THE 2021 Montana MOA Re-Schedule (previous 2020 Great Falls Thread)

[akbeemer]

Totally agree! Weather has now gone the way of news. There has to be some catastrophic spin to every weather event. Every thing in Charlotte a “first alert weather day”! It’s just a chance of showers but it becomes a weather event. None worse than the Weather Channel. Heck if you listened to them you’d never leave your house.

The cable weather broadcasters live for a chance to stand in knee deep water while broadcasting from a hurricane area; quite silly.

 

[gsinnc]

I agree. But ride through Cairo, Illinois and let me know your perspective. Or on the other hand, try Fredericksburg, Texas and notice the difference.

Better yet, to save some time and grief, take a tour of them with Google Maps and Street View.

While I agree having traveled through all the lower 48 states numerous times there are certainly more prosperous areas and some very poor areas but what I find interesting is there is no relationship between the prosperity and wealth of a town and the relative happiness of its citizens.

It is sad what the exodus of places like California and New York have done to the areas they are moving to. Property values skyrocket and taxes follow. I’ve seen areas in New Jersey where natives in some towns could not afford the taxes on the home they bought 25 years ago.

 

[gsinnc]

But.... if you were to leave your house.... you could listen and find out how you need to dress

My certified weather railing detected 4” of snow yesterday

OM

I think I have the same railing app

 

[36654]

While I agree having traveled through all the lower 48 states numerous times there are certainly more prosperous areas and some very poor areas but what I find interesting is there is no relationship between the prosperity and wealth of a town and the relative happiness of its citizens.

It is sad what the exodus of places like California and New York have done to the areas they are moving to. Property values skyrocket and taxes follow. I’ve seen areas in New Jersey where natives in some towns could not afford the taxes on the home they bought 25 years ago.

I can show you the same skyrocket when housing values and incomes stagnate. For the past 30~40-yrs, cities, boroughs & townships in rural PA have been struggling with the funding of municipal services (roads, water, sewage and police). In some cases, services like water, sewer and trash are transfered to a semi-autonomous "Authority" that's tasked with maintaining reliable service. This avoids regulation as a public utility which involves rate controls. For those communities that don't create an Authority, selling their municipal assets to private company is common. Again, there's no public utility regulation.

In the case of the police. If the force is represented by a collective bargaining agreement, all contract negotiation issues go to arbitration. So, annual cost of living increases are mandated (2.5~3%) and reductions in force are difficult. In many cases, retiree family healthcare is covered until they reach Medicare, so the emploiyer's cost of the health insurance benefit may exceed 50% of payroll. In light of these limitations, rural municipal police forces have been disappearing for decades. It's the only way to really deal with the contracts.

For the public works employees that maybe unionized, they do get cost of living increases, but staffing is usually cut to bare bones and any replacement employees are part-time (i.e., no benefits)

Then, there's the pensions. Unlike a business, a municipality can't runaway from its debts. If prior municipal gov'ts have relied upon "optimistic" projections, then there's a big annual pension contribution to restore the fund to solvency. Or, you kick the can......

As you can tell, I would dearly like to deal with the challenges of growth......

 

[flyhi2cfar]

My friend; Nice Ride with us... as one of us.

The following is a crosspost from another thread, by member "36654" yesterday evening.

35 years in the bag.....36654
Well, as of tomorrow midnight, I will have completed 35 years of MOA membership. I joined
at the recommendation of the salesman when I bought a left-over 1984 R80ST in 1985. The
dealership was Sholley's in Harrisburg, PA and the salesman was a member of the Dutch Country
Riders. A year or so later, that club hosted the MOA rally at the York PA fairgrounds.

In those days, the MOA was my only source for information on my bike and it's replacement,
a 1986 k75c. Paul Glaves, Rob Lentini, etc. provided a steady stream of tech info. Especially,
with the "brick" K-bikes, that was critical. Many dealers were struggling and couldn't keep up
with the technology for the new bikes. The Airhead vs Non-Airhead rivalry was real in those days,
but the K-bikes were game changing for BMW. Bullet-proof reliability with excellent brakes.

In those years, I attended a few rallys, York PA, Morganton NC, Moodus CT, Missoula MT,
Rhinebeck NY. At that time, it seemed you could build a complete airhead from the array of
parts that Bob's BMW brought to any national rally.

