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[chanman]

How many of you are involved with local HOG chapters? I am a member of Biggs North San Diego Chapter. www.biggshog.com is the website. It is a good chapter, with lots of 4 and 5 day planned trips, there is a ride almost every weekend. Once a month there is an organized ride during the week, but mostly the retired and unemployed are the ones that get to take advantage of it (I will be joining the ranks of the unemployed soon, construction way down) I dont always go on the organized rides as sometime I prefer to ride alone or with a small group in lieu of the masses. I have met some great people to ride with and have been on a several 2 week trips with some of the people I have met at the chapter.10 of us went to Sturgis one year and had a great time.
The chapter collects items for the servicemen serving in Iraq and Afganistan and once a month sends packages to men serving. The letters we get back form them make it all worth while.
The chapter has a good Road Guard program that takes about 6-8 months to complete, at the end I feel like the guys are more prepared to lead 12-20 bikes than if we would have just said "tag, you're it". It is a much more deep program than when I went thru. Some of the things we learned I believe at least opened my eyes to trying to be a better rider.
Another big advantage, for me at least, is I am mechanically challenged and I have met quite a few guys that have been willing to help me repair something on my bike without having to take it to the dealer. That has changed some since I met you all and have gotten great advice here on the site.
If you are a Local member the dealer will give you a 10% discount, that doesnt mean so much anymore now that I have found places like Zanottis and some of the others thru this website.
I dislike some of the politics that go on, but they go on everywhere, such as work and hell some friends. For the most part I try to stay out of it and enjoy the portions that made me wnat to get involved. I learned a long time ago that you can't please everyone.
So are you involved and what do you like or dislike about a Local HOG Chapter?

[mr_magoo]

Belong to the local chapter and have held the positions of Director, Assist director,Secretary, and currently Sgt at Arms.  Like the people but as with so many things it is to political.

[ice6900]

Belong to the local chapter and have held the positions of Director, Assist director,Secretary, and currently Sgt at Arms.  Like the people but as with so many things it is to political.

Sgt at Arms, thats a new post to a hog chapter on me, or by that u mean activities officer?

Sgt at Arms  in a bike club is the guy with everybodies contact details, or the chief enforcer, when the members need to  act or roll Sgt at Arms contacts them.

[chanman]

It must be a local thing, I don't see Sgt. at Arms listed as an official position in the HOG manual.

[VaEagle]

Lots of opinions on this thread :

http://www.cvoharley.com/smf/index.php?topic=32034.0

Local membership has been debated in the past too on other threads.

http://www.cvoharley.com/smf/index.php?topic=10094.0

[Gone Fishin']

I am a longterm H.O.G. member and with the local chapter. Mainhattan Chapter, Frankfurt, Germany. Great chapter, lots of nice people. I do not get involved in the rank and file politics. I also stay out of the "activity work" like grilling burgers (actually sausages over here) or selling merchandise. My area is when it comes to riding the bike. I think the larger chapters (ours is quite large for Europe with 260+ members) do evolve from a motorcycle club to a communication platform centered around riding motorcycles. A big difference and not everyones cup of tea. Some people take the "title" thing to serious, I like to stay out of these discussions. I ride whenever possible and it is nice to ride in a large or small group from time to time, and not alone. The chapter provides ample opportunity to make riding friends. Also the relationship with the dealer is very good and reciprocal. Discounts and other benefits from the dealer, support for their open house and other customer events (even when they host the red and white's) from our side.

Ride safely,
Louis

PS: We also have a reciprocal affiliation with the Motor City Chapter in Michigan.

[greglyon]

 Most people find their relationship with the local hog chapter changes over time.  When you first get into it and are anxious to meet people with similar interests one gets involved perhaps becomes a primary officer, going to POT etc.   After awhile you tend to branch off with a smaller group of friends and avoid the politics of the larger group.   If the owner is super committed that helps keep the group larger but that is not often the case. 

