R
racegun
Guest
membership
to airhead dot org..... is it worth it?
to airhead dot org..... is it worth it?
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Manfred
Guest
Depends on what you're looking for. The forum is dead. They have an email list that is active. The monthly newsletter is MUCHO different from ON - no coverage of new bikes, national rallies - only airhead tech-days, Oak's tech column, classifieds, etc.
As the old cliche about buying a computer - "What PC should I buy?" answer is "What do you intend to do with it?" One's expectations need to be understood before they can be met. A lesson I am still discovering.
As the old cliche about buying a computer - "What PC should I buy?" answer is "What do you intend to do with it?" One's expectations need to be understood before they can be met. A lesson I am still discovering.
Personally, I think it's worth it. To some degree, it depends on how active the organization is in your state. It's also nice to have another group of people to call when on the road. The club offers a dAirectory of names and phones numbers. It can't hurt to enough too many friends!!
Keep in mind that Airheads Beemer Club and the Airheads email list are not the same. Many people participate in the email list and aren't a member of the ABC. The list does have some very good posters. Snowbum, Tom Cutter, Ted Porter, and Matt Parkhouse, to name a few...even Rick from Motorrad Elektrik once in a blue moon. You get Matt once a month in the MOA ON...but you can get his ideas just about everyday on the email list.
Keep in mind that Airheads Beemer Club and the Airheads email list are not the same. Many people participate in the email list and aren't a member of the ABC. The list does have some very good posters. Snowbum, Tom Cutter, Ted Porter, and Matt Parkhouse, to name a few...even Rick from Motorrad Elektrik once in a blue moon. You get Matt once a month in the MOA ON...but you can get his ideas just about everyday on the email list.
R
racegun
Guest
just to read stuff from those guys would be a treat! I have alot in common with snobum. I'm just not as smart as him....lol
thank you!
R
racegun
Guest
I
HAVE
FOUND
NIRVANA
M
mymindsok
Guest
Well, as a bonafied BMW mechanic (Which you say you are.) I doubt seriously that the Airheads would be of much worth to you.
The organization is basicly a group of amature wrenchers and riders, who are in love with type 247 Airhead BMW's and who also enjoy drinking adult beverages and sometimes camping out.
But...
You have said elsewhere that youre the #1 mechanic at San Jose BMW ( http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=479844) and considering that most of the pro wrenches I know are too tired after fixing bikes all week, to show up at an Airhead tech day to do another days wrenching for free, I'd suggest that you to attend a couple of Airhead get togethers and then decide if the club is for you. It really is a kind of "Service club" wherein we all service one another!
I've been a member from the beginning... Most of the members are real iconoclastic, "leave the bullshit at the door" types, who share a real passion for Airheads and riding em.
It'll only cost you $25 to find out whether you fit in or not....
The organization is basicly a group of amature wrenchers and riders, who are in love with type 247 Airhead BMW's and who also enjoy drinking adult beverages and sometimes camping out.
But...
You have said elsewhere that youre the #1 mechanic at San Jose BMW ( http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=479844) and considering that most of the pro wrenches I know are too tired after fixing bikes all week, to show up at an Airhead tech day to do another days wrenching for free, I'd suggest that you to attend a couple of Airhead get togethers and then decide if the club is for you. It really is a kind of "Service club" wherein we all service one another!
I've been a member from the beginning... Most of the members are real iconoclastic, "leave the bullshit at the door" types, who share a real passion for Airheads and riding em.
It'll only cost you $25 to find out whether you fit in or not....
R
racegun
Guest
Well, as a bonafied BMW mechanic (Which you say you are.) I doubt seriously that the Airheads would be of much worth to you.
The organization is basicly a group of amature wrenchers and riders, who are in love with type 247 Airhead BMW's and who also enjoy drinking adult beverages and sometimes camping out.
But...
You have said elsewhere that youre the #1 mechanic at San Jose BMW ( http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=479844) and considering that most of the pro wrenches I know are too tired after fixing bikes all week, to show up at an Airhead tech day to do another days wrenching for free, I'd suggest that you to attend a couple of Airhead get togethers and then decide if the club is for you. It really is a kind of "Service club" wherein we all service one another!
I've been a member from the beginning... Most of the members are real iconoclastic, "leave the bullshit at the door" types, who share a real passion for Airheads and riding em.
It'll only cost you $25 to find out whether you fit in or not....
dude...what is your #$%$#@#$ing problem? I see no need to argu with you>>
"Be Careful when arguing with an idiot...folks watching may get confused as to who that is"
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crazydrummerdude
advrider.com
I think you read too much into what he said, unless I'm missing something.
