HEY...JOIN THE CLUB!!
All owners of BMW Airhead motorcycles should 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, and other "stuff".
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
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. So are all the Beemers built before
these motorcycles, which have a wide variety of numberings; and
there were single cylinder ones too. The Airheads
Club itself does not, except rarely, have much to do with the K
bikes, oilheads, and F bikes.
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 with 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 is partly subsidized with advertising; you WILL want to
know about those folks who advertise in AIRMAIL...it is
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, they say this is due to the
higher cost of Club Membership, due to mailing costs, for
countries other than the U.S. If you
live in the U.S....and are NOT a Member, I am sure YOU have a
great excuse for not being a Member....(???)
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 CHEAP (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 $1200 a
month. 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.
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 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 even 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 wealthy humble
Members and 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.
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 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. 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. 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, mugs, buckles, T's and tanktops, sweats,
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, Bill Yeiser, has back issues of
Airmail available. You may want some, especially after
looking through Oak's Index. 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 $20 per year for USA
addresses. $22 in Canada; $35 elsewhere's.
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!
********************************************************************************
Controversy,
regarding the Airheads Club?
I will try to
simplify this. You may have never heard this
information before. It tends to spring up every
year or two on the Airheads Beemer Club Internet mailing LIST.
There were some FEW 'dissidents' of the ABC (Airheads
Beemer Club), they were very small in number, very vocal, and
they had ONE thing they disliked: they
hated Jan's Luddite Screed Editorials. Having
your own ox gored, or some-such. Some of the small
number of them (about 6) were Left Wing Canadians, mostly
city-folks (some Canadians are left of Left Wing). Some
few were Left Wing USA folks. As is always in
such situations, they gathered hangers-on's, that wanted to
be part of something....whether or not they believed in it.
Canada is a very Left country...in general, although, being
honest, there are plenty of conservatives, but hardly enough
to influence the main Government. The Left is mostly
City folk. The total number of these
dissidents on the LIST were, I am guessing, less than a dozen
out of a very large number of LISTers.
Here is some quoted material, NOT from
me:
""
Canadians see
themselves as second class Americans. After all, what great
things has Canada ever done? Any Canadian who has ever done
anything great immediately moved to America, where he could
find the capital and tax concessions to develop his projects.
Canada was originally populated by Americans too scared to
face the British during the Revolutionary war.
Canadians are taught differently, that it was due to
political differences - and since it's become popular -
they've been called anti-war activists, but the truth is,
they were cowards. Any American military activity
reminds them of their own failures, so it's decried loudly,
vehemently, and self righteously (what else have the got to
feel superior about?). Canadians have a
giant inferiority complex, and they'll do anything to
numb the pain. Their most popular winter sport is shitting
on Americans (in summer - it's swatting mosquitos and black
flies.).
A Canadian who enjoys riding
all year in San Diego is especially painful and worthy of
contempt, particularly in winter --- when they
have lots of time and bitterness to share. ""
As you can
see, whomever posted that, above, was throwing gasoline on
the fire.
The FEW who disliked Jan's Editorials, tended to pass
around wild rumors.....
Some FEW passed around rumors that Jan was ripping the Club
off of vast amounts of funds, Roy Truelsen said the Club had
not filed the proper paperwork to the State for a non-profit,
....and lots of nasty things. It was like a group of
monkeys, passing messages down a line, watching the
message..... get massaged and distorted.
Some complained of the Club's VAST riches.
The funny thing, is that the Club's finances, in brief, are
published every year in AIRMAIL, and the filings go to the
State with no problems. The Club was late on one of
these filings, if I remember right...no big deal....after
all, this is a volunteer organization for the most part.
Roy Truelsen, some sort of LIST member, and a corporate
lawyer of some sort, made it known that he was going to
'do the Board a favor'...by reporting to the State that the
Club was late on some sort of filing!! I
am NOT making this up.
In MY opinion, that is just a very very TINY bit of what Roy
tried to do. In MY opinion, he tried to destroy
the Club, and for what reason, I never REALLY figured
out. I suspect that he had enough folks upset and
angry and disliking him, to want him bounced off the
LIST. I don't wish to get into all that Roy did,
or tried to do, but I have a thick file on
him. In person, the one time I met him, he
was a likable guy!!....that was long before he decided he
would 'help' the club, as noted above.
The Club itself has ONLY one paid employee, B. Jan Hoffman,
he is paid by the Club for producing AIRMAIL. I
think, don't know for sure, that some of the cost of
airmail may even come out of HIS OWN POCKET. I would
not think of doing what he does for $1200 a month, which, I
think, is his pay. AIRMAIL has
gotten much better over the years, lots of improvements,
photos, print, paper, heck even page numbers now...(hee
hee).....is done rather nicely....and JAN is
responsible....NO ONE ELSE.
GADS! There were all sorts of rumors. I
heard, ON-LIST, that Jan had this fabulous HiFi system
in his living room, due to Club Monies!....no mention was
made by those folks that Jan has a business of making up
speakers/cabinets/etc.....naw, it HAD to be Club money!
This whole thing went round and round for some time, until
finally solved. The BOD (Board of
Directors) officially gave Jan permission to write a Screed
monthly, if he wanted to (he does not do one every
month), gave him pretty much carte blanche on content, and
specified the ...one page I think....amount in the magazine
for his personal views (the Screed, or Editorial, could be
longer, for other content).