Remember hog is and has always been a major marketing tool for HD.  That's why the sponsoring dealer has absolute and i mean absolute control of each hog chapter.  They can ban a person or disband the whole chapter should they feel it's not serving the dealership.

HOG works best when their is an equitable give and take between the dealer and the members with each contributing to the others well being.

[FLSTFI Dave]

Most people find their relationship with the local hog chapter changes over time.  When you first get into it and are anxious to meet people with similar interests one gets involved perhaps becomes a primary officer, going to POT etc.   After awhile you tend to branch off with a smaller group of friends and avoid the politics of the larger group.   If the owner is super committed that helps keep the group larger but that is not often the case. 

Remember hog is and has always been a major marketing tool for HD.  That's why the sponsoring dealer has absolute and i mean absolute control of each hog chapter.  They can ban a person or disband the whole chapter should they feel it's not serving the dealership.

HOG works best when their is an equitable give and take between the dealer and the members with each contributing to the others well being.

The bold part sure is true of my wife.  I am a charter member of our local chapter, but have never been an officer, I make most meetings and do some of the rides and activities.  My wifes Joined last summer after she got her bike.  She is the treasurer now, and going to POT this week end.

We do have a good dealer, who supports the chapter.

[1abastarsmda]

I'm in 2 chapters. One is small...about 230 members.  The other is huge...over 2500 members.  I usually attend all meetings, except when I'm gone for a ride.  There is quite a difference between the 2 chapters.  The small one has very little involvement with the dealer.  Some, but very little.  The big chapter has the service manager as Director, and a few members of the dealer owner's family are officers.  Marketing for the dealer seems to be a big part of the chapter.  Both do a great job of contributing to charities, but the big one comes up with some phenomenal numbers for donations and they are able to support quite a few more charities.  With the small chapter, you can pretty much count on any rides being comprised of the same group of about 40 people, with a usual turnout of 20 to 25 of that group showing up for a ride.  The rest just seem to come to meetings and don't show for many rides.  I've never gone on a ride with the big chapter.  It's just too big a chunk of people to bite off and remember who is who, and from my understanding, their rides are pretty big too, and they have to be split into several groups.  The small chapter is very laid back and much more informal about things, whereas the big chapter seems to be very structured about everything and other than a few major distance rides, it seems as though they take very short rides that all too often involve a stop at the dealer or just meet at the dealer and go nowhere.

Last week, we had around 26 or 27 bikes on our ride to WV.  Normally, once we get to our destination, we eat and head home.  This ride, the Director let everyone know that he would like to lead the ride further and on through OH for anyone that wanted to ride more.  We pretty much split down the middle and half headed home, and the rest continued on for the best part of the ride.  They are a very cohesive group and everyone knows everyone.  I brought a friend along as a potential new member and he was pretty impressed by the fact that they were such a friendly group of people and he enjoyed talking with all of them.  I'm riding to Maggie Valley with this chapter in a few weeks and I found it kind of amusing when I asked the Director about who was going on the ride.  He told me he has no idea, since he gave us all the name of the motel, blocked off a set of rooms, and told everyone to make their own reservations.  He knows that anyone that is going will know all of the details from being at the meeting, plus everything that is ever planned is sent out by e-mail to everyone.  The group is very flexible and the Director knows that he doesn't have to baby people.  Short story is I enjoy the smaller chapter and mainly go to meetings for the larger chapter because I go with some friends, and their 50/50 drawings are huge.  Quite a few members of the smaller chapter are also members of the big chapter...in fact most of those 40 that are the group that usually show up for rides are the ones that are members of both, and I don't think any of them ride with the big chapter either.

