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Lets plan on a November 5 get together. I'm running out of ideas of where to meet so post any suggestions.

Also, any thoughts about speakers would be great. I'm thinking a lot of us could use a GPS refresher. Or, maybe we could have an evening where those of us who use a GPS could present what works for us.

Anybody have any connections with Letco? Thinking maybe they might be interested in having us come to their place to talk about what they have to offer.

I briefly met Gary Emig and he seemed open to us touring their facilities. I need to follow up and see what works.

http://www.emigracing.com/

I'm totally open to any suggestions for speakers, activities etc.

Here are a few ideas....

1. I like meeting for dinner, and talking about bikes. How about the Peanut Downtown? Is Weston too far north? We have the pub.....

2. If we could find a venue cheap enough, with the av equipment maybe we order some pizza and watch a movie. The BMW Club in Springfield would do this from time to time, though they met at the local BMW car dealers shop. I saw "The Worlds Fastest Indian" there.

a. Ted Simon has a video of his second time around the world.
http://www.waffender.de/filmdetail.58.J ... AVELS.html

b. Or maybe a training video. http://www.dualsportriding.com/products ... niques-dvd

c. Or maybe something from the MSF Dirbike School. http://online2.msf-usa.org/msf/Videos3.aspx

c. Or the classic "On Any Sunday".

d. The Arabia has a conference room. http://1856.com/plan-your-visit/parties-events/

3. How about in our group? Everyone has at least one interesting motorcycling story; I'd like to hear them. Bring pictures if you got 'em. Bonus points if they tell a story on someone else at the table! If we can find some place for dinner, that's quiet enough to hear, I think it would be fun. Everyone gets their 5 mins of fame until it's time to go home.

4. Any interest in spending a little money to get a speaker? I'm particularly interested in folks that have traveled the world and there are a number of them that speak to pay the expenses.

a. If we could find someone on tour that was gonna be near KC it would get cheaper.
b. Maybe a joint venture with the BMW club?


Well, that's four anyway. I think there are two problems with some of this. First is time, that is how much do we want to put into organizing it. I kinda like it minimally organized myself. The second is money, do we really want to spend much more than a few bucks for dinner? I like suggestions 1 and 3 myself.

ozarksrider wrote:Here are a few ideas....

1. I like meeting for dinner, and talking about bikes. How about the Peanut Downtown? Is Weston too far north? We have the pub.....

2. If we could find a venue cheap enough, with the av equipment maybe we order some pizza and watch a movie. The BMW Club in Springfield would do this from time to time, though they met at the local BMW car dealers shop. I saw "The Worlds Fastest Indian" there.

a. Ted Simon has a video of his second time around the world.
http://www.waffender.de/filmdetail.58.J ... AVELS.html

b. Or maybe a training video. http://www.dualsportriding.com/products ... niques-dvd

c. Or maybe something from the MSF Dirbike School. http://online2.msf-usa.org/msf/Videos3.aspx

c. Or the classic "On Any Sunday".

d. The Arabia has a conference room. http://1856.com/plan-your-visit/parties-events/

3. How about in our group? Everyone has at least one interesting motorcycling story; I'd like to hear them. Bring pictures if you got 'em. Bonus points if they tell a story on someone else at the table! If we can find some place for dinner, that's quiet enough to hear, I think it would be fun. Everyone gets their 5 mins of fame until it's time to go home.

4. Any interest in spending a little money to get a speaker? I'm particularly interested in folks that have traveled the world and there are a number of them that speak to pay the expenses.

a. If we could find someone on tour that was gonna be near KC it would get cheaper.
b. Maybe a joint venture with the BMW club?


Well, that's four anyway. I think there are two problems with some of this. First is time, that is how much do we want to put into organizing it. I kinda like it minimally organized myself. The second is money, do we really want to spend much more than a few bucks for dinner? I like suggestions 1 and 3 myself.

Chris, Good suggestions!

Is the peanut downtown KC or Weston?

I like the movie idea, especially in the Winter.

Anybody have connections for speakers?

I've been thinking hard about this. If we have an agenda, such as "hammer out ride event details", "share moto stories", "GPS training", or "listen to speaker X"--a restaurant environment simply does not work UNLESS a private room is available WITH necessary equipment and resources. (computer-compatible projector, good WiFi, microphone?)

I think we'd be much more effective in a setting where we are free to move about and talk without yelling at each other (not a noisy, crowded restaurant). As for food, if it was possible to know the head count, we could have the meeting catered cheap--Firehouse Subs or something like that. Or folks could pick up food on the way. A meal does not have to be part of the meeting, but I like it.

