Volume 24, Issue 1 January 2015 Marv McKown DIRECTOR

ADD
Director Marv McKown
Assistant Director
Volume 24, Issue 1
January 2015
Bill Philbrick
Treasurer Sandy Droste
Secretary Melani Claude
Membership
Marian Krallman
Editor
Linda Harper
Webmaster Jack Fries
Safety
David Hyle
Activities Mike Dawson
Bill Davis
Photographer/Historian
Charlie Cummins
Volunteer Coordinator
Doug Schoemaker
Ladies of Harley
Theresa Hutchinson
Chapter Manager
Gregg Fuson
I would like to welcome all the new officers and road captains and am looking
forward to another exciting year ahead of us. I would also like to thank the outgoing
officers for a great job they have done over the last 2 years. These are the people that
keep our chapter heading in great directions. Remember the planning meeting on
January 10th. Come out and help us plan the next year for you! We can only do the
things you want to do if you let us know. Otherwise, just hold on because I'm sure
it's going to be another fun filled year!!
I hope everyone had a good holiday season. Remember this is a good time of year to
get your bike into Alefs and have your maintenance or new goodies put on. Riding
season will be here before we know it and that's not the time to be getting your bike
worked on. So give Nate in service a call and as always they will get it in and ready
for you.
Head Road Captain
Rocky Gibson
Road Captains Returning
Paul Duncan
Charlie Cummins
Frank Kern
Wayne Barrier
Mike Doherty
Ed Evans
Doug Schoemaker
Don Hamer
Road Captains New 2015
Melani Claude
Bill Philbrick
Terry Grimes
Harry Droste
Tony Hurd
Bill Davis
Rocky Gibson
Jack Fries
As always, ride often but ride safe.
Marv McKown
DIRECTOR
January 2015
Prairie Fire Volume 24 Issue 1
2
Greetings everyone!
We certainly seem to be able to keep busy during the holiday season. From great
parties to Friday meet and greets, everyone has had the opportunity to enjoy
fellowship with our group.
Please spend some time thinking about this past year and how it could be improved
in 2015. Our planning meeting is this month, so take time to share your ideas with
us. And have a great month!
Bill Philbrick
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Greetings,
I hope everyone has had a great holiday and now it's time to think about the new
year. With the planning meeting coming up soon, I hope everyone has shared ideas
for fun rides for our chapter.
I am ready to ride. I really don't care for this cold weather. This will be my last
message as Head Road Captain, but I will still be riding with my PTHOG family. I
have been a Road Captain for the last 8 years, and Head Road Captain for 3 of
those years. It has been a lot of fun, and work, but I feel it has helped me
personally to be a bit more out-going.
Thank you all for your support over the years, and I look forward to continued
friendships and lot of fun.
Big Dave
Dave Johnson
Former Officer
HEAD ROAD CAPTAIN
Prairie Fire Volume 24 Issue 1
By the time you read this it will be 2015! Wow, how time flies! I hope you all had a
very Merry Christmas, and hope you all have a very Happy New Year!
I am looking forward to serving you as your Volunteer Coordinator for another two
years. Remember the planning meeting January 10 at 9 AM as this is when we plan
all of our events, and you can have a say in what we do.
Doug Schoemaker
VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR
I'm lookin’ forward to bein’ a part of such a wonderful group and gettin’ to know the
ladies a lot better!
Ladies of Harley let's have a wonderful fun filled year!
Theresa Hutchinson
LADIES OF HARLEY
The cold temperature may be slowing down our riding but we’re busy thinking of
plenty of fun things to do in the upcoming year. I’m sure you all remember what a
great time we had when the Indianapolis HOG chapter came to Wichita to meet us
this past summer. I’ve been talking to Meade and Rew from Indy and we’re trying to
find a good time for our chapter to take a ride out to Indy to visit them. This is one of
the many events that we’ll be putting on the calendar at our planning meeting January
10th. Please try to make it to the planning meeting and bring some ideas of what
you’d like to do for rides this year. If you need any ideas for rides or events, you
might try taking a look through some of the older chapter newsletters that are now
available on our website thanks to Doug Schoemaker and Dan Haines.
Ride safe and watch for sand.
Jack Fries
WEBMASTER
January 2015
3
January 2015
Prairie Fire Volume 24 Issue 1
4
Photo of a
Prairie
Thunder
H.O.G.
member
and his older
brother.
ONCE
UPON
A
TIME
Original photo of a
BELOW
“BEFORE THE
LEATHER”
Prairie Thunder
H.O.G. member.
This H.O.G. Member still has
the wonderful smile but has
traded in the suit for HarleyDavidson t-shirts and leather.
Share your photo from
“once upon a time” and it
will be included in next
month’s newsletter!
THANK YOU FOR SHARING!!!
ANY GUESSES?
