Issue #93 August 2015 Message from Kelly & Susan Wow! BIKEFEST 2015 was an incredible experience with thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts visiting our dealership during a fun-filled week of rides, live music, vendors, contests, and MORE! We couldn t believe the number of people who visited our dealership during the week and we were very proud to hear how impressed they were with everything that was going on. There were so many people that told us how much they enjoyed their experience at BIKEFEST 2015 that it made us smile all week long and they ALL said they couldn t wait to return next year to see what we have planned. The growth and success of BIKEFEST would not be possible without the wonderful and enthusiastic support of our employees, Erie Harley Owners Group (HOG) members, and volunteers who helped hundreds of people enjoy four days of FREE Harley-Davidson demo rides, assisted with registration for the charity rides, and provided necessary traffic control at our dealership. In addition, BIKEFEST wouldn t be possible without the financial support of our sponsors, which enabled us to offer more activities for attendees this year. We truly appreciate everyone who helped make this year s BIKEFEST 2015 a HUGE success! Congratulations to each of the winners from the various contests held at BIKEFEST 2015 and especially to Rick Weaver of Erie who won the customized 2015 Harley- Davidson Street Glide Special! We also want to thank everyone who participated in the charity rides on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday to help raise money for two local nonprofit organizations. We will present checks to the American Red Cross of Greater Erie County and the Injured Motorcycle Riders Foundation at the monthly meeting of the Erie HOG chapter on Saturday, August 8 th at 10 AM. Finally, we know that many of our Harley-Davidson friends have made or are making the trek to South Dakota for the 75 th Anniversary of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally going on now, and we are holding the throttle wide open for the second half of summer right here in Erie. Between Wild Wednesday Bike Nights, monthly lunch and dinner rides, the much anticipated introduction of 2016 Harley-Davidson motorcycles on August 24 th, the Pennsylvania State HOG Rally here in Erie on August 27-29, and various charity rides there are plenty of activities to keep Harley-Davidson enthusiasts busy riding this month. As always, we appreciate your continued friendship and look forward to seeing you soon. Ride Safe, Kelly Lapping Susan S. Lapping Co-Owners
Rick Weaver Wins the BikeFest 2015 Raffle Bike!!! Congratulations to Rick Weaver of Erie for winning the customized 2015 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special motorcycle on Saturday, July 18. Rick s name was pulled by Curtis Ferber of Glenwood Beer on the Miller Lite stage located at our dealership. Rick was all smiles as he came into the dealership on Monday, July 20 and picked up his new motorcycle from Kelly and Susan Lapping. August Charity Rides in Our Community Looking to ride and help support some local fundraising events at the same time? Then we recommend you consider participating in some or all of the following charity rides/events scheduled this month: August 1: 10 th Annual Motorcycles 4 Meals Poker Run to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank in Erie, PA; August 2: 3rd Annual Pittsburgh Inn Poker Run to support our troops; August 8: Fire and Iron Station 281 Run for the Bumps Ride (Titusville); August 9: Vet-Pet Ride to benefit Anna Shelter; and August 22: 3 rd Annual Let it Roar Poker Run to benefit Arc of Erie. PA State HOG Rally in Erie August 27-29 We are excited to welcome the 2015 Pennsylvania State HOG rally to Erie on August 27-29. Our dealership will host a welcome reception on Friday, August 28 th for attendees of this year s state rally, and we will have live music by Erie s favorite biker band Chrome! For more information about this year s state rally visit their website and/or Facebook page. Dog Days of Summer Pre-Owned Bike Sale!!! If you ve been in our dealership s showroom lately you know that we sold several new 2015 Harley-Davidson motorcycles during BIKEFEST 2015. As a matter of fact our sales staff sold a record-breaking number of new motorcycles during the week! With all of those new motorcycles sold we received a large number of tradeins and have a large inventory of pre-owned motorcycles that we must sell to help make room for the arrival of the new 2016 models later this month. Now is the best time to get the best deals and save money on our large selection of pre-owned motorcycles so don t wait visit our showroom today.
