Storm Riders Chapter, Oklahoma Territory Harley Owners Group POST DISPATCH Chapter No. 1744 Sponsored by Fort Thunder Harley-Davidson 500 S.W. 11th Moore, OK 73160 (405) 793-8877 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Director s Scratch 1 Longhorn Trails 1 Weavings 2 Dinner Ride: Johnnies 2 New Years Day Ride 3 December Chapter Meeting 4 Officers Information 4 DR: Dan McGuinness 5 Big Dawg Safety Info 6 Grand Foo Pah 6 Calendar of Events 7 Longhorn Trails By Jeff Scroggins, Activities Officer Well, here we are in February, and, as I write this, I m watching it snow. No surprise it IS winter. But just think, we re only about a month away from the beginning of some great riding weather, and another wonderful season of riding the asphalt and concrete ribbons stretched across the greatest country. And all those poor folks cooped up in their cages will be full of envy, while we enjoy the wind in our hair (some more than others ) and the bugs in our teeth! The chapter officers got together in early January to figure out what all we wanted to do in 2009. For the first time in many years we left the meeting with more activities and events put on the planning board than usual. There will be chapter rides to several state H.O.G. rallies as well to the Republic of Texas Rally (ROT), an experiment to see if hogs float (or swim), a return to Six Flags, baseball and hockey Director s Scratch By David Wiist, Director Happy February to All!! This is the month where stuff starts to happen. The kind of stuff that begins to matter to each and every one of us. First, we look to see if winter stays a little longer or shortens its life span all due to some underground rodent seeking a shadow. Truthfully, I believe you can coax that rodent out of his / her hole with a little food, regardless of the weather. Who, in their right mind, would turn down a half loaded garbage can of week old tid-bits and buffet items? Why worry about the sun shining when you can eat for free for another few months? Next, a little later in the month, you have to worry about what to do to impress your socalled loved one, all due to some little fairy dude flying around and shooting folks with arrows. Beware,my fellow man-friends! If you miss this one, there s hell to pay for the rest of the year. Even if you are not married, you d better consider 2009 Mileage Contest Download the mileage form or pick one up at Fort Thunder H-D, and have your mileage checked by any chapter officer or by Fort Thunder staff. Contest runs from January through November. You can join any time during the year. games, a venture to the canyon lands of the Texas panhandle, the 10 th annual Rooster Ride, plenty of opportunities to ride to eat, a chapter picnic, and our biggest event of the year Cabin Fever XVI Storm Riders Stampede. Cabin Fever XVI Storm Riders Stampede charges forward from Fort Thunder Harley-Davidson at 9:00 AM on Sunday, April 19 th. This year s route includes new stops and special events at stop 5, including a live band, food, drink and a beer tent (cash only). Prizes include $500 first place, $250 second place and $100 for worst...and appeasing anything some else form that of the opposite sex during this to time mind... with candy, flower, food, wine, comes bling, and / or card. Sure, it has its benefits and bears do crap in the woods, so just go along with the general flow, and follow the protocol. Moving a little further into the Month of February, we begin to recognize and celebrate our government leaders, our Commanders in Chief. Since it would be too redundant to list each and every one of the 40+ individual days, these great ol dudes got together and agreed to all come together and let us recognize them on one day. Great idea, and especially an amazing feat, since it is a very rare occurrence that all the government leaders agreed on one thing. And maybe this day isn t just about their birthdays, maybe its just about being someone who had the guts to step up to the plate and just give er a good ol try! Hip-Hip Hooray for the U.S.A.! And, finally, we move towards the later part of the month. Catholics and others of relligions in Western Christianity also, celebrate a day where they burn last years weed (found to be palm leaves in ancient studies) and take those ashes and make the sign of the cross on their foreheads as a sign of repentance for one s expression of sorrow for sins and faults. Bummer! According