I first joined in 1987 for 1 year and joined because I liked going to rallies. The second year I joined with a life membership and at that time I it was $250 now a lifetime membership is $999. For me it was a great deal as I was a rally person and a long distance rider. From 1987 till 2000 I rode over 200,000 miles and went to over 175 rallies. Rallies were a lot of fun we partied for many long nights. I stopped riding in 2000 till I bought the scooter 20 months ago. I have been to 2 rallies since, I am older so is the rally scene. Many of the rallies that I would have gone to now no longer exist as the clubs have folded and numbers have dwindled. I can still stay up many long nights but the crowd at the rallies is also older and the number of people at the rallies are smaller. Over 1400 people went to the finger Lakes rally in 2000 and last year there were about 600 and less vendors for example in the 1990's there were 15-20 vendors at the finger Lakes rally and last year there were 2. The reason is that so much is sold online.
The bands were good music you could dance to and as the crowd is older so is the music (country music not for me).
I have also found that to find a good club is the next problem, a lot have folded.
Back to the original question should you join the MOA. Try it for a year, you will get a good color magazine every month with reviews on the bikes and equipment and a calendar that has all the rallies around the USA and Canada. With the ads in the magazine you can also get ideas of what you may like to purchase and where.
The best thing you will get is the owners anonymous. This is a phone book with many members phone numbers (no names just numbers and town or city) all over North America that are willing to help if you need it (break downs, sick, place to stay and many other reasons) I have used this book in northern Alberta when I came down with pneumonia and stayed at his house till I got my strength back the gentleman also drove me to and from the hospital. I have also used it just to camp out in someone's backyard.
The book also lists all the dealers in North America
This is my first BMW. Is it worth joining the MOA?