Benefits of club life.

[#1-ELDER]

There are many benefits that come with being part of the Older Bikers RC. Most of them involve the "family" association and the good times spent with other members.

Yesterday I was reminded of another benefit. Having bros available to help you when needed.

While on my chopper yesterday, I had just crossed the bridge leaving Indiana and arriving into Kentucky when I started to feel some excessive vibration. My old shovelhead has a lot more vibration then the newer bikes, but what I was experiencing was extreme, even for my shovel.

I rode for several more miles and then noticed that whenever I would let off the gas, it seemed like my brakes were dragging, so I started looking for a place to pull over without getting run over by the semi I had just passed.

As I started to slow down, a pickup truck passed me and pointed to my bike. That confirmed the fact that I had a problem and needed to pull over right away.

The pickup pulled over on the shoulder in front of me and stopped, so I pulled over too.

The driver of the pick up proceeded to let me know I had a flat tire on the rear of the bike and had been riding on the rim. He also mentioned that he was in a hurry and had to leave, so I thanked him and told him that I had "friends" close by that could help me and therefore I would be ok.

By that time, the semi had also stopped and let me know he had an air hose on his tractor and could air up my tire for me.

I got my bike close enough for the air hose to reach, but the connector was too long to fit onto the valve stem of my tire. So I thanked him for trying and called one of our local members that was supposed to be waiting for me at a gas station about 2 or 3 miles from my current location. I proceeded to let him know what happened and that I would be a bit late. He immediately told me he was getting on his bike and would be there in a few minutes.

I then called my wife and told her what happened. We have towing and road service for our bikes through AAA, however my wife had the card with her, so I couldn't use there service. She suggested I call HOG, because they also have a towing program, however their policy requires that you have to be located at least 100 miles from your home and they will only tow you to a Harley Dealership and I use custom tires on my chopper and I knew they wouldn't have any in stock, so that option was out.

I decided to call another member that is retired and is usually home during the day time. He only lives about 3 to 4 miles from where I was sitting, and I wanted to find out if he had a portable air tank. He informed me his compressor was broke down but that he would pick up a can of fix-a-flat and be right there.

Just as I got off the phone, another pickup truck pulled over in front of me and the driver informed me he had a can of fix-a-flat in his truck and asked me if I could use it. I said I could and he started looking for it. After checking all through his truck, he sadly admitted that he couldn't find it and apologized.

I thanked him for stopping and offering to help and told him I had help on the way. Just as I said that, I pointed to a bike coming down the road and mentioned that was one of our members coming to help me now.

It wasn't a minute or two after "Crash Test Dummy" pulled up on his bike, that I noticed the "old hippy" coming down the road in his pickup truck.

Now with two bros there to help me, we proceeded to try to air up my flat tire with a can of fix-a-flat. It didn't fill the tire up but it did get it up off the rim enough that I could ride it slowly down the shoulder of the road with CTD and Old Hippy behind me making sure no one ran over me.

We finally made it to a gas station where we proceeded to air up my tire, but as soon as we started putting the air in, I could hear it leaking back out. CTD found the hole in my tire and marked the location. Since Old Hippy only lived a mile away from the gas station, he went home to get some tire plugs.

As soon as Old Hippy got back, we tried to plug my tire. We ended up putting two plugs in it and while it slowed the leak down considerably, it did not totally stop it, so I decided It was time to head to a bike shop and buy a new tire.

Crash Test Dummy offered to go and get his trailer and I agreed it would be the best idea, so he and Old Hippy took off to get CTD's trailer, so we could load my bike up.

When they got back with the trailer, we loaded up my bike and all three of us headed for a bike shop about 30+ miles away. We successfully delivered my bike and found out they would have to order a tire for me and since it was only two days before Christmas, they may not get it until the first of the week. Thank God I have a spare bike to ride in the meantime.

Anyway, since my fellow club members we so helpful, I HAD to reward them by offering to buy them lunch at a local "Show Me's", a Hooter's type restaurant where the waitresses wear VERY LITTLE clothing. I had to twist their arms to make them accept my offer, but in the long run, we had a great time and I am glad that I was able to turn what could have been a bad day into a fun filled day where I was able to share my time with a couple of Bro's.

There is a definite benefit to having club members available willing and able to help you when the gremlins try to attack your bike while out on the road. It not only saves you time and money, but you can end up spending some quality time with other members and getting to know them better or just simply sharing the experience of living and enjoying one more day.

[Geezer]

And that is the great ideal we call brotherhood so happy it all worked out for you brother

[FTW]

I would like to encourage other members to share stories about the benefits of club life and the brotherhood we have here.

I was talking to some members from a couple of our new Georgia chapters recently and told them the story about how I got my body, my wife and our bike back home after we lost a tire doing 80 mph on a 6 lane highway a couple years ago.

After telling them the entire story, I mentioned that we need to get stories from other members that we can post on this forum for the general public as a "recruiting tool" to encourage others to join us.

I also plan on designing some new brochures that we can get printed, then mailed out to the chapters, so they can pass them out to potential new members they run into at bike nights or other events.

So, if anyone has a good story, please share it.