From the BMWROK President
Welcome to the BMW Riders of Knoxville
Hello to all current and future members of our BMW Riders of Knoxville ROK club. My name is Chris Marshall and I’m happy to serve as its president for my term. I was raised in a small town outside St. Louis Missouri (Creve Coeur) and quickly fell in love riding the beautiful rolling and curvy southwest roads of that state. Because of my employment, I have lived in different parts of MO, IN, CO, IL and now since 2010 relocated here as my most favorite spot in our country. Because I have had the pleasure of feeling and being in about every state, so well East TN I feel is just the most perfect motorcycle paradise as can get - it seems others also keep agreeing! People from all over the world come right here in our backyard. As for my background, besides my gear head 2 wheel qualities, I recently retired from American Airlines after 39 years 9 months as a pilot. During which I had many wonderful sights included, not only viewing the different motorcycles within so many far away countries, but also taking notice of how differently riders are treated here in the USA vs. other countries on our strange round rock. I’m about to enjoy all my extra time off now as I’ll be leaving soon to ride from Auckland to Christchurch down under in New Zealand. As for my motorcycle history, very much like so many others in our club, it started over 50 years ago. A used little Benelli two stroke 50 as my first ride – and yes it even had a real clutch, unlike its Honda mini trail competition. From there my riding experiences in order went to a 1967 Honda super 90, a 1969 new Suzuki 350 Rebel, a 1970 H1 Kawasaki 500 MIII triple, a used old sad barn find a Suzuki 250 hustler, a Suzuki 175 scrambler, a new Yamaha 750 Midnight edition, a used BMW 1995 straight K75 ABS, an R1100RT (oil head), an R1200RT (cam head), now to a 2014 R1200rt-LC. Oh, yes one other - a Suzuki 650 Burgman which I am proud to mention to anyone – it’s half a BUSA (Hayabusa) Suzuki just cut that engine in half and detuned it a tad to go easy on the rear tire and keep the front end down:-) It’s my lawn chair on a highway.
Our BMW ROK club consists of about 65 members. We have one casual monthly meeting at various local restaurants trying to keep the membership updated and to socialize. As a club, we support the Pediatric Brain Tumor’s Ride for Kids and assisting by many of us volunteering at the BMW MOA. We also are hosting the 2nd Annual Get-a-Way Weekend at Pine Mountain State Park in Kentucky again this coming riding season. Various club rides are constructed and attended by many of our members. These rides serve as a wonderful new window into experiencing many local areas and roads for transplants such as me. Not being from here while others have grown up locally can surely aid us (people like me) in enriching our local roads and town knowledge. We are charted with the BMW Motorcycle Owners Association (MOA) along with the BMW Risers Association (RA). Personally, I am an active member also of the MOA, the RA, and the AMA. We are always happy and invite anyone (any motorcycle manufacturer is always welcome) interested in learning about (and maybe joining) our club. We always post the when and where right here on our website monthly so it’s a standing open invitation to all! Once a year our club usually sponsors a local rally. One of our club members is very generous by donating the use of their private property (T.W.O. creeks) located in Del Rio, TN. They open up their arms to rally attendees every year. This is just how and where I personally joined the club from my start in 2010. Their site is very quiet, beautiful and very peaceful with such word class incredible riding experiences in any direction. We generally self limit our registration to about 100 attendees which keeps it well managed and comfortable for all. Warming campfires, the natural music of the creeks and critters makes it add up to a very enjoyable yearly experience. Our ROK club is made up all from Volunteers like me. We all try to help out when we attend other rallies such as the coming BMW MOA international rally. It is being held this year in Lebanon, TN only about 130 miles East from Knoxville on Thursday through Saturday, 13-15 June. Because the yearly MOA rally timing and location, our ROK two creeks will have to wait until next year, so all interested please stay tuned!
Thanks for taking the time to check us out. Safe and happy times ahead for us all and hope to meet you soon :-)
Our BMW ROK club consists of about 65 members. We have one casual monthly meeting at various local restaurants trying to keep the membership updated and to socialize. As a club, we support the Pediatric Brain Tumor’s Ride for Kids and assisting by many of us volunteering at the BMW MOA. We also are hosting the 2nd Annual Get-a-Way Weekend at Pine Mountain State Park in Kentucky again this coming riding season. Various club rides are constructed and attended by many of our members. These rides serve as a wonderful new window into experiencing many local areas and roads for transplants such as me. Not being from here while others have grown up locally can surely aid us (people like me) in enriching our local roads and town knowledge. We are charted with the BMW Motorcycle Owners Association (MOA) along with the BMW Risers Association (RA). Personally, I am an active member also of the MOA, the RA, and the AMA. We are always happy and invite anyone (any motorcycle manufacturer is always welcome) interested in learning about (and maybe joining) our club. We always post the when and where right here on our website monthly so it’s a standing open invitation to all! Once a year our club usually sponsors a local rally. One of our club members is very generous by donating the use of their private property (T.W.O. creeks) located in Del Rio, TN. They open up their arms to rally attendees every year. This is just how and where I personally joined the club from my start in 2010. Their site is very quiet, beautiful and very peaceful with such word class incredible riding experiences in any direction. We generally self limit our registration to about 100 attendees which keeps it well managed and comfortable for all. Warming campfires, the natural music of the creeks and critters makes it add up to a very enjoyable yearly experience. Our ROK club is made up all from Volunteers like me. We all try to help out when we attend other rallies such as the coming BMW MOA international rally. It is being held this year in Lebanon, TN only about 130 miles East from Knoxville on Thursday through Saturday, 13-15 June. Because the yearly MOA rally timing and location, our ROK two creeks will have to wait until next year, so all interested please stay tuned!
Thanks for taking the time to check us out. Safe and happy times ahead for us all and hope to meet you soon :-)
