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https://bmwmotorcycletech.info/joinclub.htm
© Copyright 2022, R. Fleischer

HEY! ...>>>JOIN THE CLUBS!!

Owners, potential owners, or those just seriously interested in older BMW motorcycles should seriously consider Membership in the Airheads Beemer Club (ABC)....AND....the Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners Club.   TO JOIN THE VINTAGE BMW Motorcycles Club,  SEE THE BANNER ACROSS THE TOP OF THIS PAGE.

The Vintage BMW Motorcycle Club is quite different from the Airheads Beemer Club, particularly in service and owner's  information that is available free to you.  That Club's database is massive.   More and more information is being placed, absorbed-into, hosted, etc., by the Vintage BMW Motorcycle Club.    In addition, my own website (in its entirety!) is being hosted by them to ensure that my information lives on, in perpetuity.  I have made arrangements with that Club to host my website even after my death.  The Vintage BMW Motorcycle Club covers, in great depth, not only the Airhead years, but BACK TO THE VERY FIRST BMW MOTORCYCLE.

The Airheads Beemer Club is, of course, primarily concerned with Airheads, which means BMW air-cooled motorcycles manufactured between approximately December 1969 and 1995/1996.      I, Snowbum, am a Member of both clubs, and I absolutely am, because I think those memberships quite valuable.

The rest of this article concerns ONLY the Airheads Beemer Club, abbreviated ABC. The Vintage Club banner links across the top of this page adequately covers the Vintage Club. It is my strong recommendation that YOU join BOTH Clubs.  If you also own a very modern BMW motorcycles, you might want to join the BMW Motorcycle Owners.

WHY "BEEMER"?    Slang for a BMW motorcycle is Beemer; slang for a BMW car is Bimmer (sometimes folks mix these up!).

Why join the ABC?   The ABC, and the loosely affiliated Internet-based Airheads LIST, and the Club's website https://www.airheads.org, are major resources for 1970-1995 Airheads technical information, social events, etc. The purpose of the Club is to celebrate OWNERSHIP, RIDING & WRENCHING of BMW Boxer-engine'd motorcycles better known as 'Airheads'.  Many Airhead owners also have other BMW products; cars, K-bikes, Oilheads, F-bikes ..... ALL are welcome to attend and participate at Club events, including wanna-be owners of Airheads.


Club internet presence:
The Club has a website,  https://www.airheads.org,  which has various clickable drop-down sections, one of which is called Community, giving access to a large group of files called Technical tips (some of which I ...blush ...wrote), and also links to the Club's on-line FORUMS.

The FREE E-mail technical help Airheads Mailing List is active to very active.  You do not have to join the Club to join and participate on the List.  You can join the Airheads on-line List here: https://lists.micapeak.com/mailman/listinfo/airheads. I recommend you join and be active on that List.  Full disclosure:  I, Snowbum, am a Moderator. That Internet-based mailing LIST is PRIMARILY devoted to technical advice for such as repairs, service, and maintenance.  For many years that List has been THE PRIME SOURCE for Airhead technical information, with many knowledgeable owners, & some well-known professional wrenches of 'guru' status being active on that LIST.  The LIST is called the AIRLIST by some.  Sometimes social activities (such as TechDays, meetings, camping, etc.) are posted.  Typically, posting with full descriptions for those social activities is in the monthly AIRMAIL magazine sent to Club Members, but a listing may also be on the https://www.airheads.org homepage.

What was/is the Club involvement with the Internet-based Airheads LIST?
The Airheads Beemer Club direct involvement or function with the Airheads LIST has varied over the years. The Club did ...long ago ...make an annual contribution to the LIST owner (that is, the internet service provider, via its owner, micapeak.com, owner Marc Lewis, who solicits donations from LIST users every January, & who runs MANY LISTS, all for free, from "micapeak.com".  The Airheads Beemer Club and the Airheads List are, however, different from each other. Join both!

FYI:  The club has a forum on the https://www.airheads.org site.  There are also active independent Airheads groups on Facebook.  These various Facebook pages are used for social activities; technical advice; and wide-ranging comments.   I recommend being on the Airheads LIST, & if you want to, join one or more of the Airheads Facebook pages.  The Facebook pages are NOT good, IMO, for finding old technical replies, as history/archives are, well, 'difficult'; and, probably more to the point,  'advice' on the Facebook groups may not be what you want to follow or even read ... some off-the-wall blitherings will be seen about most anything.   There ARE SOME good knowledgeable folks/Wrenches on Facebook, and separating them out is sometimes time consuming or confusing.   The Airheads LIST is, IMO, BY FAR BETTER for tech advice.  For those who like Facebook, however, here are three:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/airheadsbeemer/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/AirheadsAustralia/ (but with quite a few Members in the USA, and other countries)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/bmwairheads/


The Airheads Beemer CLUB has a monthly print publication called AIRMAIL; which began publication in December, 1991.  It is now published in COLOR, on magazine-type paper.  Many Club Members save their Airmails forever. More information below.


