{"id":12415,"date":"2026-05-04T12:52:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T16:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bmwmoa.org\/news\/my-first-rally-1977\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T08:35:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T12:35:56","slug":"my-first-rally-1977","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/bmwmoa.org\/news\/my-first-rally-1977\/","title":{"rendered":"My First Rally: 1977!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I joined the MOA in the autumn of 1976 after I bought my brand-new 1976 BMW R 90 S. This was after I “retired” at 22 years old from working offshore a couple years with Taylor Diving & Salvage. With a wad of cash in my pocket, I paid about $3,500, rode the R 90 S home and immediately started planning a trip west from Louisiana.<\/p>\n

In 1977, MOA rally landed in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I rode solo to the rally from Louisiana, visiting friends in San Antonio, Big Bend National Park and Ruidoso, New Mexico, along the way.<\/p>\n

The rally was in what I recall simply as a big open field among a sea of tents. I’ve since learned from Facebook it was called the Flying W Ranch. I recall chuck-wagon style grub and coffee from my Sterno stove. I met so many folks, but I really cherish John Jefferson of Tucson, Arizona, a life-long friend I gained at the rally. I remember my first group ride with hundreds of other bikes, an organized ride to Royal Gorge.<\/p>\n

I recently scanned a box of stored photos and slides and thought some MOA members might enjoy these. Heck, you might even recognize some people or bikes if you’re old enough.<\/p>\n

Life happens and the 1977 rally was my last for a long time. In 2021, I made it to the Great Falls rally on my R 1200 RT. I haven’t missed one since then. I’ll be in Vermont this year and God willing, I plan to be back in Great Falls in 2027.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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I joined the MOA in the autumn of 1976 after I bought my brand-new 1976 BMW R 90 S. This \u2026.. The post My First Rally: 1977! appeared first on June 11-13, 2026 | Champlain Valley Expo Center | Essex Junction, Vermont.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":12416,"template":"","news_type":[148,151],"class_list":["post-12415","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news_type-member-news","news_type-rally-updates"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bmwmoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bmwmoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bmwmoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bmwmoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bmwmoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12417,"href":"https:\/\/bmwmoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12415\/revisions\/12417"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bmwmoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bmwmoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bmwmoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_type?post=12415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}