HOGWASH. January 2008

Transcription

1 January 2008 HOGWASH Drector s Report 21 YEARS OF RIDING AND HAVING FUN that sums up 2008 for me. The Atlanta Chapter HOG has been provdng rdes and enjoyment snce I want to thank Tom, Terr, Scott and Andy for all of the hard work they have done for the chapter, they have all assured me that they wll contnue beng actve n the chapter and contnue to help where they can. Make sure to thank them when you see them. A lot of you already know me but for those that don t I wanted to ntroduce myself. I bought my frst Harley a Sportster n July of 2001 and joned the Atlanta Chapter n late My frst rde wth the chapter was to Crow s Nest Lunch Rde June 9, I honestly don t remember a lot of detals but I remember all of the members were very nce and I met Lnda Wllams, my frst frend n the chapter. Snce then I have logged a lot of mles wth the chapter, partcpated n a lot of events, made a lot of very good frends and spent the last two years as Head Road Captan. When I was asked f I was nterested n becomng Drector I took some tme to thnk about t and see f I could put together a group of offcers that were up to large task of movng your chapter n the drecton that you the members want. I feel that the 2008 offcers are just that. On December 2, the offcers and few members got together to dscuss what drecton we wanted to take the chapter the meetng was very productve and we ended up wth a lot of deas. By the tme you receve ths edton of the HOGWASH we should have the lst compled, organzed and be ready to put together a msson statement that wll let everyone know who we as a chapter are and where we are gong. But before we put ths n stone I want the membershp s opnons and suggestons. On January 17th we wll have our monthly meetng at the Olve Tree; ths meetng wll be a lttle dfferent. I want every member who can to attend. We wll be havng a Q & A town hall type meetng so all of the members can gve nput on what they would lke to see wth the chapter. I hope to see all of you there. It s mportant to the offcers to know what the chapter wants. There are other deas n the works, 2008 s gong to be a great year and I plan on seeng every one of you partcpatng and supportng your chapter. If you are not recevng the The Offcal Newsletter of the Atlanta Chapter, Inc. Chapter Number 0788 weekly remnders from the chapter let me know. If t s because you do not have e-mal then also let me know so we f there s another way to get you the weekly nfo. Chrs Robey, Drector Assstant Drector s Report Happy New Year, everyone. Frst of all, I d lke to welcome everyone to 2008 and to The Atlanta Chapter. Before I get started, I would lke to personally thank Tom, Scott, Terr, and Andy for ther hard work and sacrfce for the chapter. For those of you who don t know me, Mchelle, and I bought our frst Harley n August of I beleve we joned the Atlanta chapter ether September or October that same year. Our frst event was the Chrstmas party that year. We were lost and really ddn t get to know anyone that nght. Not realzng that the chapter membershp ran the calendar year and not from the date that you joned Natonal HOG, we came to the January chapter meetng at The Olve Tree. Well, we weren t on the lst, however we sgned up for 2006 that nght and were openly welcomed. Snce then we have met some lfelong, wonderful frends. The frst rde I went on was a Mt. Cheaha rde led by Davd Trefzger, havng never been on a HOG rde and knowng quckest route to Oxford, AL I thought we were lost. After the rde I realzed that half the fun s gettng there, I later realzed that HOG s all about rdng and havng fun. I have logged many mles on chapter rdes snce that day, so much so that I ve earned my 10,000 mle pn & a patch, & I m workng on my 25,000 mle patch & pn now. In late 2006 I was approached about becomng a road captan. I was apprehensve at frst because I had only been rdng for a year and a half. I took the fath that people had n me and put t nto myself. It s been a wonderful experence. Therefore, when Chrs approached me about beng the assstant drector I was very excted about the opportunty. I look forward to servng the chapter. contnued...

