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Would you do it again?

Would you ride to a rally like Charleston again?

  • Yes.

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Possibly, it depends on the location

    Votes: 22 31.4%
  • Possibly, it depends on the weather

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No.

    Votes: 16 22.9%

  • Total voters
    70
Re: Charlston...what else??

Back a few years ago the YB's helped to host the RA rally in Greenfield MA, as a club member I was there early and set up my tent at party central, back then we weren't as vocal about some of our late night activites. One night after the band stopped playing we went back to where we were camped to look at a fire and drink some more beer, we weren't yelling or anything but somebody didn't like it and got out of his tent screaming with a hatchet in his hand.
Obviously things like this can get ugly but fortunately he went back into his tent without incident, the next day he moved his tent.
At this point I usually will try and put some distance from the main group, not because of the noise at night but because of the noise in the morning, these guys will be up having coffee at 5 am.
If you want to camp there go ahead, just don't complain that you can't sleep.

Unregistered said:
Most troubling thing I saw though was watching a MOA Director from a large-ish northeastern club try and run people off from a camping area on the west end of the U of C campus. No matter who dared try to pitch a tent in that area, here he arrives painting tales of "Loud and rowdy people who will be carrying on all night" and advising people they "really don't want to camp there". Worked on some but not on 2 young couples from Ohio who pretty much told him to stick it. Sad they got a bad opinion when they discovered he was a MOA Director. Hmm, wonder if they will renew their memberships next year?
 
In reading the comments regarding younger attendees, I thought I'd throw in my $.02. I rode with my 14 year old son to the rally from Michigan this year. He got to learn all about riding in the rain, twisty mountain roads, all the cool gadgets that you can buy from vendors, and the joy of staying at a hotel when it rains! I too liked Trenton, but I'm not that crazy about camping. It is nice to to have one area to check out all the neat bikes, that has vendors, seminars and camping (beer tent!), but don't forget those who just don't care to camp.

As to convention vs. rally, I think the more, the merrier. There were alot of people out in the evening at the Marriott, and we were able to see alot of bikes and shoot the breeze with their owners there. A big rally means to me that there should be something for everyone.

I thought the venue was fine. The people of West Virginia were simply wonderful, often apologizing for the weather, the traffic, and so on. Within 10 minutes of Charleston, we found great riding roads with little traffic. Oh, by the way, my son enjoyed himself very much! Thanks to all the volunteers!
 
Interesting poll results

38 - 7 here on the 28th of July.

I'd say the site was more successful than may have been imagined. Either that or the "No" folks aren't voting or on the forum.
 
We had a really good time!

This was the first rally for the wife and I. We really liked it. We didn't camp as we had relatives there. I'm glad people loved our home state's riding and people. Our relatives and friends in the area had nothing but good things to say about the rallygoers, as did every business. On balance, I think if you came in with an open mind and realized the weather was beyond anyone's control, then I think you could find a good time. I met great people despite the spread-out-ed-ness. I don't think you can expect exactly the same thing every time and I don't think the perfect rally site has been invented. It seems from reading all the threads that folks want it all: camping, hotels, city, country, great roads, friendly people, good weather, ample covered parking, ample parking right next to their bike, et al. I think Charleston offered a lot. Well, you have to take the good with the bad. I see a lot of threads where people found a way to have a good time. We sure did, and the town LOVED the rallygoers. Anyway, thanks to all the volunteers and the MOA and to all the folks who know how to have a good time.
 
I liked the convention setting. I am one of those 30 something owners Jim refers to. I would much rather stay in a hotel than in a tent especially in that weather. Half of the group I went with decided to camp but when they got to the campus the conditions were so bad that they opted to get a dorm room. Most of the people that rode with us were well under 40 (one of the guys was only 17) and were more than happy with the accomedations in the dorms. The nice thing about the Marriot is we were right across the street from the convention center. The bad thing was when we wanted to hang with our friends at the campus it was a 3 mile ride and you could not fully experience the beer tent since you had to ride back. All in all I would go to another rally no matter where it is but I would take a room over a tent any day and twice on Sunday.
 
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It's not broken!

Jim Shaw,

We are all in your debt for you work over the years. That said: Ya know Jim, my interest in the MOA is all about what I want from it! I don't care about the chin-out, backward hat, plus-a-bit teenies some think we should suck up to!