Prairie Thunder H.O.G. Activity Calendar
January 2015
Sponsored by Alefs Harley-Davidson
All ride times “Kick Stands Up”
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
1 Frozen Burger 2
Run
Sat
3
Meet @ AlefsKSU 11AM
F. Kern
D. Hyle
4
5
6
7
8
9 Strouds in
Wichita
10 Planning Mtg.
meet @ Alefs 9AM
6:30 PM-Ride or
drive on your own
11
18
12
19
13
20
14 CHAPTER
HOSTED CHILI
FEED 6:30 PM
Chapter Mtg.
7PM
15
21
22
16 La Hacienda 17
in Derby 6:30PM
Ride or drive on
your own
23
24 Thunderball
Blast
@ Corporate
Caterers
6:30-11PM
25
26
27
28
29
30 Copper Oven 31
in Wichita 6:30PM
Ride or drive on
your own
STROUDS – 3661 N. Hillside St., Wichita
LA HACIENDA – 1138 N. Nelson Drive, Derby
COPPER OVEN – 2409 W. 13th St. North, Wichita
THUNDERBALL BLAST – Corporate Caterers, 2949 N. Rock Rd, Wichita
Planning
January 2015
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Prairie Fire Volume 24 Issue 1
ACTIVITIES
Hello to the best bunch of HOG members
First a big thanks
A Christmas Blast was had at Larry and Susan Lee’s residence with lots of PTHOG
members. We had food and lots of it. It was too pretty to eat but we manage to do
just that, and eat well we did. Let’s talk Dirty Santa, and it was dirty! From pooping
reindeer to Harley greats, not to mention large shirts to a shiny toothbrush with bling,
were fought over by members. Hey crazy fun it was and lots of laughs for sure. This
could have been a 5 star meal if only the Alefs Angels were serving in green elf
costumes. Oh what pot luck.
It’s a new year 2015, so let’s keep the same pace going just like last year, busy and
fun. We had some officers stepping down, and new officers stepping up to help with
this year’s riding season. The saying is ride and have fun. Add the other two words
“and eat” and you have it all.
January 10th, 9:00 AM at Alefs, is the planning date for this year’s riding season.
With the Alefs calendar and the survey monkey suggestions that have been collected,
we now need everyone’s input to finish the riding season calendar.
The following are some of last year’s activities to help with the planning for this
riding season. These are from the December Activity report;
We helped raise money and/or donated toys for 6 scheduled toy runs, rode in the
Reno Co. breast cancer awareness poker run to raise money for Victory in the Valley,
helped Alefs with the MDA fun run, rode in the MDA fun run in Salina, did an
overnight in Oklahoma to raise money for ALS, and donated money and/or wish list
gifts for the senior's project. In addition, we have had 21 Friday night meet, greet,
and eats, 10 special events: Thunderball Blast(Jan.), Alefs Chili cook-off(Feb.), LOH
Valentines event(Feb.), Park City chill(Feb.-Mar), Progressive Brunch Run(Mar.),
new member's ride(Mar.), Cycle de Mayo Poker Run(May), picnic in Sedgewick Co.
Park for the Indiana Chapter(June), KS. World Ride BBQ in McPherson(June), State
Fair Ride and Fun Run(Sept.), 3 overnight events, 11 one-day rides, did demo rides
at Alefs for spring and fall open houses, and we ended the year with a Christmas
potluck dinner at Susan & Larry Lee's home in Derby. Wow, truly amazing when we
take a moment to reflect back!!
After the planning meeting January 10th:
Wednesday, January 14th meeting at Alefs PTHOG Chapter meeting, Chapter
hosted chili feed at 6:30, and meeting will began at 7:00 PM. How many new HOG
members will be there? Any guesses? Let’s all make sure they are welcome! We
were new members once! For some that might be and could be a long time ago, so
let’s keep the new member around. Who knows, maybe they will be an officer
someday.
ACTIVITIES CONTINUED NEXT PAGE
Prairie Fire Volume 24 Issue 1
ACTIVITIES CONTINUED
Friday, January 16th Meet & Greet will be at LaHacienda in Derby at 6:30PM.
Make sure any new HOG members are personally invited. Let’s keep the new
member coming back.
Sunday, January 24th is the Thunderball Blast at Corporate Caterers 6:30PM11:00PM.
Friday, January 30th Meet & Greet at Copper Oven 6:30 PM.
The Mike and Wild Bill
ACTIVITIES
January 2015
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Prairie Fire Volume 24 Issue 1
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SAFETY CORNER
We have all heard the phrase that “You never see a motorcycle in front of a
Psychiatrist’s office.” While that may be true and we refer to riding as “wind
therapy”, there are times when we should stay off our bikes. When we are sick of
course, is a no brainer. What about when we are under an extreme amount of stress in
our lives? Here is an article that explains why you should consider not riding at those
times. The Riders edge booklet talks about
“Mental Attitude”
Riding requires a rider’s mind to be distraction-free and safety-focused. Inattention is
a major factor in motorcycle crashes. A responsible rider will watch for hazards well
ahead and keep the eyes and mind searching and evaluating constantly.
