YOu get out what you put in and yor level of commitment is only what you decide it will be. Rides will run if you're there or not and they'll be happy to see you when you show up. Try it, if you don't like ti, you haven't lost much but if you do, you've instantly got more friends

Bubba

 

H.O.G. ... Yeah, I have a caed my wife signed me up for it. A real waste of $45 if ya ask me. Had a towing claim a couple months ago. Called and was told I would have to wait for the proper forms to be mailed to me and send in the original bill. I felt as if I were talking to the IRS with them. Acted as I was trying to rip them off. Cancelled my membership cause I am not a 2nd class citizen and refuse to be treated as such. Would much rather rub elbows with the locals here in N. Ga.

 

Shop enough at the stealer and your discount pays for the membership, plus the roadside! I'm a member and been to one meeting..kinda slow. Have yet to ride with them.

 

National member but not in any chapter

 

OMG! You mean they actually wanted to see the receipt and weren't going to just take your word that you had your bike towed!! The proper forms first.. Outrageous! Yup I gotta agree the whole thing is junk just because you got someone you didn't like on the phone.

 

Don't you guys have a 'towing clause' on your primary insurance?

I've never used it (or probably never will), but I have roadside assistance and towing coverage on my insurance policy.

It's "standard" on the policy I have, and I just never have gotten around to tell them I don't need it. Anyway, from what I recall it's not that much extra each year for the coverage.

 

Member of my local Brazos Dos Dios, they have weekly dinner rides and other special events, like blood drives and rides to a military post. They do not push to get you to come to the meetings. The local dealer here assist with fund raisers by donating a lot of money and things for selling like Bar b Que at there functions. We have an annual toy run here in Bryan & College Station Texas. Also the magazine and patch with the pin is nice.

 

As a couple posters have said, a lot of it has to do with dealer support, or lack thereof. I am an officer in our local chapter, located outside a major metropolitan area. We have a total of 7 HOG chapters in our area. We tried a couple local chapters before we settled on the one we belong to now.

As I said, I am an officer in our chapter. We have a lot of members who love to ride. Most of the officers love to ride, a lot. We have lunch / dinner rides once a month. Not the simple dinner rides to the local buffet place, our longest is 170 miles one way. Sometimes we even try to "hook up" with other HOG Chapters near our destination or on the other side and have a group meet.

We also have a good program set up for new riders to help them with group riding, finding ride buddies locally so they feel more comfortable with the chapter.

We have a wonderful LOH program that is getting sooo many ladies off the back and on the front of their own bikes with the support of their old mans.

We do, however, understand that we have a lot of members are members simply because the dealer gives us a discount. We are fine with that. We can't make every member do what we want them to do. We are all in it for a different reason: weekly ice cream rides, dinner rides, twice a year long weekend trips, yearly 10 day trips, dealer discounts.

We, as officers, simply put together a wide variety of events for our members. We don't count our success on how many show up for the fun, but how much fun those that do show up have. We make sure we take plenty of pictures for our wonderful historian and make sure people see all of the fun they have missed.

Once again, unfortunately, a lot depends on the dealer support. We happen to have a fantastic dealer and couldn't ask for more support.

 

We're all different and expect different things ..

I expect in group rides for there to be some form of discipline , staying in formation , following the RC's instructions etc .

And I also expect the RC's and other officers to act on complaints made about riders being unsafe and endangering themselves and others .. If they want to endanger themselves thats fine , but when they endanger me , my wife and others then it's my business ..

That was my complaint in the late 80's when were active in a chapter . When the officers didnt act to correct others because they didnt want to upset someone , then we left and never came back .. I have never liked group riding for that very reason , regardless of whether it was a HOG chapter or some other group ..

Has it changed ?? I doubt it , you will always have problems in a large group ride ..

dk sounds like you guys have a great program , but , jus not for me anymore , not flaming you or anyone else who feels different than me.. Please dont take it that way ..

 

Was getting tired of riding solo and joined a local H.O.G. chapter last month. To date, I've gone on 3 rides ranging from 70 miles to about 180 miles. Seems to be a good group of folks. Met different members on each ride as most don't go on every ride.

My feelings may change but at this point in time, I'm putting my best boot forward and will continue to go on rides and perhaps get more involved.