• 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?

Rally Attendance 6,018

I have already misremembered (tech term) the exact number but more than 10% were 1st Timers.

It was, by the way a superb facility; great locale for riding; and near perfect rally weather. The only weather complaint I heard was some poor guy who got cold in his tent Thursday night. :violin
 
Two thumbs up for Vance & Mari for organizing and riding herd over the oh-so-many duties that have to be managed!. :thumb :thumb One for each of you'ze.

Ciao, HSV-Phil & HSV-Karen
 
That looks like a solid number and with 10% being first timers, the weather (lack of serious heat) and central location may have had the positive impact the national rally needed.... Hint hint...:thumb
 
The weather could not have been better and the facility was very good. The Iowa State Fairgrounds is a tough act to follow, but I was very impressed with the site. Thanks to all of the people responsible for a great weekend. We are not quite home yet, but dodged a thunderstorm today amid otherwise excellent riding weather. There was a huge backup south of Indy on I 65 due to water covering the interstate. We, along with others, rode the right shoulder to get around a good portion of the traffic. It may have been the biggest backup I have ever had the misfortune of being involved in. The other contender was also on I 65, that time near Nashville.
 
1st timer. Amazed!

Saw Paul and Voni ride by when they arrived, but never had a chance to talk.

Reconnected with a few old friends and I hope made some new ones.

Very impressed with the facility and the amount of preparedness and hard work that went into making this so seamless.


Thanks for efforts of the organizers and volunteers, your hard work was very appreciated.


Scott
 
Great Rally!!

A big Thank You to all those that volunteered and to the organizers that made this rally so much fun. I loved the Minneapolis and Iowa rallies, however, they were REALLY BIG and I missed seeing dozens of people. But boy having it compacted like this one, really made a huge difference in seeing old friends, making new ones and welcoming and mentoring the first timers. Earlier in season, weather and smaller venue....winners!!!

I hoteled it with a broken knee and leg, and still ran into 10 old friends sitting in my hotel lobby and another dozen or more in the parking lot. I arrived Wed night and ended up staying for the whole thing. I usually head back Saturday morning but stayed the extra day adding more into the community and the surrounding area businesses $$.

Only a couple complaints: how the heck did we get back to a 2 hour closing ceremony again? What happened to the 1 hour ceremony? With today's digital marketing and all the wonderful and very appreciated trip providers, is there not a better way to do most of this through seminars, exhibitor booths, or over an email marketing campaign to those that are interested and are at the rally? Those interested would be targeted upon registration, and/or would sign up for it at a vendor seminar, or seeing the trip vendor face to face. They would watch video there, at a seminar, or on their smartphones and they would sign up for drawing with them. Regrettably, I no longer have any interest, nor does most of my age group, in pushing a 800# GS through a third world country, especially off road. We appreciate the vendors and the gifts, don't get me wrong, but there has to be a better way than the experience of an hour plus of screaming video sound, dealing with a screen too small to see on over a half dozen of very similar trip vendors. If we figured a way to make registration a breeze and so modern, I think there is a way to make the trip giveaways more fun and rewarding for both the vendor and the closing ceremony attendees.

Also adding to the closing ceremony misery- What was up with the 38 minute GS ad??? We happily lost the overbearing GS giants and their rolling fashion show, only to have them offer their revenge upon us with a dirt pile parade of BMW corporate folks. BMW corporate stopped caring about us years ago including making us change our club name. Now no one outside the gates knows what MOA stands for and that is ridiculous. Everyone knows the BMW brand and a rally with a few thousand BMW motorcycles everywhere makes it pretty easy to put it together. To have corporate there was just cheesy. Knock 3K off the price of a bike for a rally attendee and all might be forgiven.

Lastly and not the rallies fault: Whoever the lady was that got into the pissing match with the Lions Club over a freaking salmon patty sandwich, not once, but twice over two days, wins the local county sheriffs; "We cant believe we had to get involved award". The sheriff department loved us, and had no issues whatsoever with 6017 attendees. Until ....the "princess and the patty" as it is now being called, got into with the Lions Club. Bravo madame, Bravo!!

