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Will there be demo rides at the 2022 rally?
- Thread starter ragtoplvr
- Start date
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flyhi2cfar
#102452 Sometimes Hangared... But Always Aimed Out
Latest on demos available from the Frequently Asked Questions area of the Rally Information selection.
But as of this date… evidently no.
But as of this date… evidently no.
gregfeeler
Dances With Sheep
At this point it does not seem so. We are looking at alternatives to provide new bikes to at least view. BMW Motorrad USA has really cut their budget for their demo truck.
The 50th anniversary celebration AND the biggest USA BMW Motorcycle club and not enough budget?
Do they know there are other brands? Maybe we can see if Honda wants to bring in a demo truck?
Rod
pglaves
#13338
I suspect, with no actual knowledge, that they are saving their resources for 2023 which is their 100th Anniversary of building motorcycles.
gregfeeler
Dances With Sheep
I have been involved with almost every rally for the last 20 years, and the question about the BMW demo bikes is always the same. Some years they attend and some they don't. Members of the MOA feel like BMW owes it to us to attend. Alternatively, the people running the BMW Motorrad USA office will counter that we are already committed customers and they must find new converts, so it's better for them to attend a multi-brand bike event than the MOA rally. And there you have it.
Visian
look out!!!
I have been involved with almost every rally for the last 20 years, and the question about the BMW demo bikes is always the same. Some years they attend and some they don't. Members of the MOA feel like BMW owes it to us to attend. Alternatively, the people running the BMW Motorrad USA office will counter that we are already committed customers and they must find new converts, so it's better for them to attend a multi-brand bike event than the MOA rally. And there you have it.
Too bad Friedle is no longer with us.
gregfeeler
Dances With Sheep
bmwgsrider
Member
I ran into the lady last year who use to do scheduling for the Demo truck and she told us she retired. The lady knew the Demo truck didn’t show up at Great Falls. She was a great gal. I got an impression that since she retired there won’t be a Demo truck anymore unless someone eventually takes on the responsibility.
Visian
look out!!!
I think you’re talking about Myrhh Davis. Great person!
You could also be talking about Moira Zinn, who ran the company that actually handled the demo truck and trade show events, under Myrhh’s direction. Another great person!
Both are no longer in the loop, but afaik, there still is a BMW demo truck, but it is not currently being brought to our rally.
Last year, in Great Falls, BMW did make quite an investment in bringing out a trailer full of bikes, along with the Performance Center. Pretty impressive display if you like watching parking lot drills. No idea if the MOA Foundation funds any of this… they don’t provide that level of expense detail in their 990 report.
I just talked with some PC people yesterday at the Georgia Mountain Rally and they are planning to be in Springfield… but I didn’t ask whether the big show they did in Great Falls will be repeated this year.
MAX BMW just had 4 demo days-
https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?102081-MAX-BMW-is-having-the-BMW-demo-truck-this-April-May
OM
https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?102081-MAX-BMW-is-having-the-BMW-demo-truck-this-April-May
OM
bmwgsrider
Member
Sadly, I don’t recall her name but she was the one that scheduled the Demo truck to our rallies that’s why there was no Demo truck at Great Falls and she knew it wasn’t there. I spoke to the Performance guys and they are all nice. Just wish someone would step up to the plate for the Demo truck to come back to the rallies.
Visian
look out!!!
You could go to Overland Expo in Flagstaff, I read that the truck will be there.
pglaves
#13338
I don't really have much interest in $150,000 - $200,000 four wheeled adventure vehicles. Not my cup of tea.
Visian
look out!!!
There are rigs there priced up into the seven figures!
You would be surprised at all the cool stuff that is applicable for motocamping... typically high quality, innovative and not outrageously expensive. These events are remarkably like rallies in that there are a lot of people camping, only in their vans, trucks and RVs. Not all of them are mega-buck vehicles. One can pretty much see everything on a day pass, fwiw.
However, the promoter has not had a lot of success attracting motos... the Flagstaff event does better than the one in the east.
Here was the moto-only parking spot in Virginia last fall...
chiba
hack'd
IIRC that's where Harley was parking their demo bikes for a good portion of the weekend while they ran the demo rides (you can see the bar & shield on the sign). Most motorcycle-based attendees were in the motorcycle-only camping area; not too many motorcycle riders came in on day passes.
From this page: https://www.bmwmoa.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1624823&group= - "Take a test ride on the new Triumph Tigers or a Ural sidecar." I got this information directly from the OX organizers when I put that page together, and they have not contacted me with any changes. They never mentioned BMW to me and I've been working with them for months to promote OX.
Please come on out to Overland Expo anyway. Like our annual rally, it will be fun no matter whose demo bikes are there.
BMW publishes a calendar of where the demo trucks will be at https://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/en/experience/events.html
Visian
look out!!!
Nope, that space was intended for all motorcycles. All the HD PanAms were parked over by their truck, from where their demo rides departed. That black trailer on the right is where they stored all their demo ride gear and did traffic control into and out of their demo area. This parking area was intended for hospitality to moto riders. Maybe other brand riders were afraid they’d get beat up if they parked there?
Well I read somewhere on the Internets that BMW would be there. Maybe as an exhibitor or presenter? No co-op between them and us? That would be a natural.
Surprised that HD and Yamaha won’t be there… they had pretty good participation in Virginia last year. They were VERY successful at the recent March Moto Madness.
It would be nice to see OX gain more traction with motorcycles, especially vendors, but there are so many ADV event options that are more focused and affordable. The last time they had traction is when Jim Hyde did training and the OX people paid appearance fees to a number of ADV “stars.”
I attended the Bike Blues and BBQ at Fayetteville Ar. The BMW demo truck was there and I got to ride 3 including the 1250 GSA. But the workers told me they had well over 200 bikes and several trucks in the demo fleet. Most of the other demo bikes were at Barber.
So I asked why they did not attend the MOA rally, and he said maybe they did not know about it. They certainly could have.
So who ever in the moa leadership should look into this and find the correct person and see if it can happen. They have the bikes and staff.
Also they said that HD sold 40K of the Pan American and GS sales were off about 40K. Wonder how many MOA members bought one.
I rode both back to back, and then took the demo route on my 09 GS. The 1250 is clearly much better. The PA has a motor though. It just does not have the refinement. Of course I am used to how GS feels so maybe I am biased. But back to back rides the difference is apparent.
Rod
So I asked why they did not attend the MOA rally, and he said maybe they did not know about it. They certainly could have.
So who ever in the moa leadership should look into this and find the correct person and see if it can happen. They have the bikes and staff.
Also they said that HD sold 40K of the Pan American and GS sales were off about 40K. Wonder how many MOA members bought one.
I rode both back to back, and then took the demo route on my 09 GS. The 1250 is clearly much better. The PA has a motor though. It just does not have the refinement. Of course I am used to how GS feels so maybe I am biased. But back to back rides the difference is apparent.
Rod
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