headlight Magazine of the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America


MANAGING EDITOR Bill Wiegand


bill@bmwmoa.org ASSOCIATE EDITORS


Ron Davis • Wes Fleming • Joe Tatulli


ART DIRECTOR Karin Halker


karin@bmwmoa.org CONTRIBUTING WRITERS


David Cwi • Marven Ewen • Deb Gasque Lee Parks • Matthew Parkhouse Jack Riepe • Shawn Thomas


ADVERTISING


Advertising materials, including chartered club rally display advertising, should be sent to our


Advertising Offi ce. Please contact Chris Hughes for display rates, sizes and terms.


Chris Hughes chris@bmwmoa.org


11030 North Forker Road, Spokane, WA 99217 509-921-2713 (p)


509-921-2713 (f)


BMW MOTORCYCLE OWNERS OF AMERICA 640 S. Main Street, Ste. 201 Greenville, SC 29601 864-438-0962 (p) 864-250-0038 (f)


Submissions should be sent to the BMW MOA offi ce or editor@bmwmoa.org. Submissions accepted only from current members of the BMW MOA and assume granting of fi rst serial publication rights within and on the BMW MOA website and use in any future compendium of articles. No payments will be made and submissions will not be returned. The BMW MOA reserves the right to refuse, edit or modify submissions.


Opinions and positions stated in materials/articles herein are those of the authors and not by the fact of publication necessarily those of BMW MOA; publication of advertising material is not an endorsement by BMW MOA of the advertised product or service. The material is presented as information for the reader. BMW MOA does not perform independent research on submitted articles or advertising.


Change of address notifi cation and membership inquiries should be made to the BMW MOA offi ce or membership@bmwmoa.org. BMW MOA member- ship is $40/yr. and includes the BMW Owners News, which is not available separately. Each additional family member is $10 without a subscription. Canadian members add $12 for postal surcharge.


The BMW MOA and MOA™ are trademarks of the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America.


OUR MISSION


To foster communication and a sense of family among BMW motorcycle enthusiasts


Happy Birthday BMW MOA By Bill Wiegand #180584


BEFORE 1972, THE BMW MOTORCYCLE OWNERS OF AMERICA DID not exist. Instead, small independent groups of BMW motorcycle enthu- siasts existed around the country. In his personal history of the BMW MOA published in the January 1977


issue of BMW MOA News, Frank Diederich #0003, describes events lead- ing up to our organization’s creation. “My favorite theory is that the early BMW owner bought a different machine because he was, or hoped to be, different himself. He’d heard the


machine was unique. He’d heard it was the best all-around touring machine available. It was rare and it was expensive. To own one was to be different, to have a piece of the mystique that had already developed around the marque. To have one he’d risk being alone, different, help- less and weird. In many cases, he was,” Diederich explained. Diederich continued to say that after buying these “superb” machines, riders found that


good dealers were just as rare. While some areas enjoyed great dealer support, others were cursed with dealers guilty of “overpricing parts, doing work that was shoddy or worse, charg- ing for work performed only in his imagination.” Local clubs saw the benefits of a national organization of clubs and the support each could


offer to the whole. It was on a frigid, 13-below-zero January day that Vern Hansen from Detroit, John Moore from California, Charlie Smith from New York, Frank Diederich from Chicago and Jeff Dean from Madison, Wisconsin, met at a motel near Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Conceived at that meeting 45 years ago was the organization the group named BMW Motorcycle Owners of America. According the Jeff Dean, “Now we know a world with many BMW motorcycles. Through BMW MOA, it is a world where we can know many BMW motorcycle riders.” While much has changed over the past 45 years, I believe the camaraderie, enthusiasm


and willingness to help other BMW riders exhibited by our founders has not. Our chartered club and national rallies, Anonymous Book, BMW Owners News and social media platforms prove every day our mission statement, which entreats us to foster communication and a sense of family among BMW motorcycle enthusiasts. Recently, on the BMW MOA Facebook page, Cassie Maier asked the question: “What


does being a BMW MOA member mean to you?” Though there were several negative posts, the vast majority of responses were like that of Karen Mans, who said, “After close to 20 years as a member, I have found friends that I would never had met, the opportunity to volunteer and help out at the nationals, a destination for summer vacations, used and been used from the Anonymous Book, bought and sold on the marketplace, lurk on the forum and Facebook page. The support from this club after my accident was overwhelming. It is what you make it. Either be involved and make it more to your liking, go away if you don’t like it, or sit quietly and let the rest of us like it.” Eric Rossier said, “The BMW MOA means fellowship to me. An opportunity to reach out


for mechanical help and have a network of hands there.” Richard N. Baker said, “An opening into a way of life that I may not otherwise have had


much access to. We have off-road, on-road, track, dual-sport, classic, etc. members here. It is to everyone what they want it to be.” The BMW Motorcycle Owners of America isn’t just a magazine subscription, Anonymous


Book, national rally or handful of benefits. It’s a community. As Dan Andrews says, “I can travel a thousand miles to a rally and even if I don’t know


anyone there, I still feel at home.” Happy 45th birthday, BMW MOA.


8 BMW OWNERS NEWS February 2017


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