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BMW ACA/CCA Issue
Member Letters, March 2000
Brian McCarthy
I’ve been in both clubs since the ‘80s. Here’s how I see it;
Track;
Helmet: CCA: Five years old or less. ACA: less than ten years old.
At about $250/helmet, less than ten years old makes sense.
In$pection$: ACA inspections are professional, typically by local BMW
professionals.
No Riders: Huh? What does this solve? Many ACA members started as a
rider and felt the excitement. And got over the fear and apprehension. Then
became members! I like the current system. If you want a professional
inspection, new helmet, or no riders – that’s your choice. If I take my
spouse for a lap, use an eight year old helmet, or use the ACA inspection –
that’s my choice. Do I need some CCA guy mandating otherwise?
Money: I’ll pay for Puget Sound control. Yes, merging would save
me $25 but it isn’t worth it.
Officers, Elections vs Appointments.
What’s the problem? Any volunteer organization has more work than volunteers.
We had elections, candidates ran unopposed, the “election” charade wasted
money. If “appointments” thwarts volunteers, let’s hold elections. Merging
is overkill to solve this non-problem.
Track Events: The lifeblood of the club!!! BMW owners come tentatively,
to test their Ultimate Driving Machine or their abilities. They take a ride,
using a loaner helmet. Then they join, buy a helmet, and get involved. But the
CCA would present a $ hurdle; no rides to non-members/wife/kids and borrowing a
helmet gets harder.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. For me, merging presents
mostly downsides, especially for track events.
Brian McCarthy, ACA #3815
Mark Crispin
As
a CCA member of 17 years, and ACA member of 10 years, I'm quite unhappy to see
CCA (and, it seems, BMW AG) strong-arming ACA like this. I never fully
understood how there came to be two clubs. Nevertheless, this is the wrong way
to resolve it.
There
are several unanswered questions; chief of which is "why was ACA ejected
from the International Council of BMW Clubs?" The fact that LA switched to CCA doesn't seem to me to be a
valid reason. Would CCA get ejected if Golden Gate switched to ACA?
Also,
what is this nonsense about "BMW AG says `one umbrella organization per
country'?" Does this mean that
MOA and RA (the two US motorcycle clubs) are going to have to duke it out for
survival?
Unfortunately,
it seems that the decision has been made for us. We in ACA face a grim choice:
accept the merger (or hostile takeover) with as good terms as we can get, or
stand with principle and be utterly crushed. Few people will remember us; nobody
will care.
There's
too much of value in our club. I will hold my nose, and vote to accept the terms
of surrender.
But,
after two cars and three motorcycles, I won't be buying any more BMWs.
Mark
Crispin, ACA #3807, CCA #35137
Editorial
Guidelines
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ask that all letters address the issues. We will not publish anything which
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