Happy Mother s Day May 2012 April 2011 Director s Ramblings 1 Calendar of Events 2-3 Lafayette, LA Rally 4-7 Biker Blessing 8 Back roads to Bismarck 9 Ride to Keo 10 Mother s Day 11 Chapter Education 12 Editor Valerie Hewett Well, if you have not been taking advantage of this fantastic spring weather, you are really missing out on some great riding! We are have some busy days upgrading the interior of our motor home, getting the Gold Wing ready for riding as we look forward to our Yellowstone National Park summer. We hope to be able to take advantage of the time up north and ride and get to see lots of mountain roads and views of the Northwest while at work this summer. Our location will be at Mammoth Springs Campground in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, and if anyone wants to come up, we will do our best to show you a good time. We are very excited that Pam and Dennis Vanleeuwen will be visiting us at Yellowstone and surrounding areas on their way out to California. Chapter E will be in good hands while we are gone. Charlie & Cheryl Stockton and Mike & Diane Keesling, your ACDs, will pick up and lead our chapter. Our cell phone and internet coverage this summer will be very poor, so if you need help or need information, please get with our ACDs and they will be glad to help you. A big THANKS TO OUR ROAD CAPTAINS for volunteering their time to take us on some really wonderful rides..please take advantage of every chance to ride the pretty roads all around us. This has been some of best riding weather! It is our feeling that as a Chapter E member, you will be with some of the greatest people that we have ever met! Be careful out there and always wear your proper riding gear for safety. Richard and Jean Penuell Chapter Directors Chapter E
GWRRA Chapter AR- May 2012 Chapter Director Richard & Jean Penuell Assistant Chapter Director Charlie & Cheryl Stockton Diane & Mike Keesling Treasurer Cindy Hagan Chapter Education Tom Harrison Newsletter Valerie Hewett Ride Coordinator Skip Klink Membership Enhancement Ed Hagan Event Coordinator Tom Templeton Sunshine Person Joan Klink Quarter Master Cheryl Stockton Meet to Eat Bryan & Kathleen Witt Judy & Jerry Sloan Web Master Dave Scott Day trips Chapter Rides MTE every other week starting Jan 5, 2012 May Jack and Sharon s Easy Rider ride every Wednesday Thursdays with no MTE and Saturdays on weeks with MTE, weather permitting. May 2-6 - Panama City Thunder on the Beach (Charlie Stockton, Don, Wally, Jack) June July May 10-13 The Hub Trip, Dennis Hintz May 17 19 - TX District Convention (New Braunfels) Ed Hagen May 18 20 - Niehaus Honda Rally, Dan Gruben May 24 26 - District Rally Harrison, AR At Duran May 31 Jun 2 - Mid-America Bike Week in Hot Springs May 31 Chapter meeting (Rescheduled due to District Rally) Thurs night like another MTE May 31 Chapter meeting (Rescheduled due to District Rally) Thurs night like another MTE Jun - Branson Trip Tom Templeton June 23, 24 2012 Horizons class in Morrilton-Larry Penepent July 4-7 - Wing Ding 34 in Ft. Wayne, IN Dan Gruben
GWRRA Chapter Director Richard & Jean Penuell Assistant Chapter Director Charlie & Cheryl Stockton Diane & Mike Keesling Treasurer Cindy Hagan Chapter Education Tom Harrison Newsletter Valerie Hewett Ride Coordinator Skip Klink Membership Enhancement Ed Hagan Event Coordinator Tom Templeton Sunshine Person Joan Klink Quarter Master Cheryl Stockton Meet to Eat Bryan & Kathleen Witt Judy & Jerry Sloan Web Master Dave Scott August Aug 17-19 Mt. View Bike Rally/Blanchard Springs & Caverns, Dennis Hintz September Sept 26 29 Bikes Blues and BBQ in Fayetteville October Oct 6 - Chapter J Rally, Hobo Fest, Russellville Oct 4-6 - Oklahoma District Rally - McAlester, OK Dan Gruben Oct 13 Wounded Warrior Ride, Clinton Library @ 8 AM Oct Chapter Picnic, Blakely Dam 3-6 PM Jean Penuell Oct District Memorial Picnic, Little Rock, Burns Park, Pavilion #10. Oct 27 Short Track Nationals at I-30 Speedway Don, Rick Oct 30 31 Leaf-peeping trip Don November Open May do another Leaf Peeping December Dec 1 - Chapter Christmas Party Dec 8 - District Toy Ride, Little Rock (NLR Honda to Children s Hospital) Dec 8 District Christmas Party May 13 2012