At the end of the 1999 riding season, I purchased a new R1100RS and discovered the benefits
of modern suspension technology and the annoyance of balancing throttle bodies. In most
regards a great bike, which I owned for 17-years, it never really melded with me. It's mirrors
vibrated, those of the old K75c didin't. That annoyed me, even with the 25 additional horsepower.

During the ownership of the Oilhead, I bought a house, got married, became older and didn't
attend as many rallies; Trenton ON, Midland MI, Bloomsburg PA and St. Paul MN. Most of my
interaction with the MOA in these years and later was via the MOA Forum. The magazine had
become something I didn't even remove from the wrapper. It was pretty, but the info was dated
or available elsewhere. I think I was one of the early members who asked Ted to keep my copy
of the magazine for dealership distribution.

My last bit in this journey was the purchase of a new R1200RS LC in 2016. The front suspension
and throttle by wire took some adjustment on my part, the lack of engine vibration reminded me
of my K-bike. In addition, being lupin and metallic grey-white, it's very pretty.

2016 was also the last MOA Rally I attended. Contrary to my assumptions, the Hamburg site was
pretty darn good. Of course, in 30-years, the MOA rally's have evolved and the old "vendor" event
is long gone. Just like the Mall is dead. However, you can take a BMW motorcycle tour almost
anywhere. And, yes, I do feel quilty for all those free espressos I sampled at the Columbian
Motorcycle Tour booth. For some reason, being shot in a Civil/Drug War outweighs my interest in
riding a motorcycle in a country with great coffee.

So, that bring us to today. 35-yrs is a pretty long trial period and I've met a number of nice folks.
I've always treasured of our Canadian members for providing that mirror on our self-obsessed (i.e., insane)
American ideas. I've also enjoyed the folks that attempted to bring humor to the club and forum. We've
been in short supply of that for some time. Hopefully, someday, someone will do a demographic study of
the membership to see who they are. And, someday, I promise, I will stare at Visian's triangle diagram until
I see the pinwheels he describes.

So, be safe, best wishes and good-bye. I'm off to adventures elsewhere, but still riding my R1200RS.

Miles of Smiles as Mrs. Glaves would say (I think)
Reply With Quote Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message

 

[bigjohnsd]

That’s a common misperception. When the NWS calls for a “50% chance of rain”, they are not saying that there is a 50/50 chance of precipition occurring on that day. What they are predicting with a high degree of confidence is that half of their forecast area will experience rain during the forecast period.

In other words, they are saying there is a nearly 100% chance half of the forecast area will receive precipitation. Which is actually a fairly precise forecast.

I sat through hundreds of target Area weather briefings while in the Navy.
When the WEAX Guesser gave that 50/50 nonsense the Admiral would always say "I can do that good" the WEAX Guesser never gave any explanation like the above, he maintained that "It might rain, it might not!"

 

[DougA]

I want to go to the rally.

Enough about the weather.

I want to go to the 2021 rally. I paid for my 2020 admission but it didn't happen. All of you in the States have to get your covid act together so that the border from Canada can open up so I can come down and join all of you next June.

Please do your share and help things get back to a safe level.
My new bike wants to see your country.

 

[Paul_F]

Enough about the weather.

I want to go to the 2021 rally. I paid for my 2020 admission but it didn't happen. All of you in the States have to get your covid act together so that the border from Canada can open up so I can come down and join all of you next June.

Please do your share and help things get back to a safe level.
My new bike wants to see your country.

+1

 

[glenfiddich]

Enough about the weather.

I want to go to the 2021 rally. I paid for my 2020 admission but it didn't happen. All of you in the States have to get your covid act together so that the border from Canada can open up so I can come down and join all of you next June.

Please do your share and help things get back to a safe level.
My new bike wants to see your country.

And we miss all our friends from north of the border!

 

[vark]

I sat through hundreds of target Area weather briefings while in the Navy.
When the WEAX Guesser gave that 50/50 nonsense the Admiral would always say "I can do that good" the WEAX Guesser never gave any explanation like the above, he maintained that "It might rain, it might not!"

My father was a naval aviator like you and had a particular interest in meteorology. As a junior officer he did double duty as the weather briefer for multiple squadrons that he served in. He could talk your ear off about meteorology if you let him. As kids we had no choice. Some of it actually stuck.

