HOG Renewal Package

[a nameless entity]

Yesterday I got my annual "renewal package" from the Harley Owners Group. Inside this package you get a renewal patch and pin. Every year the design of the patch is different, and has the year of the renewal sewn into or over the design. The brass pin mimics the patch. You also get a booklet that outlines the latest benefits of membership, and most important, a very useful road atlas that has detailed maps of every state and province in North America. There are also world maps. And in each map the latest information about the location of HD dealerships is included. Very handy when touring. As a "life member" I get this package without fail every year before the riding season starts.

This year there was an extra patch inside the package: A 25 year member's patch.

Damn short 25 years, is all I can say!

[Hermskii]

Congrats on that Nameless! 25 years. WOW!

What is your longest non-stop other than to pee ride you have ever done? Mine is between Houston, Texas and Charleston, South Carolina. I made the trip about 6 times and I think it is just over 1,000 miles one way. My record time was 18hr 15 min. It usually took me 24 to 30 hours depending on stopping and sleeping.

Well, I just read somewhere it is 933 miles but I'm on the Southwest side of Houston and actually lived just north of Charleston which is east of Houston in a little town called Goose Creek. So I'll call it an even 1,000 miles!

[David]

So they give you locations of HD dealerships every year....huh..... Is that so when you break down you know where to take your bike

I am kidding... lol. I do not have a bike nor do I ride. I have seen some wonderful looking bikes, Harley and non-Harleys.

It is cool that you enjoy something for that long. I wish you another 25 years of enjoyment with your HD.

Do you wear a skid lid? Just curious.

[a nameless entity]

Congrats on that Nameless! 25 years. WOW!

What is your longest non-stop other than to pee ride you have ever done? Mine is between Houston, Texas and Charleston, South Carolina. I made the trip about 6 times and I think it is just over 1,000 miles one way. My record time was 18hr 15 min. It usually took me 24 to 30 hours depending on stopping and sleeping.

Well, I just read somewhere it is 933 miles but I'm on the Southwest side of Houston and actually lived just north of Charleston which is east of Houston in a little town called Goose Creek. So I'll call it an even 1,000 miles!

Well Herm I have never done a "hardass" type ride. But the farthest I ever did in one day was 1000 km (600 miles) during my longest trip which was the one I made out West in August of 1987. I stayed in Canada, so I had to head North from the Toronto area and go across the top of the Great Lakes. I was planning to get to Vancouver in British Columbia. But because I had had surgery the previous November, I promised my mother that I would not push the pace. This suited me anyway, especially as it turned out that except for the 1st day and the last 3 days, it rained every day of the trip for at least an hour each day. And usually most of those days it was either raining most of the day or was dripping wet for hours after the rain . So I was pretty cold and wet most of the time. The bike got so dirty that after Thunder Bay I didn't bother trying to wash it. It was a mess by the time I got back. I got as far as Osoyoos at the south end of the Okanagan Valley in B.C. Then I headed North up the valley and returned home via Lake Louise and Calgary, Alberta. I recall that I put over 9000 kilometers on my bike on that ride. I just checked with google maps, and used their distance calculator, and it appears that I am about right. 4500 kilometers easily each way, or around 2800 miles. The round trip lasted 18 days. I really would like to try the trip again some day, as my memories of the trip out west are of cold, wetness, and dull gray skies. I guess I should get going before I get too old eh?
I have also been down East. In 1989 I attended a HOG rally in Massachusetts, then toured Cape Breton, Nova Scotia before returning home via Montreal so I could visit my brother. In 1992 I toured Pennsylvania and points south of there. I followed the Blue Ridge Parkway as far as Roanoke Virginia. In 1990 and again in 94 or 95 I toured Vermont and the surrounding area with my brother and some friends of his.

