[Texas Road Glide]

with all my rebel and outlaw tendincee's..........being a member of somthing has never been my thing....call me a loner, outsider....whatever.....
My wife 2 years ago.......signed me up with a hog membership........without my knowing it....... a year or so goes by.......i still dont have a clue that i am a member..............it was a beautiful spring day.......hopped on the bike and took off to no where..........me being a native texan......and thinkin to myself i hunted all over texas......i know this state like the back of my hand......

we are coming back from san marcos.....heading back to galveston........when i get this great idea to take a short cut.........now i am on roads and hiways i have never seen........but the day was beautiful so i did not care.......then out of no where........bike shuts down.....no lights no power no nothing........i am in the middle of no where...... i cant even tell ya what hiway i was on......much less where i was....... seat , saddle bags...tools all over the side of the rode........me cussing like i had no sence..........wrenchs flying in feilds.....(yess i have anger management problems)......my wife reachs into her purse and pull out this membership card......on the back of it.....a 1800 number......so she calls it... gave them all the info........couple minutes later.........a harley dealership calls me up asking where i am at.......well......i tell them......i am by 2 big ole grain elevators..........and with a little childs voice wineing......IDONT NOW WHERE I'M AT!!!!!!!!!!! and this whole time......not one car has passed by......3 hours later.......i see this truck with a trailer......hey he coming for me.......it was goe harley.........and one of there porters driving the truck.......turns out he had an uncle who live out this way......

they tow the bike back to the dealership........shaking my head....pulling out my wallet to pay for the tow.......and the dude say's no charge!!!!!WHAT?????
take somthing........he softly smile and says your a hog member...it been takin care of............that 40 dollar membership........saved my ass........and i can honestly say i am a proud memeber of harley owners group........and renew it every year .....with the wifes blessings........just somthing to think about......

[mwelych]

I'm a rebel, and really don't do well with groups... If I break down, I guess I'll hafta push, just like the ol' time bikers had to... I belonged to one other group years ago, until Jerry died... Never wanted to join another one since... Can't see myself joining either... Peace

[SPORSTERBOY]

Was It That Stretch Of Road That Takes You Throuh Red Rock And Bastrop. Use To Live Out There On Route 2 In Red Rock. Rode To San Marcos All The Time. MAYBE IT WOULD BE SAFER TO HIT 35 NEXT TIME LOL LOL!

[Texas Road Glide]

you know sportster.........to this day i still dont no what road or hiway i was on..............it took me to west columbia.......to get my bearings straight..........hanging head in shame........use's 36 and 35 alot..........all i can say it was 30 or so miles west of west columbia........

and if memeory serve's me right.................red rock.............is slap dab in the middle of no where..........was'nt as bad as that......smirkin........

[chucktx]

im an old school kinda guy.....did my stints with1% and lone wolfed it for a while. i am now an active member of cowboy hog.....road captain, and quartermaster. i love it and the folks are great. we have some type of ride every weekend. some are short, others overniters. besides the roadside service from hog, the club members all have each others numbers, in case you need them. they are spread out pretty good also, so as long as your in east texas, your covered locally........
chuck

[FLHTbiker]

Like chuck I'm a HOG member and love it. I'm also a Road Captain for the chapter. Lots of great rides and other activities. Have made some really good friends in HOG. Being a loner is OK, but for my wife and I having good friends to ride with is priceless.

[Sleepy]

i'm a member of the national but not the local....and not because of anything..I'm a member of the CMC..a club a bit like the Jackpine Gypsies and the meetings are the same nights.

[Old Fart on 87FLH]

I too am a member of the national HOG, but just haven't joined one of the locals. Where I live, there are Three chapters within 30 mins of me, still thinking about which one to join. Did learn that one is not very supportive of veterans and our concerns, if that's so, that sure takes them off the list! I probably will join soon, as my wife and I enjoy riding with others.

[CD]

I belonged to HOG when it was first started. Went on several Wednesday night dinner rides when I noticed two things that later would be become a hallmark of owning a H-D.

First, most of the shiny new riders should have kept to parking lots a while longer. I basically stayed WaAAAAAy back after observing one to many close encounters of the ouch kind.
Second, with in the first five or six rides, the "club" became segregated. Yuppies snobs and "look at Me's" on one side and us general Riff-Raff on the other side. Sure, friendly enough but at an arm's length at best.

I rode to a beach party with them and was cracking up over these guys wiping down their bikes while still at the beach!

Fast forward to Tucson or, as some call it, Too-Stoned . The local chapter here consists of wannabees and elitist snobs. They kicked, yes KICKED! a local couple out because they own a small shop. H-D said it was up to the local HOG President and the dealer puppet. The justification? They own a shop right? Try that it is a small engine and go karts, mopeds etc shop!

I am sure a lot of HOG chapters consist of good people but, like any group, there will always be politics behind the scenes.

[bikerjim1]

Yup CD, that's pretty much what I ran into here in Central Texas. Back in 99-2000, I finally ante'd up and joined after SEVERAL years of riding the "lone wolf" position hoping to make new connections, but much to my dis-like, I found the wannabees such as you described.
Needless to say, I bailed and slide back into my "comfort zone". I still like to ride in pairs, but I don't need the endorsement of the chapters.

