February 2009 Vol. 3 No. 1

In this Issue: !" Winter Ball !" Rally Coordinator training !" Winter Riding !" Ian Fyfe’s Two Days in May !" Sturgis Road Trip !" PH-D win Prestigious Award!

And loads more!

Director Gordon Dick director@redrosechapter.com Assistant Director David Abrahams assistantdirector@redrosechapter.com Secretary and Historian Keith Wolstenholme secretary@redrosechapter.com Treasurer Simon Mulroy treasurer@redrosechapter.com Dealer representative Greg Lockhart dealerrep@redrosechapter.com Editor Martin Wyatt editor@redrosechapter.com Head Road Captain Ian Fitzpatrick roadcaptain@redrosechapter.com Activities Officer Ian Fyfe activities@redrosechapter.com Ladies of Harley Representa-tive Maria Lunn loh@redrosechapter.com

Webmaster Kieron Lunn webmaster@redrosechpater.com Safety Officer Dave Evans safety@redrosechapter.com

Communication Officers Rachel Lilley (Left: Membership Officer Amy Up-hill presently on Maternity Leave. ) Photographer and Membership Eric Tomlinson photographer@redrosechapter.com membership@redrosechapter.com

RED ROSE CHAPTER OFFICERS

OFFICIAL STUFF Red Rose Chapter Harley Owners Group is sponsored by Preston Harley Davidson, .

West Strand Park, Strand Road,

Preston, Lancashire, PR1 8UY

Tel 01772 551800. www.harleydavidson-preston.com

The views expressed in this newsletter are those of its contributors and not necessarily those of the Editors, Red Rose Chapter, HOG, Preston Harley-Davidson or

Harley-Davidson Ltd.

None of the contents may be reproduced without the written permission of the author.

Please send news items for the magazine to

editor@redrosechapter.com

Check out the Red Rose chapter website at

redrosechapter.com

Visit the members area where you can access this and previous issues of the Newsletter PLUS the new Chapter History section.

Hello! This time of year you don’t get too many opportunities for riding without getting cold and wet, or getting the bike covered in salt. However, it is an opportunity to do a bit of work on your bike; fit those bits you’ve bought in the autumn and plan the next year. Already Barbara and I have several rallies booked, so we’ve got lots to look forward to. In fact, it’s been hard deciding as there is so much on and we simply can’t get to everything! Last year we sadly missed Red Rose’s very own rally, but this year we’ve ring-fenced the dates so will definitely be there. What’s more, Barbara is retiring this year so we should have even

more time for travelling. No money, but lots of time! The first club event of the year for us was the Winter Ball, held at the Crofter’s pub at Garstang. Good choice of location, and a thoroughly good event, my congratulations to all involved in it’s planning and execution. The band was great: nice to hear some proper rock and roll at a bike event, and I think everyone enjoyed the evening. We were chuffed to win a trophy for our exploits with the Chapter banner; it’s a shame I don’t have a copy of the photo taken on the Sturgis trip where the guys from Rainy City HDC were all lined up for a group photo - and I’m at the back waving the Red Rose banner! Hee hee! This year I treated Barbara to a lovely Valentine’s Day trip out - to the Motorcycle Museum! This excellent trip was organised by the Chapter (Thanks to all involved, especially Bob, driver and club member). I think everyone enjoyed this, including Bar-bara, and it was nice to spend the day with Chapter members. Write up next issue as I’ve run out of space...

Nitro

New Members Loads of new members this issue! Welcome to you all: Kevin Berry, Kenneth Marsh and Dave Barnes. We hope to see you at our social events. Please make yourselves known at one of our meetings then we can

Don’t forget! For a complete and up to date list of all that we do and who we are check out the website:

redrosechapter.com

We can’t promise you treatment like this, but everyone gets a warm welcome at Red

Rose...

