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Riding and camping Northern California and beyond, since 1965!



  • 10 Apr 2016 5:09 PM | Anonymous member


    Check out this recent article about The BMW Club of Northern California's participation in the Adopt a Highway Program!  https://slate.adobe.com/cp/k5ngP/


  • 04 Apr 2016 8:17 PM | Anonymous member

    Off Road Skills Clinic

    Friday & Saturday, May 27th & 28th

    7:45a – 3

    Learn/improve your dirt skills at one of our two sessions lead by professional BMW trainer/coach Lance Thomas (Formerly of RawHyde Adventures).

    Registration check-in starts promptly at 7:45a, at the Fairground arena, followed by introductions, basic & advanced skills concepts, and training on a closed course. FREE coffee and pasties will be provided to each rider!

    Riders must have full safety gear (helmet, gloves, boots, riding jacket at a min).

    After lunch (on your own), guided off-road ride with Lance observing/coaching riders through on-trail obstacles and more challenging sections. Some dirt experience suggested, but all are welcome.

    Open to the first 40 riders who sign up (no exceptions!), 20 riders per day.  $25.00Space is limited – sign up today! 

    You must register and pay admission to the 49'er Rally to attend this event!

    Questions or more information, email Buddy at adchair@bmwnorcal.org.


  • 07 Mar 2016 8:36 AM | Anonymous member
    49'er Rally 2016 tickets are now on sale!  The 49'er runs over Memorial Day Weekend, May 26-30, 2016, at Mariposa County Fairgrounds, just south of Mariposa, California, off Hwy 49, gateway to Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada Foothills!  The '49er is the BMW Club of Northern California's annual rally with 40 plus years of tradition and predates BMW Motorcycle Owners of America's (MOA) National Rally. Register EARLY and save $10!!!

  • 02 Mar 2016 3:30 PM | Anonymous member

    Sign ups are open for the next Adopt A Highway clean up date on 4/2/16 at 9:00 AM.  Space is limited, click here to register!


  • 21 Feb 2016 10:35 AM | Anonymous member
    The BMW Motorcycle Club of Northern California held it's third Tech Session (wheels, tires and brakes) at Steve K's place in Fremont, CA.  Great, weather, coffee, potato salad, thanks Steve for hosting us! Rick, thanks for the excellent video of the event, click here to check it out!



  • 09 Jan 2016 5:49 PM | Anonymous member

    2015 has come to a close and 2016 is now upon us. I want to apologize for getting Tom’s name wrong.  Tom Connelly is our ‘49er Chair for 2016.  My mistake.   

    John Ellis has worked to freshen the newsletter to an all color format.  For our members, the newsletter will be available online.  A few copies will go out to high visibility locations throughout the greater Bay Area.  Our intent to to create a visually appealing newsletter that draws new members, gives value to our advertising partners, and continues on as a communications tool for current members.

    Over the next few months, the focus of the Board of Directors and Rally Chair will of course be the ‘49er Rally.  Tom, John, and I have spent more than a few hours working on the initial plan of the Rally.  We have several goals for the rally:  continue the traditions of the annual Rally, grow attendance (another 100 people), and provide a top notch experiences for all attendees.  Mariposa is the destination for 2016.

    The 2016 ‘49er Rally focuses on three items: Experiences, Education, and Prizes.  We want to create experiences that attendees will continue to talk about after the rally, Education in the form of Seminars and Skills trainings, and prizes.  

     A budget is in the works, and will be presented to the Board at our next meeting.  Our goal is to pay for three keynote speakers and two educational seminars from well known personalities within the motorcycling community.  Additionally, a larger portion of funds will be allocated to marketing the ‘49er.

    We hope adding premium experiences and using a more aggressive marketing plan will draw more people to the Rally.  This does come at a risk though.  In order to make the budget work, we need another 100 people at the Rally.  

    I’m calling on all club members to help with the Rally this year.  Tom, John, and I have kicked around a number of ideas around the Experiences and Education part of the Rally.  We need more ideas and the people that are passionate about bringing those ideas to life for the ‘49er.   If there is something you want at the Rally and can make it happen, we want your help.  Our list is certainly not exhaustive, so don’t think the list is all that can be done.

    We also need help in one of our key areas:  Marketing.  The need for marketing assistance cannot be understated.  The demographic we must reach is beyond that which comes from MOA and RA.  

    Below is a short of list of experiences and education.  Again, the list is not exhaustive.  We are looking for people to help make these and more a reality for the 2016 ‘49er Rally.

    • Asphalt Skills
    • Asphalt Trials
    • Bike Wash
    • Charging Stations
    • Dirt Skills
    • Dirt Trials
    • GS Ride (Men)
    • GS Ride (Women)
    • Lead "Sunrise Ride"
    • Lead "To Mariposa" (Fri)
    • Lead Ride (Sat)
    • Lead Ride (Sun)
    • Oil Change
    • Old Bikes
    • Poker Run
    • Real Coffee
    • Seminar, Deal/Mfg, New Bikes
    • Slow Race
    • Trolley to Mariposa
    • Wifi
    • Wine Tasting (local)\
    • Photo Booth
    • Asphalt Seminar
    • Dinner Speaker
    • Dirt Seminar
    • Seminar, Healthy Riding
    • Seminar, Horizons Unlimited
    • Seminar, Overseas Travel
    • Seminar, TBD
    • Seminar, TBD
    • Seminar, TBD
    • Concourse of Elegance (Vintage)
    • Dirt Trials
    • Poker Run
    • 50/50
    • Slow Race
    • Giveaways
    • Grand Prize
  • 08 Jan 2016 6:17 PM | Anonymous member

    Happy New Year!  Longer days for longer rides.