Join the Club!! ...and...  Join the LIST (hey! ...the LIST is FREEEEE)!!

This means fellowship, good cheer, camaraderie, technical tips/articles, & lots more.

Need technical or repair help while on the road?  Just want to meet and have coffee with some fellow members?   The Club has these things available, and more, all covered by a yearly-published Dairectory (yes, that's how it is spelled) booklet (keep it on your motorcycle), containing all sorts of information, including a Membership contact list.  Each Member who elects to be in the Dairectory, whether the on-line version, or the printed booklet version, or both, can easily make his/her listing individualized.

You can send an E-mail note/inquiry to the Airheads LIST, and likely get FAST replies, even local physical, hands-on HELP!

The monthly Club magazine, AIRMAIL, has a technical tips section, called AIRTECH.  You will find a variety of questions & answers & sometimes a full-blown article on something.  There is also the Whair & When section you will want to look at every month or more.  Yeah, it is spelled that way.

AIRMAIL is NOT just a place for tech, but also for travel/trip stories; social event listings including TechDays, Campouts, Barley Therapy sessions; FREE classifieds; product finds & reviews; questions;  gathering of information; and, other BMW motorcycle related topics; but with a preponderance of attention for Airheads .

Advertisements in AIRMAIL are almost exclusively Airhead-oriented; often these products and services may not be advertised or easily found elsewhere's; even using an Internet-based search engine!

Most every issue of Airmail (12 issues per year) contains a list of all Airmarshal's, and how you can contact yours.  Airmarshal's are regional coordinators (to say the least...) ....that can do a lot for you.....

Some folks who live outside the USA do not join the Club, saying it is due to the higher cost of Club Membership (due to mailing costs for the Club's monthly publication), to their country.    No solution that seems acceptable to all has ever been found for Memberships outside the USA, although it has certainly been discussed considerably.  Club Dues are $30/yr in USA; $37/yr in Canada & Mexico; and $55/yr elsewhere.  $ is in USD.   YOU must decide if receiving 12 issues of AIRMAIL every year, receiving the Dairectory booklet, & supporting the Club, and its Airhead Central at Rallies, ETC. .....is valuable enough.   Some folks, even those living in the USA, who can easily afford a Membership, still prefer to be cheeep cheeeep cheeeeeep.   If you are value-conscious (aren't we all?), just one use of technical information, help, etc., can pay for many years of Membership.

The Club does NOT have any fancy high paid staff & organization. Except for the Airmail Editor, the Club is run by volunteers.  AIRMAIL's producer/Editor is a founding member of the Club, B. Jan Hoffman.   Jan's Airhead number is 1.

Club events are usually well-attended.  YOU could volunteer for something ....how about a TechDay at your house? A Ride? Arranging barley therapy? A dinner, a campout, or Bar-B-Q?  Organize or arrange something!   As earlier noted, we have Airmarshal's (that's what our regional/State/Country main contacts/coordinators are called) all over the world to help you.  You can see a list/date of Events in each issue of Airmail.

The Club usually has an "Airheads Central" at large rallies, such as the annual rally of the BMW Motorcycle Owners Of America.  The Airheads Beemer Club is chartered by MOA.  Airheads Central is a special place for YOU, & you might want to ask about how all that comfortable furniture got there in that big tent, & what happens to the furniture afterwards ...you WILL find that interesting ...and the information may well be possibly of some later personal interest for your use.   If you are at Airheads Central, be sure to immediately ask for Therapy (Barley therapy, that is).

If you can go to any of the Airheads Club events, DO GO.

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 https://www.airheads.org.


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 from the /5 ("Slash 5) models that began production in December 1969, through to the end of the Airheads production in 1995.  This is so, even though earlier models than the /5 were air-cooled.

(2) Airheads believe that the simplest engineering solutions are best.
**UNfortunately, that means that some pervert this idea, adding Foo-Foos, Farkles & Bling.  Despite the idea of simple engineering, some HAVE purchased & even still own an Oilhead, K, F; or, .....even other brands of bikes.

(3) Airheads appreciate function over form, fact over fiction, & friendship over friction.
**This is very much the norm for Club functions.

(4) Airheads regard money as a tool, not a status symbol.
**Your wallet contents WILL shrink if you purchase enough tools & spare parts, or simply MUST have another Airhead. We have humble wealthy Members, poor Members, Members without members (missing human parts)   .......& everything in-between.

(5) Airheads are earthy people who like to camp.
**Someone will even occasionally forego a delightful ride on their Airhead; instead, they will drive their pickup truck loaded with foodstuffs & cold beer to a Club campsite.  Airheads & wannabee Airhead owners are welcomed whether camping or not.   If you bring dark Porter or Stout, ...and I am there, ...please runneth some elixir into my Airhead mug or cup.

