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my experience with a memorial run


Gixxus Christ!

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My girlfriend's dad, Ed, is a great guy. We really get along etc and we both ride so he invited me to come on this bike run to raise funds for a memorial scholarship for this great guy who died a few years back. After some hemming and hawing I agreed to go. I met him at his place and we rode together to the turkeyfoot sportsmans club, who sponsored the event. $5 gets you a decent breakfast and a copy of the route. Now Ed rides a Harley, and I figured there would be a lot of the leather vest and geezer glide crowd there, and I was right. My tl was one of 5 jap bikes. The other 4 being an old Honda cbx, a magna, a warrior and an intruder. The rest of the parking lot was full of your usual scores of virtually identical street glides, springers, a few soft tails and sportsters and some dynas.

This wasn't a poker or dice run, just a 125 mile ride into the sticks and back, with a few bars to stop at. As we head out I notice that not only am I the only person riding in full gear, I'm one of only 4 with even a helmet on. So here I am on the fastest bike in the group, forced to ride at what I can only describe as a frustratingly slow pace. I'm used to group rides with other sport riders, where you accelerate into the turns. These guys slow down for turns. At first I was getting pretty annoyed with the pace and was bitching to myself about it, but I realized that was pointless and decided to just enjoy the scenery and experience.

Then I realized I could entertain myself. I started lagging and building a big gap between myself and the bike in front of me, then I'd wait for a fun curve, grab a gear, rocket from 40 to 75 and whip through it hanging off the side of my bike with my knee an inch off the ground, slam the brakes to avoid hitting the bike in front of me, and settle back into formation.

We stopped at 3 bars during the ride, the first one I had a bottle of water, the 2nd I had a beer and a bottle of water, and the third I had a beer. I know my limits and 2 is it on the bike. Some of the other riders were guzzling 2 beers and a shot at each bar, which made me a bit nervous. I don't really like riding along side fearless old farts who like to get drunk by noon.

Anyway, I had a pretty good time and there was some great scenery along the way, everyone finished the route safely and we raised money for a worthy cause. I guess I just didn't realize how big the disconnect is between the sport/sport tour world and the Harley guys. Definitely 2 different worlds.

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Well CSC, I had a similar experience in May when I attended a memorial run but somehow it was worse than I could have ever expected.

It was a memorial run for a girl that had been killed in Dayton to raise money for her funeral expenses. I knew one person there and even that was a stretch. Got invited through a Facebook invite probably because they knew I rode. I even asked "are all bikes welcome", then the invite came with no reply of a yes or no. I took it as a yes however and went.

The ride consisted of 6 stops with the final one having a hog roast (typical) and was scheduled to run from 1 to 7 pm. I was thinking "long ride" so I topped off my tank at the gas station right in front of the bar we started at. So I pull in the parking lot of the bar and see nothing but a sea of chrome, and like you I was the only guy not dressed in pirate garb. I walked up to the entrance of the bar after taking my gear off, passed a few people sitting on the patio and not one person said a thing to me. Not a hello, not a "nice day for a ride", not a "hi, bye, or fuck you". And it was like that all fucking day long. But I was there, I wasn't going to run away with my tail between my legs. So from bar to bar we went. At every stop they're downing several beers and shots and then hopping back on their bikes. All while riding "parade style" through the streets blocking traffic as we went along.

Well at the 5th stop the bar had a series of picnic tables attached together so I decided to sit right in the middle of all of them and by god they'll acknowledge my existence. Well they sat all around me and well...didn't. So I'd had enough and decided to leave, I wasn't having fun at all. I pull to the first stop light and ask myself "wonder how far we went today?" The answer? 40 miles! Forty miles and the only thing they accomplished was getting drunk. WTF? Really? Come on!

How in the fuck can you call yourself a biker when you're only riding from bar to bar just to drink? You're playing dress up. You're reenacting what you think the biker movies of the 60s and 70s were. You're not a motorcyclist, you're a douchebag. #/endrant

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That pretty much sums up my experience too. There were a few more sport bikes on my run, I was 1 of 2 people with a helmet, and the stupidity level was much higher. After about 3 bars, the stupid Harley guys decided it was a great idea to go as fast as they could down a 2 lane highway. I just let them go expecting to see someone die. Oddly the run was for a Harley rider that had dumped his bike doing 20 mph with no gear and slammed his head to the pavement. This is how his "good friends" pay respect. Guess they didn't learn the lesson there.....

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Well CSC, I had a similar experience in May when I attended a memorial run but somehow it was worse than I could have ever expected.

It was a memorial run for a girl that had been killed in Dayton to raise money for her funeral expenses. I knew one person there and even that was a stretch. Got invited through a Facebook invite probably because they knew I rode. I even asked "are all bikes welcome", then the invite came with no reply of a yes or no. I took it as a yes however and went.

The ride consisted of 6 stops with the final one having a hog roast (typical) and was scheduled to run from 1 to 7 pm. I was thinking "long ride" so I topped off my tank at the gas station right in front of the bar we started at. So I pull in the parking lot of the bar and see nothing but a sea of chrome, and like you I was the only guy not dressed in pirate garb. I walked up to the entrance of the bar after taking my gear off, passed a few people sitting on the patio and not one person said a thing to me. Not a hello, not a "nice day for a ride", not a "hi, bye, or fuck you". And it was like that all fucking day long. But I was there, I wasn't going to run away with my tail between my legs. So from bar to bar we went. At every stop they're downing several beers and shots and then hopping back on their bikes. All while riding "parade style" through the streets blocking traffic as we went along.