I've been an Airhead member since 2005.
It's like insurance; I haven't really used it yet, but it's good to know it's there.
108625
New member
I was an airhead, and I still associate with many of the folks I met at local (about a 1,000 mile radius) get-together "tech days", which are really thinly disguised bar-b-ques with the odd wrenching job thrown in.
It's meeting other riders that is probably the best benefit. Even if you have no use for their advice/expertise (and like all advice, it's up to you to determine it's worth), sometimes you make connections that are or other benefit, or just plain make friends.
The website is about half past dead, and the newsletter is mostly people talking about where they camped, ate, and drank, with photos of people sitting around, doing same. Little talk about riding. Some useful tech advice in Oak's column, ads, and what's going on where & when. (If you're interested in camping, eating and drinking.)
The "Luddite Screed" column is often entertaining in it's single minded stance that the type 247 engine was and remains somehow the greatest thing since sliced bread and BMW is going out of business if they don't bring it back because they're ignoring their core market (an aging group who already own airheads and are proud of their thriftiness, go figure).
It's meeting other riders that is probably the best benefit. Even if you have no use for their advice/expertise (and like all advice, it's up to you to determine it's worth), sometimes you make connections that are or other benefit, or just plain make friends.
The website is about half past dead, and the newsletter is mostly people talking about where they camped, ate, and drank, with photos of people sitting around, doing same. Little talk about riding. Some useful tech advice in Oak's column, ads, and what's going on where & when. (If you're interested in camping, eating and drinking.)
The "Luddite Screed" column is often entertaining in it's single minded stance that the type 247 engine was and remains somehow the greatest thing since sliced bread and BMW is going out of business if they don't bring it back because they're ignoring their core market (an aging group who already own airheads and are proud of their thriftiness, go figure).
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mymindsok
Guest
dude...what is your #$%$#@#$ing problem? I see no need to argu with you>>
Wow... Check that out! Did any of you guys see an argument?
darrylri
Cannonball Rider #52
I was also a member, quite a while back, and really enjoy the company of the local NorCal group. I run a tech day each year at my house; a lot of maintenance and some significant projects get done, as well as a BBQ and bench racing session. (One year we had a clutch replacement, for example.) The NorCal group is quite active, with three meetings a month and several camping events during the year.
I am not a member any more because I don't want to pay to support B. Jan Hofman's Luddite Screed, which rarely seemed to have anything to do with BMWs and motorcycling.
The Airheads high command also has a fairly strident outlook about the bikes, but this is in part, I believe, because the organization was born as a reaction to the introduction of the Oilhead boxers; in fact, the name Airhead didn't exist until there was an Oilhead to compare it against.
I find it extremely ironic that they continue to take BMW to task over the availability of parts and service for these bikes, which are at a minimum 15 years old and some now about to be 40 years old. Can you walk into a dealer for any other marque and order parts for a 40 year old bike? Would they have any idea at all about a bike that was manufactured that long ago?
I am not a member any more because I don't want to pay to support B. Jan Hofman's Luddite Screed, which rarely seemed to have anything to do with BMWs and motorcycling.
The Airheads high command also has a fairly strident outlook about the bikes, but this is in part, I believe, because the organization was born as a reaction to the introduction of the Oilhead boxers; in fact, the name Airhead didn't exist until there was an Oilhead to compare it against.
I find it extremely ironic that they continue to take BMW to task over the availability of parts and service for these bikes, which are at a minimum 15 years old and some now about to be 40 years old. Can you walk into a dealer for any other marque and order parts for a 40 year old bike? Would they have any idea at all about a bike that was manufactured that long ago?
R
racegun
Guest
you the man
THANKS, this is the kind of "Constructive" input that I and others can use. Good Job!
THANKS, this is the kind of "Constructive" input that I and others can use. Good Job!
M
Manfred
Guest
Until I bought my airhead, I rode old Yamahas - a 1982 Virago 750 and a 1980 XS850. I was able to buy most parts from my local Yamaha dealer. Post sales tax and waiting 4 or 5 days for delivery, they were about as cheap as Internet parts, delivered sooner, and put money into a local dealer's paws. If 40 years is the line you draw, which is the far end of your own assessment of airhead ages, they my experience is of no use. But as far as dealers supporting old bikes - many do.
108625
New member
I haven't seen it for a while, has he really gone that far off track?
The reason I found it entertaining was specifically because it was unintentionally funny.
