PRESIDENTSCOLUMN Happy Holidays!
BMW MOA OFFICERS Wes Fitzer, President
918-441-2114; jwfi
tzer@yahoo.com
Jackie Hughes, Vice President 509-928-3261;
jhughes@bmwmoa.org Reece Mullins, Secretary
334-470-7770;
rangerreece@mac.com Jean Excell, Treasurer
719-650-6215;
jeanexcell@bmwmoa.org
BMW MOA DIRECTORS Sam Garst
414-704-7767:
guanocave@gmail.com Stan Herman
719-250-4358;
hermanhaus1@msn.com Lisa Malachowsky
925-759-4360;
lisa.malachowsky@
gmail.com Marc Souliere
613-297-7546;
beemer1@sympatico.ca BMW MOA VOLUNTEER STAFF
Steve Brunner, Mileage Contest Coordinator 910-822-4368;
steveb@bmwmoa.org
Jim Heberling, High Mileage Coordinator 309-530-1951;
jheberling@bmwmoa.org
David Swider, Ambassador Liaison 415-479-8075;
teamkbasa@comcast.net
Lee Woodring, Consumer Liaison
770-331-2419;
lwoodring@hotmail.com Joe Leung, Consumer Liaison
403-689-9939;
joe.leung@bmwmoa.org
Greg Feeler, Pat Carol and Brian Burdette 2017 BMW MOA Rally Chairs
2017rallychair@bmwmoa.org
BMW MOTORCYCLE OWNERS OF AMERICA 640 S. Main Street, Ste. 201 Greenville, SC 29601
640
Robert C. Aldridge, Executive Director
bob@bmwmoa.org
Ted Moyer, Director of Membership & Marketing
tedm@bmwmoa.org
Ken Engelman, Director of Business Development
ken@bmwmoa.org
Bill Wiegand, BMW Owners News Managing Editor
bill@bmwmoa.org
Karin Halker, Art Director
karin@bmwmoa.org
Ray Tubbs, Digital Marketing Manager
ray@bmwmoa.org
Wes Fleming, Associate Editor Digital wfl
eming@bmwmoa.org
Lesa Howard, Membership Services
lesa@bmwmoa.org
By Wes Fitzer # 170126
SADLY, FOR MOST OF US ANOTHER SEASON OF RIDING HAS come and gone. As I prepare my bike for a long winter’s nap I look back on the great rides I’ve taken, new friends I’ve made and the great memo- ries I’ve experienced in 2016. It’s also the time I spend looking for new farkles for the bike and new riding gear I may need, as well as other motorcycle/MOA gear, but more on that later. My 2016 riding season began with a 2,200 mile trip over spring break with my 13-year-old son to the Three Sisters in south Texas and then on
to Big Bend and the opportunity to visit with Paul and Voni Glaves—what a great ride and visit. Last summer, I tried to ride from my home in Oklahoma to the MOA Rally in Hamburg,
New York, but a broken fuel pump derailed those plans and left me riding in a car from Cape Girardeau to Hamburg with my newly licensed 16-year-old daughter—she drove the entire way. It didn’t take long to realize that I’d rather ride at night with no headlights in the country during the height of the deer rut than ride through another big city with Speed Racer! Thank you again to Grass Roots BMW in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for their skill- ful work on my K 1600 GTL. Though it wasn’t because of my fuel pump incident, I ultimately traded that bike on a
new R 1200 GS Adventure which I rode in October to Salt Lake City, Utah, fighting high cross winds and blustery temperatures the entire ride. I recall one of my riding partners saying, “It will only get warmer” as we pulled out of Colorado Springs. Boy, was he a liar, and thank goodness for heated clothing! Which brings me to my next point: if you’re thinking about making changes or addi-
tions to your bike or your riding gear (heated clothing is a great thing), take a close look at the companies who support the MOA year-in and year-out through their advertising each month in BMW Owners News or through their support at our International Rally. Person- ally, one of my many faults is that I’m loyal and have even been known to pay more for a motorcycle or car to support a dealer who has always been good to me. I would encourage you to take a look each month through the pages of Owners News for vendors selling prod- ucts you're looking for. I’m sure they’d appreciate our support! Each year, my family asks me what I’d like for Christmas. In the past I’ve tried a subtle
approach, leaving the December issue of Owners News on the counter, open to the holiday gift guide pages, or leaving my computer screen open to a particular MOA branded item in the Gear Store while mentioning how much I liked a certain item listed there. This year I’m going to take a much more direct approach by ordering what I want and
paying for it with my wife’s credit card. Heck, I might even spring for gift wrapping to save her the trouble. No matter if you had the best year of riding of your life or you didn’t get to ride as much
as you had hoped, I hope every mile you were able to ride was memorable. Happy Holidays.
Wes Fitzer 10 BMW OWNERS NEWS December 2016
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