[Killer-B]

Good deal for you Texas Road Glide, it’s nice to hear of good things happening like you had. I was a member for 1 year? back 1990, but unfortunately I hear of far more horror stories than good ones, but to each his own, if you like it, great, if not, that’s fine too.
I personally don’t do group riding, especially with folks I don’t know. Very bad things can happen when you trust someone’s ridings abilities and they turn out to be some Yee-Haw that doesn’t have a clue. Nope, you can keep that group riding thing, I’ll ride with 3-4 people that I KNOW, and I’ll keep my medical bill to a minimum.
Have a nice day….

[FLHTbiker]

We have a few snobs in our local HOG chapter but we still have to much fun with the people we know. We had a great time with some of them on our trip to Billings. The snobs were there to and turned there noses up at us, but as I said we still had wayyyyyyyyy to much fun to worry about them.

[Texas Road Glide]

In the fisrt sentence of the post...........i mentioned......that i am some what a loner........ and was riding alone at the time.......when this happened i did not belong to a local chapter..............just national.........and that one tow paid for the membership........plus the parts i bought to get my bike back on the road..........were marked down 15%........that helped as well........when i can i buy most parts......online.....but if you need a part now........that takes the sting off of hd's prices........
as far a local chapters go............i had to luxury of serveral to choose from.........and yess i did see segragation........and was not going to join a local chapter because of it...........
when i found the chapter i am in now...............my bike was the oldest in the group.......setting my pride aside to say this.......i was probably the lowest income member...........still am...........i dont go on alot of the rides..(mainly cause i smoke, drink and raise hell).......but i do try an particapate in the charities for kids...........i dont go to church....so this is my way...of giving back...........i guess i should be thankful for the chapter i belong too.........for not looking down upon me........ for maintaing true form in being the blacksheep............

[hotroadking]

Most local HOG chapters are sponsored by HD Dealers, more than likely "pressure" was put on the group, not that it should have caved, if the shop owners owned a HD bike and were members of the national HOG.

Lots of folks don't realize there are two levels of HOG, you can be a National HOG member and that gets you the towing, magazine and patch, pins, entrance to preview events at big rallys etc.

Then there is the local HOG chapter. really an independent group that runs under the HOG label but is organized by the locals and supported by the dealer.

I'm a national HOG member, but not the local, I have the friends I like to ride with, folks I"m comfortable being on the road with. Takes some time to earn trust for the other riders abilities.

[SK]

Not owning a HD, I don't belong to HOG. I belong to STAR (Star Touring & Riding), which is the Yamaha sanctioned organization. I used to ride with a lot of them, but find I just like to ride with my local group of friends I've been riding with for quite a while. Nothing against the members whatsoever, and haven't given the Las Vegas group a try yet (too busy with school right now anyway). One thing I haven't seen to much in STAR are the elitists and wannebes, though I know there's got to be some (every groups got em). It's a family organization, as a membership is for the immediate family..no associate dues or extra fees. And you don't have to own a Yamaha, or now Star Motorcycle bike (Star split off from Yamaha similar to Lexus splitting off from Toyota). At the events I've been too there are bikes of all makes, including Harleys.

One thing I'm proud of the STAR organization for is their recognition of military vets. "Rolling Thunder" in Washington DC each Memorial Day weekend was impressed enough to ask STAR to lead the ride out of the Pentagon to the Wall the past two years. They told us STAR recognized the vets more than any other motorcycle organization in the US. Thought that was pretty cool. I graduate in April and am going to do everything I can to make Rolling Thunder next year.

[AFNurse]

So, SK, you graduate this next spring.....what area are you thinking about going into?? Know that PART of it is "where can you get the job", but wondering where your interests lay at this point??!! If nothing else, just a professional curiosity!!

[SK]

AFNurse, I just got a nurse apprentice job at Sunrise Hosptal at their level 3 NICU. I'll be working one 12 hour shift a week. I'm hoping it leads into a permanent position there (most NAP positions do) as I just love working with the premies. I've been leaning towards ER since this started, but getting time in a NICU during my latest labor and delivery class and clinical just turned a light on in my head..this is what I want to do. Since the NICU at Sunrise is going to a new 72 bed unit with all new equipment in October, it's going to be state of the art. I'll probably stay in Las Vegas for two years gaining experience for my resume before heading to the Reno/Carson City area up north.

Have they given you a ship out date yet?

[FLHTbiker]

SK, I think that would be a very rewarding place to roost, good luck with it. What happened to the idea of Newport?

[AFNurse]

got my notice that "as of this time, I am not deploying".....good on many aspects, pi$$ poor on others...... especiallly after they had given me the hard tasking. Heaven help them if they change their minds again. Sounds like NICU may be a good calling for you. Any luck on the download of the NeoFax for your Palm?? Hope all works well!

as to the thread....I got my one year of HOG membership....course I was in Germany, did me little or no good.....worked for a bit of discount of parts even in Germany, but... not much else.

[SK]

Well, if you don't have to go AFNurse..all the better I say. I don't wish anyone to have to go there. You'd probably be safer than most (I suspect you wouldn't be out in the field much) in a hospital..green zone? Anyway..here's hoping you stay stateside for a while.

Marc, I still plan on trying to find a decent little place in Newport with an ocean view if I can. I'll use it as a vacation place to start..still plan to retire there. Who knows..a year or so down the line..everything can change.