Well at the 5th stop the bar had a series of picnic tables attached together so I decided to sit right in the middle of all of them and by god they'll acknowledge my existence. Well they sat all around me and well...didn't. So I'd had enough and decided to leave, I wasn't having fun at all. I pull to the first stop light and ask myself "wonder how far we went today?" The answer? 40 miles! Forty miles and the only thing they accomplished was getting drunk. WTF? Really? Come on!

How in the fuck can you call yourself a biker when you're only riding from bar to bar just to drink? You're playing dress up. You're reenacting what you think the biker movies of the 60s and 70s were. You're not a motorcyclist, you're a douchebag. #/endrant

it is called posing most do it.....you can spot them from afar....like a cop car....if it is black & white and has blue & red on top....it probably is a cop car......if it has a do rag, black leather with pins galore, a chain tied to a wallet, no helmet, tassles hanging from the handle bars, more chrome than on a 56 caddy, avg ride speed of 35mph and low miles on the odo....ya got a poser.

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Not every charity ride, poker run, memorial ride, etc. is managed the same. (Shameless plug inserted here . . . :D) The charity ride I help to manage "The Helping Hands Charity Ride" is just that, a ride. I try to map out a 100 to 125 mile route, which the riders self manage. No bar stops. Once you sign in you can go out and ride at your own pace or ride with a group of friends. And we still work in a poker draw, 50/50, auction and meal at the end.

Don't judge every ride just based on this one experience.

Now don't forget to join our ride on Sunday, 9/30/12!

Facebook event page link.

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Been there, done that. Done quite a few, lots of different types. Some are fun, some are not. Mostly not interested in that type of ride anymore. But I do like fire house rides, for donations to fire houses, with the spaghetti dinner at the end. Definetly bring your own group, every one else did.

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I went on the Louie Run once. I went with a group of 6 other friends, 4 Harleys, a Honda Shadow and my 82 Suzuki. Of course, our segment of the ride starts out at a Harley dealer in Bedford Hts. I was the only one in the full parking lot that I could see with a proper riding jacket, and a helmet. I had a Joe Rocket riding jacket with the Suzuki logo on it. I go inside to get some water and it was like the parting of the Red Sea as all the doo-rag, black Harley t-shirt from location X wearing guys move out of the way. The cool part of the whole ride was the police escort and not needing to stop at traffic lights.

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My dad finally stopped asking me to do such events as I usually figured out the next point and subsequently passed all his Harley buddies in turns. They were getting lissed I've been riding less than 3 years and none of them could out accelerate me with an engine half the size of theirs. No less than 4 of them sent their bikes to get major motor work

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My dad finally stopped asking me to do such events as I usually figured out the next point and subsequently passed all his Harley buddies in turns. They were getting lissed I've been riding less than 3 years and none of them could out accelerate me with an engine half the size of theirs. No less than 4 of them sent their bikes to get major motor work

:lol:

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Been there, done that. Done quite a few, lots of different types. Some are fun, some are not. Mostly not interested in that type of ride anymore. But I do like fire house rides, for donations to fire houses, with the spaghetti dinner at the end. Definetly bring your own group, every one else did.

Now I would be up for that for sure!:cool:

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I would have taken my ball and gone home as soon as I saw people doing shots and shit. Being on two wheels is dangerous enough but being in a group of riders (whose skill levels are questionable to begin with) who are liquored up is a recipe for disaster. No thanks.

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I had an acquaintance last year try to get me to go to a Poker run that was a benefit for a guy who paralyzed himself riding drunk.

A big group of Harley riders waddling from bar to bar to benefit a drunk idiot, drinking along the way. Yeah, I wanna be part of that.

The irony was too much.

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I had an acquaintance last year try to get me to go to a Poker run that was a benefit for a guy who paralyzed himself riding drunk.

A big group of Harley riders waddling from bar to bar to benefit a drunk idiot, drinking along the way. Yeah, I wanna be part of that.

The irony was too much.

Reminds me of this

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You guys aren't taking into account a multitude of factors that makes it ok for Harley guys to drink and ride.

"It's ok" Fact 1) BMI - most are obese or above, so a 350# guy can have 80oz of 5% ABV beer (4-20s) in a half hour and still be under the 0.08% legal limit (.0782% to be exact - http://www.drstandley.com/food_calculators.shtml)

"It's ok" Fact 2) High tolerance - many have already built up a tolerance to alcohol which further allows them to be 'high functioning' drunks.

"It's ok" Fact 3) Intelligence - Harley riders have shown they are far and above the mere average intelligence of other motorcycle riders. What idiot would wear a helmet, gloves, and leather jacket when it's 90-freaking-degrees out? Obviously someone lacking intelligence. HD riders are able to just apply this "common sense" approach to drinking and riding.

So, think about it a little harder before you bag on those of above average weight (and intelligence) for drinking and riding - especially since they're the ones with experience doing it.

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IMO, one is too much, legal or not. If you can't go a few hours without hitting the sauce, you need to re-evaluate things. Besides, alcohol actually increases body temperature (bad for hot day) and is by nature a diuretic (bad for staying hydrated). Just a bad idea all the way around.

God I sound preachy and I hate preachy people :wtf:

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IMO, one is too much, legal or not. If you can't go a few hours without hitting the sauce, you need to re-evaluate things. Besides, alcohol actually increases body temperature (bad for hot day) and is by nature a diuretic (bad for staying hydrated). Just a bad idea all the way around.

God I sound preachy and I hate preachy people :wtf:

Amen Reverend! :cool:

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