Chicago Region BMW Motorcycle Owners Assoccrbmw

Technical assistance has been a part of the CRBMWOA since its inception. One of the earliest regular activities of the Association was its twice-yearly Tune-Up Clinic. At the same time, the rapidly growing national organization, BMW Motorcycle Owners of America, desired to increase its own technical service to its members.

In 1975, the editor of BMW News (now BMW ON), Karen A’Llerio, who was a Chicago Region member, asked the Chicago Region to take on the task of editing the Tech Page in the News. Frank Hauck, who had been head of the Tune-Up Committee, was given the task of organizing a technical committee for that purpose. The resulting committee was named CHITECH, and consisted of Hauck as chairman and members Ted Strobl, Miguel A’Llerio, Hans Bonhart, and Ray Stamer.

In 1978, CHITECH was reorganized into two subcommittees: one continued to address the Tech Pages in the News, and the other concentrated on Chicago Region technical programs. The Association continued to hold its Tune-Up Clinics, and as the committee evolved, Oak Okleshen emerged as the editor of the Tech Page in BMW News. In late 1981, Oak resigned as tech editor, and CHITECH decided to end its involvement in the Tech Pages and concentrate on technical information and programs for the Chicago Region BMW Owners Association.

Over the years, a number of Chicago Region members have been involved with CHITECH. In addition to those named above, others who have been active include H.D. Peters, Norm Phoenix, Jim Gribbin, Mukesh Jhaveri, Frank Weimer, Norm DeGroot, Tim Colburn, Bob Honemann, Mitch Szymanski, Rick Neeley, and Seymour Goldberg, to name a few.

Significant Accomplishments: CHITECH has a number of publications and projects to its credit, including: The Chicago Region Tune-Up Manual; the Chicago Region 10,000-mile Maintenance Manual for Airhead R-models; the CHITECH BMW Electric School Manual, also for Airhead R-models; the CHITECH On-the Road Tire Changing Manual; the Cooling System Seminar and Clinic; the Wheel Bearing Clinics; numerous clinics and seminars at national rallies, and, of course, the continuing Tune-Up Clinics, now held annually, which now include the Oilhead R-models and K-model machines.