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This Year's Attendance

OK... COME ON! FESS UP!! Who dredged up last years "It was too #$%&&$%ING hot at the rally" thread????

Come on now. I know it was one of you.

:banghead:banghead

I suggest all of you stop posting to this thread and search back about a year.

There isn't one new thought or comment presented here.

We didn't attend but it wasn't due to the heat or the weather forecast.

Here's the synopsis:

1. "Simple polls" on the forums are not. They are neither accurate nor scientific. Statistics is a science.
2. The MOA HAS asked the membership its opinion (IIRC) and July it was.
3. Sites around the US suitable for UP TO 10,000 that are
a. Available​
b. Affordable​
c. Suitable​
that meet the VERY SPECIFIC CRITERIA that the MOA has for rallys do no grow on trees.
4. "Cooler" locales in New England in May and June will most certainly be met with rain and or snow (ask ANYONE who has attended the BMWRSM rally on Hermit Island in Maine the middle of May.)
5. "Cooler" locales in New England in the fall run afoul of the fair season.
5.5 Fair sites and Universities are ramping up in August for their respective events.
6. "Cooler" locales out west in higher elevations any time but July will find snow.
7. Rotating dates is a non-starter. The QUICKEST way to lose an event is to move it around.
8. Bloomsburg the week before the rally was splendid. Within a month or so (for those of us here that are pushing for and August or September date) after the whole town was under a foot of water from Hurricane Irene.
9. Like it or not, WE are not the only game in town. Vendors help pay for what we enjoy about the rallys and the MOA and the ON. But unless they are BMW specific, they have OTHER events that also take place on specific dates. Perhaps we move our event to the first weekend in August and see what we get for vendors who are already at Stugis (and have been for decades?) Perhaps we do it the 3rd weekend in March and see what we get for vendors already committed to Daytona Bike Week?
10. If you wish it to be different, step up to the plate, go to a BOD meeting and be the change you wish to see.

If the weather is perfect in Oregon next year this thread will read "Let's stop rotating it and keep it in Oregon, the weather there is perfect."

Average temp for Sturgis SD this time of year - 86. Temps this week? 90 Sunday, 92 Monday, 99 Tuesday. Today's temp? 99. Tomorrow? 90. But then a front moves through and it's 80 for a couple days when it goes back into the mid 90's.

Seriously folks. Maybe we start having these things in January in Florida and Arizona and we all fly in with a picture of our motorcycle and sit in a big room and talk about them.
 
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2. The MOA HAS asked the membership its opinion (IIRC) and July it was.

The only options were the 1 in june and 3 in July. That's not exactly giving the membership a real option outside of July.

I'd be very interested to see what the membership picks if all options really were on the table.

What could it hurt to try the rally at a different time of year? I know the argument is that some mountain passes are closed as late as May & early as September. But if a portion of the membership won't attend because it's too hot in July, how is that different than a portion won't attend because a road is closed in April?
 
Average temp for Sturgis SD this time of year - 86. Temps this week? 90 Sunday, 92 Monday, 99 Tuesday. Today's temp? 99. Tomorrow? 90. But then a front moves through and it's 80 for a couple days when it goes back into the mid 90's.

Yeah, and with humidity around 10 percent. The only reason Sedalia was survivable was because the entire central US is in an historic drought, which lowered the humidity.

The fact is, while I enjoy rallies, I am not a rally rat. I'll go if the positives outweigh the negatives, and the weather is a big factor.

Harry
 
The only options were the 1 in june and 3 in July. That's not exactly giving the membership a real option outside of July.

I'd be very interested to see what the membership picks if all options really were on the table.

What could it hurt to try the rally at a different time of year? I know the argument is that some mountain passes are closed as late as May & early as September. But if a portion of the membership won't attend because it's too hot in July, how is that different than a portion won't attend because a road is closed in April?

