Riding where you see more BMW's

[36654]

the occasional Harley acting like every curve was filled with terror.

If the guys on the H-D's are bad, the folks on the trikes are truly traumatized. Even highway cloverleafs are cause for near-crawl speeds

 

[akbeemer]

We live about 550 miles from Sturgis. Need I say more?

 

[Rinty]

Nothing against them...it's just a different style of riding. Sports car vs Cadillac.

I took a Dyna Low Rider to the Kootenays one summer, and quite enjoyed it. Handling was OK, but lean angle is limited.




A long time ago, the News published a pie graph of other bikes owned by MOA members, and I recall a huge percentage of them also have Harleys. It would be interesting to see an updated survey.

 

[glenfiddich]

If the guys on the H-D's are bad, the folks on the trikes are truly traumatized. Even highway cloverleafs are cause for near-crawl speeds

I have a sidecar rig for long trips with my dog, and while not as capable in curves as my GSA it can be ridden at a very spirited pace. Trikes are a completely different animal. Think of how unstable your childhood tricycle was on corners especially if it involved an incline. There's a reason Honda stopped making those Big Red three wheelers!

 

[ka5ysy]

Total sales of H-D motorcycles for 2015 in the USA were 282,000 bikes compared to the 16,330 record USA sales of BMW motorcycles. No wonder it seems Harleys are everywhere!

Given what you see stuffed into the dealerships, I would bet a good portion of the reported "sales" are to dealerships who cannot move the big cruisers, but have to inventory them.

Admittedly a lot of HD riders do not do much in the way of long trips, but I have a couple of friends who have been all over the country, and up into Canada and Alaska several times on their Ultras. One does not like the fact that two of them left him in other states with blown jugs, but what the heck, he still loves the bikes.

Mostly the HD folks I talk with regularly seem to feel that 200 miles is a long ride !. Some are mystified that my wife and I will jump on the RT and ride 250 miles to get a shrimp salad for lunch and come home with a total trip mileage of over 500 miles, sometime well over 600. It's all good, and relative to your individual perspective on things.

 

[Bud]

I was in Wisconsin this summer during a bike trip. Always amazed, but not surprised, by how the HD's really outnumber everything else there. I think most of of that ride BMW's are accustomed to riding a bit less common brand.

I rode from my home in eastern WA yesterday to Joseph Oregon for breakfast. Some great twisty mountain road riding in some beautiful country. I go that way quite a bit and for whatever reason, BMW's usually outnumber the other makes of bikes in that area. Yesterday I only saw two HD's, and they were parked in Joseph, two FJR's, two Goldwings, and about a dozen BMW's, of which more than half were GS's. The BMW's pretty much outnumbered the other bikes I saw 2 to 1. Always nice to see you other folks out on the road.

It's pretty easy to explain. The majority of BMW owners are on the coasts.

Not that many here in the Midwurst.

MOA membership numbers track sales numbers pretty closely.

Wisconsin is home to HD. Surprised at the # of HD's in Wisconsin??

 

[akbeemer]

Yes but..... it seems like when the mileage results are published each year good ole Wisconsin has the most participants. Am I remembering incorrectly? Are these riders that claim Wisconsin as home but go streaming south in early fall each year to avoid the winter? Are they really doing all their miles on HDs?

 

[36654]

It's pretty easy to explain. The majority of BMW owners are on the coasts.

Not that many here in the Midwurst.

MOA membership numbers track sales numbers pretty closely.

Wisconsin is home to HD. Surprised at the # of HD's in Wisconsin??

Do we have sales numbers with a breakdown by state? When you consider sales on a per capita basis.......MOA membership is VA and north along the Appalachians, the Great Lakes states, the Rockies and the PNW.



It would be interesting to do a running analysis of sales and membership by region & state.

 

[Bud]

Do we have sales numbers with a breakdown by state? When you consider sales on a per capita basis.......MOA membership is VA and north along the Appalachians, the Great Lakes states, the Rockies and the PNW.

View attachment 54869

It would be interesting to do a running analysis of sales and membership by region & state.

Re-sort the table with members in decreasing order.

Then you will see where most of the Beemers are located and where you would have the best chance to see one.

 

[Friedle]

More BMWs

Or add Bavaria to the list. =8^0

Or my garage, a HD free zone.

Friedle

 

[36654]

Re-sort the table with members in decreasing order.

Then you will see where most of the Beemers are located and where you would have the best chance to see one.

Bud,

I'm not sure I follow your comment. The posted ranking reflects the number of MOA members per populace in those given states. I assume that you'll rarely see a MC with an operator, so a comparison to populace seemed reasonable. How many of the people that you encounter are likely to be an MOA member in a given state.

The following table shows ranking relative to population density, MOA members per 1000 sq. mile. It doesn't change the picture a whole lot. The Mid-atlantic, Northeast and upper mid-west pretty much dominate. In fact, the the top 10 states are, nominally, a standard deviation, or more, above the mean.

