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2013 Oregon Rally Train

2013 Oregon Rally Train -- ALL ABOARD: 2013 RALLY TRAIN!

The 2013 MOA Rally Train will run to Portland (from DC via Chicago) and back to DC.

Amtrak will NOT take our bikes on the same train, and you need the bike waiting when you get to Portland. Potential shippers (from your door and/or from a collection point) are listed below. Ask about discounts for AAA, etc, for military, and for public safety (police/fire/EMS).

https://www.1aamotorcycles.com/quote.php

http://haulbikes.com/discounts.html

http://motorcycle-delivery-service.com

http://www.shippingsidekick.com/ship...ss-country.wml

Our 2001 shipper (Keyboard) no longer ships to the west coast.

When you deal with the shippers mention ÔÇ£BMWMOAÔÇØ so you can get any available group discount. The more bikes, the better the deal.

Ship (after reading below) to: BMW Motorcycles of Western Oregon, 12010 Southwest Garden Place, Tigard, OR 97223, Phone: 503-597-7097, http://www.bmcwor.com. BMW of W. OR offers to receive and hold motorcycles prior to and/or after the 2013 BMW MOA International Rally. Their offer:

?À $140 flat fee for this service per two-wheeled motorcycle, $200 flat fee for trikes and sidecars.
?À Fee must be prepaid.
?À Reservations are a must as space is limited, so this offer is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
?À For this service, we will provide:
o Receipt of the vehicle from a shipping company.
o Storage of the vehicle at the facility for up to five days.
o Each motorcycle will receive a multi-point safety inspection for no additional charge.
o Storage of the vehicle at the facility for up to five days.
?À Shipping arrangements and fees are the sole responsibility of the vehicle owner.
?À We can accommodate servicing of the vehicle (i.e. tires, oil changes, annual inspections, mileage driven services, etc.) before or after the rally when arranged in advance. To ensure that we can complete your requested services, please make arrangements no later than 6/15/13.

Questions about this offer should be directed to Scott Russell at 503-597-7097 or to srussell@emcwor.com.

The Amtrak schedule is unlikely to change much (a few minutes?). The last noted ticket price was $212 each way per person from DC ($159 from Chicago), plus $255 each way for a 2-person sleeping room. Amtrak's website may be erroneous on sleeping room costs. As this was written the website showed a sleeper from Chicago was more than double the sleeper from DC. What's that about?

RALLY TRAIN SCHEDULES (See below for stations served/stops for each train.)

Westbound - CAPITOL LIMITED, ETD D.C. SATURDAY, JULY 13 @ 4:05 P.M.; ETA CHICAGO 8:45 A.M. THE NEXT MORNING, JULY 14.

EMPIRE BUILDER - ETD CHICAGO 2:15 P.M. JULY 14, ETA PORTLAND 10:10 A.M. ON TUESDAY, JULY 16.

Eastbound - EMPIRE BUILDER - ETD PORTLAND 4:45 P.M., SUNDAY, JULY 21; ETA CHICAGO 3:55 P.M. TUESDAY, JULY 23;

LEAVE CHICAGO 6:10 P.M. ON TUESDAY, JULY 23, ON THE CAPITOL LIMITED; ETA D.C. 12:40 P.M. ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 24.

We are told you may board/disembark along these routes at the following stations:

Capitol Limited (DC > Chicago) stations served (DC - Chicago):

http://www.amtrak.com/capitol-limited-train

Washington, DC - Union Station (WAS)
Rockville, MD (RKV)
Harpers Ferry, WV (HFY)
Martinsburg, WV (MRB)
Cumberland, MD (CUM)
Connellsville, PA (COV)
Pittsburgh, PA (PGH)
Alliance, OH (ALC)
Cleveland, OH (CLE)
Elyria, OH (ELY)
Sandusky, OH (SKY)
Toledo, OH (TOL)
Waterloo, IN (WTI)
Elkhart, IN (EKH)
South Bend, IN (SOB)
Chicago, IL - Union Station (CHI)

Empire Builder stations served (Chicago - Portland):

http://www.amtrak.com/empire-builder-train

Chicago, IL - Union Station (CHI)
Glenview, IL (GLN)
Milwaukee, WI - Intermodal Station (MKE)
Columbus, WI (CBS)
Portage, WI (POG)
Wisconsin Dells, WI (WDL)
Tomah, WI (TOH)
La Crosse, WI (LSE)
Winona, MN (WIN)
Red Wing, MN (RDW)
St. Paul, MN - Minneapolis Midway Station (MSP)
St. Cloud, MN (SCD)
Staples, MN (SPL)
Detroit Lakes, MN (DLK)
Fargo, ND (FAR)
Grand Forks, ND (GFK)
Devils Lake, ND (DVL)
Rugby, ND (RUG)
Minot, ND (MOT)
Stanley, ND (STN)
Williston, ND (WTN)
Wolf Point, MT (WPT)
Glasgow, MT (GGW)
Malta, MT (MAL)
Havre, MT (HAV)
Shelby, MT (SBY)
Cut Bank, MT (CUT)
Browning, MT (BRO)
East Glacier Park, MT (GPK)
Essex, MT (ESM)
West Glacier, MT (WGL)
Whitefish, MT (WFH)
Libby, MT (LIB)
Sandpoint, ID (SPT)
Spokane, WA (SPK)
Pasco, WA (PSC)
Wishram, WA (WIH)
Bingen, WA - White Salmon (BNG)
Vancouver, WA (VAN)
Portland, OR - Union Station (PDX)
Ephrata, WA (EPH)
Wenatchee, WA (WEN)
Leavenworth, WA (LWA)
Everett, WA (EVR)
Edmonds, WA (EDM)
Seattle, WA - King Street Station (SEA)
Ephrata, WA - Bus Stop (EPR)

Your Rally Train Co-Conductors will be Willie Nichols and George Brown. Watch The Forum ( http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?63099-2013-Oregon-Rally-Train&highlight=2013 rally train ) to learn whether there will be a 53-foot semi rolling from Detroit through Chicago to Oregon and back. As of 3/19/13 no 'group' semi was available.

