Had a great time, except...

[greenwald]

Hang in there everyone. Your MOA staff and all the dedicated volunteers are already working on next years rally. In fact, I got to go...Hmm what color T-shirts next year? Vanmar 27



ANYTHING but Baby Blue!

I bought one in Gillette and I wear it with pride, but my riding buddies make fun of me, and that's very emotional.

Must go eat worms now.

P.S.: Looking forward to Johnson City! You have excellent riding in the area, as I have ridden down there from WI each of the past several years.

Now, about the weather?!

 

[alabeemer]

Now, about the weather?![/QUOTE]


Being from the south I suppose we "get used to it" if there is such a thing. as long as I can remember the heat in the "west" has been described as a "dry heat". Well, if it is a dry heat in the west....I suppose it is a "wet heat" in the south! Don't worry though...you are going to be riding most of time anyway!

 

[kgadley01]

screen name, name tags

I would like to propose that next year everyone wear a name tag with their screen name used on this Forum. I was looking forward to meeting all of the people who post here. I only met one. Just a thought... Kenny...

 

[jlsquier]

Vance
This was the first year I donated a day of my rally time to help and meet people, I enjoyed this very much and look forward to doing the same in JC..... Will Tallie be there

Jerry

 

[R1100rtp]

Hang in there everyone. Your MOA staff and all the dedicated volunteers are already working on next years rally. In fact, I got to go...Hmm what color T-shirts next year? Vanmar 27

ANYTHING but Baby Blue!

I bought one in Gillette and I wear it with pride, but my riding buddies make fun of me, and that's very emotional.

How about hot pink???

 

[gmiller3429]

Thanks to Rally Folks!

Just wanted to say a BIG THANKS to all the folks that worked on the Gillette Rally. I HAD A BLAST!!!

1. I got out of going to work for four days,
2. had a great ride out and back,
3. met & rode with a bunch of great folks while there,
4. my tent didn't leak,
5. I didn't gain any weight,
6. and my bike didn't die.

Okay, I didn't get any smarter or better looking, but what else could I ask for?

As for the nay sayers? (Reminds me of a song lyric by Spider John Koerner, "Don't let the b#st#rds get you down, don't let them hassle you to a frazzle, 'cuz they're all full of beans anway, don't ya know". It's real easy to sit on the sidelines and complain about things that other folks pour their heart and soul into. It's another story to push the keyboard away and actually do something to make things better.

Was the rally perfect? No. Are my Airheads perfect? No. (Okay, I'll clean 'em when there's a foot of snow on the ground!) Is life perfect? Heck no! Perfection is boring. What makes life - and motorcycling - fun is that you've got to roll with the punches. (That's also why they make Heli-Coils!!) You need to start with a plan and see where it takes you. That's how rallies are suppossed to be, imperfect. The fun lies in dealing with that imperfection.

I guess its true. Some folks like watching and critiquing movies. Others like to star in them. Ride safe brothers & sisters! See you in Tennessee!

Greg

 

[171374]

I can't beleive it

this was only my forth rally ( Trenton, Lima and Burlington) I couldn't wait to have an excuses to ride out west. ended up making the trip alone ( without the wife) but met lots of nice people and seen a lot of sights I may have never had the change to see from the seat of my bike without the rally to drag me out there. I didnÔÇÖt have that big of a deal with the food , Town was real close and the ribs at the rally were real good after a long day of riding. I think I road dang near ever road in the black hill and even made it to the Grand Tetons one day. saw two moose ( a male and cow) on the way over the Big Horn Mountains ( snow on the top) . over all I had a great time and would do it again in a heart beat .just wish I hadnÔÇÖt missed the stunt show....didnÔÇÖt see it in the list of events , must have been a last minute add on by BMW . but I did see a Black Bear in Yellowstone. ( can't see one of those everyday ( even here in Michigan) .

would have been nice if the rally had been closer to Yellowstone there are lots of cool thing to see over there , but then we would have not been close enough to the Black Hills. I had a 1300mile trip out there and road 2000 miles while there , whats a couple hundred miles here or there ..guess that why I have 172k on mine and some of you whiners havent hit the 100k mark yet ..as the T-shirt says just shut- up and ride.