Of course, this tabulation assumes that MOA membership reflects BMW MC sales. I have no means of evaluating that assumption.

 

[henzilla]

Y'all need to ride near our little town. The last two weeks has seen way more Beemers than any other brand.
I have stopped to chat with two small groups, asking them what the heck they were doing on my turf. Some are MOA members, some were not.
Yesterday, H and I ran into another group without a familiar face in the town north of us...except I saw a Triumph in the group...which is fine by me
Even the Dairy Queen, the Goldwing standard stop, had a couple of RT's.

 

[shortythorne]

Have seen more than usual around here too! It is a sign....we're taking over the world .

 

[Bud]

Bud,

I'm not sure I follow your comment. The posted ranking reflects the number of MOA members per populace in those given states. I assume that you'll rarely see a MC with an operator, so a comparison to populace seemed reasonable. How many of the people that you encounter are likely to be an MOA member in a given state.

The following table shows ranking relative to population density, MOA members per 1000 sq. mile. It doesn't change the picture a whole lot. The Mid-atlantic, Northeast and upper mid-west pretty much dominate. In fact, the the top 10 states are, nominally, a standard deviation, or more, above the mean.

Of course, this tabulation assumes that MOA membership reflects BMW MC sales. I have no means of evaluating that assumption.

View attachment 54883

Comparison to populace is interesting, but the chances of seeing a BMW on the road increases with the actual number of BMW owners, assuming they ride.

California has more than 4 times the MOA members than Connecticut, yet CT is 1st on your list and CA is 18th. I would argue that I would be more likely to see a BMW on the road in CA.

I would still like to see the table sorted by MOA members in decreasing order.

 

[36654]

Comparison to populace is interesting, but the chances of seeing a BMW on the road increases with the actual number of BMW owners, assuming they ride.

California has more than 4 times the MOA members than Connecticut, yet CT is 1st on your list and CA is 18th. I would argue that I would be more likely to see a BMW on the road in CA.

I would still like to see the table sorted by MOA members in decreasing order.

OK, Boss. But, you'll have to wait until I get home.

 

[Bud]

OK, Boss. But, you'll have to wait until I get home.

No hurry!

 

[36654]

No hurry!

Here ya go........

Now, if you normalize by MOA members per miles of paved road, some of the high membership states like CA and FLA rise to above the mean.

However, no matter what, Idaho seems to be MOA adverse.

 

[36654]

Final Tabulated estimate

Based on the MOA membership numbers from 2012, I guesstimate the following states offer a better chance of seeing a BMW MC. My basis is MOA members per capita, members per sq. mile and members per paved mile.



If someone has the RA numbers by state, that would be a good addition. Perhaps, Idaho is a RA only state.

 

[akbeemer]

I was at a meeting tonite during which a representative from the state said there are about 75,000 people in the state with a motorcycle endorsement on their drivers license. A very rough calculation that can be made by using the number of MOA members (188) as a percentage of licensed riders (75,000) = 0.25%. Not a big number, but I believe the number of BMWs I encounter on the road accounts for a much larger percentage of the total number of bikes I see. I suspect that a very large portion of those 75,000 licensed riders ride very little or not at all. I also suspect there are a significant number of riders on the road that do not have a valid M/C endorsement. My SWAG is that a similar calculation for HDs would show them to be over 70% and cruisers to be 80-85%.

Bottom line is that we do not have sufficient data to make even a half-arsed estimate of the likelihood of encountering a BMW in any state. If we knew how many total motorcycle miles and how many BMW miles are ridden in each state, then we might have shot at a reasonable estimate.

 

[Bud]

I was at a meeting tonite during which a representative from the state said there are about 75,000 people in the state with a motorcycle endorsement on their drivers license. A very rough calculation that can be made by using the number of MOA members (188) as a percentage of licensed riders (75,000) = 0.25%. Not a big number, but I believe the number of BMWs I encounter on the road accounts for a much larger percentage of the total number of bikes I see. I suspect that a very large portion of those 75,000 licensed riders ride very little or not at all. I also suspect there are a significant number of riders on the road that do not have a valid M/C endorsement. My SWAG is that a similar calculation for HDs would show them to be over 70% and cruisers to be 80-85%.

Bottom line is that we do not have sufficient data to make even a half-arsed estimate of the likelihood of encountering a BMW in any state. If we knew how many total motorcycle miles and how many BMW miles are ridden in each state, then we might have shot at a reasonable estimate.

Of course you are right.

One thing that changes the likelihood is how desirable is the riding location. For instance, if I only considered Colorado, I'm sure that the stats would be highly skewed by the fact that a lot of out of state riders come to Colorado because the riding is so good. And, a lot of those riders are interested in non-paved roads and twisty curvy roads which appeal to BMW riders.

Our experiences are subjective and so they aren't statistically valid, but I would still say the chances of seeing a BMW while on the road would be greater in Colorado than Illinois, home of the Tail of the Mouse(TM) which has 11 curves in 318 miles.