Rider Clubs

One of the many reasons why my wife and I got into motorcycling was to meet new friends with similar interest. Unlike the typical television portrayal, bikers are very friendly people and one of the best way to meet them is through clubs. But before you join one, make sure you know what it is you want to get from them.

There are many different types of club, but one of the main things that stand out is membership dues. Some have them, some don’t. Since every club is different in different parts of the world, today I’m going to talk primarily about some of the clubs in my neck of the woods, South Florida. You might find some things that are similar to clubs in your own area, but here are just some of the basics.

First Group Ride

July 26, 2008

This weekend my wife finally had an opportunity to do our first group ride. Unfortunately it wasn’t for a pleasant, fun occasion, but rather for the burial of an Army veteran that passed away last week from a skydiving accident. SFC Pablo Castro had done 3 tours of duty in Iraq and was a master parachutist. He was on leave here in Miami and went skydiving for fun. Unfortunately 50 feet from the ground he collided with another jumper and past away from his injuries a few days later.

Sergeant Castro was a advent rider, so his brother Major Beire Castro asked the Patriot Guard to stand for his brother. If you’ve never heard of the Patriot Guard, they are a group of riders from across the nation who an unwavering respect for those who serve our country to protect us. The Patriot Guard will show up at the funeral service with American flags and ride with the funeral convoy to the cemetery where a military burial complete with gun salute is performed.

First Long Ride (Heading Home)

Sunday 7/6/08:

 

We woke up around 10 am today, feeling very relaxed, but we knew we had to get our butts up and going very soon as we had to return the keys to our RV by 11am. The morning felt fresh and just a little on the cool side, maybe 72 degrees. The entire campground was already filled with folks up and moving as almost everyone was checking out today.

 

Late last night I had seen 3 other bikes parked a couple of lots away next to a very expensive RV’s. There was another Harley parked behind our RV, but this morning all had already packed up and had taken off. My wife and I got the stuff we had carried in our backpack and put it in her sister’s RV so that we didn’t have to carry anything on our way back. After we got all set, we went to the little cafeteria and had breakfast. This KOA campground is definitely one of the better organized and maintained in all of South Florida. I’ve been here about 4 times before and never had any complaints.

Long Ride (Key West)

We had planned to wake up early today to get a good head start on our ride to the Keys, however because of my show last night and my wife not feeling too well, we didn’t get out of bed till about 9am. We were a bit worried because of all the rain that had been falling all week long. We believed there was going to be a very good chance we would get stuck in some of it today, and unfortunately we haven’t had the time or money to buy rain gear for riding.

As my wife got a small back-pack together, I went downstairs to check on the bike. I made sure it had enough oil and coolant. I also checked the tires, cables, lights, brakes (and their fluids) and just a general once over of the bike. Everything looked good. I rolled the bike to the front of the building where my wife was already waiting by the front lobby with the backpack. I strapped the backpack to the rear luggage rack, and headed south on the Palmetto Expressway.

First Long Ride (part 2)

Friday 7:30am

Back in the mid to late 80’s I played in a freestyle dance band which had a couple of hits on the radio. Every now and then we do reunion shows especially on holidays. This 4^th of July was no exception. We were playing a concert for the city of Hialeah at 6:30pm which meant my wife & I were not going to have too much riding time, but we did have a plan.

First on the list was to drive down to my sister’s house in Cutler Ridge. This is a good 25 minute ride from my apartment on a major highway. I wanted to show off our new bike to my brother in law who rides a Harley Road King. Up until recently he believed that only Harleys were worth being called “true cruisers”, however with so many ex-Harley riders buying metrics lately he’s kind of changed his tune a bit.

First Long Ride (part 1)

This 4^th of July weekend found my wife and I strapped to our bike more than ever before. Describing this incredible weekend of riding would take almost an entire book to explain, so in order to condense this blog as best as possible I’ve decided to break-down the last four days in four parts (one post for each day).

Part I: Thursday night (7pm)

We had planned to meet up with about 23 other riders from The Miami Motorcycle Riders club (MMR) over at a sports bar in South Miami called Gatsbys, however the weather was awful. It had been raining in most of the city since late afternoon. My wife and I kept looking out of our balcony towards the west and it was filled with black clouds. We were really bummed out because we were looking forward to meeting up with other riders for the first time, as well as get some riding time in early for the long weekend.

Bringing It Home

Last week I wrote about my second rental experience and how Bob over at New Rider Rentals had offered to sell me the V-Star 1300 I had rented. My wife and I pondered the idea for about 1 hour before we decided “hell yeah”! “Lets Go For It”.

On Saturday we woke up early and had a quick breakfast with my youngest daughter. Afterwards the 3 of us got in the car and drove up to Pembroke Pines to meet up with Bob at his shop. I had already spoken with Bob throughout the week on the details of the sale. Basically Bob would be renting me the bike with an option to buy within 2 years. I would insure the bike, maintain it and pay him a small monthly finance fee. Without getting into too many details about it, it is a very good and fair deal.

Week 2, New Bike

Note: Last week I made the mistake of saying I rented a Yamaha V-Star 750. What I actually meant was a Yamaha V-Star 650.

So this past Saturday I went back to Bob at New Rider Rental and rented a 2007 V-Star 1300. Bob had mentioned on my last visit that the 650 I rented would soon feel too small for me and he was right. When I got to his shop he had a beautiful blue V-star 1300 with backrest and engine guards waiting outside for me.

Bob told me that the clutch on this bike was a lot nicer than the 650 from last week, and boy was he right again. As soon as I started to release the clutch she started moving. No need for extra rolling on the throttle to get her going. And yes there was a lot more power to deal with. I had expected a little more torque on this bike compared to the 650, but this bike definitely had a LOT more torque.

My First Solo

Since this is basically my first blog entry about my first time riding a motorcycle since I got my Basic Rider Course certification, it’s a bit long.  So sit back and enjoy.

Hello world!

Hi Folks,

I decided to start this blog to keep a semi-journal of my riding experiences. At the writing of this post I can say I having a whopping 50 miles accumulated on a motorcycle. That definitely qualifies me as a “newbie”.

The purpose of this blog is to share my experiences (good and bad) so that others who are interested in motorcycle riding can learn from it. Feel free to add your comments and links to your own blogs, but please no soliciting.

Thanks,

Gus