PRESIDENTSCOLUMN Brrrrrr.......
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
613-828-1798;
beemer1@sympatico.ca Chad Warner
chad.warner@bmwmoa,org BMW MOA VOLUNTEER STAFF
Steve Brunner, Mileage Contest Coordinator 910-822-4369;
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;
lee.woodring@bmwmoa.org 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
Noelle Boiano, Membership Services
noelle@bmwmoa.org
10 BMW OWNERS NEWS February 2017 By Wes Fitzer #170126
WELCOME TO THE WINTER DOLDRUMS. FOR ME, FEBRUARY IS always the coldest and longest month despite it being the shortest month of the year. Here in Oklahoma, March signals the beginning of the spring riding season, a time when a smile returns to my face, a smile only riding can bring. How do I make it through the long, cold and dark month of February?
By making BMW Owners News and my trusty road atlas my new best friends, that’s how. Each February I scour the previous year’s issues of the
Owners News, searching for any tidbits of travel information I might have missed during the height of the riding season. I read and reread every travel story, dreaming of far off places described so eloquently by our member contributors, looking at all the pictures and imagining myself and my bike where the writers have traveled. I’ll also reread the member reviews to see if there may be an item I’ve overlooked which might make my travels easier and more enjoyable. Personally, one of the things I’d like to upgrade this year is my sleeping bag, and I’ve
been looking through theOwners News for a packable non-mummy bag. I’ve been using a backpacking mummy bag for some time now, and though it’s warm, I’ve never been a big fan of mummy-style bags and am determined to find a reasonably small rectangular bag, pad and cot. Wanting to be thorough, I may wait until the MOA Rally in July to finally decide what to do. While reviewing old issues of Owners News takes a great deal of my free time, what I
probably spend most of my time doing is sitting in front of a warm fire reminiscing about the trips I’ve taken and the friends I’ve made over 2016. Last year my wife began riding her own bike, a three-wheeled Spyder and along with my son, attended a Basic Rider Training. After her completion of that class, we rode together to the Marble Falls Getaway. We have already started to make plans for rallies and Getaways that we are planning to
attend and are working to coordinate our yearly rendezvous to make sure we have plenty of opportunities to meet up and make new memories. Additionally, this spring my son and I have made plans to ride the eastern half of the Trans-America Trail. While we’ve started planning and gathering gear, our next step will be to purchase the route and figure a way to get the bikes to the beginning of the TAT. This year the MOA Board of Directors has added several new Getaways for our mem-
bers with most dates and locations outlined in this issue. I’ve said many times that one of the best things the MOA offers members is the opportunity to bring like-minded BMW motorcycle enthusiasts together. Speaking of a great place to ride and meet new people, be sure to join us at our annual International Rally scheduled this year for the Utah State Fairgrounds in Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City promises to be a great rally, surrounded with fabulous riding in all directions. If you don’t’ want to camp, Salt Lake City offers many hotels close to the rally site, most serviced by the light rail service leading directly to the rally grounds. With an abundance of grass for camping and indoor vendor space, this may go down as one of the best rallies ever. Well, it’s time for me to get back to drawing lines on the pages of my atlas as I plan routes
to places I’ve yet to visit. Ride Safely.
Wes Fitzer
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