I had a GREAT time and would like to thank every ones hard work it took that put it on, I camped with Dave on the trip home and I think he has talked me into volunteering next year, can't wait see you in

 

[greenwald]

How about hot pink???

Actually, I LIKED the blue (also bought one in red) and if my riding buddies have a problem with that, I'll send 'em your way!

Hot Pink?

Hmmm....perhaps for the SO.

See you in TN!

 

[kbasa]

I would like to propose that next year everyone wear a name tag with their screen name used on this Forum. I was looking forward to meeting all of the people who post here. I only met one. Just a thought... Kenny...

Flash approached me with that idea, as well. Name tags so people could write their name, username and bike on them. Wear them like credentials at a trade show. I think it's a cool idea.

 

[wmubrown]

Our only "issue" was at "the best place to eat" where we ordered our food and then waited for over 1 1/2 hours for it to arrive, the food was either over-cooked or cold, and the service was terrible! We thought we were just "unlucky" that night but after talking to others who went on different nights and at different times, that was the trend with The Prime Rib - I definitely would not recommend it to anyone!

Sorry to hear that. A buddy and I stopped there for lunch on the way into the rally from Spearfish on Wednesday and while they had only 1 waitress on staff (someone did not report, which is beyond their control) she did a good job, though we had a little wait. The food was GREAT!! We then brought a group of 6 back for dinner Thursday night, we were seated in a very short time, had good prompt service, and again - excellent food! No complaints here... though its not the first time local establishments have not been able to handle the flood. I know the MOA works closely with the local Chamber but the Chambers don't seem to convey the information well to their members - the Trenton Canada national was a good example of that, local restaurants seemed to have NO idea we were coming

 

[wmubrown]

How about a photo ID type but with our avatar ?

Is the Tag man retired that once made the standard BMW ones ?

Yes, he sold the business a few years ago and I've not seen the 'new guy' since

 

[vetbmwrider]

All I have to say is the Deb and Karol did a great job along with all the rally chairs that put there personal time aside to put on this rally. As for the camping this was the first time at a rally that I running water, electricity, and clean showers 24hrs a day and no wait time. Yes I was out there in the North Forty with my 4 year old daughter playing in the only pool on the rally grounds. The shuttle that ran back and to the main area ran ever 10 to 15 min. Or you could ride your bike to the main area or walk. Now about awards I think that a 91 and 88 year couple should be recognized as the others he signed up for the awards. Now most of us over the age 18 and are spoiled by the easy life we have made for our selfÔÇÖs. Nice comfortable beds to sleep in ever night. Now that we have a rally once a year with maybe a winter type rally coming soon. It takes many of man hours to put on of these rally and they do it without pay. Maybe we should not complain about all the small stuff and focus on all the positive things that these rally accomplish. Or maybe we should follow the example of 4 year old daughter and thought the best thing about the rally was going sight seeing and going to MT Rushmore. Yes she did win an award for the youngest female passenger, but she did it without a complaint over 5000 miles all together for the trip maybe we should follow her example.

 

[ou25xa1]

BMW Dealer

Sorry the one gentleman had unsatisfactory results from Sturgis BMW. I hope his complaint to BMWNA does not result in the loss of another dealer as he states. This small multi-brand dealership has bailed me out twice while over 1000 plus miles from home. Once with an electrical problem and once with a tire issue. Both times they were extremly busy with other brand repairs as well as fixing other items sold/serviced by them atv's , etc. Further a few years back my girlfriend and her daughter were having electrical problems with their bike , again they were very accommadating considering how busy they were. In talking with them during one of my dealings with them , they explained that they have to do "triage ", attempting to fix broke down bikes according to need.(Understanding when broke down ,your bike, in your mind ,is the priority!) With as small as they are , I was pleased. (ie: amount of employees and technicians.) Further I have found them to to be friendly , but always busy when at their dealership. Like him I too have had a couple of unpleasant dealings with other BMW dealers and fortunatly was able to resolve same to both parties satisfaction. Again , sorry his BMW dealer experience left such a bad taste. Ride Safe. .....P.S. I have to agree with the poster who commented on the amount of posts someone does as reflecting on their worthiness. I would speculate many of us choose to only read the good information on the BMW websites , rather than comment on an issue we don't have an opinion on.