to those beliefs and writings, each and everyone around us should probably be dabbed with a little ash and hope for greater things to come. It s not a perfect world (Continued on page 4) hand. Fantastic door prizes galore, plus the Grand Prize drawing this year features a new, 2009 Harley-Davidson XL1200C Sportster. All registrations receive one chance at the grand prize, with no limit on registrations. Pre-registration is now open through April 4 th and guarantees an extra chance for the grand prize drawing (that means you ll get 2 chances at the bike); the first 400 pre-registrants will also receive a limited edition commemorative ride pin, and free bike inspection from the FTHD service staff. (Continued on page 5)
Weavings... from the desk of Assistant Director, Terry Weaver Hello to all! I hope all is going well with everyone. We had our Officers Planning Meeting back in January, and I can tell you, we filled the calendar with lots of stuff for our chapter family to do in 2009. Nancy and I are going to be sending out the e-mail reminders about events to the chapter members, and making some phone calls to our members that don t have e-mail. So as you read this article, think back to January. If you didn t receive any e-mail from me, or if you don t have e-mail and you didn t receive a phone call from Nancy or me, please take a moment and send me your current e-mail address or give us a call. My e-mail address is hdroadweaver@dishmail.net My phone number is 405-308-1968. We very much want to contact everyone, and we would appreciate your cooperation with this. We are forming a membership committee, so we are looking for members that would like to help out by doing some recruiting. You would be handing out information about the chapter, answering questions about the chapter, and signing up those that wanted to join the chapter. We are not asking you to give up a full day, just an hour or two would be fantastic. Our plan is to set up at the dealership on Saturdays, and at some other events such as Bike Night and Cabin Fever. We will be registering people for Cabin Fever starting in February. If you are interested, contact Nancy or me at the above e-mail or phone number. Something new for 2009 is the New Member orientation class we are offering to our new members. One class of 5 to 10 new members would meet each month, for about 45 minutes, with a short group ride afterwards. I m hoping to have the classes on Saturday mornings from about 9:30 to 10:15. I will have a signup sheet at the chapter meetings and you can always e-mail or call me if you are interested in taking the class. Be safe, ride hard, we ll see ya on the next ride. Terry Weaver Dinner Ride, Johnnie s, I 240, December 21 What was the route: Straight from Valero s to Johnnies Road Captains: Rick Marinelli lead, Dave Berg man-mid, Ira Frame- Sweep By Rick Marinelli, Road Captain How many went: 10 in cars and 1 brave sole on a bike How the weather was: 16 degrees...brrrrr... Menu favorites: Hamburgers and fries Worth a return trip: Yes Incidents that made this ride memorable: Mike Gaston showed up on his bike and said he had been afraid he would be the only one in a cage. 2
New Years Day Mystery Ride, January 1 The route: From Valero on 89 th & I- 35 we went north on I-35 to I-240 then east on I-240 to Douglas Blvd. We went north on to 74 th Street and then east on 74 th to Post Rd. Then we turned south and followed Post, as it turned into Draper Dr. We continued to follow it around Draper Lake and over the dam to 104 th Street. Then we went west on 104 th to Western Ave. where we turned north and followed Western north to Louie s on the west side of the street. Road Captains: Lead: Walt Pierce; Middle: Rick Marinelli; Sweep: Chuck Higdon How many went: 40 members and 6 guests on 35 bikes and in 2 cars. 6 members met us at Louie s. How the weather was: Great day to ride in Oklahoma. By Walt Pierce, Road Captain Menu favorites: Everything is good. Worth a return trip: Yes. Incidents that made this ride memorable: You couldn t ask for a better day to ride in January. Dear Storm Riders, Words cannot express our appreciation for the beautiful poinsettia plant that you sent to us at the death of our oldest son, Brandon Harris. He died on Dec 5...Brandon was only 27 years old. He died from a stroke due to high blood pressure. Brandon was an organ/tissue donor. He is now our hero!! Your thoughts and prayers are most appreciated, and have been instrumental in helping us deal with this devastating loss. We are absolutely heartbroken, but through support from our family and friends, we are able to continue on. Again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Kelly & Anita Ford 3
