• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Camping

GHUHN136119

New member
I've never been to an MOA rally, but hope to attend. I may bring camping gear in order to have it on the road or I may avail myself of the operation setting up tents for rent at the site. The rally camping section of the newly redesigned website addresses RV camping, not tents. BTW, love the spiffed up site!
From pictures of previous rallies, it seems that tents are set up all over the place (albeit in designated areas). What is the individual tent camping policy for the fairgrounds, the rally site? I haven't been able to find that info anywhere.
Thanks in advance.
Cheers,
Greg
 
Greg,
Bring your camping gear or use the vendor that rents the equipment. The rally grounds become a tent city. There are no extra fees for camping beyond the registration fee. Come join the fun. Also, I suggest finding something of interest to you and volunteer to work a shift. It is a great way to meet people and it helps the operation of the rally.
 
Thanks! I plan on volunteering. I need to put a few things into place in order to put this plan in action, as I'm sure all but the most liberated retirees do. I'm looking forward to meeting some real characters and to putting faces to some names.

Cheers
 
Greg,
... or use the vendor that rents the equipment. The rally grounds become a tent city.

I'm that vendor. In fact, just shot off a note to the Rally Chair wondering where my link is for this year.

Also, I don't just rent the equipment, I set it all up and maintain the Sherpa camp for the duration.

Feel free to contact me if you need further info.
 
Now for the question I must ask - will there be electricity available for those of us who have medical needs (CPAP, nebulizers, etc.)?
 
Bachorz229s.jpg

Was a guest last year in Wyoming. This is the way to go:
  • coffee in morning
  • 12 volt recharging gear
  • 120 volt recharging gear
  • clean towels every day
  • add air to mattresses every night
  • nice shady pavilion
  • community ice chest
  • air mattress topped off at night if needed
  • camper chair
  • sleeping bag
  • mint on pillow
special cigars - upon request.
 
[QUOTE=Sunfire said ".....just have a hard time sleeping, so I was just concerned of how loud it would be sleeping in tents".

You can't be as old as you say, or you'd be deaf like the rest of us....

Mac
 
One "Sherpa" question?

The Sherpa Tent area has always been so pretty to look at and seems orderly indeed. WHY do you set the tents up SO close to one another. Space is certainly the answer, I suspect, but one can hear his neighbor breathing I would think? I tent, as a life long tenter, but just wondered why these tents at your site have to be on top of one another(nearly). Randy
 
The Sherpa Tent area has always been so pretty to look at and seems orderly indeed. WHY do you set the tents up SO close to one another. Space is certainly the answer, I suspect, but one can hear his neighbor breathing I would think? I tent, as a life long tenter, but just wondered why these tents at your site have to be on top of one another(nearly). Randy

I have always thought that as well, Randy. As much as it might be tempting to use the Sherpa services, the thought of sharing my personal space with some one, or another couple RIGHT NEXT to me, has no appeal.
 
I am sure that Sherpa Mayberry has a space allocation in which to set up his tents. Though they are all pretty and lined up in a row, at least it is orderly as compared to the rest of the camping area. At many rallies I have attended, I have left my tent and returned to find that someone has set their tent up with in inches of my front vestibule or rear window. Unless you find an out of the way and remote spot to place your tent, you will have tents on top of tents on top of tents and then the Sherpa will start to look better.

FWIW, my one time using the Sherpa in VT we did not have any noise issues from our neighbors.

Rick G
 
In my experience, the next tent can be just as loud at 10 feet as at 10 inches. Put in your earplugs when you crawl into your bag.
 
Well, this year I'm finally going to be able to attend a rally. I can't wait! :clap :clap

Now, here's my trepidation... I've never camped in my life, so for the first time I'm going to forego the comforts of an hotel room and check out what camping is all about. :) :) Instead of buying all the equipment, I'm going to try out renting a "camping site".

My question is, are these camping sites very rowdy, or are they subdued for "old farts" like me? Hopefully this will not insult anybody. :)

Paul

I'm a very light sleeper, so I'm game for establishing and "old fart" quiet camping section...maybe in close proximity of the Sherpa tents...
 
The Sherpa Tent area has always been so pretty to look at and seems orderly indeed. WHY do you set the tents up SO close to one another. Space is certainly the answer, I suspect, but one can hear his neighbor breathing I would think? I tent, as a life long tenter, but just wondered why these tents at your site have to be on top of one another(nearly). Randy

I have always thought that as well, Randy. As much as it might be tempting to use the Sherpa services, the thought of sharing my personal space with some one, or another couple RIGHT NEXT to me, has no appeal.