2 2008 Offcers Drector: Chrs Robey Assstant Drector: Bobby Conway Secretary/Treasurer: Rene Durham Head Road Captan: Dana Bodden Safety Offcer: Actvty Offcer: Erk Grandowsk Membershp Offcer: Mchelle Conway Photographer: Corolla Vandver Edtor: Chrs Houghton Newsletter/Web Master: B.K. Ells Atlanta Chapter 2008 Road Captans Tom Arnold Ed Chownng Harry Coggns Jon Loewer Steve Magel Skeeter McDowell John Provost Tom Sgerfoos Scott Vandver Gene Wllams GA State H.O.G. Rally September Tybee Island, GA Pg Rde Legend One pg - steady crusng rdes of relatvely short dstance, easy on the throttle, few curves, etc. Two pgs - a bt longer or have some curves but nothng too challengng. Three pgs - rde should be of moderate dffculty. Four and fve pgs - rdes wth a hgh number of curves, long dstance, saddle tme, road condtons, speed, and weather. Tentatve Actvtes Schedule February Road Captan s Meetng 05 Atlanta Chapter Busness Meetng 05 HOGWASH Artcles Due 21 Atlanta Chapter Monthly Meetng 23 Lunch Rde March Atlanta Chapter Busness Meetng 05 HOGWASH Artcles Due 16 St. Patrck s Rde 20 Atlanta Chapter Monthly Meetng 29 Lunch Rde Aprl Atlanta Chapter Busness Meetng 05 Nowhere Rde 05 HOGWASH Artcles Due 17 Atlanta Chapter Monthly Meetng 26 Provdence Canyon Rde May HOGWASH Artcles Due 06 Atlanta Chapter Busness Meetng 15 Atlanta Chapter Monthly Meetng 17 Armed Forces Day Rde 24 Lunch Rde June Atlanta Chapter Busness Meetng 05 HOGWASH Artcles Due 14 Flag Day Rde 15 Father s Day Rde 19 Atlanta Chapter Monthly Meetng July Atlanta Chapter Busness Meetng 04 Dale Moorefeld Memoral Rde Celebratng Brthdays 01/03 Davd Smth 01/04 Thomas Shelton 01/06 Rusty Lambert 01/08 Tony Denney 01/10 Jm McDowell 01/11 Charles Slomka 01/18 Steve Barnes 01/23 Robert Conway 01/28 Judy Smth

3 I know we have the January meetng comng up, and t wll be a town hall typesettng, but a queston was posed to me and honestly I ddn t have a good answer, so I thought t would be a good queston to ask the members. If you see me before the meetng or after the meetng or just at the dealershp or anywhere and have your answer to the queston, please approach me and let me know. The queston s: When you joned the Atlanta HOG Chapter what dd you expect out of beng a member? When I was asked that queston I really ddn t have a good answer. I bought my bke and really ddn t have anyone to rde wth so t helped me n gettng out and rdng, a byproduct of that was that I made some very good frends, and have enjoyed some wonderful fellowshp wth other rders. Therefore, f you see me and know what your answer to that queston s or f you have some expectatons please let me or any of the offcers know. Thank you all for everythng that you do to make ths chapter great. Bobby Conway, Assstant Drector Head Road Captan s Report Well, t s gong to get nterestng! All these new people and deas! The new offcers are all jved up and ready to start a ruckus n the club. Rebels wth a cause! Turns out they want all of us to help, magne that! I have agreed to assst the club as the new Head Road Captan. After beng the sde kck for some tme, I hope to do some kckn myself, Kck stand kckng that s. I say lets rde and have some fun! I re-joned HOG after beng several years away to make frends and have people I could rde wth. Thank you for allowng me to contrbute. My job s to help the Road Captans. I am happy to welcome some new and many experenced faces to our rde captan lst for 2008! Chrs Robey, Jon Lower, Jon Provost, Ed Chownng, Gene Wllams, Steve Magel, Tom Sgerfoos, Tom Arnold, Scott Vandver, Skeeter (shhhh! He doesn t know t yet!), Bobby Conway, Erk Grandowsk, Harry Coggns, and more, An unfortunate truth about most parts of the world s that t eventually gets cold (what where?). Sometmes t s too cold to rde your motorcycle (not possble). Wnter s a fact of lfe for most of us, and that means plannng your rde accordng to the condtons. Dress for the cold and peel off as you need to. Day Rdes can be fun and easy. Large or Small groups can venture off to local or more southern locatons and enjoy the sunny weather further south of the boarders. Call or emal a fellow member and nvte them out for a rde. One or two people can make a fun rde nto a great rde. As our organzed rdes spread out a bt for the next couple months, we all love to take advantage of the great southern clmate and jump on our bke for the day wth some frends. Sometmes people just need an nvtaton. Reach out and kck someone. Whether you ve been a rder for a week, a month, a year, or a lfetme, you are part of the Harley-Davdson famly. As a H.O.G. member, you know how mportant the sprt of connecton s to our hertage a hertage bult upon the ndvdual stores, passon, and experences of each rder, dealer, and frend. After all, our stores, passon and experences form the very connectons that make Harley- Davdson what t s. Then there s always that person that may put ther bke away for months at a tme. (Whoever sad that lfe s far?) As panful as the dea may be, t pays to take the tme to do t properly. Your motorcycle wll serve you longer and hold ts value better f you take the tme to prepare t for hbernaton. Plus, you ll be rewarded on that frst warm sprng day wth a bke that doesn t need as much prep before t s ready to roll (and that s less lkely to surprse you wth a prevously undetected mantenance ssue). We welcome anyone wth rde deas or nterested n leadng a rde of any sze or locaton, to contact myself or any of the offcers. We look forward to rdng wth you n Let the adventures begn. Dana Bodden, Head Road Captan January Meetng As most of you have already heard our monthly meetng wll be a town hall Q & A meetng at the Olve Tree 849 Thornton Rd, Ltha Sprngs, GA (770) The Olve Tree s just down the road from Harley-Davdson of Atlanta towards I-20. If you need drectons just let me know. We are also askng that all who plan to attend wll send a RSVP to atlhogrsvp@gmal.com wth your name and how many wll be comng wth you. Ths wll be standard for all the meetngs n 2008 so that the offcers wll know better how many people to expect. I hope to see you all there. Chrs Robey, Drector