When Not To Ride a Motorcycle – Mental Distractions
December 2, 2014 by madmoto
As you probably all know after your first few weeks riding a motorcycle, it’s a mental
game. You need to stay sharp and focused when riding. You need your traffic sense
alert: what is that car doing in front of you, why is that car behind you changing lanes
the whole time, do you see that car racing up to the intersection in front of you????
A lot of things happen, and you need to stay on top of them. A few moments of
inattention could be the difference between finishing your ride or ending up in the
hospital or worse.
That is why if I have problems I stay away from my bike, no matter how much I
prefer to be riding. Riding with problems, be it work, marriage, legal or whatever
issue you may be facing that is big or critical, will mean that your mind is not with the
ride.
SAFETY CONTINUED NEXT PAGE
Prairie Fire Volume 24 Issue 1
SAFETY CONTINUED
I’ve seen over the years several of my friends have a motorcycle accident while they
were all going through a nasty divorce. In fact, these friends, four in total had all
been in a heavily contested divorce, and all four decided to go for a ride to “think
about something else”. But it’s very difficult to do this. While riding, you mind will
return to your big problem and you will not be able to remove the thoughts from
your mind. Before you know it, you’ll be playing scenarios out in your mind, or
what else you should have said in a conversation ….
What that means is that with all the best intentions, your mind is going to wander
and before you know it, you’ll no longer be paying attention to traffic. And that is
when accidents happen.
So leave bad thoughts out of the equation. If you have them, better not ride. Being
mentally distracted is a killer.
As we complain about distracted drivers not seeing us why do we want to put
ourselves in danger riding while distracted? Could a situation been avoided if our
minds weren’t elsewhere and not on where we are going. Inattentive driving is one
of the number one causes of accidents in car drivers with texting, eating, talking on
the phone, putting on makeup. Although some of those things can’t be done on a
bike your mind can wonder and you can still end up is situations that could end up
bad for us.
“Are you alert?”
A good risk management strategy is to manage the factors over which a motorcyclist
has control, such as speed, lane position and path of travel. Responsible riders
maximize time and space margin and always ride unimpaired by alcohol and drugs.
The following are risk factors that can be introduced into the traffic mix by the rider,
the motorcycle and the road and traffic conditions.
The Rider
Not paying complete attention
Riding too fast for conditions
Changes in vision
Ability to react to situations and control the bike
So please be careful out there and keep the rubber to the pavement and the shinny
side to the sky.
David Hyle
SAFETY OFFICER
January 2015
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Prairie Fire Volume 24 Issue 1
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DEALER NEWS
All of us at Alefs want to wish
P.T. HOG a Happy New Year!
Motorclothes Clearance Sale
The girls in Motorclothes will be marking
down many items as much as 70% off
January 17-31. Stop in and take advantage
of the after-Christmas specials on great
H-D licensed products!
ALEFS BEARD GROWING CONTEST
If you didn’t have the opportunity to sign up for the Alefs
Harley-Davidson Beard Growing contest there’s still time to
sign up for our Free Style Beard Contest. Braid it, perm it, shave
designs in it, dye it a never-seen-in-nature color. Does your
beard make you look like Honest Abe? Ernest Hemingway?
Confucius? We don’t care what you do, as long as you make us
go WOW! Sign up is from January 5, 2015 through March 12,
2015. See sign up details on our website on our promotions
page.
January 3, 2015 - Stand Out from the Crowd
Baggers, Big Wheels or Blacked Out! Get ideas from our Chrome Consultant on how to stand
out from the crowd. Enjoy raffle prizes and cold beverages.
January 10, 2015 - Engine Performance / Exhaust
We're bringing back this very popular seminar! Many are looking for ways to add power to
their ride. Learn from our technicians how to increase and maximize performance from your
Harley. You'll pick up on ideas on how to get more torque and horsepower and enhance your
exhaust. Enjoy raffle prizes and cold beverages.
January 17, 2015 - Short Stop Seminar
Did you know by lowering your bike you increase the handling and stability? Check out
comparative demonstration between bikes and you be the judge.
January 24, 2015 - Plan Your Ride with Alefs
Let's plan to ride together to a beautiful destination this summer. Get ready for your trip with
all the right gear from GPS to luggage, don't get caught unprepared.
January 31, 2014 - Bike Detail
Keep your bikes looking showroom new with tips and suggestions from our technicians.
Protect that investment for years to come. Enjoy raffle prizes and cold beverages.
AND –Don’t forget that coming up in February is the Alefs Valentine Chili Cook-off! Start
planning now for your best recipe to represent the club!
For any other information about upcoming events please visit our events
calendar at: http://www.alefshd.com
a
DECEMBER
MEMORIES
Prairie Thunder Chapter
Harley Owners Group
P.O. Box 3489
Wichita, KS 67201