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Memories of the rides you enjoy in the next 60 days will help keep you warm next February!

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Ride West BMW is excited to announce that we will be hosting a special night with Simon & Lisa Thomas! We invite you to a NEW presentation of "A Decade of Discovery".

These guys have ridden through 78 countries and over 325,000 miles on 6 continents and they're not done yet. They'll be with us for one night, so don't miss your chance to get up close and personal with these likeable adventurers. 

DON'T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY,

CALL NOW TO BOOK YOUR SPOT!

(206)-527-5511

NOW HEAR THIS!  THE RIDE WEST BIKE SWAP MOVES FORWARD TO THE PAST!

Several years ago our summer bike swap was a two day affair that ran on Saturday and Sunday. It was a lot of fun, although difficult to put on.  With the increased customer interest in seemingly everything we're doing this year, we've decided to do it again!  Yes, we'll need to be open on a Sunday to do this!

Calendar placement is tough. In the weeks of July we have the BMW MOA rally, the WSBMWR Rally, the Sound Rider Rally in the Gorge, and then in early August the Riders for Health Scavenger Hunt Camp-Out. We want to be represented at all of these events, and we want to urge you to attend them if at all possible!  So July is pretty much booked.

All things considered, we've postponed our Summer Bike Swap from Friday and Saturday, July 12th and 13th to SATURDAY and SUNDAY August 24th and 25th!  More details as we invent them!  

A great chance to come and surf the lot for a great deal on a used bike, treat it as a free bike show, or even sell your own bike with Ride West's help! 

Any brand of motorcycle is welcome, including scooters and dirt bikes! It's a hassle free way to sell your bike. You're not waiting for no-shows or worrying about test rides or bad checks. We take trade-ins, and only 11% commission applies when your bike sells. We do all the paperwork; license, title, contracts, financing, insurance, and extended warranties on site. We send you the check when your bike sells, and it won't cost you anything if your bike doesn't sell!

The August 9th-11th Riders for Health Dual Sport Scavenger Hunt and Street Bike Campout  will be held in Brinnon, Washington, at the Cove RV Park and Country Store.  Owners Doug and Kimberly put up a "Welcome Riders for Health" on their reader board, contribute huge bags of ice for the communal coolers and a whole wagon of firewood for the roaring campfire each night. We camp out Friday and Saturday evening, and all of Saturday is devoted to a scavenger hunt using your own digital camera to record "points" for pictures of specified locations. There are separate opportunity lists for street and dual-sport riders, and Saturday evening the points are tabulated and prizes distributed.  Entry fee is $25 for the entire shebang, including camping, although you are encouraged to overpay, as all proceeds are sent to Riders for Health.

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Additional treats to encourage your participation:

1. Saturday morning - $5 donation country style breakfast, brought  to you by "Flank Steak Kay."  Kay's cooking made people swoon last year!

2. A set of 2 Seahawks tickets (6 rows up!) for one exhibition game will be raffled off to the highest bidder...

3. A chance to spend time with Mary McGee. Mary is from Utah, and is an AMA Hall of Fame nominee. She began racing sports cars and motorcycles in the 1950's. She knows anyone and everyone in racing you have ever heard of, from Steve McQueen to pretty much anyone you can name, and still races vintage motocross!  Mary is one of those inspirational people life offers you from time to time.

Other food and provisions - the Cove RV Country store, the Halfway House Restaurant (Brinnon), Loggers Landing Restaurant (Quilcene) and there are 3 gas stations within 12 miles of the Cove.

5 Questions With the New Face in the Parts Department

Richard Ramsay comes to us with a depth of experience in the motorcycle world. We took a few moments to get to know him better-

What was your first motorcycle? 

"A Honda Z50 when I was 6 years old. I grew up in a family of motorcycle riders, and got the bike for my birthday."

How long have you worked in the industry?

"I've been working in the industry for 7 years- I worked for Moto Corsa in Portland, Pro Caliber in Vancouver, and most recently I was the Parts Manager at Lake City Powersports."

What is your favorite ride?

"Mt. St. Helens- it has a great mix of beauty, roads and some amazing curves."

If you could own any BMW, what would it be?

"There are two. A K1200R- I love the headlight. The second is an R100/7- it's such a classic, clean, cool looking bike."

What are you most excited about improving in the Parts Department?

"I'm really excited about expanding the women's apparel section to better represent our customer base." 

Be sure to swing by the parts department the next time you're in and say hi to our new member of the team!

August is here and the weather has been perfect. Get out there and enjoy some dry riding. However, here are some basic things to check before any ride.

Pre-ride checks; they should be performed every time you take your cycle out. We see way too many flat tires come into the shop, and it makes me wonder what else we as motorcyclists are missing as we race out the door to experience our favorite rides or destinations. Even a short trip on a flat tire or with a low oil level can be disastrous or at the very least rob a rider of the experience as it could have been. I sometimes have all my gear on before I remember myself, but I know it's too important to skip. Oil level, tire pressure, cable free-play and just a glance around your bike doesn't take too long and may be enough to keep a potentially unpleasant surprise at bay. Be thorough and be safe.

Ben Semer | Service Manager

(206) 527-5511 x400 | ben@ridewest.com 

How time flies when you are having fun!  Ride West BMW came into the world on July 17, 1995, eighteen years ago.   The dealership had previously been known as Buckingham BMW and was located in a 4500 square foot facility near Green Lake.  That building was eventually demolished  and six floors of retail and condominiums now occupy that space.  We knew that the real estate was going to be redeveloped so we started looking for a new facility in 1998, and moved in to our current location on Lake City Way in 2000.  This building is 20,000 square feet on three floors (service below, retail on the main floor, and offices, storage and meeting rooms above).  When we found this building we wondered what we were going to do with all of this room; not a problem, though, as our growth has been strong and consistent.  And the building has been good to us through the ensuing years.  

We are occasionally asked if this dealership will be taking on any other brands and our answer is always no.  We enjoy being an exclusive BMW store and, quite frankly, do not have the room for an additional brand anyway.  In that regard, we have always considered used motorcycles to be our "second" brand and have seen substantially increased sales of used units over the years.  We now sell used bikes on a one-to-one ratio with our new sales.  

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