Groups and Clubs

This week my wife & I were asked by the organizers of the group we ride with (Miami Motorcycle Riders aka: MMR), if we would be their assistant organizers. My wife hesitated at first because we really didn’t know what it would entail and we really don’t have much extra time available in our busy schedule. But after thinking about it and talking with friends, we realized that it’s not very time-consuming at all and there are very few meetings that ever really need to be attended.

So we agreed to do it and surprisingly we received a lot of congratulations from people who were happy we accepted. The reason I found it surprising was because we haven’t been with the group that long, and I thought there were others more experienced to handle the job. But after spending the weekend at a couple of bike events and meeting other groups and clubs I noticed that there are very distinct differences between motorcycle Groups and Clubs, and maybe our lack of seniority wasn’t as important.

Groups tend to be a lot more flexible than Clubs. First of all there’s usually no application or membership fee. If anything they might ask for a donation here & there to help sponsor an event. The requirements for riding with a group is mostly aimed at safety. Some might require that you’ve passed a MSF course or that you have at least enough riding experience where you’re not a danger to others. Although groups don’t have extensive written rules, if you do something they don’t like, they’ll let you know right away. If you continue to do things they don’t like, they’ll ask you not to ride with them anymore.

I know of one rider who has been asked to leave two groups because of their reckless riding. And believe it or not, it’s a small world and word gets around quick if you’re someone that has a reputation for reckless riding. This person usually rides alone or with one other rider because folks have heard about their recklessness and don’t want to take any risks.

Clubs on the other hand are much more organized and therefore have stricter rules to follow. For example; some clubs want you to wear their colors (ie, vest or jacket with their logo) at ALL events, while others require you to wear them only at events they sponsor or support. Most clubs also require you to pay a monthly membership fee as well as an application fee. These fee can range anywhere from $10 per month to almost $100.

Some clubs require everyone who rides with them to be a member or a “probation” rider. Meaning that if you’re a member and you want to take your spouse 2 up to an event, your spouse has to be a member also in order to wear the colors. There are also “men only” clubs as well as “women only” clubs.

So you’re probably asking yourself; why join a Club, if you can do the same thing with Groups for free. Well it really depends on your personality. Some folks like to belong to a Club because they enjoy the structure and discipline that comes with Clubs. There are Clubs that cater to people who have belonged to some kind of community, armed or civil service (i.e. military, emergency or police) and enjoy riding with people of common interest. There is a special camaraderie in Clubs that you don’t always see with Groups.

Clubs are not easy to join, and for some folks that’s something they welcome because it keeps out the unwanted. You usually have to be invited to join a Club by one of the main members (a captain, vice president, or other higher up), but even the Clubs that don’t require an invitation, will hold you to a “probation” rank for up to a year. This means that although you’re not a full member, you still have to pay dues and participate in certain mandatory meetings and events. After your probation period they’ll review your commitment to the Club and if they feel you’re up to par, they’ll ask you to join as a full member.

For folks like my wife and I, a Group works out just fine because there is very little commitment. Like I mentioned before, our schedules are pretty messed up so we can only commit to what we can on our own terms. If we had more time to spare we would probably consider one of the local Clubs, but for now I would want to waste a Club’s time and endorsement when we can’t put much back into it.

However, that being said you shouldn’t think of a Group as an undisciplined, “do as you please” collection of riders. Groups do take pride in getting as many riders to participate in special events and charity.

As new assistant organizers, our first assignment was to get the word out of an upcoming charity event called “Toy Run Miami”. This is an event sponsored by the Florida Highway Patrol to get toys to under-privileged kids for Christmas. The thing is that there is another similar event happening the week before in which almost 30,000 bikes participate. However; that event is 35 miles north in Broward County, and while our group also promotes that event, our job was to get as many bikers to participate in the much smaller Miami the following week.

In general, I believe that there are three main benefits in joining either a Club or a Group.

1) You get to meet and make friends with some very nice folks.

2) You get to participate in doing something good for your community.

3) You have another excuse to go riding….:)