PM sent

 

I suspect that the Battle Cry sounds much like the Kaching! of a cash register.

Did a couple BMW rallies when I had those. The fees were less, but they were usually held at a fair grounds. Self guided tours were the riding feature - i.e. you're on your own. The fee included camping and entertainment. T-shirt and food, not to mention beer, were extra. I found it wasn't for me and haven't done a rally since. Personal choice.

Good to know about the TotD being clogged up in Sept. I'll make sure to avoid the area at that time.

 

I'm not sure I understand how you figure it will cost you 210. You're still spending 325 for the rally/tour itself, then add food, hotels etc...... Discounts aren't savings. They are a lower cost deal for an item or service. You're still spending money.

 

It's ride to eat.....eat to ride!

 

Compared to doing the same ride, hitting the same places, etc, without being a part of the H.O.G. event. Call it "cost avoidance" rather than savings, if you like.

 

Lot's of comments mostly negative. If you haven't done a national ride don't knock it until you have tried it.

It's not for everyone. If you like touring and seeing lots of new country and meeting really great people with similar interests you won't be disappointed.

Most likely you will come back and either say, " great or never again"

I have done at one a year starting in 2001 with the Rt. 66 ride and enjoy the event's If you try to justify the cost you can't. It's expensive but I'm retired and don't plan to take it with me.

 

Update. The first letter from HOG I get in March said:

You will receive another email of detailed information approximately the first week of September, 2012. This letter will include an updated event schedule, and copies of the release forms that you will be asked to sign onsite.


Sooo.....first week of September came and went. No letter. I called HOG - they said it was being mailed soon. I called back a few days later, and the very nice HOG lady emailed me a copy. The snail mail version showed up a few days later.

The letter didn't really answer a lot of questions. There were no release forms. The only event schedule info was about the start of the ride in Richmond - where/when to show up, the free breakfast and optional group riding seminar.

There were links to the Harley trip planner showing a suggested route. It was a little cryptic - many of the waypoints were just street addresses - I had to Google them to find out what the heck was there. Many (surprise, surprise) turned out to be HD dealerships. One was the Tuggles Gap Motel and Restaurant - I wonder if we're getting free lunch there. A few others were Civil war museums and historical sites. No details on whether there are scheduled events at these waypoints.

The letter did say that they've paid our admission to the Appomattox National Park (a whopping $4).

The lack of a good schedule is really annoying - I'm planning a couple of side stops along the way, but without a schedule, it's hard to know if they'll interfere with any of the Rally events.

Overall, we either have a failure to communicate at the HQ, or they're a wee bit behind in their planning. Still the weather looks great, and the roads look interesting - lots of mountains and parkways. Saturday is entirely devoted to roads in and around the Dragon.

One last thing - I called HOG back to ask what time things wrapped up on Saturday (I was trying to decide whether to hit the road that evening or not). The nice HOG lady said she'd find out. A few hours later I got an email saying that there was a party that started at 5, with a band at 7. So at least SOMEONE is planning stuff - but they're not sharing unless you go asking.

With the Appomattox admission fee added, my $210 sunk cost is down to $206

 

Just got back from the ride, think it was fantastic riding the Blue Ridge, seeing the re-enactment Civil War events and cannon firing was cool. They themed it around the major Civil War Battles and even stop by Appomattox where the treaty was sign and the Nation was again Re-United. Speaking with the folks at the museum, this was the off season so HOG brought in all these special events just for us! Nice not having all the other tourist around. As for the guys chatting about the price. I got a friggin whole bag of stuff, even the bag it came in will now hold my rain gear. That big azz tent on day one itself must of cost someone a fortune to house and feed over 350 riders. Entry into Wheels Through time, Concerts on two nights, three if you figured out about Friday at the "Shed". Great Breakfast almost every morning, lots of dinners...**** I think I paid for two meals the entire 5 nights I was there. I could be wrong, but I think HOG is independent of the HD MoCo so to pay a few bucks for nearly a week long event is not a bad deal. I'll likely go on the next one if I can get off work!

If you sat on your azz last week bitchin about cost, the rest of us had a great ride.

 

Here's my take. I had a good time. When I deduct the cost of the free food, admission fees, hotel discounts and the swag, I would say it cost me $150 to do this with HOG as opposed to doing it myself. To me, that's okay, but just barely. There should have been more evening and mid day events - more time to meet as a group, since you're really riding alone.

I can't really justify bringing my wife, because that would since we share a hotel room and the swag, she would be spending over $250 or so just of the privilege of riding with me.

I give it a B. Folks who have been on many of the previous rides graded it lower. HOG tried something different this year - they outsourced this ride planning of both of this years rides to tour companies. Folks who rode both told me the West Coast ride sucked, and this one was just okay.

It's obvious the price was too high - they had to extend the registration deadline because not enough folks signed up. I had two friends bail on me over the cost. And now having been on it, I do kinda wonder where the money went.

There were a lot of HD corporate folks along for the ride. I think we were paying for them to be there. While it was nice to talk with them, I'd have taken a little less corporate contact for $100 off.

Bottom line - I loved the riding, liked the rally, and have the money to do one more. If it isn't better (or cheaper) than this one, that will probably be it.

 

I also went on the HOG Battle Cry ride. This ride was 4th HOG Touring Rally I've gone on. I agree with the general sentiment that the fee charged by HOG is too high. However, I have generally enjoyed the rides, met some great people, and had access to opportunities I would not have had if I were to have done the ride independently.

The ride routes have been generally very interesting. (Route of the Pony Express, Rt 66, New Orleans to Cleveland, and lastly the Appalachians). The other people on the ride are generally friendly and all have a love for motorcycling. You can meet and mingle, or be a hermit, but you are with a loosely assembled "group" that enables you to be as "social" as you choose. Finally, the HOG group gets you access to places the general public cannot usually go, or at least special treatment to publicly accessible places. The rides have an open agenda, that let's you decide how much, or how little you want to do/see along the way. The open agenda also prevents the ride from being a "parade ride" of 300-500 motorcycles. Last but not least, I got to meet and ride along with Willie G over several hundred miles on two different rides. So, all in all, I'm generally positive about the experience.

However, Battle Cry was a disappointment. Not because of the people attending or the ride route and location, but rather because as others have noted, the communications and organization was very poor at worst to mediocre at the very best. The written communications sent from HOG was late, incomplete, often with inaccurate information (like phone numbers, website addresses, and schedules). On the route, the communication was non-existent. The host riders were nice enough people, but they were hard to find if you had a question. The local HOG chapters at the dealerships were all terrific hosting the ride as we came through town. Corporate HOG is fortunate they stepped up.

I hope enough feedback gets back to HOG that they missed the mark in 2012 and need to make adjustments. The concept remains great. However, they need to better manage the vendor who organizes the ride on their behalf, because it reflects on the bar and shield.