Chapter PA P November/December, 2008 Page 1 of 6 Gold Wing Road Rider s Association Chapter P Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania January/February/March, 2009 PA District, Northeastern Region National Staff: Executive Director: Melissa Nordoeff 623-581-2500 x212 Region B Staff: www.regionb.f2s.com NE Region Director: Lorraine & Earl Knight 401-723-5959 District Staff: District Director: Chuck & Evelyn Stone 814-652-6554 Asst. District Directors: Jake & Cheryl Lewis 814-832-2302 Gordon & Pat Geissler 610-367-7920 Dennis & Pam Milford 724-588-3488 Tom & Renee Wasluck 570-474-1014 Chapter P Staff: : Marty & Karen Miller 412-563-4920 Assistant : Roy & Shirley Hoak 412-331-6141 Gathering: 3 rd Sunday of every month Eat N Park Restaurant Route 60 & Manor Park Drive Robinson Township, PA 412-787-8556 8:30am Breakfast / 10:00am Meeting Birthdays: Jayne Minsterman 1/2 Larry Meyer 1/3 Dennis Chisnell 1/7 Karen Miller 1/12 Judy Byers 2/23 Florinda Rosemeyer 2/23 Walt Profota 3/5 Chuck Bowen 3/8 Chapter Educator: Andy Lucas 724-776-4309 Treasurer: Bob Minsterman, Jr. 412-881-2500 Chapter Couple 2007: Bob & Jayne Minsterman Ride Coordinator: Larry Meyer 724-224-1716 Public Relations: Chuck Jack 412-963-8159 MAD Coordinator: Andy Lucas Newsletter Editor: Jayne Minsterman chapterpnews@yahoo.com Event Coordinator: Suzanne Benedict Plaque Attack Coordinators: Position Available Goodies: Karen Miller Greeting Cards: Jayne Minsterman Webmaster: Marty Miller http://www.chapterp.com/
Chapter PA P November/December, 2008 Page 2 of 6 Directors Corner I want to bring you up to speed on some things since it has been a few months since we had a Newsletter. Because of the economy, the Chapter Staff has decided not to have dinner rides and such in the Winter months so that we may have extra money to spend in the Summer months to do more. We will try to have a ride after every Gathering, weather permitting. We tried to do a Ride Schedule that will get all of us the most bang for the dollar. The Ride Schedule is subject to change, and will as more rides are added. Summer is coming so let s get those bikes checked out so we can ride, ride, ride! Rider Education By Andy Lucas Chapter Educator Miseries To Avoid All Honda Gold Wings are designed to run on regular grade unleaded gasoline, 87 Octane or higher. Contrary to popular belief, use of premium grade fuel will not improve your Gold Wing s performance or fuel economy. If you re Gold Wing performs better with premium fuel than it does with regular fuel, you should see your authorized Honda dealer for troubleshooting and repair. Most (but not all) poor performance problems are caused by dry-rotted or leaky vacuum hoses at the intake manifold vacuum fittings. Vacuum hoses should be inspected for damage, soft spots, and dry-rotting if you experience poor performance. Avoid long-term storage of your Gold Wing with fuel in the fuel tank, carburetors (if applicable), and fuel system. Check with your dealer to see how to store your Wing properly. Put your Wing on its center stand while in neutral. Jack the front wheel up off of the floor. Rotate the front and rear wheels to make sure that the brakes are not dragging. REMEMBER: PROTECT ANY PORTION OF YOUR BODY THAT YOU WISH TO USE IN LIFE LATER ON. Mall Show Once again, we are invited back to The Mall At Robinson for a mall show on Sunday, April 26 th. We will be there all day from about 9:00 am til about 6:00 pm. If you attended last year s show, you know that this is one of the premier malls in western Pennsylvania. We had Chapters visiting us from all over and we even had some out-of-staters from West Virginia. Once again, this will be a combined Mall Show, as we will have participants from Chapter D also. I hope we will once again have a variety of motorcycles, trikes and trailers. Once again, Chapter P is picking up the insurance requirements for the event. Please come out and spend the day with your friends. The mall will once again supply the carpet pads for under the wheels. Please make sure your bike is in good operating condition so we can get the bikes in and out in a timely fashion. Wing Ding 31 News from National The Gold Wing Road Riders Association (GWRRA) is pleased to announce its 31st annual Wing Ding will be in Tulsa Oklahoma, this year. The international convention opens Thursday, July 2, and runs through Sunday, July 5, 2009, at Tulsa's Expo Square. If you re planning on attending, you better make your reservations soon!
