Rhinebeck

[inrustwetrust]

What clearly showed was that many many people gave a lot of time and effort to make this event happen. I gave about four hours volunteering at the vendor gate, and actually felt a little embarrassed that I did not give more time, especially when I realized the kind of effort that was put into making the whole event happen by the ones that did give their time.
We should be thankful for the sincere effort that was put forth to create and work on fine tuning this event, and all AMCA meets. I honestly feel that the prime motivation of the many people that gave their time was to put together a great event for all that attended and I think they succeeded in their effort.
There are high ranking people in this club who are there because they were unhappy with the way things were and instead of complain, they joined the board. Those are the ones I consider role models.
Those many people deserve a big thanks as do all that help put on the many meets and help keep the club going.

Luke Walker

[Paps]

Although I was not able to attend, Bill and Luke make excellent points. Iron all those out and the event should be greater than I heard it was this year. I look forward to attending next season. Paps

[Steve Slocombe]

Those are good and constructive comments so here are my impressions.

I'm just back from Rhinebeck where I vended, judged, attended the bike auction, and was blown away by the spectacle of the Timeline. I reckon we had two shows - an AMCA swap meet and a public show.

We set up on Thursday and a few people broke the rules and traded. Friday there was a swap meet with few members of the public and the usual AMCA members and dealers trading between themselves. It was kinda slow with everyone grumbling about the price of gas and Ebay. But I did OK. The attempt to ban vendors from leaving early was coming from the fairground owners, and the AMCA will need to negotiate with them for next time.

Sat/Sun the public came for the spectacle. 1000 late model bikes in the parking lot and many new Club and Chapter members signed up. You have to count that a success for the Club if you didn't vend a thing. I sold a pair of my excellent repro 1929 dual headlights for $700 (commercial break) to a walk-in customer to go on a late model Ducati. I still took his money.

Jean Davidson gave an excellent presentation at the Saturday night banquet. I judged Sunday, and the fairgrounds were still filling up at 2.30 pm when I left to catch the plane. The auction sold 2 bikes out of 20, so the real world economy is catching up with our hobby/business.

The five Chapters organizing the meet worked really hard to make Rhinebeck a great experience. It was expensive to put on, but we got a share of the gate and new members. See you next time!

[The Professor]

We attended as spectators/buyers. We bought a few items only.

Very impressed with the event as a whole. Timeline in particular. We planned this trip and went regardless of the cost. Glad we did. Don't like the Fairgrounds pet policy, understand the pets in the show regulation, but not allowed to camp? We made other camping arrangements and don't really mind.

A huge effort was made to put the show on and it showed. I felt the turnout was good but I am not qualified to judge.

Will gladly return next year.

[bmh]

OK here's my 2 cents worth. Having attended as a average member. We were in town for all 3 days, although I must admit we didn't go in on sat. We drove by at about noon and by the looks of the parking lot we opted for some sightseeing as I personally do not do well in crowded enviroments. Anyone serious about finding specific parts Knows that friday is the day. If it was nice and priced right , it was most likely sold on fri. The grounds are very nice, and yes it was worth paying for. Things like shady benches to sit on a rest and talk with others and a wide variety of food are nice perks. There seemed to be a lot more bikes there for the judging on sun, but most of the vendors were gone, some things just don't change. I'm not complaining about that, I know what to expect, but I heard a good deal of groaning from the general populace. Being Fathers day, a lot of locals seemed to think this would be a fun packed day for dear old Dad. I got the feeling it wasn't up to thier expectations. I personally could do without all the Hoopla and fanfair. I come to buy parts if I can find the right deal, and look at old bikes and be with like minded individuals. So I can't really say this meet was any better than Oley. The Mrs. disagrees on that count. We may do this meet every five years or so, but not every year.
Now for the rub.One thing I know for sure is SOMEONE made a hell of a lot of money off that gate. Who was it? Did those grounds really cost that much? Even at $10 a head for just the bikes on the lot saturday would be $10,000. And I'm sure it was way more. So seriously, who made all the money? As usual it wasn't the vendors.
Brian

[cheifrider]

just a little curious why the actual cost of fairground rental cant be discussed?(must be a national security thing)

[chiefj48]

hey tim,

i think you did a great job, and i enjoyed the whole weekend. i would also like to thank all those that helped you put on a show of this scale!

look at it this way tim, some people are always looking to complain, and you even had something for them!!

i'll be back next year!!!!

