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Rocket City Wings
Huntsville, Alabama -- Chapter B, Region A
Friends for Fun, Safety & Knowledge
February 2004
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We have had a good (not great) January but February is looking better. We have had a lot of members down from the weather, the flu, the TVC (Tennessee Valley Crud), and hospitalized for some not real nice things, thankfully they are all doing better. We are looking forward to having some different activities where we can ride and just enjoy the company of folks who have been out of circulation for a while.
We had fun playing Bingo (I didn’t even like Bingo) and especially winning the prizes. One was a special request I made of our retired Trike riders and I will be glad to share it with the rest of the Chapter folks who would like a copy. Mickey and Julianna made a screen saver for me of all the bike pictures that they had. It really turned out GREAT and I took it to work and put it on my computer.
We are looking at rides and rallies for the coming season. There is a ride planned for Key West that seems to be coming together nicely. If you are interested contact Tommy and Melissa, Don and Lynnette, or Mike and Cindy for the details that have been worked out so far. There is also another Florida ride, but it is to the Rally and back. Please let Anita or I know if you are interested.
We are going to Rolling Thunder this year in Washington over Memorial Day Week end. This year they are dedicating the World War II Memorial that week end. If you are interested let us know.
The Alabama Rally is fast approaching (April1) and on the Ride Schedule you will see Practice Rally Ride. Russ put these on a couple of times so we can lay out the route and write it down. The plan for the route (at the present time) is to ride from Madison to Owens Cross Roads and do Green Mountain from the back side, take Bailey Cove to the New 4 Mile post, go across to Hampton Cove and then ride Monte Santo down into 5 Points and then back to Madison. There are a lot of people who don’t realize we have some mountains in North Alabama.
We are looking forward to some nice rides in February and wish all a Happy Valentine’s Day. Please remember that if you are thinking about riding call a friend, they are probably thinking the same thing.
Ride Safe and Often,
Roy and Anita.
February 10, 2004. MEET AT RYAN'S ON S. PARKWAY. 630 to eat, 7 to meet. Hope to see you there.
Thanks to Rex Holder for creating and maintaining the Chapter B web page. For the latest news consult the web page at http://www.geocities.com/scipvteye/alb.html
We are trying to collect some pictures of chapter members, places we have been, bikes, trikes, etc. We want to post them to the web page and be available for all our members to see. If you have any digital pictures, please e-mail them to Mickey Polka at "jul ipol ka*a ol:com".
The door prize winners were Serge M'Sadoques, Don White, Joe Smith, Nancy Newby, Bonnie Nelson, Mickey Polka, Burma Watts, and Terrah Southerland. Ellen Grundt and Ron Holmes won the 50/25/25. Gentry Lowe won the membership drawing. Walter "Mud Dauber" Gersch won the JA Award. Walter graciously accepted the award with a lesson for all of us. He has been a rider for many years, but said that a lot of the blame for his mishap was his fault for following too close.
If you buy 50/25/25 tickets you will receive 1 extra ticket for each if you wear shirt and/or vest with Chapter logo and/or ride your bike to the meeting.
Also Alice has the country store if anyone needs items for vest or hats.
As you all know, or should, I am “the new kid on the block” as far as this position is concerned. Consequently, I was handed a box full of forms and flyers and brochures and other miscellaneous stuff regarding general motorcycle safety related information. Well, I put it off as long as I could be the weather the weekend of the 17th & 18th left me no choice but to start wading through it all and attempting to organize (sorry Mike) and understand it as best I could. I found several items that provided fodder for this column. Please don’t be offended if this is “old news” to you but it is news to me and, after all, I’m the one who must write this column, although I would welcome input from anyone who has a story to tell or just feels motivated to discuss a safety related issue or incident.
Having said that, the first brochure I encountered was from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA. Yes, they have a web site, it is www.nhtsa.dot.gov . This particular brochure was entitled “How to Identify Unsafe Motorcycle Helmets” and provided significant, yet simple, detail to accomplish just what the title promised. My short version; check for thick inner liner (about an inch) sturdy chin strap and rivets, weight (about 3 pounds) and a design or style that does NOT allow anything to protrude more than 2/10ths of an inch from the surface of the helmet. Additionally, DOT compliance stickers PLUS Snell or ANSI labels and manufacturer’s labels which ID the manufacturer, model, size, month and year of manufacture and construction materials used. While some dealers sell novelty helmets not meeting DOT standards they have been known to sell (separately) the DOT sticker for later application. Helmets saved the lives of more than 7,900 riders between 1984 and 1996 and statistically, those without helmets are 40% more likely to incur fatal injuries. Remember last month’s letter about Walter G. sliding down Hwy 53 on HIS helmet?