Per Jan:
"The club has been audited from it's inception
(including long before incorporation,) and there has been no
opportunity for fraud. Past records to confirm this
are available through the Board. The main proponent
of that idea is Rollin "Doc" Williams, a guy who
really wanted to be the founder of the club but was too
late. So he started his own, and called it Apathos.
He titled himself "King," which tells you all you
need to know about his motivation. Apathos failed
almost before it got started, and he is very bitter about
it." ((He and his two or three disciples take it out
on Jan.))
BTW....I have an OK from one of the LIST Administrators to
post my Join the Club message, the one well above this
Controversy section. Frankly, that posting that I do,
now and then, tends to be the catalyst for the 'Bash the Club
and Bash Jan' replies.
I think what I say is fair AND balanced.
NOTE that the content of AIRMAIL depends a lot on what is
sent by Members to Jan; and that the Club makes a
contribution to Micapeak every year (so do I, for that
matter), but the Club does not run the LISTS, nor its
contents.
We had that guy Roy Truelsen, mentioned earlier herein, you
may hear his name once in awhile, or see something he wrote.
He was very bad news, some sort of lawyer, and in my personal
opinion he honestly tried to ruin the Club, I THINK so as to
take it over as a 'savior'. He also did some
things behind the back of the Club Airmarshall in his
area. His total thing SEEMED to be a need
for ego-stroking, HIS;....and to gain some sort of 'power'
or influence. He was kicked off the
LIST, allowed back, then he screwed up mightily again, and
was permanently banned....a LONG story, indeed. I
met him once at a MOA National, Lilli and I sat on a couch at
Airhead Central, and we all chatted a bit...likeable guy too!
Roy went so far as to legally threaten the entire
Board, heck, even me!...for saying that he was wrong.
I don't scare easily. Roy came VERY close
to having to deal with me on a very personal level.
That would have been vastly real bad news for him.
If provoked far enough, I am the worst enemy you could
contemplate, I NEVER give up. NEVER. Semper
Fi means to Country, to individuals, and to MY SOUL too.
Vastly later....Roy made a plea (directly to
me!!!!!.....after what he did.....gads).....to let him back
on the LIST.....as if I had any more influence over the
Administrators than anyone else. He had NOT changed, he
tried a sucker move, tried to play on my sympathies for him
and 'his new family situation'. From that,
being a decent sort... I DID suggest to a couple of the
Administrators that they check him out carefully...as I was
NOT going to recommend he be let back on the LIST....NOR was
I going to recommend against it. He was not
allowed back. I STILL have paper printed copies of some
of the correspondence, from circa April 2002.
Lawrence was kicked off the LIST after SEVERAL warnings and a
trial separation.
Dr. Ben came close once.
Roy and Ben both did one thing similarly, although Roy was
awful nasty at it: Roy DEMANDED that Oak, or anyone
else, with any technical viewpoint, PROVE that viewpoint.
Over and over and over, the same theme. That was not
Roy's only theme ...which was VASTLY worse. A HUGE
number of LIST folks wrote letters, huge numbers wrote ON
list too.
OAK
quit>>>>....he hated the crap and the personal
attacks.
I can assure you, Oak can be riled, and I have been on the
end of his thrashing a few times, once very seriously in
public. Still, Oak and I always make up, we have been
friends for decades, heck, I even stayed at his house for a
week once; he here too;....we two are very nerdy engineers,
so we expect to get at each others throats on a rare
occasion....so be it....we still correspond all the time,
although seldom by telephone nowadays, and hardly ever with
typewritten letters (remember typewriters?).
I hated Oak's thrashing me on the LIST that ONE TIME
he did that....and I got on his case for that. I
felt his tech bit for the thrashing was wrong! I
felt I 'won', but I hardly felt good about it. It was a
mistake to have such disagreements ON list. That seldom
ever happens. I had plenty of
experience on BMW's, for a dealership too, before I ever met
Oak. Still,
I regard Oak as MY mentor on airheads. I
learned plenty...at his feet, ....so to speak; as he is
sometimes fond to say. The friendship was...AND
IS... VASTLY more worthwhile than a petty squabble on
the LIST. It took awhile, then we went back to
our old habits, friends, corresponding, etc.
I've had my share of ego-bruising. I hope I learn from
it.
When Roy attacked, I climbed all over Roy ...and later
Ben too.....and supported Oak, ETC. I will support
those in the right, and blast those in the
wrong....IF....IF...need be. In MY OPINION Roy is
a weasel!
The Administrators don't dislike differing opinions, not at
all, what they don't want is profanity, name-calling, and
deliberately constantly causing problems.
Anything goes on the Airheads-Chat list, however.
There are some folks on the Chat LIST who are quite
interesting, usually AWAY from that list. I don't
monitor the Airheads-Chat LIST anymore, I don't
participate. There were two or three interesting,
THINKING people on it, both left and right politically, but
now ...well, I am NOT on that LIST.
Tom Cutter initially allowed a few technical things of his to
be posted on the airheads-chat list main page, I did very few
technical replies. There will be no more, I don't
participate, nor monitor the CHAT list anymore. I
get my mental stimulation elsewhere's these days.
Lawrence would love to move everyone off the techlist to the
chat list, so he can become gran poobah. Sorry,
position(s) taken!
:-)
The ABC Board of Directors is an easy-going bunch, I think it
was painful for them to have to deal with the messes.
They did though, and quite fairly. I think they
were highly embarrassed to have been brought into the fray.
Some came out publicly on the LIST with comments, quite
fairly put, in a gentlemanly way too.
Snowbum
Return
to technical articles index
Return
to HomePage
