Every month the magazine of the BMW Motorcycles of America, BMW ON (BMW Owner's News) runs a section of member submitted photographs. The section is called "Picture This". The magazine releases a subject on the web site, member's submit photos, photos are then selected and published 2 – 3 months later. The December issue's subject is "Kickstand". I had a picture that could've fit the description so I sent it in. Yesterday, the magazine came and there was my picture on page 17, picture number 13. I'd say it qualified as a kickstand picture!
Our kickstand photo submission to BMW ON. Ours is picture number 13.
But on the BMWMOA flea market I bought Donna a pair of BMW floorboards for the K1200LT. Their was an owner who had sold his K1200LT and removed some accessories to sell separate from the motorcycle. Donna had floorboards on our Suzuki C50T Boulevard, one of those "Harley-A-Like" motorcycles. Since getting the K1200LT she has mentioned the idea of the floorboards a few times. You see, for some reason the BMW K1200LT was the only luxury touring motorcycle that came with footpegs instead of floorboards. BMW of course would sell them to you for a price they were very proud of. A company named Illium also makes passenger floorboards for the motorcycle but they're smaller and if you want the adjustable ones (like the BMW ones are) instead of fixed, their price approaches the BMW boards. I got these used floorboards at a nice discount as they were used. The advantage of the BMW floorboards is that they are adjustable up and down (6 settings) without the use of tools, are larger and the entire foot surface is rubber.
I hope to be able to get Donna to write an article on the floorboards after she's ridden with them.
Yesterday we met Mike & Wendy in Blairsville. Mike is a fellow BMW MOA member who is from Missouri. He and Wendy are on a motorcycle vacation to the Smokey Mountains and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
We took them on a nice ride of some twisty roads in north Georgia before having lunch and heading to the Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge in Stecoah, NC. While on the ride in north Georgia, I even scraped my left foot peg! I'll scrape the side stand in sharp left turns but this is the first time I got a foot peg on the K1200LT as they're much higher on the bike.
This morning the K1200LT has a new K1600GTL parked next to it. There's been a lot of people standing around the two and comparing them.
Well that's enough for now, as I'm writing this on a smartphone and it's time to ride. We'll write more when we get home.
BMW May Not Have The Dealer Network, But…..
Other motorcyclists may say "I'd ride a BMW if they had a dealer network like (insert your brand choice here) did in case I ran into trouble on the road." True, BMW doesn't have the dealer network that other motorcycles do but read on about the network that exists between owners and dealers.
Mike & Wendy, who we're meeting on Monday while they're travelling, had a mechanical problem in Memphis, TN earlier today. His shock had failed and was leaking on his 1985 K100RT. He said it was like riding a pogo stick when they'd hit a bump. He called to ask me if I could post a message for him on the message forum of the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America (BMW MOA) asking members to contact him if they could help out with ideas or suggestions on a repair or locating a replacement shock. I posted the message. I then checked the BMW Motorcycles web site for dealers near where he was. I found one in Memphis and after that the closest ones were in Nashville and Chattanooga. I called Mike back with the information and he had already called the dealer in Memphis with no luck. I then called my local dealer, BMW Motorcycles of Atlanta to see if maybe they had a shock in stock for a 27-year-old motorcycle. Our plan was I would pick up the shock, they would detour on their trip and take smooth interstates to us, getting here tonight. Mike and I would then spend tomorrow putting the shock on. Here is where the impressive part starts. BMW of Atlanta checked and did not have the shock. But they didn't stop there and checked the dealer network for inventory for it. Again they could not find the BMW OEM part in stock at a dealer in the U.S.. They asked if he'd be interested in a used part and gave some suggestions and phone numbers of shops that may have them. Wait, it gets better. When you join the BMW MOA you get something called the "Anonymous Book" which is a book that members can have themselves placed in to offer assistance to members. The book is listed by state, city and phone number only and then codes of the assistance you can offer. The assistance can range from meeting for coffee and conversation to major repairs. I called Mike with the news I had about the part. He had used his Anonymous Book and gotten in touch with a BMW MOA member who then contacted another member. The first member was coming with a trailer to take the bike to another member who was going to take the shock off his own motorcycle and put it on Mike's! Yes that's right, taking the shock off his own motorcycle to put it on someone's he'd never met so that they could get back on the road! I'm not saying that owning a BMW Motorcycle is better than owning any other motorcycle. I'm not saying that being a member of the BMW MOA is better than being a member of another motorcycle organization. In fact, I'd hope that other organizations would help in any way they could too.
Mike called later and said that in about 45 minutes they'd be back on the road. From the time of his first phone call to me to getting the shock and getting on the road was only about 2 1/2 hours!
I will never consider NOT renewing membership in the BMW MOA.
Happy Birthday To The MOA!
The BMW Motorcycle Owners of America (BMWMOA) is celebrating its 40 anniversary in 2012. The BMWMOA was officially started by a few owners in Chicago, IL in 1972 when BMW Motorcycles were a rare sight on the roads. I count myself in the membership, being member #168990. Happy Birthday BMWMOA!