The worst part of the rally.....

If you are unhappy about the Motorrad demo fleet, I'd suggest contacting BMW NA directly. As far as I know, the MOA has no control over the content of the demo fleet.

I personally wanted to test ride a different bike than the 1600 GT but welcomed the opportunity to take something completely different than my current bike out for an extended ride.

...listening to folks who live well to the south of me, complaining about the heat...

bmwgsrider said:

There were two good bands... Paul Thorn and the German band. The times were overlapping. A person couldn't enjoy both good bands at the same time. This sucked! The German band was extremely good who started performing before Paul Thorne was suppose to perform. This was the very first time the German band performed in the U. S. and the very first performance. It was a shame to have two bands performing together. I hope in the future rallies this will not happen again.

I was really looking forward to the BMW Demo Fleet Truck this year... and to only see 1600 GT's and GTL's was a "big" let down. I was totally in shock when I watched them roll out these bikes only. I was looking forward to seeing the other models. Of course these are new bikes and trying to be pushed, but this is a big BMW event... why were the other models forgotten about? I hear these were the only demos that dealers had to give for the Demo truck as they get the bikes from different dealers? Is that so? This is the first year where anything like this has happened... I hope this will never happen again in the future.

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At one point during the rally planning the German Band was to be our Friday Night entertainment, but when time grew closer we ( the MOA ) were not sure if they were coming at all, let alone Motorrad. So the MOA went ahead and filled our event with our own entertainment offering betting on Motorrad Oktoberfest not happening. The proof here is Motorrads beer delivery, did you notice they gave one beer per customer ? Motorrad was late thus they couldn't do proper beer sales.

I wish Paul Thorn could have played Saturday but what happened sadly happened. I hope someone can explain the mix up to him.

I was disappointed with the Demo selection as well but Motorrad concentrated on the GT(L)s and even brought the Product Dept. so it was a concentrated sales and with top people there to listen to the riders opinion post the demo. Great motorcycle but I too wish there were other models available. Had I known I may have been able to see if a local dealer would do an open house and allow demo rides......I think Hermys would have, had they known.

In support of BMW Motorrrad USA, I want to thank them for their support of the GS Events that we may never read about. From GS Trials track design, trials judging, free GS training from two Off Road Academies and for USA VP Pieter de Waal sneaking away to ride a GS on the Advanced Ride to Hermys BMW that was hosted by BMW PC. There may NOT have been GS Demo's there but certainly they supported the MOA GS events.

angysdad said:

...listening to folks who live well to the south of me, complaining about the heat...

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Doesn't everybody live south of you..?

Not aimed at Vance....

I was one of the "upset not angry" people stuck in the sweltering heat on an aluminium bench who had to endure 2 hours of torture before discovering I hadn't won a grand prize. I was at first puzzled then later totally bewildered by the presence of the "Flame Cars"- not really suitable entertainment for a motorcycle rally. Exposing people who are already overheated to jets of high temperature flames shooting out of the back of a bunch of some old cars isn't the best way to "win friends and influence people".
Surely some form of 2-wheeled entertainment would have been more appropriate.Was Chris "Teach" McNeil unavailable? (He's a bike stunt rider who put on a great display of both his on/off road riding skills at Johnson City in 2009).
The ceremony was already running at least 15 minutes behind schedule and the MC kept asking the crowd if they wanted the cars to "do it again"- the crowd's reaction (certainly from my point of view) was basically a "Heck no!!! We don't want any more of that, get on with the presentation please!!!". No disrespect was intended to any of our hard-working volunteers, but the folks organising things knew on Thursday that the weather was extreme and had ample time to make changes to the awards ceremony.
The farcical nature of the prize drawing could also have been alleviated if there had been a designated location on our side of the fence where the winners could have reported to a volunteer armed with some means of communicating with the people on the stage. How did you think folks were going to get from the grandstand to the stage area, sprout wings and fly??
I understand the need for prize donors to get some recognition- they were the ones who kept things brief; it was others who rambled on and on aimlessly.
A big "Thank You" to all who helped organise, set up, and make the rally a fun event. I'll be back and look forward to catching up with my friends "somewhere down the road"
Cheers,
Ian.