I'm an older rider, a camper, a "fix my coffee and breakfast" kind of guy. I spent too many nights in places where others thought I should be, to appreciate anything by my choices at this stage of my life. I have an interest in the viability of MOA but not at the sacrifice of my personal enjoyment. I rally to associate with others who ride and camp. When rallies are other than that, I'll be elsewhere.

We saw each other again, and I shook your hand at registration. I wish you a speedy recovery. I'm sorry your production of the ÔÇÿ03 closing was faulted, and I respect your forum stated opinions about the welfare of the club.

"Rallies" are camps and cameraderie. Rallies are to be attended by riders. Bus and taxi passengers go straight away to your Honda/Harley hotels.
 
A short answer to Relic

Relic, I'm 40+, not a backward-hat guy at all. This was the first rally for the wife and I. I'm not sure the wife would have been there (or at a future one) if we'd camped with several thousand people on the lawn at UC in the poor weather. I'm glad you like to camp. I do too, but you have to acknowledge that there are other folks out there with different tastes. So this was not a "campers rally": the next one apparently will be. There you go. Not all BMW riders are iconoclastic old campers and just because they stay in a hotel (or private home or dorm) doesn't make them less of a BMW enthusiast. Easy there, fella: you're painting with a pretty broad brush.
 
I love to camp.

This is where we woke up last Sunday.
499995-M.jpg


But at a national, I prefer a hotel. I need a little quiet time, away from other people, at the end of the day.
 
Dave, et al, the more pix you guys and gals post, the more I'm gonna endevor to align two weeks of vacation time to make the dreaded trek across North Dakota (no offense North DaKotans) to attend the 2004 affair. We rode Rte.2 from St. Ignance, MI for Miissoula and must admitt it was a glorious trip. It helped having some great riding buds.
I took receipt yesterday of a Cannon S230 and hopefully I'll have the dang thing figured out by then and can add to "our' photo album. If ya'll don't mind I'm gonna pick a few of these great shots from the forum and use as wallpaper on my 'puter. Nice shootin' Dave. I envy your journey. Glad to see that nice officer in Nevada cut you loose without a "speeding award". By the way, did the forum group ever meet up on that Friday for cold beverage? I took a wander through the beer tent and saw no likely suspects. I was looking for computer nerds wearing Roadcrafter suits(no offense computer nerds or Roadcrafter suits);)

In answer to the threaded question, yes, in a New York nanosecond.
 
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139959-M.jpg

From the top of Mt. Tamalpais, here in Marin

69587-M.jpg

The road to Mt. St. Helens

137678-M.jpg

Cal Coast with Tina and BMWGypsy

You really need to get out here. Camp or hotel; your call.

:wow
 
I liked the hotel format.

Back in the 60's and 70's, I hitch hiked all across the US and Europe. I did my share of rough traveling and real rough camping (underpasses, abandoned buildings, farmers fields, ...), and I enjoyed every moment of it.

But now I am a little older, and possibly wiser, and my family and I vacation at very comfortable places that would not have let me in the front door 30 years ago (and I don't blame them!) I really enjoyed sitting at the "free" happy hour at Embassy Suites while it rained in Charleston. And I liked wandering around the vendor area inside the convention center; I spent more time and money than I did at the other two rallys I attended (York and Moodus). The only minor disappointment was the beer tent/music being away from everything else; after the awards ceremony, I did not feel iike getting on the bus to go hear the band.

See you in Spokane (if they have good hotels...)

Steve
R1100S
 
I would attend an other one like this only because it is the "National". They have been my vacation almost every year since 1976. I did not like the spread out set up or the local drivers. I will pull several shifts of securty again, as I do every National (including at least one midnight shift). Venders were great, Beer tent as usual the heart of the rally. Needed a droll bucket for the new R-RS,but still not as cool as my black K75S. Best of all all our friends old and new. This was my feance's first National and she loved it. She is now an associated member. :cat Our cat came with us too. See you all next year if we can. Rambelin Rebel
 
I probably would go to another one like the Charleston Rally only because it is a National. Having learned from this last one, I would try to agree on a pre-set Rally Meeting Place with all my friends. My big problem with the last one was that many of my friends could not find me and the rest of my group. I didn't like the Civic Center being so far away from the U of C.campus, and I think that there was a problem with people coming out of the Beer Tent and having to drive somewhere else because of questionable public transit options. The Rally felt sorta"disconnected" because of all the sites and I missed the contact and the community of a BMW National. If we could have had a rally with just the U of C campus and a adjacent Civic Center, then we would have a winner. However, with the 4 different sites and a significant distance between each of them (with urban traffic to deal with), this last Rally sank to Second Worst of my 15 Nationals. I understand that we need to accomidate for a increasing amount of motel rally-goers, but we really need a central rally site for the vendors,classes,beer tent, and campers with better transportation options for our motel-goers. The folks in Charleston were wonderful and the U of C folks were great hosts, but we needed better rally organization/communications and SOME SIGNS!. The lack of signage was a huge hinderance to the flow of the rally--nobody knew where to go. It was a good try, but I think we need to look at rally sites with fairgrounds and nearby motels. I think that the Spokane site might be a good rally location for our needs.
 
