That seems like a rip off. Used/New, they ought to spring for a year's membership either way. I wonder why the conduct of local chapters isn't regulated by the national group???

 

We had the new National head guy, Benny Scuggs, talk to/with our chapter on July 1st. He is a retired Navy Admiral, and (IMO) has his sh*t together. Spent just as much time answering questions as he did presenting his agenda. Look for some significant changes in the coming year. Especially with the National Rally. He was talking about a rolling rally, covering say for example Route 66, with "legs" built in so that people could participate for a day or two, rather than try and take an entire week off to participate. There would be multiple cities providing traditional rally events all along the way. All designed to get more people involved, even if it's for a shorter time.

Said he is very concerned about keeping the ~900,000 members happy with their national involvement and is actively trying to set up deals that will provide more than our $45 back per year. The Best Western deal was the first, he also said he is almost done with a deal with AT&T to give a 17% discount monthly on wireless service (if your a HOG member).

Plan was to offically announce the AT&T deal at Sturgis this year.

My chapter (Kettle Moraine in SE Wisconsin) is outstanding. My calendar is completely full with chapter riding events (including over night trips) for the entire summer.

 

Two seperate issues you mentioned there:

New or Used, it's the DEALER who springs for the first year national dues and membership fee, not the local Chapter. So, if he doesn't include it on used bikes, that's the dealer doing so.

As for National HOG regulating local Chapters, they do. All local Chapters have to operate by National HOG rules and regulations and this includes no drinking. Heck, our Chapter cannot even share an email or phone list with our members because that is against National HOG rules.

National HOG is disbanding our Chapter this month because our sponsoring dealership closed up and then we won't have to listen to National HOG any further. I think that is a big mistake on their part though as once a Chapter is established (for years) they they should be somehow "grandfathered" in.

 

I wonder if the AT&T deal is for existing customers also ?. Id hate to have to let my hog membership die because it only applies to new customers .. You see that crap all the time with cable company's and satellite company's ... Ive been with at&t wireless forever...

 

Most of the time, those supposed "discounts" are perceived and not real. Often you can negotiate or otherwise obtain the same price level on your own without needing the membership benefit. Hotel rooms are like that. Hell, look at AAA for example, you would think that the hundreds of dollars they claim to save you on all sorts of products are well worth the cost of Membership but any fool can get those same deals easily without AAA. But if it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy (thinking you're actually getting something) then go for it. (That's the perceived part.)

Do you REALLY think or believe for one moment that AT&T is going to discount your bill by 17% just because you are a Member of HOG??? What's in it for AT&T because that would be quite a cut for them?? It's not real, not by a longshot.
It's a shell game. Like AAA advertising they save you $100s of dollars on prescrition glasses etc. Horse hockey... Maybe you save $100s of dollars off greatly inflated list prices but thats no savings at all. Heres the tip off: Anytime a supposed benefit outweighs or is otherwise greater then the cost of the initial membership, something is wrong. (I.E. Joinn here for $50 and we'll save you Hundreds there!) Can't and doesnt happen, except possibly in your mind. (Again, that's the sales pitch and the perceived part at play.)

 

I've been a HOG member for 11 years and do it so I can hang my patches and pins on my garage wall and the Road Atlas with all the dealers in comes in handy when we're on vacation (hit every dealer in the state of Arizona in May). However, after that POS National HOG Rally in Oklahoma City I might have to rethink my longstanding position. The best thing about the National Rally was the humongous rally pin!! You would almost have to sew another hide on to your vest to wear it! As for dealer discounts, I think our dealer charges 10% more if you ARE a member!!!! I did get a 10% discount on some tshirts that I got in Honolulu once.

 

I purchased a new 09 in august last year and got a free one year from my dealer. Only covered myself, had to pay for the wife if we went to any rallies. bought a new 09 for her in June and she also got a free one year. Our three closest dealers are each over 1.5 hours away so we would not participate in many events. We already get 10 -15% off everything we buy from the dealers. Plus we own a business that supplies HD dealers with a product so we do not want to limit ourselves to one dealer when we sell to many. the last straw was when the Ontario Canada rally was announced and they were looking for vendors, we applied. We got an email that stated the vendors were not allowed to sell anything that would be in conflict with the sponsoring dealership and therefore our application was denied, although we could attend. Imagine that, not being allowed to sell motorcycle related products or clothing and a motorcycle event! I think this makes it just a big selling event for the dealer.
My membership runs out end of August this year so I will have it for my trip to Sturgis (hopefully won"t need it) and will not be renewing. Wife has almost a year left on hers and will not be renewing either. I think if the membership offered a little more in parts and labour discounts ( that most dealers give you anyway after purchasing a bike from them) and allowed me to take a date to an event without having to pay extra!, I might be interested but for me it is not worth it. Like a poster said earlier, might join AMA or the Canadian equivalent of CMA to enjoy my rides and meet some people.