Of course sometimes, we just want to go hang out at a restaurant and BS around the table.

How willing is Freedom Cycles to let us use their upstairs classroom? That was a perfect sized room for our group and might already have projector, etc. I'm up for another GPS training meeting. I can show off what I know about http://www.RideWithGPS.com and how I use it along with some BaseCamp tricks. Randy can show off the AllTrails maps he tells me about and I have yet to check out. Demos could start at the beginning--showing the download & install of tools. Folks could even bring a laptop and follow along to setup tools, download maps, create website accounts, etc.

Somebody's home or shop would work if they had enough space and some tables and chairs.

If you know of a restaurant that has a dedicated (and CHEAP) meeting room, let us know. The meeting room at Pizza Street worked well except we had some technical issues with projector and spotty WiFi. The great thing was use of the room was free as long as we ordered food.

As for speakers, I have a connection to the 2013 GS Giant. It is probably impossible to get on his schedule, nor can we afford him. Personally, I think the guy is kind of an ass, but I guess he can ride.

The Peanut downtown is a fantastic place! They also have a room upstairs for private groups. I don't know if they charge for the room. Many allow free space if dinner is ordered.

I'd be up for a lesson on lightweight dual sporting. I guess the only way I know is the bring way too much stuff, even though I thought I packed light method. I'm trying to think of a suitable place, but nothing comes to mind.

I wonder if we could get someone to speak to our group via a streamed av feed? Skype might be the easiest. Technically this isn't a big deal.

The idea is we might be able to find interesting folks outside of the KC area, and it would still be interactive.

Nancy Emde might be willing to give a talk about racing the Baja 1000. When she describes about what happens when the trophy trucks over take the bikes,what it's like to hear them coming in the dark, how you pull off the trail as far as you can, turn your forks away from the trail, then shield your headlamp with your body to protect it from the rock shower those trucks create it's pretty interesting. This would be an example of what we could do via Skype.

Another thought, there used to be a Yamaha dealer in Marionville Mo who raced the Paris-Dakar several times. I bought a few bikes from him but can't remember his name. I'll send an email to some of my friends to see if they remember but maybe someone else on RideForum does? He might be willing to give us a talk.

Does anyone know someone at a regional or higher level who works in motorsports? It might be fun to hear about what's new with any of the bike manufacturers.

rycomm wrote:I'd be up for a lesson on lightweight dual sporting. I guess the only way I know is the bring way too much stuff, even though I thought I packed light method. I'm trying to think of a suitable place, but nothing comes to mind.

I would think last Fri - Sun would be "lesson" enough for you! Nothing better than learning the hard way.

ozarksrider wrote:I wonder if we could get someone to speak to our group via a streamed av feed? Skype might be the easiest. Technically this isn't a big deal.

Reliable, broadband would be a necessity...on both ends. This idea does expand our options...again, it's down to actually identifying, contacting, and getting an agreement.

I'd like to learn more about GPS systems...certainly what experiences people have with the various models out there. I can't always depend on others to have one, so someday I will have to make the plunge.

As for locations for meetings, my sons went to Sadlers Racing recently and loved it. I haven't been in a long time, but I believe they have a meeting room and it could be a fun option to look into. http://www.sadlersindoorracing.com/index.php

Ok, I sent an email off to the folks at trailboss tours pitching my idea of speaking via skype.

http://www.trailbosstours.com/

If I hear back from Nancy or Chris, then I'll post up details of how it would work on their end.

As far as a venue, if I can't find someplace I'd be able to do it here at my house. I have the space, chairs, tv, and broadband.

All that said I don't know if it will happen by the 5th. One question remains......

Is anyone willing to pay to get a speaker? Probably not much per person, but it will be something. I think between geography and money our options start to improve dramatically.

Later this week I'll try to send out some emails to more folks.

HanesAnizer wrote:As for locations for meetings, my sons went to Sadlers Racing recently and loved it. I haven't been in a long time, but I believe they have a meeting room and it could be a fun option to look into. http://www.sadlersindoorracing.com/index.php

My employer recently did an event there and the meeting room privilege cost $300 and you had to buy sodas and water from them at an exorbitant cost. The meeting room is nothing special--not like it has marble floors and leather couches with a fountain. But yes! Sadlers kart racing is a blast!

There is a new place in Raytown that is supposed to offer serious kart racing.
http://extremegrandprix.com/
They use electric karts, which would be nice. The exhaust filled air inside Sadlers is nasty!

ozarksrider wrote:Ok, I sent an email off to the folks at trailboss tours pitching my idea of speaking via skype.

http://www.trailbosstours.com/

If I hear back from Nancy or Chris, then I'll post up details of how it would work on their end.