Chapter PA P November/December, 2008 Page 3 of 6 Bowling Tournament On March 1 st, we had our annual bowling match against Chapter D. Once again, we pulled off a win by an average of 3 pins per person. Even more important than winning was having a great afternoon with friends and the topping that off with dinner at Uncle Bob s across the street. Ray Kinkaid from Chapter D had the high game with a 171. The top female was nobody but our own Pat Meyer with a 151. Randy had the highest 3 game total with a 479. We look forward to doing it again next year. 2009 PA State Rally Our PA State rally will be August 20-22 nd in Johnstown. Last year, we had a great time, but would like to see more people come up for the entire three days and see what goes on at night. The host hotel will once again be the Holiday Inn in downtown Johnstown. Make your reservations early so we can enjoy some time together. This year s theme will be Back to Bedrock because this is Chuck Stone s last year as District Director and his assistants said that would be a great theme. There will also be another canned food drive for the food bank like last year. We hope to raise more than last year. I also have State Raffle Tickets for distribution as we are trying to do better than last year. Last year the Chapter made about $145 and we didn t even sell all the tickets. It would be great if we could at least sell all our tickets this year. Ride for Kids This year s Ride For Kids will be held on Sunday, August 9, 2009. I would like to see a lot of our members there. The Ride For Kids ride was started to benefit the kids with pediatric brain tumors. This horrible disease strikes kids of all ages, as our own Roy Hoak had a brain tumor a few years back. Roy is on the road to recovery and he s enjoying life even more. This year s ride will also go from Cranberry up to Slippery Rock University. It will be escorted by the police and a light lunch will be served. Last year, we had Subway sandwiches and some cakes and a bag of chips with your choice of pop or water. Please come out and help the kids as the research benefits everyone. Winter Picnic This year s winter picnic was again attended by Chapters P and D. I was at the Daytona 500 that day and yes it was a little warmer even though we got rained on. Karen made homemade soup and they had hotdogs on the grill. There was no snow on the ground this year so nobody fell over the hill. Everybody had a great time. MINSTERMAN ACCOUNTING & TAX SERVICE ROBERT H. MINSTERMAN, JR. ACCOUNTANT 1145 Brownsville Road Phone: (412) 881-2500 Pittsburgh, PA 15210-3662 Fax: (412) 881-9150
Chapter PA P November/December, 2008 Page 4 of 6 Get Well Wishes Back in January, our Ride Coordinator, Larry Meyer, went under the knife for a problem with his back. He is now home and going through therapy. I told him the best therapy was to put 200 miles on the Wing, but the doctor thinks otherwise Please get well so you can take us on some more great rides. Another walking wounded is Carl s wife, Camille. She fell in their backyard and broke her ankle. I wonder if Carl pushed her Hope you re better before riding season so we can get you back on the bike. MS 150 Ride Volunteers Needed By Mike Ammerman This year s MS 150 Escape to the Lake bicycle ride is scheduled for June 6 & 7, 2009. I am the coordinator between the Pittsburgh MS Society and the GWRRA Chapters that help provide intersection and bike control for all the bicyclists who will be riding in this two-day event to help raise money in the fight against MS. I want to thank all the members from Chapter P who have volunteered their time in the past for this worthwhile cause. And there are over 1600 bicyclists that would say Thank You as well. What we (volunteers from chapters D, E, G, N, O, P, and U) do is to man each intersection along the bicycle route to help the bicyclists through the intersection safely or provide guidance on which way to turn at an intersection. We also provide a communications link between the bicyclists and the SAG (service and gear) wagons or rest stops for any bicyclist that may need help along the route. In the past, the route was from Cranberry Twp. to Allegheny College in Meadville (80 miles) on Saturday and then from Allegheny College to Conneaut Park, Ohio (65 miles) on Sunday. The route has been changed this year. On Saturday, the ride will leave Moraine State Park and end at Edinboro University (81 miles). On Sunday, the ride leaves Edinboro University and ends at Conneaut Park, Ohio (60 miles). Some of the old routes will be utilized. Because of the route change, more Saturday intersections are involved than last year s first day route and we need your help more than ever to help cover these extra intersections. If you have helped in the past, I say Thank You, and I m asking for your help again. If you have never helped, I m asking you to please come out and help these bicyclists have a safe ride in the fight against MS. Your help for either one or both days will be greatly appreciated. As a volunteer, you will have access to the snacks and drinks along the route at the various rest stops for the bicyclists. If you would like to help both Saturday & Sunday, your evening meal on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday will be provided at Edinboro University. Your Saturday night lodging will also be provided at the university in air-conditioned rooms (two people per room). You will also get a free t-shirt whether you help with one or both days. I attended your February gathering and enlisted the help of some chapter members. If you did not attend the February gathering and would like to volunteer, please call me at 412-795-6685 or send me an e-mail at auwinger@verizon.net. If you would like more information concerning the ride, please don t hesitate to get in touch with me. Thank you. National News Phoenix, AZ Melissa Eason, Executive Director of the Gold Wing Road Riders Association (GWRRA), announces a new Recognition Program for the Association. The program will begin January 1, 2009 and run through December 31, 2010. It will be open to all Members of GWRRA. This program is designed to say thank you to all GWRRA Members for sharing GWRRA with other motorcyclists. For every two new households you recruit, you will receive a $5 gift certificate that could be used for Goodies, Membership Renewal, or for Wing Ding Registrations. There are no limitations on how many certificates you can receive but they are
Chapter PA P November/December, 2008 Page 5 of 6 non-transferable and only valid for one year. This program will run for two years and then be reevaluated. We have brought back the Hanger Tags to help our Members take part in this program. The Hangar Tags, for those who are not familiar, are cardstock, pre-addressed forms that you can fill in with a potential Member s information, and they can receive a FREE copy of Wing World magazine or even join GWRRA right then and there. Or you can simply place the card on someone s antennae, if they are not near their Gold Wing and they can fill in the information and mail it in later. Make sure you add your information, so you can get the recruiter credits! All you have to do is e-mail or call Customer Service, and they will be more than happy to send these great recruiting tools to you. Call 800-843-9460 or in Phoenix 623-581-2500 to get more information or to receive your Hangar Tags NOW!
Chapter PA P November/December, 2008 Page 6 of 6 SALES SERVICE PARTS ACCESSORIES TRI STATES ORIGINAL HONDA-KAWASAKI DEALER Joe Martin Owner Phone (412) 431-5878 Rt. 51 at Ensign Avenue Fax (412) 431-4669 (2 blocks from Liberty Tunnels) Pittsburgh, PA 15226 Motorcycles Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 10:00 a.m. 8:00 p.m. All-terrain Vehicles Friday 10:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m. Financing Saturday 9:00 a.m. 3:00 p.m. Insurance Closed Wednesday and Sunday Service G. W. R. R. A. Chapter PA P Bob & Jayne Minsterman, Editors 2521 Kingwood Street Pittsburgh, PA 15234-3151