In addition to the fantastic people, great riding and a chance to look at more unique BMW motorcycles in one place than anywhere else another reason to attend national rallies are the vendors.
I recently returned from the BMW Riders Association‘s annual Rally. Held in Wellsboro, PA it was one of the better big rallies I’ve been to in a while with great riding right outside the fairgrounds. One thing you used to count on at the big events was vendors. Before the internet if someone made it for a BMW they brought it to the RA and BMW MOA national rallies and they advertised it in the club’s newsletter.
While not every vendor elects to pack up and come to the rally the ones that do are appreciated greatly. For a vendor introducing a new product it is still the best way to reach your audience. That’s how I discovered Mosko luggage back when…
My find at this years rally was the Moto Power Puck. (www.motopowerpuck.com). This is a wireless charging solution for modern smartphones that have inductive charging such as the Samsung S8 and up along with the Iphone 8. Wireless charging is a fantastic feature as my phone stopped charging through the USB port when I arrived at the RA. As a result of a dead phone I had to ride to a big town (three hours round trip) to purchase a wireless charger instead of enjoying the rally with my friends.
The Moto Power Puck is designed to be mounted on a RAM X-Grip mount although I was told some riders toss it in their tankbag with a rubber band to keep the connection. The puck comes with some super duper adhesive and you are cautioned twice that sticking the wrong side down will not be joyful. The Puck comes with bare ends to which I installed a SAE connector similar to what we have on our battery tenders. I did this because I want to be able to use this on multiple bikes and I also want to be able to disconnect it as I expect the puck may have a slight static draw.
I use a LifeProof case and I have ordered the combo audio cord / tether. One beauty of the LifeProof case is it’s waterproof and with this mount it will remain so vs opening the case for the cord. I will be using this on the pavement ride west. I love my music and I can either connect to my SENA and then plug in my ear buds to the SENA or go wired to the phone directly. The difference is with BT I can make and receive phone calls (yuk) or wired in enjoy better sound. When I head out on the BDR I will secure the phone my tankbag and the mount will fold down over the cross brace.
Update to follow post trip.