I agree, but we all could do a little to make it better, regardless of your faith & beliefs. So, in actuality, February, old Month #2, is not as boring as some may see it. There are actually many things going on, not to count your own various celebrations, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, etc. I know, for a fact, that this Chapter has a few things planned in February, and I hope you will be a part of them. Of course you may not know or hear about those things planned if you didn t renew your dues, because you wouldn t be reading this scratch, but if you re one of the lucky ones and renewed, then you ll be part of the fun stuff that will be going on. Make sure you read the Activity Officer s article, as I am sure it will be loaded with factual information that will pertain to riding and having fun. Also review the part of this newsletter that has the calendar and list of activities and events. It s all good stuff, and all worth your time. Your officers definitely filled the calendar for 2009 with plenty to do, and we have just begun. Stay tuned for more to come!! That s all the scratchin I ll do this month. It might seem that I may stray from the point of riding and having fun with some of my off the wall observations and corrupt-minded theories. That s what ROOSTERS do! Just remember, it s all in good fun, and meant to make you think about a thing or two only for a moment. Getting your attention is a challenge, keeping your attention is our goal. Until next time, If you can t get it going with zipties, bungee cords, or duct tape, then it s serious! Ridin Rooster 2009 Officers: Director: David Wiist 348-1585; 642-4760 dwiist@cox.net Asst. Director: Terry Weaver 381-2061; 308-1968 (C) hdroadweaver@dishmail.net Secretary: Diane Higdon 405-473-0972 (c) tdhigdon51@hotmail.com Treasurer: Cindy Hudson 736-1570; 306-8516 wrongwayhud@cox.net Activities: Jeff Scroggins 841-7824; 808-6404(C) j.scroggins@cox.net Sherry Wallace, tiwallace@cox.net Membership: Webmaster/Activities / RC: Ira Frame 329-1424 daprez@cox.net Chapter Meeting, January 14 Get well wishes: Chuck Higdon Bypass Surgery Rosemary Nelson hysterectomy Editor: Linda Webster 262-5389; 570-8919 (C) linwebs@gmail.com Historian: Lyn Sanders 376-4841; 760-2711 (C) lsanders5@cox.net Co-Photographers: Keven Mayfield 923-2599 kevendman1@cox.net Wendy Benson, 436-6278 shutterbugwb@aol.com Toby Smith, 282-1945 tandemcpl@att.net Safety Officer: Bill Dimsdale 990-9651 BigDawg53@gmail.com Road Captains: Walt Pierce Head RC 793-2934, 517-6853(C) sooner1958@cox.net Lee Allen 773-0591; 613-7286 n5kxi@sbcglobal.net Jason Baker, 326-7125 dwjas@sbcglobal.net Dave Bergman 292-1294, 760-2175(C) davebergman@swbell.net Larry Burgess 364-2826, 517-4721 (C) lburgess@att.net Chris Copeland 651-0940(C) Jimmy.Copeland@tinker.af.mil Chuck Higdon 863-8636 (C) hdlonestar@gmail.com Rick Hudson 736-1570; 306-8517(C) wrongwayhud@cox.net Rick Marinelli 609-7624(C) rmarinelli@cox.net Jud Webster 262-5389; 250-0755 judwebs@cox.net Troy Williams 388-5949 twilliams44@cox.net 4
Dinner Ride to Dan McGuinness, Moore, January Ira led the ride, Chris Copeland was the mid road captain and Jud Webster was the sweep rider. We met at Fort Thunder at 12:30 PM and left for our destination at 1:00 PM. We had 29 people show up for the ride. There was only one cage in the crowd, and about 23 bikes. The weather was perfect for riding, sunny and in the mid fifties. So instead of going 1 mile to the restaurant we made a 52 mile ride of it. We left the Fort and rode north to Main St. in Moore., turned east to the frontage road then south onto I-35. We got off the slab at highway 9 west, but instead went east onto Adkin Hills road. We went through Goldsby then found ourselves on highway 74B. Now let me tell you about this road. If you like roller coasters, this is the road for you! It has lots of whoop de doos you know, short fast hills that give you a weird feeling in your stomach when you go over them fast enough. Well, being law abiding citizens, we didn t exceed the speed limit, but it is still a good ride. We turned north onto highway 76 until it ran