HEY...JOIN THE CLUB!! (and contribute to Micapeak.com...???)
Owners of BMW Airhead motorcycles may want to be Members of the
Airheads Beemer Club.
Why "BEEMER"? Slang for a BMW motorcycle
is Beemer; while slang for a BMW car is Bimmer. The Club,
and the loosely affiliated Internet-based LIST, are THE MAJOR RESOURCES for /5 and later airheads, for technical information,
social events, etc.
The Airheads Beemer Club has no direct involvement or function
with the Airheads LIST, but the Club does make an annual
contribution to the LIST owner, Marc Lewis, who solicits
donations from LIST users every January, and who runs MANY
LISTS from "micapeak.com". I usually contribute, you must make that decision for yourself.
The Airheads CLUB has a monthly print publication called
AIRMAIL. The purpose of the Club is to celebrate
OWNERSHIP, RIDING and WRENCHING of/on BMW Boxers with Type 247
or earlier engines, better known as 'an Airhead'. The R45 and R65, which are
NOT Type
247 ARE included. Actually, the Club is for all BMW air-cooled
motorcycles. The Airheads
Club does not, except rarely, have much to do with the K
bikes, Oilheads, and F bikes....although many Airhead owners also have those
types of BMW motorcycles.
Join the Club!! YOU TOO can be an Airhead (note the
capital A). This means fellowship, good cheer &
camaraderie. The Club is QUITE active.
The monthly AIRMAIL has a technical section by Guru
"Oak" Okleshen, an officially recognized Friend of
the Marque. You will find a
variety of questions & answers; and, some serious technical
articles in that section of Airmail.
While AIRMAIL and the Internet-based LIST tend to work
together, neither is meant to supercede the other.
AIRMAIL is the place for not just Oak's column(s), but for
social event listings, free classifieds; additional sharing of
technical information, product finds and
reviews, questions, stories, trip reports, events, gathering of
information, and other BMW motorcycle related topics.
AIRMAIL costs are mostly paid for by advertising; and, you WILL want to
know about those folks who advertise in AIRMAIL as advertisements in AIRMAIL
are almost exclusively Airhead oriented.
Those of you that are NOT Members of the Airheads Beemer Club
are TRULY losing out. Decorum forbids me calling
you a loser. For a few lousy dollars, Euro's, Kiwi's,
pieces of silver, whatever, YOU are not receiving AIRMAIL.
Some folks do not join the Club, saying it is due to the
higher cost of Club Membership, due to mailing costs, for
countries other than the U.S. No solution that seems acceptable to all has ever been found
for Memberships outside the USA, although it has certainly been
discussed considerably in the past; so, YOU must decide if
receiving AIRMAIL, and supporting the Club is valuable
enough. Some folks can easily afford a Membership;
yet, still prefer to be cheeep cheeeep cheeeeeep.
The Club does NOT have any fancy high paid staff &
organization, we are almost 100% volunteers in the Club.
AIRMAIL has an Editor, who produces it, and he is paid only $1200 a month to
produce the magazine. His (Jan's) airhead number is 1.
Guess what wife Di's number is?
Club events tend to be well attended. YOU could volunteer
for something too....How about a TechDay at your house? a Ride?
Arranging a barley therapy? A dinner, a campout, or
Bar-B-Q?....?
If you have a thorny problem, or just want to learn more about
your bike, why not organize a "FIX MY BIKE" TechDay
at your place (I am NOT kidding). List it in AIRMAIL; and
on the Airheads LIST....and, also list it on
www.airheads.org;
which is the Club's website...which has all sorts of stuff on it.
The ABC (Airhead Beemer Club) has eight Canons (comments ** are
MINE):
(1)
Airheads ride Beemers with air-cooled
heads.
**When we use the word Airhead, we
generally mean the models
from 12/1969 to the
end of production in 1995. This is
so, even
though much earlier models were air-cooled. If
you are
confused, because the R1100-R1150-R1200, etc., OILheads
ARE partially
air-cooled, that is just fine... we LOVE
confused
Members...more fun that way. MANY of our Members
have more than
one motorcycle, some LOTS more than just
one. Some have a 10
car garage full of them. Some are
mostly just
full of it.
(2)
Airheads believe that the simplest
engineering solutions are best.
**UNfortunately, that means that some
pervert this idea, and
add foo-foos that
DETRACT from reliability. Despite the
idea of simple
engineering, some HAVE purchased an Oilhead,
K, F; or, other
bikes. We have Members that own
many other makes,
including Harley Davidson's and are
members of H.O.G.
(3)
Airheads appreciate function over
form, fact over fiction, and friendship over friction.
**This seems to be very much the norm for
Club functions. I
have NEVER seen ANY
friction at a TechDay, CampOut,
or any other Airhead
function.
(4)
Airheads regard money as a tool, not
a status symbol.
**Your wallet status WILL diminish if you
purchase enough tools
& spare parts,
or simply MUST have another Airhead. We
have humble wealthy Members, poor members, and everything
in-between.
(5)
Airheads are earthy people who like
to camp.
**Some drive their pickup trucks, loaded
with foodstuffs and
cold beer to our
campsites.
(6)
Airheads maintain their own
motorcycles.
**Some do this way better than others. Some
are absolute
beginners, others
have years of experience at breaking things.
Only a few of us
have NEVER broken ANYthing....and we all
lie about that.
(7)
Airheads don't take themselves,
religion, or life too seriously.
**This does NOT mean they are
against religion, or
irreligious, just that personal seriousness about religion is
just
that,
personal.