This rally was a first for both my wife and I. We both enjoyed ourselves in spite of the heat, met some old friends and caught up, and made some new friends as well. A big thanks to Sam Booth for organizing the Gettysburg ride and for his time spent helping those interested to understand some of the history, as well as for recognizing the problem of the oppressive heat and modifying his well plannned agenda to try to moderate some of the worst effects of the heat.(The visitor's center had A/C). Next rally, we will have to allow for more time at the rally site in order to take it all in. There really was a lot there.

One thing we felt could have been done better was communicating changes in times and venues for lectures and presentations. A sheet of these changes(as up to date as possible) could be handed out at registration. We registered, then walked to where the first presentation we wanted to see was to be held, and found about twenty people waiting for the same presentation. No notice of the schedule change was given at registration, and none was posted at the original scheduled presentation site. After about 15 minutes waiting for the presenter to show up, we, along with several others gave up. It was only by chance that we walked by the education building and found the change posted on the front of the now closed building. We were able to catch the last half of the presentation. On
Saturday, we saw a presentation listed for about an hour later in the afternoon that we also thought we would like to see, so we went around the grounds and came back in time for it to start, only to see a venue change and a schedule time change now posted showing that the new time for the presentation was actually earlier than when we had first looked at the schedule on the original building and it was now being held somewhere else. Needless to say we missed that one. I'm not sure if the problem arose from the heat, a shortage of volunteers required to do everything, or inadequate communication. That part was frustrating.

Thanks to the organizers and all who did volunteer.

rmcclure said:

One thing we felt could have been done better was communicating changes in times and venues for lectures and presentations. A sheet of these changes(as up to date as possible) could be handed out at registration.

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you are right on with this and I hope we make the investment to do better soon.

a mobile app is perfect for this, a simple site that can be updated in real time, one that sorts seminars by topics instead of time (or allows the sort variable that the user wishes) would be extremely beneficial and effective in getting the word out, as pretty much everyone these days uses a net-enabled mobility device. ad sales could support this.

to complement this would be an SMS announcement system, to which members could subscribe as they registered. this could be used to broadcast changes, and think how much vendors would love the ability to announce sales, special time-limited offers, etc.

hey, maybe we could even use the app to shorten the Closing Ceremonies???

Announcer: OK, Bob's BMW.

Crowd: stares at their phones.

Announcer: Next, Twisted Throttle. Scroll down to see the bike they gave away!

Crowd: stares at their phones.

We'd be done in under two minutes, and completely entertained!

ian

Visian said:

hey, maybe we could even use the app to shorten the Closing Ceremonies???

Announcer: OK, Bob's BMW.

Crowd: stares at their phones.

Announcer: Next, Twisted Throttle. Scroll down to see the bike they gave away!

Crowd: stares at their phones.

We'd be done in under two minutes, and completely entertained!

ian

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Clean Up in Aisle 12!!!

(You just made me spew my coffee!)

I thought this was a fantastic rally, and had a total blast.

My hat is off to the organizers and all the volunteers. As the heat increased, I and many others appreciated all the efforts to keep us cool and hydrated. The Oktoberfest party with Blechblos'n was *AWESOME*. I am sure in December or January, the ideal of flame spewing classic cars driven my hot chicks sounded like a good idea. I was disappointed with the booing, but understood the frustration with heat during the closing ceremony. Very happy our GLTB friends were given a chance to get together.

CanÔÇÖt wait to see you all next year.

No Complaints here!

Yeah it was hot but, there were alot of things done to help with the heat. Misting stations and free water were the best options available and provided!
If your going to complain about it then don't come. I managed to sleep in a tent for the whole week and rode my arse off daily in 100 + degree temps. Conditions weren't perfect as they shouldn't be.
Overcome and adapt! That is the answer to all the whiners complaints.

SUCK IT UP!

General and Closing Ceremony Observation...

Not "worst" only challenges and solutions. But, ya can't solve it all I suppose. It is impressive that a core group of individuals and a massive assembly of well coordinated volunteers can provide a three day event for the almost 7,000 attendees.

We heard a bit of very vocal whining, booing and testosterone driven dissatisfaction but I guess that's just representative of the diversity of a population. Somewhat ignorant though when directed at those giving it all their best effort for the attendees' benefit. Like someone else said "suck it up". The big mouth behind us bitched and moaned (with a loud hoarse voice) but he didn't get off his ass to help distribute water when volunteers came with some supplies.

