BMWMOA Rally Day #2

As was forecast, it was miserably hot here again. I heard that people were being hauled away to the hospital with heat exhaustion. We arrived this morning a bit before 9:00 and wandered among the outdoor vendor booths while it was still only hot. We then headed inside for a bit to cool off before trudging across most of the fairgrounds for the room under the grandstand. We heard that it may be standing room only for Jack Riepe's talk entitled "How To Breath Life Into Any Ride Report Or Motorcycle Story". Parked outside the venue was his K75, Fireballs, and parked a discrete distance away, a silver Vespa. (BTW, there were quite a few scooters at the rally)

It was an excellent talk covering what not to put in your blog post and how you need to try and capture and hold the readers interest. The audience was very engaged and a writing contest was announced. After his talk, he signed copies of his book. In this snapshot, he posed with one of the Mac-Pac elite. We missed the first ten minutes of his talk and the room was packed with no AC. I spotted Steve Williams the author of Scooter in the Sticks, talking with another rider from State College, PA. Steve was busy snapping what I'm sure will be prize winning photos of the event. My iPhone pictures didn't come out very well due to the dark venue with very bright light shining through any opening. I also met GeorgeF, the author of ridingusa.blogspot.com. He had passed Jack on the highway yesterday on the way to the rally (Jack was reportedly riding in a truck with Fireballs in tow). GeorgeF is still riding his Kawasaki Concours. I was thinking that maybe his Ténéré had come in but, sadly, not yet. The four of us had lunch at a food joint where Jack got the wife of the owner to admit that the ingredients used were just so-so. Watching Jack engage her in conversation was almost magical. A true artist at work. It was a real joy to meet these other bloggers and get to know them a little better.

After lunch, I went to a couple of Airhead specific sessions. The first was led by Matt Parkhouse and Joe "Cuda". Both very knowledgeable on Airhead electrical systems. Lots of great information from both and I did get one specific question answered. I do need to put in the adjustable voltage regulator and crank up the voltage. The battery life would be shortened if it isn't raised. The other seminar was a Q&A session with Tom Cutter from the Rubber Chicken Racing Garage. Another favorite among Airhead owners.



Tomorrow we head south to Williamsburg, VA, so I won't get to meet Nikos. Maybe it'll be cooler down there but I'm not holding my breath.