In a heartbeat

Had a great time in spite of rain & naysayers. I enjoyed the downtown venue but would prefer to camp "at the rally". Also, would like to see a better performance from the "Weather Gods Committee". Went to Mid-Ohio following the rally & the weather was absolutely wonderful.

Kudos to whoever booked the entertainment for Sat nite. I had to take a couple of their CDs home with me.

The only downside to my vacation was a dent in the tank on my pristine '81 Yamaha RD350LC. That was my own stupidity. Some people never learn.

Thanks to all those who volunteered & put the effort into making it memorable.

I'm looking forward to the RA Rally at Barbor ( thats a rally venue: camping, rallying & track days). I have reserved a 3 day slot in the CLASS class. Only downside to that is I'll have to trailer to it so that I can take a track bike. Life's a bitch, ain't it?

Ride fast, ride safe
Stan
 
Sat evening Rally entertainment

Very glad to hear that you enjoyed the Sat night show at the U of C. Despite the difficult circumstances, the sound and lighting guys did an outstanding job putting together enough equipment to let the show go on.

For those of you who weren't there, or didn't bother to read your Rally program, the entertainment on Sat night was the Jim Weider Band. Jim is the guitarist for the last 15 years for The Band, replacing Robbie Robertson after he left The Band. He also had Randy Carlente from The Band with him and a couple of outstanding Woodstock musicians to round out the group. The person on the blues harp was Robbie Dupree, multi time Grammy winner and a special unannounced guest artist.

Jim and the rest of the guys never complained at all about anything, they just played their brains out and had a great time playing long past their contracted set times. They all said the energy and attitude of the audience made up for the conditions and they were happy to be there.

I should also say the same thing about the other acts on Thursday and Friday nights. The Carpenter Ants were just setting up their equipment on Thursday when the tent blew down. They hung around to see what we were going to do to try to salvage the situation. After a quick emergency plan was developed to move the beer garden and entertainment into the U of C gym, the Carpenter Ants, a Charleston based band, went back to their homes to gather up their personal amps, mics, cables and the rest of the stuff they needed to put on a show. The acoustics weren't very good in the gym, but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the Carpenter Ants. They knew it was important that the show go on. Thanks to the Beer Crew for making the first hour sound much better with the free beer.

Johnny Staats was the same way on Friday night taking the attitude, "Hell, we're a bluegrass band. We can play anywhere anytime, amplified or not. What's the problem" and then launched into a night of world class bluegrass entertainment. I hope you were there to see it.

All three groups were national caliber acts, not the sort of bad garage bands you usually find at a motorcycle event, and they all showed why they are national caliber acts, rising to the occasion in grand fashion.

Thanks to Brian Manke, our Entertainment Committee Chair, for making sure the bands, sound and lighting guys were all working smoothly together under less than ideal conditions. At least Brian had good sound system support for his MC duties.

BTW, the same guy who booked the entertainment for the Rhinebeck Rally '99 also booked the music for the "Almost Heaven" 03 Charleston Rally. "No bad garage bands playing Proud Mary off key" promise kept once again. :)
 
Rally Entertainment

The hat is off to whoever booked those bands, you're musical tastes are second to none. While I'm tipping my topper, cudos to all who pulled the shows together despite the weather. btw, the brown acid was not all that bad.
My first National was DuQuoin. I was blown away by "Asleep At The Wheel". Unfortunately they are no longer together but as suggested in another thread, Little Feat would do just fine as 2004's featured bands (I suppose the Stones are out of our budget).
 
Rally Entertainment

Kudo's for the entertainment should go to Michael Friedle,
2003 National Rally Chair and Brian Manke, Entertainment Committee Chair. They firmly believe "you're worth the best" and continually fought to make sure you got "the best"

I know my hat's off to their efforts to bring us high quality entertainment!

Don Hamblin
 
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