 

[rich]

I want to add a positive plug for Sturgis BMW too. They are my dealer, the nearest one, at 235 miles from my door.

They've always been more than fair, willing to deal when I purchased new, which is twice now in four years. Dick and his crew are always friendly and willing to do what it takes to get the job done.

They service a large area, we need them and we need to support them. I'm sure if there had been a way to squeeze you in for your needed repairs, they would have done so. That's the way they operate.

Sorry you had to hit them at such an inopportune time, I'm sure they were sick turning you away for the day.

 

[greenwald]

I want to add a positive plug for Sturgis BMW too. They are my dealer, the nearest one, at 235 miles from my door.

They've always been more than fair, willing to deal when I purchased new, which is twice now in four years. Dick and his crew are always friendly and willing to do what it takes to get the job done.

They service a large area, we need them and we need to support them. I'm sure if there had been a way to squeeze you in for your needed repairs, they would have done so. That's the way they operate.

Sorry you had to hit them at such an inopportune time, I'm sure they were sick turning you away for the day.

I'm the 'Gentleman' (Thank You for that....I've been called worse on this forum!) who had the unfortunate experience at Sturgis BMW.

You paint a far different portrait of 'Dick and his crew' than I was privey to that Friday afternoon with ZERO forward illumination on my R1200RT.

Five minutes of a competent tech's time would most likely have resulted in removing a defective Kisan modulator from the 'headlight loop' and solved my problem.

Instead, I was condemed to driving home for over a 1,000 miles with flashlights strapped beneath my oil cooler, while I watched 'locals' who had just purchased tires ushered into service bays for mounting as I prepared to leave after being told to "come back Monday and we'll see."

My local BMW dealer serviced my problem immediately.

Kisan provided me with a new $130 modulator free of charge.

Sturgis BMW......not a peep.

BMW NA is not happy with them!

 

[rich]

Five minutes of a competent tech's time would most likely have resulted in removing a defective Kisan modulator from the 'headlight loop' and solved my problem.

My local BMW dealer serviced my problem immediately.

Was your local dealer swamped with business caused by a national rally going on nearby when they serviced your problem immediately?

A competent tech. Let's see, I believe they have two of them at that particular dealership. And I'm seriously betting neither one of them was changing tires for "locals".

Do you believe that with all the BMW riders passing through that your problem was the only and most important business of the day?

There's two sides to every story. The next time I stop in I will refer Dick to this thread and hear his side.

 

[greenwald]

Was your local dealer swamped with business caused by a national rally going on nearby when they serviced your problem immediately?

A competent tech. Let's see, I believe they have two of them at that particular dealership. And I'm seriously betting neither one of them was changing tires for "locals".

Do you believe that with all the BMW riders passing through that your problem was the only and most important business of the day?

There's two sides to every story. The next time I stop in I will refer Dick to this thread and hear his side.

Good Morning Rich. I have never met you and have no reason to 'lock horns with you over this issue.' I hope you have a pleasant day. Here in WI, it's sunny, low 80's and a good day to ride. But, to the matter at hand..........

As your 'local' dealer, I can understand your loyalty to 'Dick' and your desire to see this dealership survive. With only 140+ dealers in the entire nation, I'm not headhunting for the elimination of any of them; I'd rather see the number double!

But I was there that day - you were not. A represenative from the service desk made a cursury examination of my bike, pronounced that I "must have a short in the headlight bucket," and made the comment about "come back Monday" before walking away. I'll take your word that your techs are competent, but one was never provided.

