1974 August

BMWMOA European Corners, August 1974¶

Leaving on Friday evening, 30 May, it took us two days to reach the Isle of Man. After riding through torrential rains, heavy traffic, and taking two four-hour ferries, Paul Lewis #2924, his wife Marion, and I finally arrived, and by 6 p.m., we had met Fred Secker #2692, who secured rooms for us in Peel. Monday and Tuesday we watched the TT races, and Tuesday evening we attended the B.M.W. International Assembly. Fred, who is the General Secretary of The B.M.W. Club (of Great Britain), and his wife Lottie, did a fine job organizing the rally along with the able assistance of Wendy Russell, who edits their monthly newsletter. It was a gala evening for the over 300 attendees, and it wasn’t until the next day that I learned that Thomas Stephens #1336 was there also. The highlight of the evening was to wander among the 200 or so old, and modified BMWs parked outside the inn. A large number were with side-cars of all shapes and sizes – I’m sure Art Jacobson would have had a field day.

Thursday morning I left to visit with friends near Liverpool, while Paul and Marion left Friday for a one week tour of Scotland, Wales, and southern England. Friday night I stayed at Fred Secker’s house in London, and returned to Germany the next day. All in all, a memorable trip that I would like to repeat next year.

The following Saturday, Rosalie, Michael, and I rode to Munich to visit with Mike Krauser #2559 and Bob Beach #091. Bob had just finished his fifth Alpine Tour, and a party was held that evening for the 36 tour members (who had received 22 brand-new BMWs for the tour) at the hunting lodge of Mike’s father. An enjoyable evening. Among those whom we met were Ed Sobol #1710 from New Jersey and John Harper #005 from Alabama, who is president of the Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners, Ltd.

On Sunday, I tried out Bob’s R90/6 – very impressionable, and I do like the five-speed transmission. Bob, by the way, offers his three week Alpine tour for DM 899 to members in Europe owning their own BMW. His next tour starts on 9 September. See the June issue of the News for his address.

Pat Weatherford #3530, who joined in April, departed in June. Robert Kirkpatrick #1994 returns to the States in August. Kirk is a close friend of mine and we spent many enjoyable hours riding together. He has contributed a lot to the group and BMWMOA by his willingness to help others and his natural ability to organize many of our group rides. We will miss him and his wife Marge.

Larry Blake #3667, who’s stationed in Bitburg, joined us in May. Tim Shaffer #423 is back with us again at his old duty station in Ramstein. Welcome to both of you. From 21 to 25 September, Europe’s largest motorcycle show is to be held in Cologne, W-Germany. If you plan to attend, avoid the weekend, and once you reach Cologne, just follow the signs marked “IFMA”. I attended this exhibition two years ago and found it very interesting.

I started working in Kaiserslautern on 1 July, and my new address is: Hq 1^st Spt Bde ACSENGR, APO NY 09325.

Auf Wiedersehen