4 Actvtes Drector s Report Great Thngs n Store for 2008 There are many new faces on the Atlanta Chapter, HOG Offcer and Drector lstng n 2008, and I am one of them. My name s Erk Grandowsk, and I have served as a chapter Road Captan n For those who endured my mundane rdes, thanks for comng, and f you have not had the pleasure of gettng lost wth me n Rome, or Alabama, hopefully we wll scratch our heads starng at a map together n I must admt, t wll be tough followng Terr s years of dedcaton and great work, but I wll gve t my best shot. Snce 2008 wll brng us a host of new rdes and Captans courtesy of Danna Bodden, our new Head Road Captan, I am gong to drect my focus on rdng-optonal events that focus on buldng the socal sde of the chapter. Now most people wll say, How do you plan to do that; you don t even come to the monthly meetngs! Well that s true, and hopefully, t wll change by md-year, but t wll not stop me from plannng some great events for everyone to partcpate n, fosterng the true sprt of beng a HOG Famly. My goal s to offer at least one socal event per quarter. The frst beng a trp to the Internatonal Motorcycle show at the World Congress Center n January to vew all of the new Amercan ron, and sncker at the other stuff. Afterwards, we can all gather at nearby Jock s & Jlls Restaurant n CNN Center and have a great late lunch/ early dnner together. You can rde to the event f you want, but I wll arrve n my cage, so don t feel ashamed f you do the same. Other socal events I plan to ether contnue or ntroduce are Move Nght at the HD Pavlon, combned chapter meetngs/bowlng partes, and possbly a pantable outng. However, the culmnatng event wll happen wth the frst ever Atlanta Chapter HOG and Great South Chapter HOG Summer Pcnc. Dubbed The Metro Atlanta HOG Summer Funlympcs, ths wll be an event fled wth all sorts of games and actvtes, provdng great fun for everyone, and the opportunty to expand your HOG crcle of frends. Of course, the success of these events wll be based on YOUR partcpaton and volunteersm, so f you are nterested n playng an actve role n ensurng the success of your HOG chapter, jon the event commttees when they are announced. Once agan, I thank you for the opportunty to be the chapter event and actvtes coordnator for 2008, and I would lke to personally wsh everyone a Happy and Prosperous 2008, and may you rde to your heart s content. Erk Grandowsk, Road Captan, Events & Actvtes Drector. Membershp Offcer s Report Happy New Year, everyone. Frst of all I d lke to welcome everyone to 2008 and to the Atlanta Chapter. I served n 2007 as your Membershp Offcer, but some of you may stll not know a lot about me. So let me ntroduce myself. My name s Mchelle Conway and I have been marred to Bobby snce We purchased our frst Harley n August of 2005 and joned the Atlanta HOG chapter. I spent approxmately 1 year rdng behnd Bobby and decded that I would lke to have my own bke. In March of ths year we purchased a 2004 Fat Boy for me; I took the Rder s Edge course and got my lcense. I have been rdng and havng fun ever snce! I then realzed the bke that I really wanted was the Hertage. We were very fortunate and found a used 07 wth only 12 mles on t and t was black and red! My dream bke! I look forward to servng as your Membershp Offcer n 2008 and encourage you to contact me wth any membershp questons or any queston that you have. The best way to contact me s through emal, I can be reached at atlhogmembershp@gmal.com. Agan I, along wth the other offcers, am very excted about We are gong to have a lot of thngs happenng and look forward to seeng all of you n the comng year! Mchelle Conway, Membershp Offcer Good Luck Rde I hope everyone wll come out on January 1st for the chapters annual Tommy Tyner/Good Luck Rde. We wll meet at Harley-Davdson of Atlanta at 10am and leave out at 10:30am. It wll be a nce easy rde down to Buckner s n Jackson, Georga. If you don t feel the weather s motorcycle frendly come n the car. I hope everyone wll come and start the year off rght wth your HOG famly. Chrs Robey, Drector