(8)
Airheads like to share time,
knowledge, parts and camaraderie with other Airheads.
**Some even return borrowed tools,
some share dark beer; some
few even share Cuban
cigars and Single Malt Scotch. Decorum forbids that I mention my
name in those regards (typically as
recipient...hint hint hint....).
So, why are you waiting...get in on the FUN!....JOIN!!
Give yourself a Present. Remember, the more Airheads in
this world the better chance I have of getting a free brew,
Scotch or cigar.
If this shameful appeal has caused a gut-wrenching sickly and
totally guilty-to-the-bone feeling, read further. If not, read
further anyway. If you can't read, how did you get
this far? If you got this far, and intend to read
farther, you are likely our type of nut.
Here's more stuff about the Club and
AIRMAIL:
The ABC publishes that monthly snail-mailed AIRMAIL. Our
Editor, B.Jan aka Airhead #1...or is that JUST Airhead1? is
responsible for
AIRMAIL. Jan's our only paid employee. I
would not do it without a substantial raise. Every
magazine has an Editor. In AIRMAIL,
the Editor does an editorial now and then.
Editorials don't imply that YOU as a Member endorse them, nor
the Club, same as in any
magazine you subscribe to. The input from the Editor may be far
ranging, from quotes from the American Motorcycle Association,
to
discourse upon government functions (especially if they affect
motorcyclists), and even social comments or ideas or letters
from Club Members. Things would be duller
without Editorials.
AIRMAIL contains a number of sections; and constant mizpelings
of the same 'words' are on purpose:
(1) The "Whair & When" are
Listings of TechDay's ...if you have
not attended one, or
sponsored one, why not, ya dumb @#$%^)(&*, .
Campouts,
Rendezvous, Barley Therapies... events of all kinds of
interest to Airheads are
listed. If you do not know what Barley Therapy is,
drop in at one of
these listed events, have a beer, and ask about Therapy.
(2) There is a section called the Forum, for
letters/opinions from Members.
(3) Stories, pictures, and coverage of
events.
(4) News pertinent to riders.
(5) Editor's comments in an Editorial.
See above. Highly variable in content; will
occasionally mess with your emotions and
sacred beliefs.
THREE ADDITIONAL reasons that ALONE, make your
membership exceedingly valuable:
(1) There is a monthly technical article called AIRTECH. These
are written by OAK. Orlando Okleshen is a BMW wrench par
excellence. Oak is an officially recognized 'Friend
of the Marque'. If you don't know what that
means, ask. Oak's AIRMAIL articles are
a must. Unlike other magazines, we 'Headz' NEVER throw
out Airmail's, they are kept as permanent reference
material. Oak has an "Airtech Index"
available. Oak's technical columns and other writings are
not available on the Internet for free downloading.
(2) At the rear of the publication is the Classifieds...no
charge to Members.
(3) A Dairectory is published. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know,
another cutesy spelling. Together with the MOA (BMW
Motorcycle Owners of America) "Anonymous"
booklet, these are all you need when on the road, to
contact someone who is a Member of one or both
organizations...and a lot of reference material is
also provided. Your humble servant, me, also happens to be a
sidecarist, so I also carry a booklet of those Members names. It is hard to travel anyplace
and not be within range via a phone call
or an E-mail, for anything from coffee &
conversation to really serious mechanical
help. Keep the Dairectory and MOA's
Anonymous booklets someplace on your bike.
The Club even has an 'ABC store' offering, amongst other
things, pins, patches, windbreakers, ball caps,
earrings, banners, coffee mugs, buckles, T's and tanktops, sweats, stickers,
beverage Koozie's, stocking caps, calling cards, shop rags, ETC. Temporary
Tattoos are available for kids and would-be kids...Airhead
logo'd.
AIRMAIL advertising is modest, and is Airhead oriented. You
won't find any constantly annoying attitude, nor hyping of
the latest BMW product. AIRMAIL does NOT toe the BMW
factory line nor grovel at the feet of spin doctors.
I suggest/request, that you join The Airheads Beemer
Club....AND if you join, you don't have to read this
again...unless you want to see the changes in the latest
version of this shameless appeal. I am running
out of witty changes anyway. You will be able to stop
feeling guilty. WE KNOW YOU FEEL GUILTY.
Think of the PRESTIGE, your VERY OWN ABC number.
Here is how to JOIN:
Go to:
http://www.airheads.org
Snoop around, the way to join must be there someplace,
EH? Take a look at all the pages of great
information after you click on the left side under Technical
Tips. I even, blush, wrote some of them.
You already know about MY website:
http://bmwmotorcycletech.info
Our Membership Chairman, Ken Uhl, has back issues of
Airmail available. You may want some, especially after
looking through Oak's Index (contact Oak for them at: askoak@aol.com). You already have your
mouse ready to click, and the printer fired up....and your
pen and checkbook at the ready....riiight? WHY
not? The only reason must be that you are
ALREADY a Club Member. Club
Membership cost is a mere pittance. In U.S.
Funds it is $25 per year for USA
addresses. $32 in Canada; $50 elsewhere's. Secure credit
card processing is available at the
www.airheads.org
website. Please allow some weeks for processing, before you get
your first issue, Ken, like most all club folk, is a volunteer, and has other
things in life to do at times. Of course, you could always send in some extra....you'd
feel even less guilt for your past transgressions at
lurking without being a paying Member. JOIN UP! If
you want to contact Ken Uhl directly: P.O. Box 78, Canyon,
CA 94516.
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Snowbum
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