There are many reasons not to move the date one only needs to go back a read some of the pages of this thread. However here's the biggest reason not to move it. The vast majority doesn't want it moved. It's really as simple as that. The poll that was started on the other thread pretty much points that out. 80 people responded out of the 30k+ in membership. Now if I saw 1000 or so responses I would think differently.
 
The only options were the 1 in june and 3 in July. That's not exactly giving the membership a real option outside of July.

I'd be very interested to see what the membership picks if all options really were on the table.

What could it hurt to try the rally at a different time of year? I know the argument is that some mountain passes are closed as late as May & early as September. But if a portion of the membership won't attend because it's too hot in July, how is that different than a portion won't attend because a road is closed in April?

See 4,5, and 5.5 above.

I posted this in a similar thread - Bloomsburg weather this year during the rally dates? Thursday to Sunday: between 71 and the mid-80's. Overcast and some drizzle. The average temp is the mid-80's. When the MOA was looking for potential sites for the 2011 rally in 2008 the ONLY thing they could look at was what the averages were for the area.

If it is rainy and miserable in Salem next year, this thread will be about never going back to the PNW. If the weather is perfect there next year, this thread will be asking why we have to move it since the weather in the PNW is always perfect.

There simply is no magic pill for this.
 
Yeah, and with humidity around 10 percent. The only reason Sedalia was survivable was because the entire central US is in an historic drought, which lowered the humidity.

The fact is, while I enjoy rallies, I am not a rally rat. I'll go if the positives outweigh the negatives, and the weather is a big factor.

Harry

Harry, sorry to burst your bubble but today's forecast for Sturgis is 88 degrees with high 80's humidity. That is NOT a recipe for comfort.
 
Harry, sorry to burst your bubble but today's forecast for Sturgis is 88 degrees with high 80's humidity. That is NOT a recipe for comfort.

Not so.

Weather in Sturgis at this moment is 67F, humidity 68 percent, dew point 56F. Sounds pretty comfortable to me; actually, a bit chilly with the wind.

I lived in Rock Springs, Wyoming a while back: high elevation, even with a high of 100F it would get chilly at night because the humidity was so low.

High temps with low humidity is more bearable, and the low humidity allows cooling off at night.

Harry
 
Either I am an idiot who has fun under the worst conditions (that may be partly true)
or rallies are what you make them. They won't be Tailor made for you, you need to know what to expect, and make it fit your needs. This forum helps greatly with that. Also, wear earplugs when you sleep there for crying out loud, it's just better.
:ha

I think I also fall into the 'idiot group'. I've enjoyed every rally I ever went to and never regretted going to any of them. The ones with some measure of adversity are remembered for a long while, but the really nice ones are usually forgotten over time (at least for me). I think the MOA has done an outstanding job presenting us with an interesting destination year after year and also allowing the Rally to develop as the membership changes. Their was a time when motel/hotel rooms and air conditioning weren't so important.
 
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Heard at the recent Damn Yankees Rally (Western Ma).

"Fifty two Hundred? That's a backyard party."

:wow
 
"I've enjoyed every rally I ever went to and never regretted going to any of them."

++++++:clap


The only regret I have is I can't attend them all......
 
You're right Bud.
But I was at "Damn Yankees" drinking, and I always TRULY enjoy a rally where I can HAVE a beer, as opposed to the irony of running 120+ half-kegs, and not being able to have a drink. Like at the National.
MAD DOG
Nat Beer Chair:drink
 
I'd love to attend one of these someday but not unless it was nearby someplace I was already riding. I ride in any weather that leaves me with some traction so that's not a factor. I'm retired so time of year isn't a factor. What I won't do is travel hundreds or thousands of miles on roads I'm not drawn experience to stand around for several days in stinkin' hot weather not riding. I can get everything I need from vendors online or my local dealer (who has a phenomenal affinity and training program). If one of these is ever held in a place in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Western North Carolina, or North Georgia I'll be there. If I go to Oregon, it'll be to spend every waking minute on the road riding. OK, if I'm there, maybe I'd stop by for half a day. My point is that you're not less of a BMW fan if you skip these things.