 

[rangerreece]

I hope and pray for June 2021 to come safely for our tribe.

I share that sentiment.

 

[flyhi2cfar]

Speaking of sharing, my early November thought ...

I share that sentiment.

What would really be nice; in that we're all hoping & praying June's Rally is very successful... is related news from the MOA Board of Director's Meeting this month.

Consider providing a short message here, on the subject of the Rally itself.

The facts themselves are good enough.

As you may be aware, our last BOD Meeting report that is posted for our Member's... is from the 19' Lebanon Rally gathering.

 

[rangerreece]

As of right now barring any biological or governmental interference we are scheduled for 24-27 June 2021. Becky and Corey Smith are still the Cochairs of the rally. We still have about 2,500 attendees registered. The When and where page 92 of the November ON has all the pertinent details. It will still be in the Great Falls Montana ExpoPark. Reece and Rhonda and our doggies are still scheduled to attend. We’ll see you all there.

 

[roadcrave]

Greatful

This is going to be an awesome event in 2021 esp since some of us have been coop up for to long.

 

[rangerreece]

This is going to be an awesome event in 2021 esp since some of us have been coop up for to long.

I agree. One thing our current climate has taught me is that what we do as a club is more important to our well being than even I realized; and I suspect when this business is behind us the need for, and value of community will be greatly enhanced.

 

[gregfeeler]

I agree. One thing our current climate has taught me is that what we do as a club is more important to our well being than even I realized; and I suspect when this business is behind us the need for, and value of community will be greatly enhanced.

THAT is the reason this club is still viable after 48 years, and all the changes which have occurred in the world in that time. It is not enough going forward, but it is the prize and is worth making every extra effort to evolve the club as needed to become as relevant today as it was when it was founded.

 

[akbeemer]

I agree. One thing our current climate has taught me is that what we do as a club is more important to our well being than even I realized; and I suspect when this business is behind us the need for, and value of community will be greatly enhanced.

THAT is the reason this club is still viable after 48 years, and all the changes which have occurred in the world in that time. It is not enough going forward, but it is the prize and is worth making every extra effort to evolve the club as needed to become as relevant today as it was when it was founded.

A note of caution is warranted. We must be concerned that our members will be overcome by the freedom, camaraderie and fine spirits available at the rally. Pole dancing at Airhead Central, burnouts by the K1600 crowd, street protests by the K75/K100 cult demanding more respect, Camp Gears participants forming gangs and roaming the rally site to the sound track of Westside Story, P and V arriving on Harley choppers and showing off their identical “tramp stamp” tattoos and heaven only knows what will go on in the beer garden. These are just the easy things to handle... it could be far worse. Think Woodstock.

I suggest we begin to plan to arm the security volunteers and begin their training in counter insurgency ops (we will need some helicopters Reece, Longbow equipped Apaches, please).

 

[gregfeeler]

A note of caution is warranted. We must be concerned that our members will be overcome by the freedom, camaraderie and fine spirits available at the rally. Pole dancing at Airhead Central, burnouts by the K1600 crowd, street protests by the K75/K100 cult demanding more respect, Camp Gears participants forming gangs and roaming the rally site to the sound track of Westside Story, P and V arriving on Harley choppers and showing off their identical “tramp stamp” tattoos and heaven only knows what will go on in the beer garden. These are just the easy things to handle... it could be far worse. Think Woodstock.

I suggest we begin to plan to arm the security volunteers and begin their training in counter insurgency ops (we will need some helicopters Reece, Longbow equipped Apaches, please).

OMG!! All this is so possible!!! I can't wait.

 

[flyhi2cfar]

See... these type's of unrestrained exuberance is just what I had in mind!

It's why I've contracted the beautiful Mermaids from over at the Sip-n'-Dip Lounge... to preform at the ExpoPark Fountain each evening.

 

[gregfeeler]

See... these type's of unrestrained exuberance is just what I had in mind!

It's why I've contracted the beautiful Mermaids from over at the Sip-n'-Dip Lounge... to preform at the ExpoPark Fountain each evening.

If you have seen the movie "The Best Bar In America" you have seen the Mermaids in action (and a R60/2 side hack rig).