into highway 62. Turning east again we went through Blanchard then north, still on 62, through Newcastle, and merged onto I-44. We turned east again on 149 th street all the way to the restaurant. The food is excellent and I highly recommend the fish and chips. This is a place I m sure we need to come back to. That s my story and I m sticking to it. By Ira Frame, Road Captain Ira Longhorn Trails (Continued from page 1) On-site/day of event registration will also be available at Fort Thunder Harley-Davidson. Check out the flyer in this month s newsletter and get your registration to me now! Volunteers will be needed to work check-in/registration at FTHD as well as the 5 stops along the poker run route. I will have a sign up sheet at the chapter meeting, so please sign up and help us out. We also need door prizes lots of door prizes. Please beg, plead or whatever, the merchants you know and/or do business with for donations. We anticipate several thousand people (both participants and wannabe s) to show up at stop 5. It will be a great opportunity for some cheap advertising. Upcoming opportunities to get out the bike, laugh, joke around, meet old friends and make some new ones, as well as pork out on dinner rides will start to increase each month as the temperatures do the same. Here is what s happenin right away Saturday, Feb. 7 Boomerang on S. Western this is a change from Dan s Ol Time Diner as previously announced. (FTHD 12/12:30) Sunday, Feb. 15 Pioneer Pies on I-240. (12:30/1) Valero at 89 th & I-35) Saturday, Feb.28 Chapter night at Blazer s Hockey (Ford Center). Tickets will be handed out at this month s chapter meeting to those that made reservations. Your reservation fee will be returned at the Ford Center if you attend. March isn t too far away and we ve got some good stuff planned for then as well, including the New Member Ride. This ride is generally a small group with many of the chapter officers participating so that you can get to know us, ask questions and get more comfortable in the group riding dynamic. This ride is designed for new members, obviously, but is also open to those other members who are not yet as comfortable as desired riding in groups, and for those who may have been around for awhile but haven t had the opportunity to ride with us. This ride is Saturday, March 21, from Fort Thunder HD. More details in next months dispatch as well as the March chapter meeting. Until then, I ll see ya on the trails, Longhorn 5
Turning and Cornering BigDawg howling By Bill Dimsdale, Safety Officer Where Should you be looking? Where should a rider look when turning and cornering? From the visual lead perspective, at least four seconds ahead in the intended path. This is the minimum amount of time necessary to straighten and brake in the best of conditions, but of course more time and space is better. Ideally riders would be able to look, with short and frequent glances, 12 seconds ahead through a corner to evaluate the roadway and traffic factors that could affect speed, lane position, or path of travel. Although this may be possible on a motorcycle range, common roadway environments may not allow a full 12-second search because of factors such as natural terrain, surface obstacles, darkness, and traffic. As riders practice their skills on the range, they should be encouraged not to stare at any one cone or any one point in their path of travel (target fixation). A rider must develop the ability to gather important information and transfer it into proper and skillfully timed motor skills. Rider Coaches should encourage motorcyclists to keep their head and eyes up and look through turns. Although riders should pay attention to where they are going, they should not be led to believe that a motorcycle simply goes where they look. Go Where You Look? Does a motorcycle go where its rider looks? Of course not. If this were true, a rider could simply avoid a crash by looking elsewhere. If this were literally true, a rider would swerve every time a blind spot was checked or a rider looked at beautiful scenery off to the side. To cause a motorcycle to move from a straight path of travel, there must normally be some physical input the handlebars must be moved. The science of motor skills development suggests that learners develop gross psychomotor skills first (the learner consciously tells the nerves and muscles what to do and they react) followed by the development