Join us for Downtown Bike Night August 21 Harley-Davidson of Erie is proud to be a major sponsor of Downtown Erie Bike Nights. Well they say that all good things must come to an end, and so it is with the last Downtown Bike Night of this summer on Friday, August 21 st in Erie, PA. Join our staff as we leave the dealership at 6 PM to join thousands of other motorcycle enthusiasts downtown as we celebrate another fun-filled summer. Join us for Lake Erie Speedway Bike Night on Saturday, August 22 Harley-Davidson of Erie is partnering with Miller Lite for a special bike night at Lake Erie Speedway. The bike night will include food and cold beverages for purchase and live music from Next of Kin from 6-9 PM. Our staff will lead a scenic ride that departs from our dealership at 4:30 and travels to Lake Erie Speedway. Make plans to join us for a fun ride and time at Lake Erie Speedway on August 22.
H-D of Erie to Host Wild Wednesday Bike Nights August 5 & August 12 BREAKING NEWS!!! Buffalo Wild Wings in Erie will be closed for renovations in early August and Wild Wednesday Bike Nights will be held at Harley-Davidson of Erie on Aug. 5 and Aug. 12. We will have live music with food and beverages available at Odis 12 from 6-9 PM. Please spread the word so that all of our biker friends know that the party will temporarily be moved for those two weeks. We look forward to seeing everyone at our dealership for two exciting bike nights.
A short recap of recent events. Another MDA fundraiser has come and gone. This was our first year as a ride instead of a poker run. Once again the weather was not favorable for a motorcycle ride of any kind, but about 187 brave souls registered and went out anyway. And, once again, our incredible group put together a fine event. It went off without a hitch and it appeared that once riders dried out, they all had a good time. We will be reviewing the Miles for Smiles ride while it is still fresh in our minds and we will try to think of different and/or better ways to improve participation, even if it should rain on us for a third year in a row next year. Tim will be talking more about the ride in his article and will convey his thanks as well as mine for all of the volunteers, donors, and of course the riders for helping the kids who will benefit from all that we ve done. Another recent event that I was proud to be a part of this year was the Nation of Patriots Flag ride. We were again privileged to have this national flag tour make Erie the only stop in Pennsylvania. Doug Roxberry did a fantastic job coordinating the Mentor, Ohio to Erie leg which started in Ashtabula for our group. We were again honored to have a hundred or so elementary students welcome the flag in Conneaut and sing a few patriotic songs to the 100+ riders who made the Friday trip. Kelly & Susan treated the participants to lunch at Odis 12. Saturday s portion of the event included Dave Dexter playing some tunes as the riders gathered, then Chris Falk sang the National Anthem. Veterans were asked to help unfurl and hold a 30 x60 American flag and were joined by many of the riders. Stars from retired flags from the Illinois Star Warriors Program were presented to about 50 veterans among the riders to honor their service. The weather stayed at bay for the very successful and uneventful trip to I-90 and I-86 into Falconer, NY where the flag was ceremoniously transferred to the Kinzua-Chatauqua HOG chapter. We were able to raise just over $1,000 from this event and will be awarding it back to a worthy veteran in the near future. Thank you to all who participated in these rides. And in the category of Something Different Just Because, the Scallywags Wobbly Pirate cruise was attended by 45 HOG members on June 12 th and it seemed as if everyone had a good time. The evening was cloudy and a little breezy but no one seemed to mind as we cruised around the bay, enjoyed some adult beverages and listened to DJ Brez as he played some tunes while we had plenty of time to hang with our fellow bikers. After the cruise most of us went to the Sloppy Duck for a late dinner and I for one was surprised that we all got seated and served in a timely fashion considering it was a Friday evening and we came in unannounced. We may include this boat trip on our agenda for next year. We still have more rides in store for 2015. Some dates and destinations have yet to be determined and we are ALWAYS open to suggestions for any ride or event that we may be able to add to our already busy schedule. Just contact me or Skip Georgal, our activities officer to be considered. Ride safely my friends. Kenny Sturm Director