There's some clubs out there calling themselves "club" when in fact they're not really a club. I think it's a phenomenon that's spreading across the motorcycle community with greater frequency.

I've even seen one in SoCal calling itself a "motorcycle club", when in fact they're not a club at all. They don't wear a patch, and they allow anyone to walk in off the street and become a full member.

There's another group based in SoCal, now with chapters all around SoCal, calling themselves a "club", but going on to say the following about themselves...

The club has no membership dues, no patches and no meetings. Patches went out in the 60's & 70's. If you think you need a patch, well you probably know what that means!

Labels: Motorcycle Clubs, Riding Clubs

Xpress4Me.com, a publication about life in the United Arab Emirates, has a feature about the HOG Chapter in Dubai...

http://www.xpress4me.com/..../20000643.html


It's a pretty entertaining read about the life of a riding club half-way around the world in an area where it just gets too damn hot to ride...

"There is nothing like the open road," says American Don Decker, 59, road captain and director of Dubai's Harley Owners' Group (HOG). "This is a good chance to get sand in our face. We must leave by 5am to get in a few hours of cooler riding. If we aren't back by 10am, we just cook in our gear."

Labels: Harley Owners Group, Riding Clubs, United Arab Emirates

Last month I reported that our riding club might be experiencing the sophomore blues. So far in this year of 2006, we've lost 7 patched members, mostly due to personality conflicts.

We're down to 10 patched members, with 3 prospects in the pipe.

In the past couple weeks though, things are looking up.

Just last Thursday we patched a new member (the 10th member). He started riding with us last June, and then in July he wanted to become a prospect. He's been riding pretty consistently with us, and seems to get along well with everyone and rides pretty skillfully.

A couple weeks ago another rider asked to become a prospect. We've also had a few more riders start riding with us more often, and they all seem to be good folks.

I told one of our guys that if we could get 4 to 8 bikes to show up for any given ride I'd be pretty satisfied.

Labels: Riding Clubs

Seems like a year ago, I've noticed that of all the people I rode with, and of all the people that rode with our club, interest in riding has tapered off.

I don't know if this is a reflection of motorcycle riding in general, or just riding with a club, or just our club in particular. I know of other clubs who are seeing a similar drop in participation.

But all the statistics you read about in the news seem to suggest otherwise, that sales of new motorcycles continue to outpace the previous year. There are more motorcycle registrations. There are more motorcycle accidents.

Perhaps it may be that bikers are riding less in groups, and taking less interest in the rallies and poker runs. In fact, I'm seeing less participation at bike nights as well. Maybe folks are just more interested in commuting to work on a motorcycle, or just hanging out at the bar.

I wonder if group riding is now more common among neighbors and co-workers, than riding in a club.

This year of 2006 is the sophomore year of our club. We've lost some members due to lack of interest, moving away, and personality conflicts. I'd say there are still seven of us who make club participation an important part of their recreation. The others it seems, have made the club just something they're associated with, not something they participate in.

I don't know if it's just the sophomore blues for our riding club, or if clubs across the country are seeing the same thing.

Thoughts?

Labels: Riding Clubs

There's a group of bikers called, "Coffee Cruisers". They're all over the world, currently boasting a membership of 299 riders, mostly in the United States.

These folks like to hang out in coffee houses, drinking down some java, and then head out for a ride. They don't describe themselves as a club, but more like an affiliation of like-minded persons. Anyone can join, however, in order to join they require you to buy a patch.

I checked the membership roster for any folks who live in my area, Riverside County, CA, and didn't find anyone. Though, they do have a couple folks in the San Diego County area, which isn't too far to ride. They have several people in the Los Angeles area, but that's more out of my way.

I do happen to enjoy riding my bike out to any one of several Starbucks in my area, but mainly to do work. I take my laptop there, get online, and spend the afternoon blogging. I'm writing this at a Starbucks right now.

But I think one patch on my vest is enough.

Labels: Riding Clubs

No Rules Riders is the name of a riding group that seems to be gaining some popularity. It's an international organization of riding clubs, where the rules are that there are no rules. In fact, there are no officers, and no limitations. They are just groups of friends who plan rides, and ride them.

The No Rules Riders started a few years ago between some friends who wanted to join a riding group. But they found that all the groups wanted money, and had meetings and people to answer. So they decided to create their own group called "No Rules Motorcycle Club". They made about 100 shirts and sold them at cost. But it was then they found that they were not really a "motorcycle club" but a riding club. So they changed their name to "No Rules Riders".

About a year passed and after talking to people in other areas at bike rallies, they decided to take No Rules Riders globally. In January of 2005 they launched their website. Soon after, four additional chapters have started up, along another two members outside of the United States.

No Rules Riders allows anyone to start their own chapter, and immediately begin recruiting people to join. They can post events and pictures and links to their favorite sites.

The idea of "free riding clubs" seems to be catching on. The group I ride with, Iron Horses Riding Club, was founded on a similar idea. We had all been members of the Southern Cruisers Riding Club, when we discovered that there were too many rules, too much bureacracy, and not very many people wanting to ride. So a few of us formed the Iron Horses, and the rest of us joined in.

Riding without rules and limitations, that's really what the spirit of riding is all about isn't it?

Labels: No Rules Riders, Riding Clubs