Proving what we’ve known all along, Preston Harley-Davidson was recently presented with the prestigious Bar & Shield Award, which recognises overall business performance among Harley-Davidson’s dealer net-work. The Motor Company® first introduced the Bar & Shield Award 10 years ago. Each year, the manufacturer audits its dealerships and rewards the best performing show-rooms – one in the north and one in the south – with the prize. Dealerships are scored predominantly on cus-tomer satisfaction, business acumen and premises. As well as winning the Bar & Shield Award, Preston Harley-Davidson, was also judged best in Europe for its Genuine Parts, Accessories® and MotorClothes® dis-play. The dealership, which celebrates its third Birthday in April, also has a history of winning awards, including “Outstanding new dealer” in 2007. “We are delighted to win the Bar & Shield Award,” says Manager Greg Lockhart. “Our priority has always been to give our customers the best possible experience when they visit our showroom, whether they’re looking to buy a motorcycle or just browsing. We’re extremely proud to be recognised as a top-performing dealer and look forward to competing again next year!”

Sunday Opening Following Super Sunday on Feb. 21st ,the dealership will open again on Sundays 2010 '10' Plate Harley-Davidson Finance Deals Down at the dealership we have the following bikes: !" XL1200N Nightster !" FXDF Fat Bob !" VRSCDX Night Rod Special !" FLHX Street Glide We have some very special finance offers on these models for March Delivery, please call Kevin or Tony on 01772 551818 and reserve your 2010 '10' Plate Harley now! Greg Lockhart Preston Harley-Davidson 01772 551814

It's been a poor start to the year! For the first time ever we have had to cancel a ride, and not only one we've canceled two! Well none of us liked the idea of riding in the snow. We have done 6” floods, gale force winds and temperature of minus 5, but snow? But things are on the up, temperatures are rising and we should be looking forward to another good year in the saddle. I'm sure you all have some exciting adventures and rides planned for the year, remember to keep telling us where you get to and who you met on the road! If you don't already have your plans arranged, why not look at our calendar and join us for the rides, rallies and social events planned for 2010! Only today I've been informed that the plans for this years European Rally are well under way and after a shaky start the Swiss Authorities have given approval to our plans. This year we'll celebrate the European Rally at Swiss Harley Days, 16-19th July in Lugano, Switzerland. For more information please go to www.swissharleydays.ch where you will find all the latest information on this FREE event, including recommended accommodation, and travel advice. For those of you not ready to travel that far only 2 weeks later we will be having our own rally, Wake the Lakes is back by popular demand 30th July - 1st August. I hope to see you all on the road in 2010! Ride safe and have fun! Gordon Director Red Rose Chapter

Day 1 At 10:15am on Saturday we arrived at PH-D. The weather was a sunny 24 degrees. Within half an hour all variations of Harleys started ar-riving for the ride-out, the view is a picture of black leathers and sunglasses, with the bikes gleaming in chrome. The plan was to leave around 11am, destination from the flyer was Devil’s Bridge and Kirkby Lonsdale. Gordon stepped up and explained we had been invited to a charity gala in Kirkby Lonsdale which was sup-porting the Air Ambulance, refreshments would be available, everyone seem OK with it, so we were off. At 11.20am 37 bikers roared off the car park, through the centre of Preston, 20 minutes later we are on the A59 heading for a 5 minute stop to re-group and fuel at MacDonald's near Clitheroe. It was a great sight, the bikes all parked in sideline formation. Then we were off again heading up the A59 towards Gisburn, there we took a right turn heading towards A65, the winding road was great as we hugged and weaved around the bends, back and forth. About 15 minutes later we hit the A65 near Settle, we then headed through Long Preston and Ingleton. As we came up to the dual carriageway, I looked back in my wing mirror to see a fantastic sight, two rows of bikes in staggered formation stretching back for about 200 yards, headlights gleaming, an absolutely awesome sight. At 1:30pm suddenly we had arrived. At first we were struggling to park, due to the limited space outside the very grand gates, but Gordon as usual managed to sweet-talk the owner into allowing us through the gates to park up within the grounds. At this point I noticed the sign on the gates ‘Bric-a-Brac Garden Party’ in aid of Cumbria Air Ambulance, my thoughts of a big tented marquee, cold beers and music quickly drained away as we entered through the gates. We safely parked up the bikes on the gravelled surface. We were then directed through to a beautifully manicured lawn, which would not have been out of place at any stately home for the refreshments with an absolutely fabulous view over the valley. I wandered down to the gar-dens edge to take in the view of the river in the valley, as I turned round I witnessed an unbelievable sight of 37 Bikers in Black Leathers and Sunglasses delicately holding cups of tea and eating scones with jam and cream!!! What an unbelievable but very tasty sight. As were preparing to leave, Keith took individual photos of us on our bikes with the valley as the backdrop What a great day, who would have thought 37 bikers, a garden party with Bric-a-Brac stalls and 6 or 7 very wel-coming senior citizens serving tea and cream scones would be recipe for a great day.