As far as a venue, if I can't find someplace I'd be able to do it here at my house. I have the space, chairs, tv, and broadband.

All that said I don't know if it will happen by the 5th. One question remains......

Is anyone willing to pay to get a speaker? Probably not much per person, but it will be something. I think between geography and money our options start to improve dramatically.

Later this week I'll try to send out some emails to more folks.

Thanks Chris...probably too late for the 5th as I was thinking more longer term. Actually, now that we have some ideas we could use the 5th to discuss our options. Let us know when you hear back from Nancy and Chris.

I'm not sure that the small amount we could pay a speaker would be enough enticement for someone, unless they just like talking cycle stuff with middle aged men. From my experience, most prospective speakers would prefer having their dinner purchased rather than receiving some small payment.

Regarding the use of the Freedom meeting room....I emailed Scott and it sounds like they would be open to us meeting there the 1st Tuesday every month. As was suggested, their meeting room is perfect for presentations and/or speakers. Also, if we met there most every month, I believe they would use their connections and resources to help us find good speakers. Scott is getting the approval from the higher ups at Freedom and I will make a posting as soon as I hear back from Scott.

I liked going to different places and having dinner and talking with others. If Freedom is chosen as a regular meeting place, I probably would not be attending many future meetings unless it is a very interesting presentation.

ajayhawkfan wrote:I liked going to different places and having dinner and talking with others. If Freedom is chosen as a regular meeting place, I probably would not be attending many future meetings unless it is a very interesting presentation.

I think we all like going different places and eating, but the point was made that when there is an agenda of some kind, it's near impossible to communicate in a crowded, noisy restaurant.

So meet someplace like Freedom when there's a training or presentation agenda. Meet in a restaurant when there's nothing to do but hang out and enjoy the company of friends.

Ideally, we'd find a cool, not-too-expensive place to eat that offers us FREE use of a meeting room as long as we buy food and drink. That meeting room needs at least basic presentation equipment and WiFi to be generically useful for training and presentations.

troy wrote:

ajayhawkfan wrote:I liked going to different places and having dinner and talking with others. If Freedom is chosen as a regular meeting place, I probably would not be attending many future meetings unless it is a very interesting presentation.

I think we all like going different places and eating, but the point was made that when there is an agenda of some kind, it's near impossible to communicate in a crowded, noisy restaurant.

.........

Randy stated in his post, "...I emailed Scott and it sounds like they would be open to us meeting there the 1st Tuesday every month....." Meeting there every month would not appeal to me unless the presentation was special.

Here is an idea for Nov 5,The Beacon on Main Street. http://www.beacontavern.com/index.html

They have a nice upstairs that can be used. I also know a few of the owners. Why not go there on the 5th check out the upstairs. If we like the place I'll talk to my friends to see if we can use the loft from time to time at no charge if we meet there regularly.

"Here is an idea for Nov 5,The Beacon on Main Street. http://www.beacontavern.com/index.html "

Looks like they have TVs we can use for presentations. Surely they have wifi.

I vote we meet here on the 5th, and do some more meeting planning. The plaza area is easy for me to get to after work, and a little closer to home for the trip home.

I've talked further with Freedom and they are willing to work with us any way we want....every month, every other month or whatever. With all their supplier connections they are also willing to help us schedule interesting speakers. Possibly, the best solution will be to meet at Freedom when we have some type of presentation, or movie, as their meeting room is very conducive for speakers. When we don't have anything special we could meet at a variety of restaurants.

What I would like to do is schedule out at least a few months so we can all make plans and Freedom would know well in advance when we are meeting there. For November 5th lets go ahead and meet at 6:30 at the Beacon:

http://www.beacontavern.com/index.html

My thought is that at this time we could at least draft a schedule for the next several months. Chris, maybe by then you will have heard from your speaker sources and I will have heard from a couple that I've put feelers out to. Please, bring any ideas for movies, instructional videos, speakers etc., to the November meeting.

allkidd wrote:
What I would like to do is schedule out at least a few months so we can all make plans and Freedom would know well in advance when we are meeting there. For November 5th lets go ahead and meet at 6:30 at the Beacon:

http://www.beacontavern.com/index.html

WON'T WORK. I JUST FOUND OUT THE BEACON CLOSED!

How about the Downtown Peanut http://www.peanutkc.com/downtown.html one of my all time favorite places, or the original Minsky's on Main http://www.minskys.com/south-plaza/? Minsky's has a free room (if available on the 5th)