Lehigh Valley Beemer Chapter Members,

I hope you are enjoying the riding season and getting out on the road as much as I am. The summer is moving fast, your bike is finally getting the exercise it deserves, and I hope your tires are wearing out for all the right reasons!  Here’s what you need to know this month in your chapter.

Rebranding the Chapter

The big news this month is that we are rebranding the chapter as the Eastern PA Beemers. This new name better reflects the BMW MOA member area that our chapter serves.

We remain BMW MOA Chapter #277, and we will never forget our roots in the Lehigh Valley. That said, our chapter now serves MOA riders across essentially the eastern third of Pennsylvania, and we want our name and identity to reflect that broader mission.

Please see the related article in this newsletter for more details on the chapter rebranding.

Save the Date: Annual Chapter Picnic is September 26

Please see the brief article in this newsletter about our 2nd Annual Chapter Picnic, scheduled for Saturday, September 26, from noon to 3:00 PM at Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, PA.

Scott, Chanaka, and I recently checked out the location, and photos are included in the article. It is a great setting, and we think it will be a fun day for members and families.  Bring your families and enjoy all the rides, especially the roller coasters!

We can accommodate up to 100 attendees, but we need an accurate headcount for catering in advance.  Please sign up on Meetup and complete your payment through the Meetup link as soon as possible. To date, we have 35 people signed up to attend. The RSVP deadline is August 15.

Sign up Here:   Sign up on Meetup

We will also continue to send periodic reminder email blasts to chapter members with the signup links.

Plenty of Riders Still Waiting to Meet Us

There are now 654 BMW MOA members spread across our 23-county area in Pennsylvania.  17 Riders joined the MOA and our chapter area in July.  Welcome to the Chapter!

I sent an email blast welcoming new MOA members to the chapter and invited them to join us on Meetup.  I added them to our Groups.io chat area as well.  To our new members: we hope to see you soon on a ride, at a breakfast, or at one of our other upcoming events.

Join Meetup If You’d Like to Ride with the Chapter

Please remember that if you would like to participate in chapter rides and events, you must join our private Meetup group. Meetup is where we post rides, events, lunches, training opportunities, and other chapter activities.

You can join using this link:

Join the Eastern PA Beemers Chapter MEETUP to Ride with us! 

Northern Tier and Southern Tier Meetups

One of our goals with the rebrand is to make the chapter feel more accessible to members outside the immediate Lehigh Valley area.

John Riviero, our ride leader in the Tunkhannock area, has started posting monthly breakfasts followed by rides in what I call the Northern Tier of the chapter. This area is closer to many of the 91 chapter members who live in counties such as Monroe, Luzerne, Lackawanna, Columbia, Carbon, Northumberland, Wyoming, Wayne, and others.

Please consider signing up for John’s breakfast and ride on Sunday, August 30.

Chanakya, also known as “C,” is now a ride leader in our Southern Tier in Chester County. He will also be posting breakfasts, lunches, and rides periodically in that area to give more options to members in Chester and Lancaster Counties.  Members from any county are certainly welcome to join as well.

C has scheduled a breakfast and ride for Saturday, August 15. Check it out and sign up on Meetup.

Want to Be a Ride Leader?

We are always looking for good riders throughout our chapter area who are willing to volunteer to be ride leaders.

Being a ride leader is easier than many people think. You simply post a ride on Meetup, choose some of your favorite roads, pick a destination and route, and enjoy a day riding with fellow BMW enthusiasts. There are no meetings to run, no administrative headaches, and no club politics to manage — just motorcycles, roads, and good company. In other words, the fun part.

John and Chanakya are taking this to heart by helping create local riding communities in their parts of the chapter area. The goal is to do the same across the entire chapter. All members can see posted events and choose to participate in any of them, giving everyone more opportunities to ride with fellow MOA members.

If you live outside the Lehigh Valley area and would like more information about organizing rides where you live, please contact me at vincekelly@bmwmoa.org.

Ride to Lunch at the PowerHouse Was Electrifying!

I want to thank Bob Gonzalez, Bret Hoover, and John Riviero for planning, posting, and leading rides to the PowerHouse Eatery chapter lunch on July 21.

We had great rides, a great lunch, and plenty of good conversation about riding, trips, motorcycles, and the usual topics that come up when 21 BMW riders gather in an old power plant.  See the Meetup posts for photos and check out the great time we had!  The ride to lunch event was a success – we will schedule more of these.

Soggy Bottom Was a Blast!

This is the third year we have posted the Soggy Bottom Motofest on Meetup for chapter riders, and this year we had 21 riders attend the event. Members rode dual-sport, adventure, and sport-touring routes.  Some camped, some stayed in comfort at a nearby hotel in State College, and all a great time!

Best of all, the weather was perfect — which, given the name “Soggy Bottom,” almost feels like false advertising.  But the dual sport and adv riders mentioned there was plenty of water on their routes; they arrived back at base camp with mud caked all over their dual sport and ADV bikes, and smiles on their faces!

See Bruce Dimon's Soggy Bottom report in the newsletter and consider joining us next year for 11^th Annual Soggy Bottom Motofest in Port Matilda, PA, last weekend in July.

Lastly, I want to congratulate our chapter Secretary and Newsletter Editor Terence Hamill for achieving his 400,000 Mile Award from BMW Motorrad!  Fantastic!  With his Coddiwomple adventures he is sure to achieve his 500,000 award very soon!  I have some catching up to do!

Ride safe, stay connected, and I hope to see you on the road.

Come Ride With Us! 

Vince

Vince Kelly

President – Eastern PA Beemers, an MOA Chapter

BMW MOA Ambassador

Email Vince Here, or this link at bottom of page and choose president:  

Email Vince Via the Website Link