I am sure that Sherpa Mayberry has a space allocation in which to set up his tents. Though they are all pretty and lined up in a row, at least it is orderly as compared to the rest of the camping area. At many rallies I have attended, I have left my tent and returned to find that someone has set their tent up with in inches of my front vestibule or rear window. Unless you find an out of the way and remote spot to place your tent, you will have tents on top of tents on top of tents and then the Sherpa will start to look better.

FWIW, my one time using the Sherpa in VT we did not have any noise issues from our neighbors.

Rick G

Pretty much on the spot. If I start spreading the tents further apart, I'll end up taking a heck of a lot more space and get not so nice comments from rally staff.

As it turns out, there was more than plenty of room in WY, but the remainder of the tents in tent city in OH, VT and WI are also packed in pretty tight (particularly Lima).

Sherpa tents are a foot apart with sufficient room in front for your bike(s) and further space to ride the bikes up and down the aisles.

I also provide ear plugs for the light sleepers.
 
National Rally tips

1. Earplugs are essential for comfortable sleeping at Nationals
2. SherpaMayberry is an excellent way to do a first rally campout. Let Ted figure out how to make you comfortable at the rally. He has experience with stuff like this.
3. Tents will be everywhere! When you try to fit 6000 tents into the rally site,you have to be creative. Half the fun is checking out all the various camp sites.
4. Get there early. When registration starts on Thursday, it begins to look a lot like the Oklahoma Land Rush. "Good spaces" will be gone by 11AM. Consider coming in early as a rally volunteer--you get to be a part of an amazing event and you can get set up before the rush on Thursday.
5. Cut everybody some "slack" during the weekend. We might have nearly 9K attendees crammed into a small area and we need to keep the attitude good. There is no reason to bitch about everything--lots of folks are trying their very best to make things work. Some folks will be pain-in-the-asses, but most of us will be good neighbors.
6. Come by the beer tent, even if you do not drink beer or wine. It is the social hall for this event, and there is good music there often.
7. Visit the hosting town and ride some of their roads. Put some $$$ in the local economy because they will be putting up with a lot of extra traffic and they want you to have fun in their town.
8. Go to at least one seminar or class when you are there. You might learn something.
9. Give the vendors some business too. They travel a long way to get there and our National Rally is a major source of income for some of them.
10. Make a point to meet people and share your love of motorcycling. We are a wonderful but very strange family that you will find yourself being a part of.:thumb
 
1. Earplugs are essential for comfortable sleeping at Nationals
2. SherpaMayberry is an excellent way to do a first rally campout. Let Ted figure out how to make you comfortable at the rally. He has experience with stuff like this.
3. Tents will be everywhere! When you try to fit 6000 tents into the rally site,you have to be creative. Half the fun is checking out all the various camp sites.
4. Get there early. When registration starts on Thursday, it begins to look a lot like the Oklahoma Land Rush. "Good spaces" will be gone by 11AM. Consider coming in early as a rally volunteer--you get to be a part of an amazing event and you can get set up before the rush on Thursday.
5. Cut everybody some "slack" during the weekend. We might have nearly 9K attendees crammed into a small area and we need to keep the attitude good. There is no reason to bitch about everything--lots of folks are trying their very best to make things work. Some folks will be pain-in-the-asses, but most of us will be good neighbors.
6. Come by the beer tent, even if you do not drink beer or wine. It is the social hall for this event, and there is good music there often.
7. Visit the hosting town and ride some of their roads. Put some $$$ in the local economy because they will be putting up with a lot of extra traffic and they want you to have fun in their town.
8. Go to at least one seminar or class when you are there. You might learn something.
9. Give the vendors some business too. They travel a long way to get there and our National Rally is a major source of income for some of them.
10. Make a point to meet people and share your love of motorcycling. We are a wonderful but very strange family that you will find yourself being a part of.:thumb

check, check, and check

:brad
 
The Winter Rally at Camp Blanding was my first rally and my first experience with tent camping since my Boy Scout days in the mid 50's upstate NY. I bought a Catoma tent at the rally after seening how easy it was to erect (less than 5 min) and how dry it was. I will try to arrive at Grey, Tn late Wed to avoid the rush for a campsite and be ready to volunteer my services Thur. I'm looking forward to 9 days of riding and meeting fellow riders. Tentative plans have me traveling north to Helen GA, then onto Grey TN and then back to N FL. Ride Safe :usa :usa
 
"Good spaces" will be gone by 11AM.

Does that mean when I roll in on Friday afternoon the only space left to put up my tent will be next to "porta potty" row? :dunno

Looking forward to going this rally and hitting the great roads in the western part of VA down to the rally site. :nod
 
Back
Top