No we didn't really enjoy the heat. It limited some of our activities but that didn't stop us from volunteering (loved the Beer Dispensing Technician duties!!) and Mary from loving her first opportunity to be part of a seminar panel. Me, I just kept soaking my head and hat with the nearby faucet and encouraging folks to visit Nova Scotia.

Our glass is always more than 'half full' and we had a wonderful time. I know that we're not alone in that sentiment. - Bob

The worst part of the Bloomsburg Rally was the booing by the crowd at the closing ceremony. It was totally unacceptable. The people on stage had worked extremely hard to pull off an excellent rally. Free water and the mist tent and sprinklers were available to help as many as possible. I must have been in the minority to have brought water to drink during the ceremony. Yes it was hot and the cars made the heat worse, but the organizers had no control over the heat wave.

Paul_F said:

The worst part of the Bloomsburg Rally was the booing by the crowd at the closing ceremony. It was totally unacceptable. The people on stage had worked extremely hard to pull off an excellent rally. Free water and the mist tent and sprinklers were available to help as many as possible. I must have been in the minority to have brought water to drink during the ceremony. Yes it was hot and the cars made the heat worse, but the organizers had no control over the heat wave.

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right Paul..... situational awareness on the bike and situational awareness in challenging conditions. Take a walk in the desert with no water..... is it the desert's fault??? geesh. - Bob

moondog said:

I hope I get banned from this site but you're a bigot and an as*hole

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+1

Moderator response

MOD Time

Fellow members, this particular view on this subject in this thread has been dealt with ...we thought. Sometimes just letting go is the best response. You nor I will change any persons personal beliefs mindset with any feedback.

If a few posts are not edited or removed in the next hour, this thread will be put to sleep. It is being discussed between the mod team currently.

edit: I realized some may have signed off for the evening and an hour limit was not practical, appreciate those who responded and will check in the AM. I'm out...

Thank you MOD

Thanks.

henzilla said:

MOD Time

Fellow members, this particular view on this subject in this thread has been dealt with ...we thought. Sometimes just letting go is the best response. You nor I will change any persons personal beliefs mindset with any feedback.

If a few posts are not edited or removed in the next hour, this thread will be put to sleep. It is being discussed between the mod team currently.

edit: I realized some may have signed off for the evening and an hour limit was not practical, appreciate those who responded and will check in the AM. I'm out...

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A warning? Why not ding and Ban like you did to me before I could defend myself?

Seriously... reading these posts... Why do you guys even go to a rally? To bitch about it later?
The worst part of the rally? Reading all the piss and moaning afterward.
Sheesh...

Stay Home.

"My two cents worth:

Pros: No one could have predicted the weather, so I made the best of it with friends I like to be around.


CONS: BMW MOA NATIONAL RALLY HAS NO BUSINESS offering the gay, lesbian, transexual, bisexual community a platform of performance at the national rally. (LGTB or was it LGBT?) printed in our rally handbook for a forum in in the arena. That was what it was, wasn't it? That was what everyone around our camp space said the LGBT was, and there were many who were peeved that MOA would sponsor this."
Boos at the closing ceremonies bothered as being 'low-class'.

rockbottom said:

Perhaps they should have scheduled a bigots' meeting at the same time.

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I agree. No room in MOA for attitudes like Mr. Homophobe...

henzilla said:

MOD Time

Fellow members, this particular view on this subject in this thread has been dealt with ...we thought. Sometimes just letting go is the best response. You nor I will change any persons personal beliefs mindset with any feedback.

If a few posts are not edited or removed in the next hour, this thread will be put to sleep. It is being discussed between the mod team currently.

edit: I realized some may have signed off for the evening and an hour limit was not practical, appreciate those who responded and will check in the AM. I'm out...

Click to expand...

If I am being asked to remove my opinion why isn't Mr. Homophobe being asked to remove his opinion?

Letting go isn't always the best course of action...

Removed mine

moondog said:

If I am being asked to remove my opinion why isn't Mr. Homophobe being asked to remove his opinion?

Letting go isn't always the best course of action...

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I removed my post.
Moondog does raise an interesting point though. Why was the post that was bigoted not removed?