[LarryB]

One of the things we need to keep in mind is "why did we join a local chapter to begin with?". For me, it was not to make friends, I had enough. I joined to ride, first and foremost. After being Head Road captain for 2.5 years, I came to realize that many join to make friends, and even more odd, found people that purchased H-D for the same reason. Making friends is a part of it but it's riding friends.
The politics that arise from groups such as HOG is predictable. Someone has to lead and some must follow. Like many church groups, 10% of the people doing 90% of the work.
I have left one chapter and joined another, and now realize that it's the combination of a good involved sponsoring dealer and dedicated officers that make a good working chapter.
First and foremost, Ride & Have Fun

[woode]

Dave,  what chapters do you belong to?  I can't imagine a Pittsburgh area chapter having 2500 members!  I thought that ours (Washington PA) was a good size (250+), but 2500?  Is it sponsored by Z & M?

I love my chapter!  There's not a person that I've met that I don't like, and we have a great dealer relationship (Steel City H-D).  Steel City is supportive, but mostly hands off.  I am currently the Editor of the chapter, and even though it's a huge amount of work, our newsletter is a hit with the members, and it allows me to get to know everyone better.  We have one organized chapter ride April through November, and have informal pickup rides on the remaining weekends.  If anyone wants a copy of our latest newsletter, I'll email it to you (about 2MB, probably too big to post).

Ed

[woode]

Oh, and by the way, our chapter is co-sponsoring the PA State Rally this year (20-22 August) with the Donora PA chapter.  If interested, check out http://www.pastatehogrally.com.

Ed

[1abastarsmda]

Dave,  what chapters do you belong to?  I can't imagine a Pittsburgh area chapter having 2500 members!  I thought that ours (Washington PA) was a good size (250+), but 2500?  Is it sponsored by Z & M?

I love my chapter!  There's not a person that I've met that I don't like, and we have a great dealer relationship (Steel City H-D).  Steel City is supportive, but mostly hands off.  I am currently the Editor of the chapter, and even though it's a huge amount of work, our newsletter is a hit with the members, and it allows me to get to know everyone better.  We have one organized chapter ride April through November, and have informal pickup rides on the remaining weekends.  If anyone wants a copy of our latest newsletter, I'll email it to you (about 2MB, probably too big to post).

Ed

Yes, the Latrobe chapter out of Z&M.  It's one of the largest chapters anywhere.  The other one is Mon-Valley out of Hot Metal.  There are also several members of Mon-Valley that are also Steel City members (or whatever it is that your chapter is called there).  Latrobe gets a turnout for meetings in probably the 300 -400 people range...that's my guess.  Anyway I look at it, there's a bunch of people at those meetings.  Mon-Valley probably gets anywhere from 50 to 80 members show up for meetings, so they get a real good percentage that shows up regularly.

[1abastarsmda]

Oh, and by the way, our chapter is co-sponsoring the PA State Rally this year (20-22 August) with the Donora PA chapter.  If interested, check out http://www.pastatehogrally.com.

Ed

They were asking for volunteers to help with the State HOG Rally at our last meeting.  That should be a nice event to have locally.  Is the Donora chapter out of the former Cerrini's (now BackRoads Harley)?  I would assume so much.

[Garznhogs]

Wife and I have been members since 1998, charter members of Paradise Chapter. Between us we've held every officer position, and she's still activities director. Wife's also been involved with FL state rally for 4 years, as events coordinator and now webmaster flstatehogrally.com (cheap plug!)-- in St. Augustine this year...Oct 21 - 24.  In case yer interested. 
She's the active one... I just tag along, ride, eat, smoke cigars, trade lies. 

Any organization is worth only what the members put into it. We rode alone until joining HOG, and have made a ton of friends. Some members we could do without, of course, but there's the 5-7% asshole factor in ANY group, so we just don't let them bother us.  Our chapter has around 150-170 members (varies at renewal time), with the 'core' group at about 60, the 'active' group around 40, and the 'usual suspects' around 20. 

We usually keep ride groups at about 8 bikes, breaking a ride into however many groups we need.  Unless like last night's progressive dinner ride, we had 12 of the 'usual suspects' who have ridden together a lot and we were comfortable like that. 

Bottom line, speaking for wife and I, we enjoy HOG, national and local. A social club with a motorcycle problem.  To each his own.
:-jerry