5 Sgnal Mountan 4 Rde Recap Three weekends ago, I made Danna s great rde to Burt s Farm. Lttle dd I know the rde would re-kndle my passon for the machne, the road and most of all my frends? Ths, along wth some coaxng by other rders, convnced me to pull together the 4th Annual Sgnal Mountan Rde. I am a bt of a realst and was antcpatng a small group. However, once agan, you showed your strength and love for the HD famly. We had 20 bkes and 24 frends. We rode more than 500 mles on Saturday and Sunday. We traversed the back roads of Northwest GA, followed the Rver through Suck Creek (yes, that s ts real name; I ddn t make ths up) and stopped for a prvate lunch at the Rver s Inn. So close to the rver you could drop a fshng lne. We sat at a table wth the Rver and Lookout Mountan s fall color at our front door. Magnfcent...what a gft! I couldn t beleve Peter and Bll fnshed the trple-decker burgers. How dd they get ther mouths over that bg stack? The catfsh and shrmp were good also. After lunch, we tackled Sgnal Mountan. From a seres of fast long curves to swtchbacks at 10 mph, we enjoyed them all. The Brow Road provded a clear vew of Chattanooga, the Rver and Lookout Mountan to the east and the Mllon dollar homes on our west. You had to be careful not to stare too long n ether drecton for the twst and turns wthout a guard ral could make for a nasty fall. After Sgnal, we enjoyed a sunset at Sgnal Pont and opted to blast up Monteagle Pass usng, I-24W, darkness meant t would get even colder! We arrved safely at the Best Western/Smokehouse. We cleaned up and enjoyed homemade Popcorn around a blazng warm bonfre. Sunday mornng we had a Veterans Vgl at the Peace Memoral, Sewannee Unversty. What a vew, I could see for mles and mles and mles, oh yeah (Pete Townsend, The Who) After the Vgl, some elected for the fast route home, whle about 14 bkes chose the long way. As a result, off we went through Sewanee, Valley Head, Stevenson, Mentone, Menlo, Summervlle, Coosa, Cedartown and Dallas. Another great day! I told the group on Sunday mornng, Let s keep dong ths. I wll commt to the Sgnal Mountan. Rde for November So put t on your calendar now for the 1st and 2nd or 8th and 9th, November These are Saturday/Sunday weekends. Keep your eyes on the HOGWASH for updates. Many thanks to Dana and Andy for helpng me to lead the group. Thanks also to the 24 frends who rode on short notce. YOU ARE AWESOME! To all HOG members, have a safe, healthy and happy Holday Season! Love to Rde, Rde to Love, Steve Magel, Road Captan Butler s Mll Rde Recap The weather started off nce and sunny wth the warmth startng to buld, however we capped off at about 68 degrees and overcast. We had a good turnout for ths Sunday early afternoon rde wth fourteen people on twelve bkes ready to roll to Graham, Alabama. Durng the pre-rde meetng, I admtted to creatng the holy gral of Road Captan errors, I dd not perform a pre-rde to the restaurant. I knew approxmately where the restaurant was (Alabama), and dd create a generc, useless map the nght before, but the group was mostly comprsed of those who been to Butler s Mll before, so how could we mss! Well, we almost dd. We traveled down Route 78 and 100 to get n the general area, and then I turned on my trusty GPS take over for the last leg of the journey. Well, that led to a brdge beng closed, a detour, and a slew of small county roads that do not appear on any map I own. Just when I thought we were close, my trusty GPS goes blank. Welcome to my nghtmare, a slew of experenced rders followng me, and I relegated all of my trust nto a pece of modern technology that stopped workng. Just as I thought I would have to swallow a bt of crow and pull over to ask someone n the group for drectons, I saw a sgn from above; well really more n front of me, a small sgn at an ntersecton whch read Butler s Mll wth an arrow pontng left. Thanks Goodness! The food was great, and spendng tme wth the Harley group s always the best thng gong. A specal thanks to Joe and Joanne Tesar for rdng sweep and Kevn Magll for rdng md-captan. Next tme, I wll pre-rde...maybe. Erk Grandowsk, Road Captan

