Classic BMW Motorräder and club memberships

[Darryl.Richman]

I know that there is a tendency for people to come directly to the forum and read the interesting threads that get updated pretty frequently. As a result, you may not be visiting our home page and noticing when new issues of the club's magazine goes out. And because the magazine is behind schedule (but catching up, I promise!), the publication date we list on the cover is about 2-3 issues behind real time. So it can be difficult to keep track of when your club membership is actually going to run out.

So, I thought I would just post cover images and a little bit of information about the last few issues, so you can tell if you haven't received them. (BTW, you can see *all* of the last six years of issues here. And you can buy them as back issues from our online store, here.)

[h3]Winter 2013, v40n4[/h3]
Mailed 2/26/15
[img]/v7/sites/default/files//imagecache/Gallery-thumbnail/bulletins/1.jpg[/img]

• /2 Transmission Rehab II
• Steinhausen 21
• BMW in South Africa
• Sue's Find
• Rebuilding a Karcoma Fuel Tap
• BMW R51/3-68 Fork to Rubber Gaiters

[h3]Spring 2014, v41n1[/h3]
Mailed 4/13/15
[img]/v7/sites/default/files//imagecache/Gallery-thumbnail/bulletins/1_0.jpg[/img]

• Cannonball!
• The Boxer Twins Bible Book Review
• The Making of Motorcycles of the Century

[h3]Summer 2014, v41n2[/h3]
Mailed 5/26/15
[img]/v7/sites/default/files/imagecache/Gallery-thumbnail/bulletins/1_1.jpg[/img]

• If You Live in This World, You're Feeling the Change of the Guard
• 40th Anniversary R90S Celebration
• Beeming on the Cannonball
• Cannonball Spirit
• Three Strikes
• Ozzie's Wonderful Life

[h3]Fall 2014, v41n3[/h3]
Mailed 6/24/15
[img]/v7/sites/default/files/imagecache/Gallery-thumbnail/bulletins/1_2.jpg[/img]

• President's Column
• Repairing Your Quartz Clock
• The Hunt is Always the Fun
• A Month at 40mph
• The Philosophy Behind Vintage
• The BMW Clubs International Council

[Darryl.Richman]

...is at the printer's right now and will probably mail next week sometime. If your membership has expired, and you want to receive the next issue, you should consider renewing *very* soon. I will be generating the mailing list in a day or two.

Here's a sneak peak of v41n4:




To renew, be sure you're logged in to your membership account and purchase a renewal from the online store. You can join as a new member and still receive this issue by purchasing a new membership.

[Wynand]

I can understand that the new clear plastic bag used to package the magazine is a substantial saving compared to the sturdy brown envelope.

Downside however is that it poses a bigger threat to get lost, as someone could mistake it for their bedtime reading on 3 series BMW sedans. To date I received all issues, but I have noticed that the magazine's condition is deteriorating.

It's a long way from the US to Cape Town compared to inter-state mail. I would suggest at least considering a non-see through plastic bag compared to the clear.

[Darryl.Richman]

Wynand, since we changed printers about 2 years ago, they have done all of our international mailing. (Before that, either Tina or I put all of the international members' magazines into envelopes, stuck them closed and labelled them, and took them to the USPS for individual stamping and mailing.) I don't think I've had to mail more than one replacement magazine internationally in the last year, but if you find your copy does not arrive in good condition, let me know and I will send you another. And, as the next issue gets closer, I will ask them about an opaque plastic bag, I don't know what's available or if there is an additional cost involved.

[AKHANZ]

Thanks Darryl for all that you do. I come and go... fade in and out.. but you and your dedication is always there..(here)
You and several others make this all go. I appreciate your dedication and work and I know others do so as well.

This forum is such a great resource for members and non members.

If you are a non member and reading this...please step up and support the voice of old beemers.

Jim
Ketchikan, Alaska

[Darryl.Richman]

Awww... gawrsh!

But thanks for promoting the club. It's the club members' dues that make this forum possible, and if we could get the membership numbers up a bit more, we could probably make the magazine a bit bigger. We have some material coming in from Germany and the UK to add to our native North American content.

And it's not just me, the club's board is working hard to improve what it can offer to members. This year - BMW's Centenary - we will be especially active. And it would be great if we could get a few volunteers to restart the long dormant regional coordinators program.

[Slash2]

And it would be great if we could get a few volunteers to restart the long dormant regional coordinators program.

Hey Darryl, what exactly is the regional coordinators program? I'd love to see more activity on this forum and more active members, and if there's a way I can help, I'd be interested.

[Darryl.Richman]

Well, when Jeff Yost was president, about 10 years ago or so, he had the idea to recruit a number of regional coordinators for the club. (That's actually how I came to be active in the club.) The idea was that a regional coordinator would be someone who would find out about all the local events and disseminate this information. They would also attend some local events and promote the club. And each would send in reviews and photos of these events, or get others to do so, to be published in the magazine. This would really help the grassroots to grow.

We could have a bigger magazine if the membership grew by 100-200 people (we're pretty consistently at 1200 members right now, and the marginal cost for a bigger print run is pretty minor, mostly just the cost of postage), and we could provide help for local events with more volunteers.

There are dedicated people around the country (and around the world) that put on their events, but without an organization to help promote it outside their circles of friends, it can be difficult to get people to join in at these events. Kurt Schrader, who is so active here in the forum and also keeps up the /3 and /2 serial number lists, also keeps our Rally and Events map up to date. However, with the help of a regional coordinator program, we could probably find and list double or triple the number of events we have.

[Slash2]

Sounds like a good idea to me. I've only attended a few meets and for the most part tend to only find out about local rally's after the fact. If there was a better way of disseminating this information we'd all likely benefit. Let me know if there's anything I can do.