The R32 (left) is the first motorcycle produced by BMW. The R18 (right) is a 100th anniversary bike produced this year (one of 1923 made). They both sit on risers made by our very handy volunteers.
A Museum and a non-profit organization can’t exist without volunteers. Here at The Ultimate Driving Museum, we only have four staff members working in the building. To put on these exhibitions in our museum, it takes many volunteers to help us build these exhibits for your enjoyment. Our volunteers do everything from helping move vehicles in the building, cleaning them in preparation for photography and display, hanging objects on the walls, sweep the floors, and so much more. We really couldn’t do this without our great team of volunteers.
Today, I would like to highlight three volunteers that went above and beyond to help put on the BMW Motorcycles: A Century of Innovation exhibit. We have displayed motorcycles in a couple of our previous exhibits, but this is the first one dedicated entirely to motorcycles. Originally, we planned for just under 50 motorcycles, but it grew to 56 to be displayed. Borrowing the idea from other museums, we wanted to have some risers to elevate several of the motorcycles.
One museum offered us their left-over risers from an exhibition that they just wrapped up. Unfortunately, they are in CA, all the way across the country from us and wouldn’t be cost effective to ship. We couldn’t find anything “off the shelf” to buy that we liked. Our only other option was to build our own risers.
We reached out to the local chapter looking for a volunteer with woodworking experience. Tom Lappin, recently retired as the Sandlapper Chapter President, stepped up for the job. Besides volunteering for the BMW CCA, Tom has volunteered for the Foundation at many of our events. Tom also volunteers for Rebuild Upstate helping to repair homes for elderly and those in need. He had the skills we needed to build the risers. After we made several trips to Home Depot and Lowes for the supplies, we were ready for Tom. He built eight 12” high risers and four 6” high risers over two days.
(Left to right): Riser boxes were built, primed, taped, and then painted to match our outdoor signs and exhibit banner. Tom Lappin sits on a completed riser he built. Volunteers Michael McQuaide (bottom left) and Andy Quay (top left) followed up with primer and paint.
Two additional regular volunteers for the Foundation and Museum helped finish the risers. While Tom was building, Michael McQuaide sanded the risers getting them ready for painting. Andy Quay primed most of the wooden risers. For the finishing touches, we just couldn’t go with one color, but instead went with the three colors to match our exhibition – black, white, and blue…like the Roundel. Michael spent a lot of time taping off the sections and carefully painted everything.
The result in the end looks great in the exhibition space. These three guys went above and beyond to assist us to bring you another good-looking exhibition. The risers really tie in with the banners that we have on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. Thank you Tom, Andy, and Michael!
When you visit the Motorcycle exhibition, be sure to admire the work these volunteers put into building the risers. The exhibition runs through January 20, 2024.
The BMW Motorcycles: A Century of Innovation exhibit is proudly sponsored by the following:
