Posted on 09/04/2004 5:01:22 AM PDT by Slump Tester
LIMA The Allen County Fairgrounds is no stranger to the throaty roar of motorcycle pipes.
But next year, a different kind of bike will be rolling in, something far quieter but with every bit as much muscle.
In July, the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America will hold its annual rally in Lima, bringing around 7,000 people and 4,000 motorcycles to town. Despite the name, the group is an interna-tional organization with members in 40 countries, many of which send at least a few to the rally, organizers said.
Were going to transform the Allen County Fairgrounds to Beamerville, USA, said Sue Rihn-Manke, of Wisconsin, chairwoman of the rally. Youre going to have license plates from Canada to Mexico.
The majority of the attendees will ride their bikes in from across the continent, said Ray Zimmerman, of St. Louis, executive director of the group.
BMW owners are a unique group of people that ride a unique bike, he said. Primarily, we socialize. Well have probably 4,000 people camped out here in tents.
The rally wont be open to the public, Zimmerman said. Vendors will set up shop for the du-ration, and seminars on cold-weather riding, traveling around Europe and other topics will be conducted.
Otherwise, the bikers will simply hang out, he said.
Basically, were a big family of BMW riders that like to get together once a year, he said. Well spend about a half a million dollars a day while were here.
The rally will be held July 21-24, though some will be in as early as July 18 to start setup. Overall estimates put the direct economic impact between $4 million and $5 million, said Christine Pleva, director of the Lima-Allen County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
That figure should be multiplied by 2.9 to figure out the overall impact, she said.
Lima was chosen after club members met with Allen County Fair Manager Jay Begg at a convention in Las Vegas a few years ago, Zimmerman said. While a lot of contacts were made, Lima stood out because of its central location and Beggs cooperation, he said.
We think this is going to be one of the best rallies weve ever had, he said.
4000 - 7000 folks camping in tents are going to pump up the local economy (of a DEAD town), by spending 4 to 5 Million dollars.
But wait - multiply that by 2.9! They're EACH going to spend $700 a day here for 3 days, buying gas, camping in their tents and probably grilling burgers!
Lima is so fortunate to have a rat mayor and his rat minions.
Never been to Lima.
Whats there besides the penitentiary?
hooligan bimmer bump
Yep ... like Volvo owners are "unique".
Sorry but WideGlide will be ignoring this entire thread. LOL
The BEANS of course!
Lots of empty factorys, an empty prison, a nut house, a plant where they make/made the M1 tank, a giant hospital that always wants to cut on everyone, an old refinery, and several deep wells that they've been pumping toxic waste into for about 30 years.
Lima sits on top of some giant limestone caverns that are several thousand feet underground. During the war they used to store natural gas and propane in them. Now they pump them full of toxic waste.
Doing the math with the amount of toxic waste they actually ADMITTED to having pumped in ground (20 years ago), if you walled up a square mile, it would be 20' deep! (then) Since then they've drilled several more. It's a big business - they truck it in from everywhere.
Lima does have the headquarters of the Kewpee hamburger franchise though! Dave Thomas copied Kewpee when he started Wendy's.
Its a shame to see the way the land was abused in ohio.
I was born in youngstown so I know about dead cities
FReeper Motorcycle Hooligan ![]() |
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Peruvians.
< |:)~
lol
Hey - Is that an R69s/2? (I can't quite tell, but it looks like it has an Earles!)
I ride a Kawisaki.
Come on over anyway!
I ride a 1991 BMW K-100-LT-abs and my wife rides a 1999 Honda Shadow 600 VLX. We both plan to be there and hopw that we see many Freeper Bikers in Lima next year!
RamS
Skyline Chili!...mmmmm
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