VISIBILITY. Why didn’t that driver see me? Drivers, not motorcyclists, cause over two-thirds of car-motorcycle crashes. The driver either does not see the oncoming motorcyclist or at least not in time to avoid the crash. A short version of issues to consider before heading out for the “Open Road” includes anything that affects your visibility. Light colored, perhaps reflective, clothing or stickers on your motorcycle and/or helmet. Headlights on? High beam, modulating? Proper lane position. Can you see the driver ahead in his, or her, rear view mirror? If not then cannot see you. Don’t “hide” in their blind spot. NEVER share a lane with a car.
Old fashioned statistics:
2001; 3,181 motorcyclists died and approximately 60,000 were injured in highway crashes in the United States.
2000; per mile traveled a motorcyclist was approximately 21 more times likely to die in a crash than the occupant of a car.
Head injury is the leading cause of death in motorcycle crashes.
An un-helmeted rider is 40% more likely to suffer a fatal head injury and 15% more likely to suffer a nonfatal injury than a helmeted motorcyclist when involved is a crash.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Associate estimates that motorcycle helmets reduce the likelihood of a crash fatality by 29%
I could go on but why bother? If you are reading this article you are clearly aware of the need for helmets as well as other protective clothing. No, long sleeves will not protect you from being crushed under an 18-wheeler, but common sense and reasonable judgment may keep you from under those wheels. At the risk of repeating myself from last month…
Judgment, split second and continuous. A mandatory part of SAFE motorcycle riding. But it must begin before you ever start the motor.
Paul & Susan Neely
AL-B Rider Educators
ELECTRIC DRILL: Normally used for spinning steel pop rivets in their holes until the Stupidity Police come to take you away; it also works great for drilling mounting holes in custom fenders and through the new $300 rear tire.
PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads and crush irreplaceable wiring loom connectors.
VICE-GRIPS: Used to round off bolt heads. Also used in place of a clamp to hold things in the wrong spot while you drill bolt holes. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to assist in arc-welding your metal watchband to the rear subframe.
HYDRAULIC JACK: Used for lowering a motorcycle to the ground after you have installed your new front disk pads, trapping the jack handle firmly between the (now) dented custom fender the (now) cracked alloy wheel.
2X4 TIMBER: Used for trying to lever a motorcycle off an hydraulic jack. It is quite useful for pinching holes in oil lines during this process and concealing the fact until you have ridden 50 miles from home.
TWEEZERS: A tool for pushing 2X4 wood splinters deeper into your hand.
PHONE: A tool for renewing your medical insurance and then calling your neighbor to see if he has another hydraulic jack.
TIMING LIGHT: A stroboscopic instrument for illuminating burred screws and the futility of ever getting the timing anywhere near factory specs. Useful for sticking in your mouth late at night and permanently traumatizing anysmall child that mistakenly wanders into the workshop.
BATTERY ELECTROLYTE TESTER: A handy tool for transferring sulfuric acid from a bike battery to the inside of your toolbox, and down the inner thigh of your new jeans, after determining that your battery is dead just as you thought.
PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab through the foil seal of brake fluid containers and splash the contents liberally across your freshly-painted fuel tank; can also be used, as the name implies, to round off Phillips screw heads.
AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes energy produced in a coal-burning power plant 200 miles away and transforms it into compressed air that travels by hose to an impact wrench that grips rusty bolts last tightened 60 years ago, by an apprentice in Milwaukee, and either rounds them off or removes the bolt head entirely depending on your perseverance.
PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the $100 chrome surround for that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 10 cent washer.
HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to cut hoses a half inch too short.
RAZOR KNIFE: A tool used for scratching chrome and paint after drawing blood.
CIRCUIT TESTER/OHM METER: A tool used to short-circuit electrical parts. Sometime sending sparks into all the old oil cans sitting in the corner starting a fire that burns down your garage, your bike, your truck, your collector's edition Harley Davidson poker cards and even your Harley clock that goes "vroom vroom" every hour on the hour. On the off chance that the fire
trucks get there early enough to save the bike, you still have a shorted out electrical device that NOW has a voided warranty. I guess you'll have to go buy a new one...with your beer money.
OPEN END WRENCH: A tool designed to slip off of a nut once maximum force is applied so that your knucks travel at top speed when they impact sharp metal edges. This has the added benefit of greatly increasing your ability to curse fluently.
BOX END WRENCH: A tool that holds a bolt head tight enough that the open end wrench (above) can do it's job on the nut.
TORQUE WRENCH: A tool that lets you know how much force it took to twist the
head off of a bolt.
PUNCH/CHISEL: A tool designed to gently guide your fingers directly into the path of a ball-peen hammer.
Remember, this is YOUR chapter and your participation and ideas are what makes it all worth while. So please pass along any ideas you have. It will be appreciated by all. Also, if two (2) or more chapter members (from different households) meet or go somewhere, this can be counted as a Chapter event. Let Roy know how many folks so the chapter can compete for an activity award at the end of the year. Share your ride preferences with your Ride Coordinator, Russ Werman, Rwe rman *Yah oo:com
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