[*JU]

just a little curious why the actual cost of fairground rental cant be discussed?(must be a national security thing)

Nothing to be gained from knowing. Some would say the club should break even. Some would say 50 cents a person profit is too much. What about the loss a club faces because of bad weather....what they make this year could be gone next year.
JU

[exeric]

The members have every right in the world to ask these questions. Don't ever take that attitude that it is not our right to know everything about this club's finances and policies. Rhinebeck is possibly the archetype for things to come regarding the national's policy for AMCA meets. The members have every right to know ALL of the details about what is going on behind closed doors and what the board wants for the future. Believe me, this club is treading on thin ice right now. The national board is being watched by the membership to see if these proposed and implicated changes will be for the good or harm of the club. This website is the closest thing the regular members have to the pulse of change in the AMCA so let's persue a free exchange of information.

[cheifrider]

Nothing to be gained from knowing. Some would say the club should break even. Some would say 50 cents a person profit is too much. What about the loss a club faces because of bad weather....what they make this year could be gone next year.
JU

"nothing to be gained from knowing"thats like saying "do not question authority" methinks that this world has definetly taken advantage of the fact that no-one will question ,or make anyone ,become responsible for the things they do or say . i recently received a membership renewal for a magazine i su scribe to. they wanted more money at the 8 month mark on a 1year subscription , i questioned this , and received a letter of apology blaming it on an "oversight". EXERIC is a little more articulate than me ,but i do believe what he says is VERY true about the club being on thin ice , time for some respect for the people that make this club what it is .
in friendly reply,
tom cameron

[kval]

Exeric
what everyone seems to forget, is the national does not run the meets. they do give a meet allowance for each meet. the host chapter(chapters in this case) are the ones taking all the risk, and renting the grounds, getting the food vendors, banquet, etc. they are the ones who will lose if bad weather hits. if you want to know this information, ask one of the chapters that host a national meet what they have to spend before even opening the doors.
Kevin

[Cass]

Just putting in my 2 cents. I want to THANK the few who do SOOO much for the many.
Thanks for a great meet!

[*JU]

Sorry, I mentioned "club" where I should of said "local chapter". Local chapter members vote on the budget(s) for chapter activity (at least they do in the one I belong to). All money matters are discussed monthly at the membership & board meetings. Visit your local chapter meetings and get involved. My take on it is, one chapter's finances is that chapter's business.
JU

[exeric]

Kevin, in my righteous indignation I lost sight of the fact that the chapters do take ultimate responsibility for a meet. I apologize to all of the people that worked so hard for the success of Rhinebeck. I've done that and know how much work there is to do. The reason Rhinebeck is getting so much flak is because there has been lots of talk for the past 4 or 5 years that the national wants to condense and combine the meet schedule to fewer large meets, and gentrify the meets to resemble the Half Moon Bay meet in Northern California. Most of this has been rumor and hearsay but then Rhinebeck forms and the rumors get some validity. I know that Rhinebeck was developed out of necessity. The demise of Harmony, Hebron, and Brookfield removed 3 old line AMCA meets from the schedule. People wonder about their own meets and in light of all of the changes that we have been seeing in the AMCA and how these changes can happen with no imput from the membership, you can see how a member like me could get riled. I could go on and on but I think the prudent thing to do is let it go and hope for the best.

[DanM]

Rhinebeck benefits

One of the benefits of the Rhinbeck meet is to introduce the hobby to people who may get involved. There were a number of new memberships signed up at the meet, as well as for our Yankee chapter.

We also had an opportunity to draw young people to the hobby. Lot's of talk about $750 headlights, but don't forget there were lots of $750 bikes as well. The mid year Japanese bikes are a great way to get started in the hobby. Then, as the person grows and his finances change, maybe they move up to HD, Indian, etc.

I also am compelled to point out that Hebron is not canceled. While it may be a Chapter meet instead of a National, that mainly affects judging. We still plan for vendors, vistors, have a show and ride planned as well as a banquet Friday night. There is room for all these meets if the membership makes them happen. August 1 and 2. Friday and Saturday. You may stay over Saturday night if you wish as well.