Being a Friday afternoon, I went back in to try and negotiate a better outcome. I stood in line behind LOCAL bikers (Suzuki's, etc. - not BMW's) buying tires and getting immediate service or in one case, told to "come back in about two hours for mounting and balancing."

Couldn't double back to anywhere in WY (NO BMW dealers in the state - remember?!) and Sturgis was the ONLY dealer in SD. By the time I had limped back to the MN / WI area, it was already Saturday evening and Sunday, and NO dealers were open for business, so Sturgis really screwed me over with their ambivilence.

You made the point that my local dealer was most likely not swamped with transient business when I needed service, and you're completely right.

But last year, when the MOA Rally was in WI, I was advised not to schedule any routine service (tires, oil, inspections, etc.) during the rally week, as service time was being dedicated to bikers going to, attending or leaving the Rally.

Sturgis BMW needs to step it up a notch or two in the dedication department.

Silver lining: I highly doubt the MOA will ever again schedule a national rally in such a remote location as Gillette, and unfortunately, Sturgis BMW is another one of the many reasons why.

 

[rich]

I stood in line behind LOCAL bikers (Suzuki's, etc. - not BMW's) buying tires and getting immediate service or in one case, told to "come back in about two hours for mounting and balancing."

Just to clarify, this dealership is named "Sturgis Yamaha BMW Suzuki". Like I mentioned earlier, the BMW techs were not changing tires, trust me. They have technicians that cover the other brands that were getting the tires and you surely don't want those guys messing with your BMW. I know I wouldn't.

So the big question, were the BMW techs so busy they couldn't take a few minutes to look over an emergency problem? I don't know the answer to that. They may have had their hands full of emergency problems.

Anyway, sorry you had a bad experience with them. Given the circumstances I would probably feel the same way.

I hope you had a pleasant day also.

 

[greenwald]

Just to clarify, this dealership is named "Sturgis Yamaha BMW Suzuki". Like I mentioned earlier, the BMW techs were not changing tires, trust me. They have technicians that cover the other brands that were getting the tires and you surely don't want those guys messing with your BMW. I know I wouldn't.

So the big question, were the BMW techs so busy they couldn't take a few minutes to look over an emergency problem? I don't know the answer to that. They may have had their hands full of emergency problems.

Anyway, sorry you had a bad experience with them. Given the circumstances I would probably feel the same way.

I hope you had a pleasant day also.

Should we ever meet, first beer's on me.

 

[BMWK1200LTRIDER]

Gillette Rally 2008

At first, and after reading all of the negative posts about Gillette, I did not plan to go to the national this year. I decided to go at the last minute, about a week before the rally just in time to pre-register. I tent camped at the site.

I arrived in the early afternoon on Wednesday. I did not make the connection about the rally in Spearfish which had more folks at Gillette the day before the rally than any one I had attended before. Yet I did manage to find a small tree to camp under which shaded my tent in the afternoon.

All of the talk about the 100+ degree heat caused me to leave the sleeping bag at home using a air mattress and fleece blanket. I nearly froze every night until the last evening.

The nightly thunderstorms were a lot of fun as well.

I had a battery fail on the bike with out warning on Friday afternoon. At first I could not find a single vendor selling batteries. We had underwear, flag poles, every techey gismo you could find, but no batteries. (Non Motorcycle Vendors at Rally Rant to come later.)

Thank the very fine folks from Santa Cruz BMW!!!!! They brought a few batteries "just in case" for folks who needed them. I had trouble finding one because they did not advertise the fact they had any. This was so that only the needy ones of us would be able to purchase them.

Now that is BMW Dealership thinking at it finest. Customer first!!! They did not have to do this. But they did.

All in all I had a great time at the rally! To me I go to the National Rally as an adventure. If ever thing went as planned I would probably be disappointed.

My wife and I will attend the 2009 Rally in Tennessee. Since we will be motel camping and dealerships are closer, I don't expect to have any mechanical drama, but I will have more fun riding the hills of Tennessee and North Carolina!

To the people who put on the rally in 2008 Thank You very much. I have memories of a great adventure.

See some of you in Tennessee!