(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. Some have major work done by our few specialist Airhead "Gurus".  Many of those help, often mightily, on the Airheads LIST, the Facebook pages, ETC.   ....NONE of the Gurus have EVER broken ANYthing.... (and they all lie about it).

(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.  B. Jan, Airhead #1, added Canon #7.   He said this was to discourage some early members from proselytizing.

(8) Airheads like to share time, knowledge, parts & camaraderie with other Airheads.
**Some even return borrowed tools. (WHO still has my Kukko tools and box of shims?)   Some share dark beer/ale/cigars with me.  None have, so far, shared their women (or men) with me (Penny would frown). You could offer me a brewskie, cigar, or single malt Scotch, & see if my hand stretches out......((BTW....I do NOT drink 'n ride/drive)).

So, why are you waiting ....get in on the FUN! ....JOIN!  Give yourself a gift, YOUR VERY OWN MEMBERSHIP in the ABC.
The more Airheads in this world, the better chance I have of getting a free cigar, etc., wherever I am traveling.

If this shameless appeal and lousy attempt at humor has caused a gut-wrenching, sickly, totally guilty-to-the-bone feeling, read further. If not, read further anyway.  If you can't read, how did you get this far?

BTW ....There is a monthly technical article in AIRMAIL, called AIRTECH. These were written for many years by OAK.  Orlando "OAK" Okleshen, who passed away in April, 2017, was a BMW wrench par excellence.  Oak was an officially recognized 'Friend of the Marque' and was a personal friend of mine.   If you don't know what Friend of the Marque means, ask.  Oak's AIRMAIL articles were always a must-read.  Unlike other magazines, we 'Headz' usually NEVER throw out Airmail's, they are kept as permanent reference material.  Oak's technical columns & other writings are NOT available on the Internet for free downloading at this time.  Airtech continues after Oak's passing, with a large backlog of articles also being printed.   https://bmwmotorcycletech.info/WHO-WAS-OAK.htm

Airmail also has Classifieds (someone goofed, classifieds is spelled correctly) ...no charge for Members.

The AIRHEADS AIRSTORE offers pins, logo'd patches, windbreakers, ball caps, earrings, banners, mugs, buckles, long & short sleeve T's, sweatshirts, stickers, beverage Koozie's, cups, 16 ounce etched logo beverage glasses, steins, calling cards, flags/banners, M/C license plate frames, temporary tattoos for kids and would-be kids... Airhead logo'd;... and LOTS MORE.... even calendars and shop rags! You can also view AIRSTORE items at https://www.airheads.org.  You should own at least one Airheads shirt, preferably several.   If you have TWO mugs or TWO steins, you can fill both with Porter, and offer the contents of one to me (if I am lacking my own mug at that moment) ...GRACIAS!

There is advertising scattered about in AIRMAIL.  AIRMAIL advertising is modest, and is Airhead-oriented. You won't find any constantly annoying attitude, nor hyping, of the latest BMW products.  AIRMAIL does NOT toe the BMW factory line nor grovel at the feet of spin doctors.  You will find the advertising to be of value.  It is hardly just farkles, ...these ads cover who repairs, services, & supplies things you want, or will need ...and MANY other pertinent things.

In addition to AIRMAIL, a Dairectory is published. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, a cutesy spelling.  The MOA (BMW Motorcycle Owners of America), if you are a Member, sends you every year their  "Anonymous" booklet.   The Airheads Beemer Club has its own version.   You do not need to be a MOA Member to use the ABC Club's Dairectory, & vice versa. But, these two booklets are usually all you need when on the road.  You can contact Members of one ... or both ... organizations ...& a lot of reference material is also provided.  It is hard to travel anyplace & not be within range, via a phone call or an E-mail, for anything from coffee & conversation ...to a spare room ...or really serious mechanical or electrical help.  Keep these booklet(s) someplace on your bike!  If you have a dozen Airheads (some may have more), put the booklets in the bike you are riding.  I keep the prior years booklets for my other bike, or sidecar rig.

Join The Airheads Beemer Club!! ....if you join, you don't have to read this again ...unless you want to see the changes in the latest version of this brazen appeal.  I'm running out of shame ....well, half-assed witty changes. SO---JOIN! ...You will be able to stop feeling guilty.   WE KNOW YOU MUST FEEL GUILTY.  Think of the PRESTIGE, your VERY OWN ABC number; your VERY OWN listing in the Dairectory.

Contact the Airheads Membership Team: membershipteam@airheads.org
You can even purchase a Gift Membership for Someone ....or more than one someone ...if you have more than one friend.


© Copyright 2022, R. Fleischer

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Last check/edit: Thursday, October 13, 2022