Biker Meeting 2001

"We" is 6500 visitors of the first international BMW Motorrad Biker Meeting held from July 6th to 8th, 2001 in Seefeld/Tyrol in Austria. BMW Motorrad invited participants from every continent. Among the 6500 guests we counted 20 bikers from Moscow, 20 from Greece, 10 from Estonia, 20 from Denmark, 10 from the USA (the biker with the longest ride to Seefeld had a Florida licence plate) and participants from many other countries.

All the visitors were fascinated by the scenario that welcomed them on Saturday morning: seemingly endless rows of BMW motorcycles - and some other brands too in search of the real BMW atmosphere -rode around and were parked all over the beautiful Tyrolese mountain village. The weather was perfect with mountain tops gleaming in a blue sky. It was the ideal setting for the first BMW Motorrad Biker Meeting. The village of Seefeld as well as the Austrian police presented themselves at their best. Everything worked like clockwork - at the first try! The entire Inn valley thundered with the sound of BMW engines as the participants arrived and went on one of the eight day trips.

The program which had been announced for several months at motorcycle trade fairs, in magazines, in our e-mail newsletter as well as on the Internet site of BMW Motorrad met with great approval:

The big exhibition tent featuring motorcycles, the range of motorcycle accessories and the BMW Motorrad rider's equipment range as well as the companies WüDo, Gruiter & Gut, Fallert and many other exhibitors.
The stunt show with Jean-Pierre Goy: a wheely on a K 1200 LT, vertical wheelies and stoppies over a distance of 100 m with the F 650 GS or slides and stoppies with a C1 - who would have thought it possible?
The first laurels were to be won on the F 650 GS Dakar. Andrea Mayer, winner of the ladies' category in the Paris-Dakar race, instructed those willing to find out more about the physics of motorcycling - sometimes the hard way &
And above all everyone had lots of time to talk about one topic: the pleasure of motorcycling.

The highlight of course was the Biker Party on Saturday evening in the biggest mobile tent currently available. More than 3000 friends and fans of BMW Motorrad partied until the early hours entertained by two live bands and the former DSF TV sports moderator Jan Stecker. This was only interrupted by a hearty welcome to the BMW Motorrad BoxerCup Team 2001 - represented by the racing professionals Helmut Dähne, Andy Hoffmann and Luca Cadalora, as well as our Head of Motorsports, Berthold Hauser.

After 10.30 pm only a few remained on the benches. Most bikers headed for the dance floor underneath the 4 x 6 meter screen where they really shook it down! The bands Women@Work as well as the Freddy Wonder Combo really got everyone rolling!

Sunday was off to a leisurely start with an alpine pre-lunch drink with jazz music after a thunderstorm had cleared the air the night before. For all those who had not already begun their often long return trip in the morning, Jean-Pierre Goy did his last stunt on the LT and the C1. The priest Stefan Hauser gave the benediction to a corso of at least 500 motorcycles.

And then the last of the 6500 guests left this year's BMW Motorrad Biker Meeting.

Our guests enjoyed themselves tremendously. One guest from the US who was headed for China on his bike said: "next time I will come with all my friends".

Please do!

Now we will get right down to thinking about the next biker meeting of course keeping in mind all your good wishes and suggestions.

A big thankyou to all participants!

Hoping to see you again.