6 August 30, 1985 Dear H.O.G. Member: Harley-Davdson of Atlanta wll sponsor the Atlanta Chapter of the Harley Owners Group. The purpose of the local chapter s to promote motorcyclng actvtes for H.O.G. members by creatng specal chapter actvtes and encouragng partcpaton n exstng events. The Harley Owners Group local chapter s a famly-orented organzaton, whch should appeal to all H.O.G. members. If you are nterested n partcpatng n the Atlanta Chapter, please return the enclosed applcaton to Harley-Davdson of Atlanta mmedately or better yet, attend a meetng to be help Thursday, September 19, 1985, at Harley-Davdson of Atlanta, 7:00 P.M. Don t be left out...come and help us organze the Atlanta Chapter of the Harley Owners Group. January 1, 1986 The frst Annual New Years Day Good Luck Breakfast and Rde to Indan Sprngs State Park was held wth the followng n attendance. Sncerely, B.K. Ells Drector, Atlanta Chapter, H.O.G. Edde and Cndy George Jm and Rene Durham Mke Levne George Baker Steve and Nancy Levelsmre Davd Dodd John Wse Fred Reynolds Debra Roasenbaum Davd Brooks BK Ells The day started wth a 30 degree temperature...

7 January 2008 Atlanta Chapter All rdes leavng Harley-Davdson of Atlanta, rders, meet n pavlon! Tommy Tyner/ Good Luck Rde M-10:00am HDA L-10-30am Chrs Robey 2-Pgs HOGWASH Artcles Due Today! Atlanta Chapter Busness Meetng 7:00 PM BBQ House Next door HDA All Welcomed! Chapter Meetng Olve Tree 7:00 PM 849 Thornton Rd. Ltha Sprngs Lunch Rde M-12:30 pm HDA L-1:00 pm Bobby Conway 2-Pgs Lunch Rde M-11:30 pm HDA L-12:00 pm Chrs Robey 2-Pgs Rder Reward s Event PLEASE DO NOT CALL HDA ABOUT RIDE INFORMATION. CALL THE APPROPRIATE ROAD CAPTAIN! Check out Corolla Vandver s Atlanta Chapter Pctures. Go to Sgn n usng the UserID and Password lsted below. UserID: atlantahog Password: hdax32

8 Msson Statement: The Atlanta Chapter provdes members wth exctng, safe, organzed rdng actvtes and socal events to expand horzons, fulfll dreams, and create lfelong memores through personal relatonshps forged n ron and steel. Atlanta Chapter, Inc. Harley-Davdson of Atlanta, Inc. 501 Thornton Road Ltha Sprngs, Georga HOGWASH The Offcal Newsletter of the Atlanta Chapter, Inc. Chapter Number 0788 TO: January 2008