Lafayette Lafayette here we come! It s the Annual LA District Rally in Lafayette and eight hardy souls on 3 bikes, 2 trikes and one Avalanche pulling a motorcycle trailer have arrived at the East Gate Shell station for our departure at 8:00 AM. On Thursday morning...and they're off, on a pretty uneventful trip down to Ruston where we stopped, where else, at Burger King for lunch. Everyone is feeling fine and we re making good time so far. Then it happens.. The stuff you just can t make up! Jim Russell hits the radio at 1:30 PM and says he has a flat tire! He s on the shoulder when we all turn around and head back to see the flat tire on the Avalanche or trailer, we don t know which. Arriving at the scene, we quickly inspect all the tires and cannot find a flat tire. Finally, Jim notices the right rear wheel is missing his spinner on that wheel. After some kidding (that part happened in LA and has to stay in LA) we notice that the disk brake rotor is sitting down on the bottom of the wheel on the inside of the wheel. More careful inspection reveals that all six (6) lug bolts are broken off and nothing is holding the wheel onto the axel hub. How did the wheel stay on? How did it not come off while he was slowing down and pulling off the road? How did it not tear off the right rear fender and possibly the right side of the trailer? Great driving Jim! Now for the interesting part, spare tire does not matter, remember, we have no lug bolts. So, we call Rescue Plus for emergency roadside assistance. By the way, everyone should pay the extra $25 to upgrade the basic GWRRA roadside assistance to cover all your vehicles and drivers in your household under Rescue Plus. We called and started the painful process of telling them exactly where we were located. Then we had to figure out which direction we wanted to look for a dealer. We decided to go to Alexandria figuring that it was a larger city and would have more options for dealers and parts. Once we knew that help was on the way, Dan and Frank continued on to Lafayette.
Lafayette Dan called us to let us know there was a dealer just 20 miles south so we had the truck take us there. We arrived at the dealership and the service manager told us he was not too busy and could get started that afternoon. The mechanic told us they had absolutely nothing going on and it would be finished right away. In about one hour they were finished. How lucky can you get in such an unlucky situation? Now, the truck fixed, all loaded up and Jim, Rick, Ed and Don hit the road again. Friday is a new day and we all decided to go over and look at all the vendors to see what we have to have. Rick found some over priced chrome accessories that were marked down and too good of a deal to pass up while Don found a new USA flag for the bike to replace the old one which has too many miles on it. Meanwhile, Jim is shopping for locks to go on his trailer and hitch. Ed signed up to take the Road Captain Course starting at 1 PM that day. Several of us took a short ride down south on the back roads and had lunch, where else, at Burger King. We had to get Ed back to the event to take his course. The rest of our crew were taking an afternoon of rest back at the ranch while Rick and Don explored some of the biker hang-outs and tried out a local beverage or two. Saturday was our day for a long ride exploring parts of LA that we had never seen before. Kenny and Charlie had contacted us on Thursday night and offered, once again, to leak us on a ride that Kenny would put together for us and lead the ride for us. They met us at HoJo s and took us from there. We rode for about 270 miles with various stops along the way. Everyone along last year will remember Charlie blocking traffic for us at the turns then roaring back up past us to the front ready to do it again. This year, the roads where we rode made it almost unnecessary for any blocking except for one intersection. So she had a little fun this time. Kenny took us on I10 to 411 north to 78 to 1 to 10 to US 61 to 3057. On LA 10 we went across the latest Mississippi bridge which he said had just opened about 2 months ago. It is a beautiful bridge with a great view at the top as you can see.