of finer perceptual motor skills (the brain tells the muscles what to do without any conscious thought on the rider s part). As a rider s gross inputs lead to improved accuracy, the brain can then consider higher-order processes such as evaluating the interaction of factors further ahead. Looney Bin Comedy Club, January 10 Saturday, January 10th, 23 of us met up at The Looney Bin for some entertainment and laughs. We got what we came for. While the food was typical "bar" food", the comedians were pretty dang funny. It's just too bad DeAnn Pierce didn't enjoy the show enough! For those that stayed away because of the concern of it being a smoking facility, you should have come long. The ventilation system works very well. The show started at 8:00 and lasted about 90 minutes, so it wasn't a late night for the chapter's geezers (those 50 somethings highlighted in the main act). Everyone had a great time and many commented we should do this again. I look forward to it. Longhorn Grand Foo Pah Award During the recent holiday season, while preparing her place settings for her guests, Nancy Weaver noticed one of the forks missing from her grandmother s heirloom collection. After some questioning, she discovered that her hubby, Terry, had taken one of the good forks on the Fork Ride and had failed to return home with it. She even called Alfredo s, describing the missing fork. They, of course, questioned whether she had been forked in the head. So, at dinner, Terry s place setting had a red plastic fork. Nancy feels like, even though she had been working, and did not get to go on the fork ride, she is the one who got forked. Hey Terry, open your eyes and face the music! You are the first to wear this year s lovely Foo Pah sash!! 6
SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT 1 2 3 Officers mtg 6 pm February 2009 8 9 10 11 Chapter mtg 7 pm 4 5 6 7 Dinner Ride, Boomerang, 92nd and S. Western, 12/12:30 FTHD 12 13 14 Valentine s Day 15 Dinner Ride Pioneer Pies, I-240, 12:30/1, Valero 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Blazers Hockey 7:05 pm Ford Ctr. What s Happening, February March, 2009 If you would like a special occasion, get-well wish, or other item listed in this newsletter, please send to Rides and Fun events Rain or shine, we dine; ice or snow we don t go Saturday, February 7, Dinner Ride to Boomerang, 9200 S. Western, (12/12:30 FTHD). Sunday, February 15, Dinner Ride to Pioneer Pies, I-240, 12:30/1, Valero Saturday, February 28, Blazers Hockey, tickets will be handed out at February chapter meeting to those who signed up. March 19 21 Louisiana State HOG rally, Shreveport. Saturday, March 21, New Member Ride 12/12:30, FTHD. Saturday rides that leave during store hours, meet at Fort Thunder Harley-Davidson, Sunday rides, evening rides, and early morning Saturday rides, meet at Valero, SW 89 & I-35, 12:/12:30 = meet 12:00, leave 12:30; 12:30/1 = meet 12:30, leave 1:00, and so forth. Meetings February 3, Officers Meeting, 6:30 pm Fort Thunder H-D, H.O.G. room February 11, Chapter Meeting, Willow Creek Country Club (social time 5:30 7) March 3, Officers Meeting, 6:30 pm Fort Thunder H-D, H.O.G. room March 11, Chapter Meeting, Willow Creek Country Club (social time 5:30 7) March 31, Officers Meeting, 6:30 pm Fort Thunder H-D, H.O.G. room Chapter events mentioned here are subject to change. For current information, call CHAPTER HOT LINE (405) 216-0464 Linda Webster 2407 S. Miles El Reno, OK 73036 262-5389 linwebs@cox.net The deadline for information for March s newsletter is February 15 Sandra Childers Eric M. Evans Jessie Follis Sheri Gerhard Neal Harding Anthony Harwell Floyd Hathaway Ron & Juki Hawes Nick Kelln Anthony Merka Rosie Phillips Kevin & Angela Pliler Keith Putnam David Stinnett Gary Stinnett Steve Stoltenborg Doug Williams Scott Williams Robert Witt 7
Storm Riders Chapter, Oklahoma Territory Harley Owners Group Fort Thunder Harley-Davidson 500 S.W. 11th Moore, OK 73160 Phone 405-793-8877 Toll free 800-843-0783 www.fortthunderharleydavidson.com Storm Riders Chapter, Oklahoma Territory Monthly newsletter WILLOW CREEK GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB OKLAHOMA CITY 6501 S Country Club Drive (From SW 64th and Pennsylvania, go west two blocks) February 11, 2009 Let s meet Ride your bike, get a chance for a FREE dinner. Tell a fun story on your friend or foe, THEY may get to wear the GRAND FOO-PAH award. page 8 8