From the BMWROK President
Greetings to all BMW Riders of Knoxville (BMWROK) members and prospective members! Welcome to another exciting year of motorcycling! Motorcycles have been a part of my life from the late 60’s when my brother & I purchased a 2 stroke, kick start, Kawasaki 350! I’ll never forget the look on Nancy’s parents faces the first time I pulled up in their driveway to pick her up on the motorcycle! Like many of you, responsibilities and activities of parenthood plus career inhibited further motorcycling for a few years! But I always kept the motorcycle endorsement on my license! After moving to Tennessee and realizing the wonderful riding roads in the area, I started renting various motorcycles. Once I tested a BMW, the deal was sealed! In May of 2008 my K1200GT finally arrived and I began to seriously explore the many facets of the motorcycling community. I soon joined BMWROK (Nancy’s response was “I can’t believe you’re joining a biker club!”) and it has truly opened up a whole new world! It has encouraged exploration of great places and development of new skills not to mention meeting many wonderful people along the way! In 2010 my wife Nancy decided to take an MSF course and soon both of us were riding but it took her until May of 2015 to locate a BMW that would fit her being “vertically challenged”! So far we have ridden in 25 states and one Canadian province! Being members of BMWROK has encouraged us to try events and activities we may not otherwise have braved! Currently I ride a ’15 K1600GT and Nancy rides an ’09 F800ST.
In addition to the club’s monthly dinner/social meetings on the first Monday of each month, we have a number of regular club events that we sponsor or support. They include our annual club ROK ON Rally at the T.W.O. Creeks private campground in Del Rio, Tennessee; support of the Pediatric Brain Tumor’s Ride for Kids; and assisting the BMW MOA in hosting the 2nd Annual Get-a-Way Weekend at Pine Mountain State Park in Kentucky. We also have a number of members who organize and lead a variety of rides, appealing to a wide range of rider skills and interests both on and off-road. In addition, our members enjoy attending many local and regional rally events encompassing touring and dual sport riding experiences.
Some of my goals for BMW ROK are to continue support of our regular club sponsored activities as well as to encourage our members to ride and explore our wonderful country. In our 2015 Club Mileage Challenge, 68 of our members reported riding over 600,000 miles! This year our goal is 649,000 total miles ridden by club members. So if you’re not already reporting your odometer reading, we hope you will and add to our total! If you have a suggestion for a new activity or would like to lead a ride, feel free to contact me via the club website! Or if you’re not a member yet, but would like to find out what we’re about, come to one of our meetings! The club provides the opportunity to meet new friends and to be able to talk with others who enjoy exploring unique places in one of the greatest areas of the country for motorcycling!
Bill Van Voorhis
President, BMWROK
Some of my goals for BMW ROK are to continue support of our regular club sponsored activities as well as to encourage our members to ride and explore our wonderful country. In our 2015 Club Mileage Challenge, 68 of our members reported riding over 600,000 miles! This year our goal is 649,000 total miles ridden by club members. So if you’re not already reporting your odometer reading, we hope you will and add to our total! If you have a suggestion for a new activity or would like to lead a ride, feel free to contact me via the club website! Or if you’re not a member yet, but would like to find out what we’re about, come to one of our meetings! The club provides the opportunity to meet new friends and to be able to talk with others who enjoy exploring unique places in one of the greatest areas of the country for motorcycling!
Bill Van Voorhis
President, BMWROK