Lafayette Then we arrived in St. Francisville where we were going to have lunch but we were a little early. Kenny took us into town to show us a very unique tree growing in someone s yard by Ferdinand Street. It is a very old Cypress tree with an Oak tree growing from inside the Cypress tree. Only in Louisiana can you find stuff like this! Then Kenny found the neatest road to take us around the south side of town. It starts out as Tunica St, then becomes Mahoney Rd. and finally becomes Solitude Rd. We all thought that Solitude Rd. was the most appropriate name. It was a very narrow and winding road through the woods with a few houses and a tree canopy covering the entire road. We noticed the interesting sign where we turned on this road saying Challenging Road Be Careful. I thought this was very appropriate. We had killed enough time now that we could go to the Magnolia Café for lunch. I m glad Kenny knew where it was because none of us would have ever found it on our own. If we had found it we may not have gone in to eat there but Kenny promised us he had eaten there many times and it had always been very good. We had a great time there and Kenny was right.. Again. The food was excellent. Kenny told the waitress who was on her first day of work, to only give us one bill. Everyone kept insisting on separate checks as they ordered and once again, Kenny had to convince the waitress to put everything on one bill. He finally got his way but he had to work at it. He said that they are my guests and that he was buying lunch. That was waaaaay too nice of him but we could not talk him out of doing it. Here is Dark Angel, Kenny and Charlie as we waited for our lunch.
Lafayette After lunch, we continued on 10 to Clinton and took 63 to 16 back down to I-12. Then Kenny took us to the Strawberry Festival in another small town. It was so crowded we were just sitting in a moving parking lot on the street. We decided that we had seen enough of the Strawberry Festival we turned around and got out of there as soon as we could and headed back to Lafayette. We invited Kenny to come to diner with us with the understanding that he could NOT buy dinner. We decided on the Blue Dog Café as a good place to go and met at our hotel again. Kenny and his friends all drove 4-wheelers and picked us up and drove us all to the restaurant for dinner. This time I told the waitress that I was picking up Kenny s and friends dinners. We all had another great meal and enjoyed socializing as a group after a long day of riding and seeing many things. Then I asked for the check. Again, there is no check. I immediately address this with Kenny! He said that he did not pay as he had promised, but Charlie did! Now we know, Kenny can t be trusted! Kenny says the oil business is treating him really well this year and not to worry about it! He really treated us too well! Now Kenny, Charlie, Dark Angel and Daemon are planning to come up to the Hub with us when we go in May. I m looking forward to that and we will take them on some great AR roads which they are looking forward to riding again. Sunday was our day to return back home but the threat of rain late in the afternoon in the Village caused us to re-schedule our departure to 7 AM and have an extra hour to try and beat the rain back home. We all made it back home without any eventful mishaps to add to our story and we all beat the rain home. What a memorable trip we had. The trip was great and made even more special by our dearest friends in Lafayette that we met for the first time last year. They have all made us feel a warm welcome every time we go to LA. I hope we can meet up with them every time we go there! Written by Don Hewett Pictures by Ed & Don
Each year, CMA holds a Blessing of the Bikes Ceremony at the United Methodist Church. One of the CMA Riders says a prayer blessing the bikes and their riders. Afterwards, the church has a breakfast for all attendees.
Backroads to- Bismarck May 2012 Mike took us not on a ride, but an Excursion. We met at BK (where else?). There were 5 bikes and 5 trikes with 13 riders. Richard and Jean brought a friend from their church, The Village Bible Church, Jack Dohme. He rode a 650 Yamaha. We turned and twisted through some beautiful houses and curvy roads. At one point, I thought we had left AR and were in Missouri. Mike knew absolutely where he was going. He had the whole route memorized. He even gave me a detailed map with step by step roads, in case I want to take a trip. I think my arms would get tired making all those turns. Some of these roads were not even marked so I have no idea how he knew when to turn. We meandered through some of the loveliest Horse farms. We finally got to Bismarck and stopped at Fisherman s Grill and Shack. Their buffet was good and cheap. While we were eating, Richard told us a story. Here goes... While Richard was in the Beauty Shop YES I MEAN THE BEAUTY SHOP DOWN ON RT 7. While he was waiting for his special beautician, a woman sitting next to him went outside and came back with a brown paper bag. She said she had some gifts for her beautician. She pulled out Chinese handcuffs and told her beautician to put them on. Then she brought out regular handcuffs and handcuffed her. After that, she pulled out a big SUCKER candy and said SUCKER to the gal as she licked the sucker. You know, there are some really weird people in the Village, and, then there s Richard. Ask him what Beauty Shop he goes to. Thank You, Mike, for a WONDERFUL ride!!
