BMW Motorcycle Riders of the Emerald Coast
Meeting Minutes: April 27, 2024
Club News
Club vice-president, Jim Mencum, called the Emerald Coast Riders to order at 09:35 in the Club Room of Adventure Motorsports, in Pensacola. Fifteen riders were in attendance.
- Jim reminded us that four officer positions expire at the end of this year: president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer. A new election is slated for our December meeting, 12/28/2024. Please consider volunteering for a position and let the Club know about your decision. It is our Club and we want it to continue to be healthy.
- Treasurer Report: Our bank balance as of March 29th was $3,840.56. This is not counting $130.00 (sic) collected today from 5 new members.
- Jim recommended that we postpone a vote on the donation to the BMW MOA Foundation, “Safe Miles” until the May meeting. Jim voiced his concern for taking care of our own membership as our first priority of our funds.
- Fred gave a brief update on the “Bull Slough Weekday Riders”. The group rode to a hidden gem picnic area on the Yellow River called the Guest Lake Boat Ramp. It boasts adequate resources for a summer Club barbecue gathering. More at https://myokaloosa.com/pw/parks/guest-lake
- Recent rides discussion:
- March Moto-Madness, several riders attended this event and had high praise for it, https://marchmotomadness.com/ . It was held Apr 3-7 this year, at Tellico Plains, TN. Their motto is: “If you love to ride, love to eat, love camping, outdoors and love spending time with good people, March Moto Madness is for you!”
- Sam Alexander related highlights of his 3,700 mile pilgrimage to Texas and parts west, including the Texas Hill Country outstanding rides.
- Offroad course at the BMW Performance Center, Rider Academy – highly recommended for honing your skills. https://bmwperformancecenter.com/motorrad/
- Fontana Getaway, Our own Reece Mullins gave us a lively presentation on his recent rides and fellowship at Fontana and Tail of the Dragon. His pictures were poster quality and quite entertaining.
- MotoGP at Circuit of the Ameicas, Austin, TX, Fred his son, Jason rode to this event from Jason’s home in Austin. Lots to see, great MotoGP racing and the “King of the Baggers Race”
- 2025 BMW Rally Location Reece spilled the beans on the site for 2025’s major rally, shhh… it’s planned for Lebanon, TN, yay!
- Upcoming Events
- Barber Moto America, May 17-19, contact Bill Nowlin or Rich Lasota to plan a group ride. https://www.motoamerica.com/alabama/
- Tame the Dragon, May 2-5. https://www.bmwmoa.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1822732&group=
- Georgia Mountain Rally, put on by the Georgia BMW Club, May 3-5, https://bmwmcoga.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=4002&club_id=243122&item_id=2120798
- Thunder Beach, Panama City, May 1-5 https://thunderbeachproductions.com/
- Barber Small Bore Rally, including the Minibike Hill Climb, May 31-Jun 2 https://www.barbermuseum.org/barber-small-bore/
- BMW MOA National Rally, Redmond, OR, Jun 13-15, Please contact Reece or Fred if you plan to attend https://rally.bmwmoa.org/
- Safety and Maintenance
- Battery issues, Jim led the discussion about his battery woes on his K1600 bike. After numerous charge cycles, he purchased a new battery at Adv. Motorsports. They checked the old battery and said that it was just fine, and they kindly gave him a refund on the new one. It seems that removing the old battery and reinstalling it seems to have fixed it. Reece chimed in with a sorrowful story on his RT battery. That one kept failing due to constant trickle charging. Not necessary when you ride every day or even every week.
- Comms are really helpful on group rides, especially if the lead and trailing riders are in contact. This minimizes leaving anyone behind.
- Safety tip for U-turns, one group encountered a 3 bike pileup when the lead rider flipped an unanounced U-turn. The key is to have all stop first, then indicate a necessary U-turn to the group!
Respectfully Submitted,
Fred Aylstock, MREC Web Guy