Ian Fyfe recounts the tale of a Red Rose Chapter run-out one weekend last May which had something of a down side!

Day 2 How was I to know that at that point the very next day, after a lovely trip round the Trough of Bowland with not a care in the world and a smile on my face, that on our way home we would be rear ended on the slip road on the M55. A Nissan Micra hit us at 30 mph. I was slowing down at the junction of the roundabout to let a Mercedes four-wheel drive pass by, next thing we were hit at the rear and jolted onto the roundabout. Somehow I managed to keep the bike up, and even flicked the side stand down stopping the bike falling on us (could never do that again!) As we lay shocked and dazed on grass verge awaiting the ambulance I could hear a womens voice saying ‘I just did not see them’ - it was the lady driver who had hit us. Numerous people stopped to see if they could help, two of them bikers themselves. We were taken to hospital in separate ambulances, neck braced up, we ended up having to spend 6 hours in ER waiting for results of X-rays and scans before being released. The bike ended up with nearly £4000 of damage and was off the road for 8 weeks, which also meant we had to cancel our tour of Cornwall in June. Thankfully were are both fine with no lasting damage, which is the main thing. All I can say is WHAT A WEIRD WEEKEND - the high of a great Saturday and the low of a traumatic Sunday. Ian Fyfe

Friday the 5th Feb saw Red Rose hold their 1st Winter Ball, which was held at Crofters Hotel in Garstang. The ball was well attended with 50 members in various dress, from some men dressed in Dinner jackets to shirt and tie, the ladies from long dress to cocktail in keeping with the theme of Black & White, we even had one of the Blues Brothers, Dan Akroyd alias Martin Wyatt. The night commenced with a reception in the bar which included a free drink whilst enjoying the music of the Road Kings. At 7:30 we were escorted into the dining room for a 3 course meal which was excellent. During the meal an Oscar’s table quiz was provided by our very own Quiz Master Keith Wolsten-holme. Each Table was designated names as follows:- Ultra; Heritage; Dyna; Sportster; V Rod; Road King. At the end of the meal Keith and I awarded the Oscar Quiz Winners, the Road Kings (the table, not the band) a bottle of cham-pagne, we then held a table raffle with each table member being supplied with a black envelope, but only one envelope was a winner on each table. Four of the prizes were kindly donated by Greg from Preston Harley-Davidson, which included the star prize Bike Luggage which was won by Marjorie Williams from the Ultra table. Other prizes were 3 men's watches and bottles of champagne which were won by: !" Nicola Hamilton from the Heritage table - bottle of champagne !" Neil Ashton from the Road King table - men's watch !" Viv Roberts from the Dyna table - bottle of champagne !" Paul Broomby from the Sportster table - men's watch !" Ken Jones from the V Rod table - men's watch After the raffle we had the first set from the Rock n Roll group The Kingpins, we also had a guest artist Mr R P Williams who sang Jump & Jiving, it didn't take long for people to get up and start dancing (or jump jiving themselves.) After the First set from the Kingpins we held our 2nd Year of the Golden Lid Awards these were presented by Gordon our Chapter Director. Winners were: !" Best European Flag Award - David and Linda Tasker !" Best World Flag Award - Martin Wyatt !" Best Female Support - Lesley Latus !" Best New Full Time Employee - Eric Tomlinson !" Best All Weather Riders - Dave & Debbie Speak !" Overseas Award - Ian Broughton Finally Best Members Award went to Stephen Clamp with his wife Susan and James his son. The ball came to a close with the 2nd set from the Kingpins which was great and got everyone up dancing. A good time was had by all, it seems out our first Winter Ball was a success, roll on next year! Ian

