion that all of these hardworking individ- uals really take pride in the customer’s concern. The sales staff took the time to ensure my wife’s helmet fit right and when I bought a riding jacket, I received exactly what I needed and not the higher-priced jacket for the commission. The parts department is always friendly and goes overboard to ensure the parts are what the customer needs and prompt calls when the special order arrives. I’ve had my bike in for service and two
accident repairs. The service recommen- dation from the service department have been of concern of the customer. At no time was I ever pressured to pay for ser- vice I didn’t need. The service has been what it needed at that time. Since 2005, I’ve made many multi-state trips and as recently as September, I completed a 2,920-mile ride. Prior to that I had the bike in for a special preventative maintenance service to ensure there were no hidden problems. Since 2005 my bike has never broken
down and has performed flawlessly. The bike now has 99,862 miles. I even rode an Iron Butt ride with no mechanical problems. I know if I ever want to trade in my bike
for a new one, I’ll get the same excellent service and best deal.
Gary W. Deabler #141722 St. Charles, Missouri
16 BMW OWNERS NEWS December 2015
Clear vision Reviewing the past year’s BMW Owners
News articles I’ve come across several great pieces, notably Tom Pemberton’s July 2015 “MotoSafe” and Marven Ewen’s August 2015 “Ride Well,” concerning the way motorcyclists both see and (hope- fully) are seen. For those folks interested in a deeper understanding of the the optical anatomy and retinal neurology behind “I just didn’t see you!” I highly recommend a visit to
www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach/ cyclists for an excellent discussion of why we all have “dead spots” in our vision, what causes them and what we can do to com- pensate for them. The article is authored by a former RAF fighter pilot who has researched his subject extensively and managed to take some fairly complicated information and put it into language for all of us. The only downside to the article is that it might make even the most fear- less of us a trifle more reticent to even step across the door sill.
Dave Barnett #189675 Utopia, Texas
Clarification Re: Wes Fleming’s Review of Arai Defiant
Pro-Cruise helmet in October 2015 issue. Thanks to Wes Fleming for his review of
the Arai Defiant helmet. His descriptions of the fit, finish and design of this helmet are helpful as I am about to choose as new helmet. I have always worn Arai helmets because they fit me and I know the engi- neering is excellent. That leads to my one disagreement with the article. Paragraph six states that “one helmet is pretty much as safe as any other helmet, provided they’ve passed the same safety standards such as DOT, Snell and ECE.” I hope Wes meant that two helmets passing Snell have similar safety
capabilities and did not mean to imply that these three standards are similar. The fact is that a Snell rating means a much higher ability to absorb impact energy than DOT (by 90%) and ECE (by 100%). I guess Wes did not have the wonderful
opportunity to listen to the seminar in Bill- ings, Montana hosted by Dr. Dan Thomas, President of the Snell Memorial Foundation. I believe most who heard him were well convinced of the efficacy of Snell ratings as an important criteria for choosing a helmet. Please keep the Member Tested articles
coming.
Jay MacDonald #67035 Mariposa, California
Jay, you are indeed correct in that I meant that helmets that have passed similar standards reflect similar levels of protection for the rider. I’ll endeavor to be more precise in the future. I did not attend the rally in Billings and thus missed Dr. Thomas’ presentation, but I have read his compatriot’s paper, Motorcycle Hel- met Impact Response at Various Levels of Severity for Different Standard Certifications (co-authored by Snell Foundation Executive Director and Chief Engineer Edward Becker) and will be reporting on that research in a future issue.
Wes Fleming, #87301 Fairfax, Va.
Bravo Billings I went to the rally in Billings, Montana. It was
a great rally. I’ve just received my October issue of BMW Owners News and on page 130, there is an ad from the city of Billings thanking us for having our rally there. I do not remember other places where we had our rally that did that. I think it was cool that Billings did.
Michael Lindsey #14794 Glendale, Arizona
W
W
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124