Amen! I've been riding since 1963 other than a period when I was "tied up" so to speak, with the process of raising my children & bikes took a back seat. I don't want a medal for the great job we did raising our sons & I don't need to hear how I might have "neglected" bikes during that time either. Rallies are not a must for biking enjoyment anymore than long trips are a requirement or riding to work or getting in the mud or whatever other notion of must do's is on someones biker activity list.
I have been to exactly 2 rallies in my life & would have been to a few more had it fit in with the other aspects of my life. I did work at both of the rallies I atttended-a lot, in fact. Lets get off this stuff about what constitutes a "good or real member" ! In my mind there are very unlikely to be many riders with children doing a bike rally which is hardly a family affair in the holistic sense ? Sure , if you have a kid old enough for pinion or they now ride but otherwise whats in it for them unless the nearby attractions? I can conjure up a list of what gets in my way of rallies for various times of the year such as fall,no doubt the best riding weather here in KY but go to FB games and so on down the line.
I'm not understanding whats a July attractor for vendors unless it's just more people. I also "get it" to some extent as for visiting them while there but also something I can easily live w/o. Truth be known & for several reasons, bike rallies really are not my cup of tea for the most part & obviously the same for others. I like the camaraderie but then again don't really know anybody there . I get the same negs as has been mentioned in the past by others with the ceremonies at the rally ending-just not my scene. Face it, rallies are simply more for some than others & location matters a bunch.
As to the heat this summer-it quite was real & it was a factor for some ,including me for biking & outside work. My KS cousin was telling me just a few weeks ago that it had been 107 in my native state. Folks, that's hot & not my kind of camping weather or best riding choice either. Glad some had a good time at the rally but lets stop pointing fingers based on the choices we make. :wave
 
rally attendance

If want to due justice for the attendance.

You must look at the over all TOTAL membership.

1st rally 1973 Total membership may have been 3000 +, if that.

1989 YORK, PA first rally to brake 5000 in attendance. Total membership, maybe 12,000.

With the membership now into 6 digets, an we only pull 10,000.

What is the big problem, to many different IDEAS as to what is the Ideal location.

This just the way the whole nworld is going.

No way to please even 1/10 of the group.


George
aka Helmet
MOA # 557
 
You're right Bud.
But I was at "Damn Yankees" drinking, and I always TRULY enjoy a rally where I can HAVE a beer, as opposed to the irony of running 120+ half-kegs, and not being able to have a drink. Like at the National.
MAD DOG
Nat Beer Chair:drink

:hug

I will :drink to that! Always a fun crowd when you get with some of those YB folks. :wave
 
George might be confusing membership numbers with paying members, it would be interesting to know the official number.

I think that compairing the members from the 70,s or even late 80's to the present membership is compairing apples and oranges.
 
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Me! And there is no way you were comfortable Tuesday or Wednesday nights unless Kansas has accustomed you to brutal sleeping conditions.

It was fine, I had been camped out since the previous Friday at the MO State BMW Rally and camped through the week at Sedalia as well.

I have a battery powered ceiling fan in my tent, only used it one night and even then woke up to turn it off.
 
I made a bet that the attendance will be lower than last year and I was right. You don't ned to be a rocket scientist to figure that out.You hold a rally in the middle of July in Sedalia???:violin I'll also bet that next year attendance will be higher because of location and weather. Any takers?
I and bunch of other people that I know did not attend because of the weather. Why should we? We ride for enjoyment not for misery. Ask the folks who went to Oregon couple years ago and they'll tell you how nice the weather was.We are not Harley riders we ride atgatt.
As for the timing it does not matter as much as the location.Unfortunately South and South East weather sucks during the summer.
As a side note please hold the "I survived" type comments this is not a survival contest, it's supposed to be fun.

I completed the Redmond 1000 starting in Cheyenne, WY. Nice weather? Not in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho or Eastern Oregon. It was HOT!!! And it was FUN as well.:wave
 
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