    Thanks again to Joyce for leading the November (Dec 5) ride to Plaskett Creek while I steamed across the Atlantic. And thanks to Fred Montano for writing the trip report. Word is that it was a nice spot, and we’ll keep it in mind.

    The January 30 meeting will be at Arroyo Seco Park group camp in Los Padres National Forest. We haven’t used that convenient winter-spring site since the 2013 freeze out because of fire restrictions. This (wetter) year, fires are allowed in designated campfire areas. I will lead the ride, starting at Flames Coffee Shop, 7170 Santa Teresa Blvd, San Jose; Breakfast at 8:00, engines at 9:00. Dress warm and watch the web site and Meetup for late weather-related news.

    The Feb 27 meeting will be at Fremont Peak SP. March will take us to Furnace Creek, where we have 2 group sites and 2 individual sites for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights; the meeting is on Saturday, Mar 26.

    The April 23 meeting will be at Black Butte Lake, near Orland (not Lassen); I’m hoping to see some water in the lake. May brings the 49er in Mariposa.

    The June election meeting will be at Calaveras Big Trees, near Arnold. I won’t be seeking a third term, but I will provide the new captain with camping reservations at least through the Oktoberfest.

    Enjoy the ride!

    Ted Crum, Tour Captain

  • 07 Jan 2016 1:13 PM | Anonymous member
    Three tribes of Native Americans—the Ohlone, Esselen, and Salinan—are speculated to have been the first people to inhabit the area now known as Big Sur.

    The first Europeansto see Big Sur were Spanishmariners led by Juan Cabrillo in 1542, who sailed up the coast without landing. Two centuries passed before the Spaniards attempted to colonize the area. In 1769, an expedition led by Gaspar de Portolá were the first Europeans known to set foot in Big Sur, in the far south near San Carpoforo Canyon. Daunted by the sheer cliffs, his party avoided the area and pressed far inland.

    Portolá landed in Monterey Bay in 1770, and with Father Junípero Serra, who helped found most of the missionsin California, established the town Monterey, which became the capital of the Spanish colony Alta California. The Spaniards gave Big Sur its name during this period.  Along with the rest of California, Big Sur became part of Mexico when it gained independence from Spain in 1821.  In 1848, as a result of the Mexican-American War, Mexico ceded California to the United States

    From the 1860s through the start of the 20th century, loggers cut down most of the coast redwoods.  After a brief industrial boom faded, the early decades of the 20th century passed with few changes, and Big Sur remained a nearly inaccessible wilderness. As late as the 1920s, only two homes in the entire region had electricity, locally generated by water wheels and windmills. Most of the population lived without power until connections to the California electric grid were established in the early 1950s. The California coast south of Carmeland north of San Simeonwas one of the most remote regions in the state, rivaling nearly any other region in the United States for its difficult access.

    The state first approved building Route 56, or the Carmel-San Simeon Highway,to connect Big Sur to the rest of California in 1919. Federal funds were appropriated and in 1921 voters approved additional state funds. San Quentin Prisonset up three temporary prison camps to provide unskilled convict laborto help with road construction. One was set up by Little Sur River, one at Kirk Creek and a third was later established in the south at Anderson Creek. Inmates were paid 35 cents per day and had their prison sentences reduced in return. Locals, including writer John Steinbeck, also worked on the road. The road necessitated 33 bridges constructed, the largest of which was the Bixby Creek Bridge. Six more concrete arch bridges were built between Point Sur and Carmel, and all were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. After 18 years of construction, aided by New Deal funds during the Great Depression, the paved two-lane road was completed and opened on June 17, 1937. The road was initially called the Carmel-San Simeon Highway, but was better known as the Roosevelt Highway, honoring the current President (Franklin Delano Roosevelt). Actual cost of the construction was around $10 million. The road was frequently closed for extended periods during the winter, making it a seasonal route. During World War II, nighttime blackouts were ordered as a precaution against Japanese attack.

    The route was incorporated into the state highway system and designated as Highway 1in 1939. In 1940, the state contracted for "the largest installation of guard rail ever placed on a California state highway", calling for 12 miles of steel guardrail and 3,649 guideposts along 46.6 miles of the road. After World War II ended, tourism and travel boomed along the coast. When Hearst Castleopened in 1958, a huge number of tourists also flowed through Big Sur. The road was declared the first State Scenic Highway in 1965, and in 1966 the first lady, Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson, led the official designation ceremony at Bixby Creek Bridge. The US Government designated the route as an All American Road.

    Bixby Creek Bridge, also known as Bixby Bridge, is a reinforced concrete open-spandrel arch bridge in Big Sur, California. The bridge is located 120 miles south of San Francisco and 13 miles south of Carmelin Monterey County along State Route 1. Prior to the opening of the bridge in 1932, residents of the Big Sur area were virtually cut off during winter due to the often-impassable Old Coast Road that led 11 miles inland. At its completion, the bridge was built under budget for $199,861 and was the longest concrete arch span at 320 feet (98 m) on the California State Highway System. It is one of the tallest single-span concrete bridges in the world and one of the most photographed bridges along the Pacific Coast due to its aesthetic design and location.

    Edward Perry, Historian

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