The canon "Airheads don't take themselves too seriously" was contradicted by his adamant insistence that he knew what was best for BMW, that he had all the answers for saving the company, and the airhead (two ships moving in very different directions) at the same time.
Looking at the past through rose-tinted lenses, then living in the present and arguing that the airhead was "affordable" (the most expensive bike on the market, in it's day?), or even "a sensible sportbike" in one column (literally comparing cable operated drum brakes to modern ABS) always generated a good laugh in the bathroom, where it seemed most appropriate to read.
I even submitted a couple letters to offer a counterpoint, but in the end, gave up trying to reason with a stubborn person.
Then I didn't bother renewing my membership.
I'm still invited to the "tech days" (cookouts) though.
ducatipaso
New member
can someone glean as to what kind of presence the airheads have in Oregon?
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mymindsok
Guest
It appears that after a few of Jan B's rants (Especially the right wing political ones!), enough members quit the organization, that it got several peoples attention. (You might not know it but a huge portion of the Canadian contingent quit and never came back!) These days Jan, as editor, claims to reserve the right to say whatever he pleases, whenever he pleases to do so but he also appears to be keeping his mouth shut, concerning most of his personal political and economic viewpoints Thats a good thing.
OTOH, many of us do believe that BMW screwed the pooch when they abandoned the Airhead and I am only one of many who would hold up Moto Guzzi's evolutionary development of thier Airhead engine, as an example of what could have been. If other riders want to own Jap bikes, thats fine with me. I like em! In the same light, if you like the new Beemers, theyre fine bikes too. Just make sure that youre prepared to open your wallet real wide when it's time to service the damn thing. It's very common to take an LT in for service and then have to write a $2000+ check to get you bike back. Don't beleive me? Just ask around but it's also true that If BMW had retained the Airhead in some viable form, I have purchased at least a couple of new BMW's in the last two of decades and maybe more.
Now BMW has announced, along with the introduction of the new "Japanese style" 1000cc Superbike, that they intend to capture 10% of the Sportbike market. Things have definately changed but I sure do wish that they'd have used a V-twin or V-4 design! When I watch Superbike racing I spend more time rooting for the Aprilla than BMW....
In the end I'm an Airhead guy. I like em, I understand em and I can afford to own a couple, so all is well in my world. Plus... Considering how long an Airhead will run and whats going on in the world these days, either one of my Beemers is all the bike I'll ever need. Of course, if I'm flush in a couple of years, I'll buy one of those BMW Superbikes as a 62nd birthday present to myself but I don't really need one!
OTOH, many of us do believe that BMW screwed the pooch when they abandoned the Airhead and I am only one of many who would hold up Moto Guzzi's evolutionary development of thier Airhead engine, as an example of what could have been. If other riders want to own Jap bikes, thats fine with me. I like em! In the same light, if you like the new Beemers, theyre fine bikes too. Just make sure that youre prepared to open your wallet real wide when it's time to service the damn thing. It's very common to take an LT in for service and then have to write a $2000+ check to get you bike back. Don't beleive me? Just ask around but it's also true that If BMW had retained the Airhead in some viable form, I have purchased at least a couple of new BMW's in the last two of decades and maybe more.
Now BMW has announced, along with the introduction of the new "Japanese style" 1000cc Superbike, that they intend to capture 10% of the Sportbike market. Things have definately changed but I sure do wish that they'd have used a V-twin or V-4 design! When I watch Superbike racing I spend more time rooting for the Aprilla than BMW....
In the end I'm an Airhead guy. I like em, I understand em and I can afford to own a couple, so all is well in my world. Plus... Considering how long an Airhead will run and whats going on in the world these days, either one of my Beemers is all the bike I'll ever need. Of course, if I'm flush in a couple of years, I'll buy one of those BMW Superbikes as a 62nd birthday present to myself but I don't really need one!
ducatipaso
New member
bottom line: airhead owners are like volkswagen aircooled owners.
a limited few of either modders or purists of what once was.
ya can't stop technology from it's march forth.
while the goose is trying to hold things back, it won't last.
just compare the sales numbers; those figures don't lie.
don't get me wrong, I love my airhead, and will never be without another, but...
we're a dying breed that will survive in limited numbers.
a limited few of either modders or purists of what once was.
ya can't stop technology from it's march forth.
while the goose is trying to hold things back, it won't last.
just compare the sales numbers; those figures don't lie.
don't get me wrong, I love my airhead, and will never be without another, but...
we're a dying breed that will survive in limited numbers.