So they give you locations of HD dealerships every year....huh..... Is that so when you break down you know where to take your bike

Oh you betcha, I planned my 1987 tour around the availability of HD dealers. I changed my oil at the half way point at the dealership in Trail, B.C. In '89 my rectifier failed, and the battery was run down. I was staying at a motel just a couple of miles from a dealership, and got a jump start from a kind stranger. I stopped off at the dealer, who was on my route anyway as it turned out, and they did a quick replacement right then and there. In '92 I changed my oil at a dealer that was technically closed on Mondays. They were doing inventory or some such, but sold me the oil and a filter on condition that I park and do it around back so that no locals would notice.

Do you wear a skid lid? Just curious.

Oh yes, I wear a helmet. All 10 provinces up here mandate a helmet, and I would wear one anyway. I tried going without a helmet or ear plugs in New Hampshire for a short ride to see what it was like, but hated the pounding my ear drums took from the wind blast on the highway. I wear foam ear plugs under my helmet, since the wind noise from riding at highway speeds is known to cause hearing loss if you do not.

It is cool that you enjoy something for that long. I wish you another 25 years of enjoyment with your HD.

Thanks m8. I can't imagine life without riding. I predict a 3 wheeler or one of those new large displacement scooters in my future after I turn 70.

[a nameless entity]

Well I finally got around to putting the 25 year patch onto my vest that I wear to Harley Owners Group functions.

There is a charity run that I like to go to every year. The "pop tab run" in May. All you do is show up and hand in the tabs off of your aluminum cans that you saved up since last year's run. Then you get to go to the picturesque town of Elora Ontario, and get a free lunch at the local Legion Hall.

It's a good cause, a fun run, and you get a free meal at the local Legion Hall of a very beautiful town located in a very pretty area of the province.

And this year I will have bragging rights (if anyone actually looks at the back of my vest). I must practice my swagger.

[Hook]

Yeah, my son-in-law's dad does the pop tab run also.

Congrats nameless!

[Hermskii]

Congrats indeed. Is your Hog loud or quiet. I hate the super loud ones.

[a nameless entity]

Is your Hog loud or quiet. I hate the super loud ones.

I am running an S&S Super E carburetor. I needed new mufflers at the same time as I was switching carbs anyway, and the H.D. "screamin' eagle" mufflers were the most highly recommended set to use by S&S themselves, so that's what I got. I can be quite loud if I want to, but I almost always take it easy. So I've never been hassled by the cops, and so far I've only needed to do the loud pipes save lives thing on the freeway one time, when some half asleep jerk kept forgetting I was beside him in the bumper to bumper mess.

The whole idea for me was more power through a better breathing engine. So I'm noisier than stock, but nowhere near as loud as power robbing so called "straight pipes", or such evil designs tuned for pure noise such as the brand called "Thunder Headers". If you want to be obscenely loud, put a set of those on a hog. Omg they are painful to be behind on a poker run, especially when you've forgotten to bring any ear plugs, believe me.

[Hermskii]

I had a Hooker Header pipe on a Honda XL70 once. Made that thing loud! Iagree you should be able to make enough noise to make people aware but the crap that shakes my windows when people go by my house has to stop. LOL

[a nameless entity]

Well I finally got around to putting the 25 year patch onto my vest that I wear to Harley Owners Group functions.

There is a charity run that I like to go to every year. The "pop tab run" in May. All you do is show up and hand in the tabs off of your aluminum cans that you saved up since last year's run. Then you get to go to the picturesque town of Elora Ontario, and get a free lunch at the local Legion Hall.

It's a good cause, a fun run, and you get a free meal at the local Legion Hall of a very beautiful town located in a very pretty area of the province.

And this year I will have bragging rights (if anyone actually looks at the back of my vest). I must practice my swagger.

Mission accomplished! The rain held off and a good time was had by all.

[Hermskii]

Awesome! Pictures?

[a nameless entity]

I didn't take a camera. The HOG chapter that sponsors this event should have some photos posted shortly in their public section. I will post a link soon, if you like.

At the moment something weird is going on with their website, as my Avast! anti virus pops up a notice that it blocked a trojan. I think it is most likely just a cookie that reads as a false positive. Although if it is something nasty their ISP should catch it soon, I guess.
So I will wait a while before posting any photos if you want to see them.

[Hermskii]

Yeah, post it when it is safe.