Send contributions to our news page at editor@redrosechapter.com… No More Hoggin’ Sadly, Bridgewater Chapter has decided to cancel the popular Hoggin’ the Bridge event, normally held in October at the Sev-ern Bridge. In fact it was too popular and had become too big to be run successfully. If you have attended in recent years you’ll know traffic management was a huge issue, but the town of Chepstow is certainly going to miss the income from all the visitors, and it is sad to see the end of this event. Still, Bridgewater Chapter are still supporting the spectacular Taunton Car-nival and are planning some kind of event over this weekend - watch this space! Cider Rally Tickets: last few available Bridgewater Chapter’s Cider Rally, arguably one of the Top 5 HOG events in the UK, is in May and there are still a few tick-ets left, though all the on-site accommodation is likely to be taken by now. Camping on site is probably available, but if you want to go to this cracking event, contact Bridgewater Chapter ASAP as there are no “on the gate” tickets. Lead Rider Fined - but will it effect us? You may have read the story about the lead rider of a group being heavily fined because one of the following riders was trav-elling at a much higher speed (103 mph) to catch up with him, the magistrates considering it an aggravating factor in the latter case. Many people have interpreted that this gives courts the right to fine any group ride leader if one of the group breaks the speed limit. This is simply not true. Nick Brown of MAG UK explains that the law cannot now be interpreted such that, just being the lead rider in a group is an aggravating factor making you partly responsible for speeding offences of those behind you. This is far too general a statement. The judgement in this particular case was against a lead rider who had been exceeding the speed limit by a large margin (86 in a 60). This is a long way over the situation envisaged by others who have assumed that the head rider might be only a few mph over the limit but could be given the same penalty as the worst offended behind. What this means is that Road Captains are not automatically responsible for the actions of the following riders if they them-selves are riding within the law. Road captains must, however, remember that following riders often need to increase speed to catch up with the group, and should set the speed appropriately. Planning ahead Your Chapter Committee have ideas for a whole bunch of stuff in the pipeline, Check out the following: !" Repeat of the popular Bowling Night, this time at Preston !" LOH “Chick Flick” night !" Sunday Lunch in the Lakes (well, not literally…) !" Cruising to a Cruise: Ride to a canal trip! Maybe in May or June.. !" Red Rose Birthday Bash! !" Country and Western Night (Both kinds of music?) late in the year. !" Trip to the LeMan Classic weekend (that’s in France!) July 10/11th !" Curry night - with a theme! All these items are still in the planning stage, but it looks like it’s going to be another vintage year for Red Rose... Frostbite Run First runout of the year was on the 1st of January. 12 people took part, and 2 new faces were amongst them. Well done, and full marks for dedication. It was a mite cold, by all accounts… Group Riding Courses Harley-Davidson UK are organising a group Riding Course on Sunday 21st March at H-D UK Headquarters at Oxford. Only 20 places are available and participants are expected to bring their own motorcycle. The course will include a Road Cap-tain’s Forum , ride-out planning, effective briefing, communications, safety considerations, and of course practical group rid-ing advice. A maximum of 2 people per chapter are invited. We have two members who have expressed an interest in join-ing the one day safe riding course run by SLAM at Police HQ Hutton in early March. Chapter Safety Officer David Evans recently met with Keith Wild of IAM, it was a very useful exchange of views and it has been agreed that a course will be run at PH-D let by SLAM. The course will be a one day event and will comprise a group riding theory session followed by a group riding on the road session. We are still awaiting a confirmed date however expect it to be relatively soon. The first course will be restricted to the Chapter road officers and committee members, however it is anticipated that further courses will be arranged which will be open to all our members.