Ride to Keo May 2012 We had a good turn out for our ride to Keo. Katie and Gary got to go with us. I called ahead and saved us a table for 10 bikers!! When we got there the waitress was so happy because she thought we were bicycles and she said THEY STINK!!!! after a 12 mile ride. We had sandwiches and PIE. The Lemon pie was good and the Coconut was to die for, We still need to try the Chocolate and the Carmel, the next time we go back Coming home through the farm land we saw fields plowed and fields already with corn up and lots of farm equipment. Lots of flat land. After Sheridan we got pretty roads again. It was a good day. Pictures & article written by Sharon Fields Katie & Gary are visiting Tom for a while. They say that the people in CA have never seen a trike before. There re weird.
GWRRA May 13 2012 Mother's Day is a celebration honoring mothers and celebrating motherhood, maternal bonds and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, yet most commonly in March, April, or May. It complements Father's Day, the celebration honoring fathers. Many churches and families in the United States recognize the second Sunday in May to honor mothers. Many years ago, England observed a day to honor mothers in mid-lent that was called Mothering Sunday. In the United Kingdom, Mothers' Day is celebrated in March. The first known suggestion of Mother's Day in the United States was in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe. She suggested that people observe the day on June 2 as a day dedicated to peace. Others around the country campaigned for a Mother's Day including Mary Towles Sasseen, Frank E. Hering, and Anna Jarvis. In 1908, Anna Jarvis of West Virginia began a campaign for a nationwide observance of Mother's Day. She chose the second Sunday in May and started the custom of wearing a carnation. If a person wears a colored carnation, their mother is living. A white carnation signifies that their mother has passed away. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a joint resolution of Congress recommending that Congress and the executive branch of government recognize the observance of Mother's Day.
Tom Harrison in 1965 with his Hillclimber! He was 19 years old. What a good lookin guy. May 2012 Summer Riding By Tom Harrison, Chapter Educator Glory hallelujah, after a hard winter, summer is on the way. At the risk of being a kill joy, it is my job to remind you that we need to prepare our motorcycles and ourselves to maximize our enjoyment and safety. Here is a checklist to consider: 1) Stay hydrated!!! Mounting a Butler cup or some other form of fluid conveyance to your handlebars will help insure that you drink plenty of fluids. Just after I purchased a large Butler cup, I looked at it and thought what were you thinking? But when I had to ride across Kansas in 104 degree weather, it proved to be a life saver. If you allow yourself to get dehydrated, you might not discover it until it is too late! Heat sickness can happen in a hurry so don t take chances. 2) Wear sun screen and cover exposed skin. On a long hot ride, a long sleeve cotton or microfiber shirt wicks off sweat and helps cool the body while protecting against sun burn. Mesh motorcycle jackets will also accomplish the task. Don t forget to protect the neck area, a dew rag with a tail or a collar that turns up will help protect your neck coupled with as needed applications of sun screen. I wear a dew rags or a welder s cap with the bill reversed under my helmet to protect my neck. Unless you want your lips to look like crisp bacon (I know this because I have done it twice I am a slow learner!), buy a tube of Lip Balm with UV screener in it. I suggest you store sun lotion and lip balm in your dashboard so you don t forget them. 3) Check the antifreeze level in your motorcycle and if necessary top it up. I have checked 4 other motorcycles and in EVERY case, the antifreeze level was low. If you don t know who to do this, drop by or nab me at the Chapter meeting and I will show you how to do it. Believe me, it is so simple, even I can do it! 4) Check your tire pressure. If a tire runs low on air, it can get hot which could cause it to overheat, blister and explode. Also, do NOT carry heavy loads in motorcycle trailers. Some trailer people don t want to leave much at home..only carry what you must carry. If you have trouble loosing air (it is not uncommon for a Gold Wing to lose 1-2 lbs of air weekly, consider having nitrogen put in your tires and/ or Ride On which is a tire sealer. In any event, you should check your tire pressure weekly. 5) Since the Gold Wing is liquid cooled, a good multi grade motor oil typically can be used year around. However, if you plan to ride in extreme temperatures or heavy traffic, you might want to kick the viscosity of the oil up.check your owner s manual and/or consult your dealer. If my grandfather was still with us (that s him on the left), he would tell the Harley riders not to use oil to high in viscosity. He always said that a Harley should use a little oil since it helps keep the rings and pistons cooler. 6) Wear you protective equipment!