Attendance?

Just curious - what was the official attendance at this year's Rally?

I believe they announced at the closing ceremonies that it was 5,100.

Anyone remember how that compares to the previous two years??

Our local rally was way down this year, just wondering if this is a national trend......

Ken

2012 - Sedalia - 5295
2011 - Bloomsburg - 7330

I'm not sure this represents a serious trend. It is my understanding that rally attendance from the midwest to the west coast are always lower. A larger portion of the membership lives east of the Mississippi, so there might be a greater tendency for them to attend a rally in the east.

Kurt, thanks for the reply and the insight.

Do you happen to have the percentage of members who live east vs. west? That's interesting....

Ken

Ken -

I might. I think I have some data which was pulled from on ON sometime back...I'll have to check later today.

20774 said:

2012 - Sedalia - 5295
2011 - Bloomsburg - 7330

I'm not sure this represents a serious trend. It is my understanding that rally attendance from the midwest to the west coast are always lower. A larger portion of the membership lives east of the Mississippi, so there might be a greater tendency for them to attend a rally in the east.

Click to expand...

It takes a lot of time and money for those on the east coast to get to a rally on the west coast. I talked to a friend last night who was "somewhere" in Wyoming on his way home from the rally. He has gone to almost every rally in the last 30 years and he said he was not going to go to any more on the west coast. It is not a matter of time or money for him. He said he is not going to ride through a lot of hot flat nothing to get to another rally, regardless of how nice the location is. He described this year's rally as a "nice little Rally".

Well, I guess if it takes a lot of time and money to go from the east coast to the west coast, it must also take a lot of time and money to go from the west coast to the east coast? Thank goodness they move these shindigs around to make them possible for all members to attend once in a while with out breaking the bank and/or for those that are time and distance challenged! The rotation of Rally's seems to make it fair for all?
John

Look at the geography and related demographics. States with a large motorcycle population are mostly in the midwest - except for California (which has a majority of squids on sportbikes). Ohio, Michigan and Illinois are big motorcycle states.
And if you divide the U.S. into two parts separated by the vast, flat area that has little but prairie and cornfields, it will be obvious where you end up having a higher attendance for a rally.
Still, I think lower attendance is a trend, anywhere. Combine this with a falling interest in organized congregations or clubs and you see what's going to happen.

Also, in this particular case, again on the same weekend as the National was AMA Vintage Days at Mid-Ohio, representing a viable alternative for people East of the Mississippi to spend a few days motorcycling.
The rally die-hards, pin and t-shirt collectors and mileage slaves rode all the way to Oregon from here but you are missing those who help to set an attendance record.

Here's the info I had...I believe this came from an ON sometime after June 2012 but I'm not sure which one. I think Ted Moyer was the one that reported these numbers. Using the Mississippi River as the dividing line, I count 18126 east and 13011 west. If you included a few more of the states right along the western side of the Mississippi, the difference would grow quite a bit.

Ken F said:

Anyone remember how that compares to the previous two years??

Our local rally was way down this year, just wondering if this is a national trend......

Ken

Click to expand...

I went to the 49er rally this year with Brick. It had been many years since I last attended it. I was shocked at how few people there were. The vendors pavilion had four vendors. You could have run a stunt riding show in the empty floor space.

Like I said, it has been years since I attended and I don't think my memory of it being much larger prior is inaccurate. However, I was with the Adventure Riders in the sheep pen last time and dare I say a tad bit of alcohol was consumed making the memory just a touch foggy.

I believe the RA's rally at the Biltmore in June had better attendance than average. I think they had a higher MOA attendance because of the west coast rally location. What does the MOA rally pull for attendance when it is at more central location equal distance from east/west coast?

Let there be a rally at Lebanon, Ks. Geo center of continental USA.

osbornk said:

It takes a lot of time and money for those on the east coast to get to a rally on the west coast. I talked to a friend last night who was "somewhere" in Wyoming on his way home from the rally. He has gone to almost every rally in the last 30 years and he said he was not going to go to any more on the west coast. It is not a matter of time or money for him. He said he is not going to ride through a lot of hot flat nothing to get to another rally, regardless of how nice the location is. He described this year's rally as a "nice little Rally".

Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more with the hot flat nothing comment. I live in Eastern Oregon and there is no way in hell that I would attend a rally in Minnesota what with all the pain and misery involved just getting there and then there is the hot humid weather with about a bazillion mosquitos thrown in just for grins. Drove across the US once and never saw so many corn fields. Never do that again. The earth is flat and if you go beyond the OR/ID border you shall surely fall off the other side. I think maybe God said that but I'm not sure. I read with interest about the 2011 and 2012 rallies and was so glad I never attended, just too much pain and suffering.

jammess said:

there is no way in hell that I would attend a rally in Minnesota what with all the pain and misery involved just getting there and then there is the hot humid weather with about a bazillion mosquitos thrown in just for grins.

Click to expand...

From my recent experiences of traveling to St. Paul, mosquitos just aren't around. Residents can chime in. But I believe they've conducted various eradication programs which have basically eliminated this problem. Outside the city and out around the urban lakes, maybe that's different.

We keep up the mosquito myths to keep people out. Love sailing and riding across the prairie can be much the same. In all my travels around the world beauty and adventure can be found anywhere and is bounded only by the limits of your imagination. Sorry your borders end at OR/ID. Enjoy your ride where ever you take it.

jammess said:

...... with all the pain and misery involved just getting there.......

Click to expand...

What you call "pain and misery" many of us call riding.

20774 said:

Here's the info I had...I believe this came from an ON sometime after June 2012 but I'm not sure which one. I think Ted Moyer was the one that reported these numbers. Using the Mississippi River as the dividing line, I count 18126 east and 13011 west. If you included a few more of the states right along the western side of the Mississippi, the difference would grow quite a bit.

Click to expand...

Kurt, thanks for posting that!

By looking at the graphic, and excluding California (first because it is on the left coast, and secondly because it has the largest membership) the midwest should be the most convenient location serving the most members.

>rjzinc-I believe the RA's rally at the Biltmore in June had better attendance than average. I think they had a higher MOA attendance because of the west coast rally location.<

Rjzinc, this was held the same weekend as our local Rally. Many attributed this fact to our lowered attendance. Who knows?
Unfortunately, many local rallies are going by the wayside due to lack of attendance. We have broken even or gone in the hole for the last 8-10 years and have tried several different formats
to no avail. Fortunately we have been blessed with a decent bank account with which to keep plugging along regardless of making a profit or not. For the past 8-10 years we have seen 100-130 registrations, this year we were down to 74.

Ken

I think many people are like me that limit themselves to 500-600 miles from home due to family circumstances (medical and otherwise). We feel the need to be within one long day's ride of home. If you choose a location where the most members live within 600 miles of the rally location, it will be in the mid-Atlantic area. Fairness requires that we rotate the location to different parts of the country but the expectation of the number in attendance has to be adjusted.

Rally Attendance

I agree with your observation of 600 miles as an optimal riding distance. That makes for three easy days of 200 mile per day riding. I can do 300 miles/day and still be comfortable. If I compute the 2,400 mile distance to the west coast at 300 miles/day, that requires 8 days to get there.

The last three rallies I attended were Johnson City, TN, Bloomsburg, PA and Sedalia, MO. Of those, If I remember correctly, the Johnson City rally had the highest attendance in recent years.

I don't mind the heat while riding because my bike (R1200R) allows free movement of air. I stay in motels, since camping is out for me, due to a pinched nerve in the neck and a 69 year old body that requires a comfortable bed.

I am campaigning for Lewisburg, WV as the next eastern rally site. This is the WV state fairground site and there are plenty of motels available in the area. The high rollers can even opt to stay at the plush Greenbrier Resort in White Sulfur Springs. The altitude of Lewisburg is such that the temperature is usually in the 80-90 degree range. West Virginia has plenty of excellent two lane roads, with twisty curves, elevation changes and interesting small towns. The state needs the revenue a rally would bring, since coal is not now in favor and most of the state's economy is based on coal mining.

For those of you who have not ridden in WV, check out the roads (US19, 16, 28, 39, 92, 55, 3, 10, 219, 60, 250, 33) that are within reasonable distance from Lewisburg.

Bill

akbeemer said:

What you call "pain and misery" many of us call riding.

Click to expand...

Morning Kevin,
Actually, having spent much time riding the back roads of the big sky country I should change that OR/ID reference to include Montana. First time I went over the Bear Tooth I thought I had truly died and gone to heaven. Got nailed for day time speeding on the Bozeman pass one time and all it cost me was 5 bucks. But jeez louise who in their right mind could enjoy droning across the middle of this continent with nothing but heat, humidity, and corn fields. Call a spade a spade I say.... All that said I understand the need to vary the rally locations so that all folks have a chance to attend a national. Wonder what the attendance numbers would be if the national was held in the southeast or California?