Looking forward to seeing everyone next year!

Cheers,

Miles to go
 
I think Des Moines had a great set up with all the air conditioned buildings, but Lebanon gets extra points for It's compact size.
Tthe small size made it easier to bump into friends.
This was only the 2nd time we modeled at a National and it was a plus most of the motels were only 2 miles away.
The only negative was the closing ceremony ran over by 1 hour.
Next time We will check if it's required to be present to win the bike.

One more, and the organisers had no power on what happened, but it was poor maners for the GS rider during the closing ceremony to spray part of the crowd with dirt and dust by doing donuts near the fence.

We give the rally 9 out of 10 stars.
 
This was my first rally since Billings. I enjoyed it very much. The only negative that I experienced was dodging the golf cart that was piloted by a drinking driver. Surely the MOA has a policy against drinking and driving of golf carts or shuttles by volunteers or MOA personnel?
 
Last edited:
IIRC the first-timers number was "over 800"

impressive any way you slice it

Next time We will check if it's required to be present to win the bike.
The companies that donate the grand prizes determine whether or not the person must be present to win. The bike is given away by the MOA and you do not have to be present to win. I've been to a number of rallies and last year in Des Moines was the first time I ever saw the winner be there to come running down and claim his new bike :)
 
This was my first rally since Billings. I enjoyed it very much. The only negative that I experienced was dodging the golf cart that was piloted by a drinking driver. Surely the MOA has a policy against drinking and driving of golf carts or shuttles by volunteers or MOA personnel?

Some of the RV'ers had golf carts as well. I saw them rolling to and from the RV campground.

Don't make the assumption that it was a volunteer or MOA personnel.
 
Some of the RV'ers had golf carts as well. I saw them rolling to and from the RV campground.

Don't make the assumption that it was a volunteer or MOA personnel.

I wasn't aware of that. Thanks for pointing that out. However, I'm gonna stick with my initial assumption due to what I saw.
 
Last edited:
cool at night

I have already misremembered (tech term) the exact number but more than 10% were 1st Timers.

It was, by the way a superb facility; great locale for riding; and near perfect rally weather. The only weather complaint I heard was some poor guy who got cold in his tent Thursday night. :violin

That's what they make sleeping bags for!

Louise
 
I was one of the 10% of first timers. I have to say I enjoyed myself and massive kudos to Airhead Central for all of the help and instruction they gave me on my '82 R65 LS. 6000 km's was a decently long trek on that machine. I have no real beefs with anything that I saw, for an event of that size I think everything seems to have run very well. I was surprised and pleased with the amount of positive feedback I got about the presentation I offered. I promise if I end up there next year I will have a much prettier one to offer.
 
2019 rally

I enjoyed the rally, the one suggestion is that the rally makes a point of saying that it is a great time to explore the surrounding area. But they only have vendors open during daytime hours 9am to 5 or 6pm prime hours for touring making members choose between exploring the area or patronizing the vendors. Why not have vendors open during the evening? Like other motorcycle shows.
 
I enjoyed the rally, the one suggestion is that the rally makes a point of saying that it is a great time to explore the surrounding area. But they only have vendors open during daytime hours 9am to 5 or 6pm prime hours for touring making members choose between exploring the area or patronizing the vendors. Why not have vendors open during the evening? Like other motorcycle shows.

I agree yes and no. The rally is 3 days. Ride 2 and 1 not. Or ride 2-1/2 and 1/2 not. And the outside vendors were open into the evenings. We did G.E.A.R.S for the young riders for two days and I still found time to spend more than anticipated at the vendors. :)
 
Until ....the "princess and the patty" as it is now being called, got into with the Lions Club.

I'd be interested to hear more about this.
 
Back
Top