NEWS BRIEFS

January 2010, and I'm already been to Texas, for Rally Coordinator Training (HRCT). The training course was designed to train Directors, and Rally Coordinators in method and preparation required for the perfect Rally! With your help I hope to try to put in to action some of the training and ideas we have developed. We were one of three chapters / rallys represented in Texas. I was joined by Nick Ovenden (Invicta & SOFER), Rob Mitchelmore (Aire Vally & The Ridings Rally), and Marj Rae (UK HOG Manager). Not only were we there to help our own ral-lies but to investigate the possibility of an equivalent event to SOFER or Thunder in the Glens in the North of Eng-land. And believe me it looks to be exciting times for HOG and the Red Rose Chapter.

Hanger Meal (left to Right); Marj (UK Hog Manager), Schoony (Vice President Rider Services Harley Davidson), Me, Nigel (Director Rider Services Europe), Rob (Aire Valley), Benny (President Rider Services Harley Davidson), Nick (Invicta). Rob and I started our journey early one morning in Manchester Airport, Nick & Marj would be meeting us in Horseshoe Bay, Texas. We took our time through the airport, shops, breakfast, and duty free! After a load of se-curity checks including the obligatory additional “random” checks we boarded all set for Newark. Shortly after take off things started to go wrong! We were informed that due to a technical issue the right hand side of the air-craft (our side!) would not have in flight entertainment! 8 hours and no movie! Still we made it to America, slightly agitated and very bored! Another quick flight (4 ½ hours) and an awful film later, we landed in Austin, Texas. And saw our first cowboy! Oh yes they are real! A short bus ride followed and we were showered and in the bar ready for the course ;-).

At breakfast the following day, it was raining, heavy! Just like the UK, oh except there were tornadoes fore-cast! Not to be held back we headed out in the little hire car to see Texas, well some of it. The wild west street, the local brewery and a clothing store.

Just to confirm our stereotypes of Texans and Cowboys the store had only the essential clothing, Boots, Shirts, Jeans, Belts and BIG Hats!

Over the next 3 days we learned and discussed all aspects of our rally's and tried to resolve a few common issues. Like how to register, how to solve the queues at the gate, what to do and how to entertain. We also tried out a few ideas, on a putting contest, evening entertainment, and a meal in an aircraft hanger. Oh and of course Texas Hold 'em tourney, during which I thought it would be a great idea to go “all in!” on the first hand with a Diamond Flush! But someone forgot to shuffle the deck: 3 flushes and I was out, FIRST HAND! Still we all had a great night! Finally we rounded off the weekend with a god look at the all new CVO Ultra Black! Wow! What a bike! If I had the money lying around or the winning Euro Millions Ticket, this is the first pur-chase I'd make! Trust me it has everything going for it! -and Greg informs me there is one on it's way to Preston Harley-Davidson! Grab it before I win the lottery! Ride Safe Gordon

Rob next to my now empty seat still trying to learn the rules!

Check out this gorgeous CVO Ultra in black, spotted by Gordon at the recent HOG Rally Coordinator Training in Texas. Greg tells us that one of these will be on it’s way to Pre-ston H-D!

30th July - 1st August

Got ideas? Got any questions? Have some plans? Want to help? Want to volun-teer?

If you can help let us know:

director@redrosechapter.com

Tuesday 4th A 350 mile day today, so we got an early start. Back onto the freeway, the day started cool, but after the first 100 miles the group stopped for a break at a gas station and the tempera-ture started to climb. By now the group had settled into a pattern, all riders taking up the same position on the road, the two cars at the back. Barry in the lead, the others in stag-gered formation behind, with Ultra Glide riding couple Kevin and Mal as tailgunners. Barbara and I were next to last, as the delinquents, likely to dive off for a photograph or other unscheduled stop. Group riding can be hell, or it can be good. I can’t say it’s my favourite way to travel, but this time everything worked well, the empty roads helping a lot. And it is always nice to have someone to talk to at the lunch stops. Fortunately, all on this trip could ride pretty well, so we could maintain a good pace. After Rawlins the roads changed from freeway to two-lane blacktop and the scenery gradually became more mountain-ous and forested until we reached Casper, where we took a diversion to visit another H-D dealer. We got to see our first 2010 models here, a Fat Boy Lo, displayed just inside the entrance. It differs slightly from the International version in that the suspension has been lowered, giving it a meaner stance. The new matt chrome engine finish drew a lot of at-tention, but we all agreed it looked like H-D couldn’t make up their mind over the exhaust: should it have been all chrome or all black? I don’t suppose it matters much as most people would throw it all away and fit a set of black Vance and Hines pipes.