You arrange your own bike shipping either or both ways, and you arrange your own Amtrak reservations on the noted train(s). We hope those who "train" will be on the same trains eastbound and westbound.

Once you have made your reservations, please notify graybuckley@gmail.com who will maintain a roster for information & reference purposes.
 

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Why a Rally Train?

People have asked me about riding a train to a motorcycle rally. I tell them there is three parts to a rally run: The ride to the Rally site, the Rally itself, and the ride back home. Sometimes the ride to the site is great, and a lot of time, it is a long ride. The Rally is always a lot of fun, and the run back home usually is not as good as the ride to the rally. When the Rally distance is long or time-consuming, many cannot make the Rally.

This is where the Rally Train helps the situation. Originally in 2001, we loaded motorcycles and their riders on the trains in DC and Chicago and rolled to Portland and back. Less wear on bike and riders, and a quicker trip across the country. This time, we cannot carry the bikes on the train (blame the lawyers), but we can ship our bikes by trucks. We can still ride the train and see a lot of the USA from the train windows with our fellow BMW riders, and make it to the Rally in Salem. I don't think that I will ship my bike west this year, but I will be looking for a Beemer to rent out in OR. Look, we could just pack us all up in numerous airplanes and fly to Oregon, but where is the fun of the adventure and the enjoyment of friends to share the trip with? Why not join fellow MOA members on a 3 day cruise across America on Amtrak? Go to the Rally, get some time to do some mountain riding, and come back East with comfortable seats and fellow riders in the bar car!:dance
 
Are these train date arrivals correct? A Sunday departure west bound from Chicago arrives in Portland on Tuesday, not Wednesday, according to Amtrak.
 
With only two weeks vacation time this would allow me a few more days to explore the West before riding home via the Rockies, Black Hills, etc.

Definitely interested!
 
I just got a reply from Keyboard stating that they no longer ship to the mountain or western regions. Bummer, as they had a phenomenal reputation!
 
Good catch! Arrival date in Portland for westbound train has been corrected.

My pleasure.

I posted something similar on another page....now I can reserve my spot on the train!

I hope more people are going to do this, I think it's gonna be a friggin blast!
 
I was looking at haulbikes.com, they offer full trailer discounts (about 35 bikes).

I have used Haulbikes in the past, no complaints.

I also had an independent shipper bring my GSA back to Chicago from Kansas City. From what I remember about his trailer, he probably could take 6 bikes. He was great, used to be a pilot, flying those commuter planes....he said the BS was getting old, and makes more $$$ hauling stuff.
 
Bike Trucking

There is also Federal Motorcycle Transport (funtransport.com) and motorcycleshippers.com.

I was going to contact them to find out if there was a discount for a full truck say from Chicago and to find out the timing to and from.

Thoughts?
 
If your in a BIG! area like Chicago, then find a U-ship hauler that will do that load OR!!! if enough bikes from there -somebody buy/rent a trailer & make some serious money on a one shot deal?
 
I know U-Ship has been used many times with great success, but be careful and check them carefully as to just how your particular shipper ships your bike. AFAIK, it's all private guys with various trucks. The trucker that the buyer of my R1200CLC got assigned to apparently had no pallet system and just threw a bunch of bikes into his truck, on the sidestands, and drove 1,000 miles and when he arrived the bikes had fallen over into each other and there was over $5,000 damage to my bike alone. AND the trucker tried to at first say that that was the condition of the bike when I gave it to him! It was a good thing I had taken pictures of it the night before it was picked up.

I have used Keyboard in the past and the trucker was terrific and had a neat wheeled pallet system that secured each bike. Shame we can't use Keyboard. Maybe they'll make an exception for us and the rally? It would be a good PR move for them if they did...
 
There is also Federal Motorcycle Transport (funtransport.com) and motorcycleshippers.com.

I was going to contact them to find out if there was a discount for a full truck say from Chicago and to find out the timing to and from.

Thoughts?

I think you have a good idea. Even us guys on the east coast can easily enough ride to Chicago to meet up even if we don't want to or can't ride across country to Oregon.
 
The train to Portland is gonna be fun....

Can someone put up a poll asking what day/train they plan to be on?
 
The Rally Train

I'm all for the train, as I work for the Railroad and ride "free".
So...., who recommends who for my new R1200RT, from the Ocean State?
Sounds terrific, and will save my new tires I just put on last weekend.

Reel Job
R.I.:thumb
 
Prices are starting to rise on the train fares.

In the last two weeks, the fare has gone up $300. The culprit seems to be the price for the Superliner Roomettes. This is on the Sunday departure from Chicago headed to Portland. The prices are still reasonable if you go in a day later, as well as a day earlier.
 
Salem from New England

With only two weeks vacation time this would allow me a few more days to explore the West before riding home via the Rockies, Black Hills, etc.

Definitely interested!

I'm all for the train, as I work for the Railroad and ride "free".
So...., who recommends who for my new R1200RT, from the Ocean State?
Sounds terrific, and will save my new tires I just put on last weekend.

Reel Job
R.I.:thumb

Going to Salem on the rally train definitely brings the possibility of being able to make the rally much more doable for me. I'm wondering if enough people from the New England area want to take the train that there would be enough of us to organize a truck for the bikes.

Louise
 
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