The halt was further enlivened by a visit to a Chrysler dealer for one of the car drivers travelling with us. Steve has a huge Dodge pick-up truck back home in the UK and had tracked down a front bumper that he needed for it – hence the need for a car. How he was going to get it home on the aeroplane I

didn’t know. I have at times brought a carburettor, exhaust pipes, a set of fibreglass saddlebags, a dual seat and some Road King handlebars back from the US, but these can all be fitted into suitcases. 7 feet of Dodge bumper was a different matter, though he did apparently succeed in getting it home without the airline damaging it. The last stretch of the days run was more freeway to Buffalo, a winter ski resort on the edge of the Big Horn National Forest and mountain range, with 13,000 ft peaks still showing traces of snow. In fact, that night, our hotel receptionist told us just two weeks previously there had been a light covering of snow on the roads outside. Today, however, the temperature was in the 80’s – 90’s, the air as fresh as mountain air gets, and the riding conditions were perfect. You just had to watch out for deer; there were a lot of pronghorn’s about, waiting for an opportunity to cross the road in front of you, and most locals can tell you stories of fatalities following bike/deer incidents. Wednesday 5th At last, today’s destination was the Black Hills but first we

headed for Devil’s Tower, the iconic rock formation made famous worldwide in the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. It is a huge stump of rock consisting of massive basalt pillars, and is considered sacred by local Indian tribes. So far we had seen dribs and drabs of bikers heading for or returning from Sturgis (it was now the middle of bike week) but when we arrived at the road leading to Devil’s Tower Na-tional Monument area the numbers of bikes increased until there seemed to be a full blown rally happening right at the entrance. It is one of the most popular rides out in the Black Hills, and there was a steady stream of bikes paying to ride up to the top car park. Fortunately, a local Christian bike club was organising the parking and they handled the crowds bril-liantly, getting groups to park together and keeping conges-tion under control. The more energetic of our group walked right round the tower –a fair trek, but we were content to sit on the rocks and look up at it from the shade of the conifers at its base. It was turning into a very hot day as we continued on to the old western town of Hulett where the “No Panties” day was taking place. Now I’m not entirely convinced this has any-thing to do with underwear; maybe you’ve heard of the term “pantywaists”? It means a wuss, in US slang. However, our group was willing to take a chance. Well, we didn’t see any-one sans culottes but, being an American bike rally (or any rally in hot weather) there were a few women who liked to go around wearing a top made of something transparent or just with body paint, their modesty covered up with a couple of sticking plasters. Unfortunately, most of the women we saw in Hulett so dressed were not exactly pin-up material, more like someone’s mom. Still, there was a jokey, friendly atmos-phere to it all and full marks to them for entering into the spirit

Martin and Barbara Wyatt rode a Softail Heritage to Sturgis from Las Vegas. This is more of their story...

of it. Hulett also had a tiny western museum that had some fascinating historic relics, including a playing card signed by Chief Sitting Bull. There was a display telling the tragic story of the 1973 Siege of Wounded Knee, when local Oglala Sioux Indians, protesting against the desperately poor condi-tions on the Pine Ridge Reservation, were brutally treated by heavily armed federal agents.

Thursday 6th Our accommodation at Lead (pronounced leed) turned out to be very impressive. Finding accommodation is always a problem during Sturgis week unless you (gulp) camp, and hotels make a killing, as do locals with a house to rent. We reckon that during the first week in August, our house owner had paid of a substantial part of his mortgage. Even splitting the cost of the housing seventeen ways, it was very expen-sive, so we were hoping it was going to be good – and it was. We were divided between two houses on a wooded hill, and I can’t speak for the other house, but ours was simply stun-ning, and almost certainly a million-dollar property. The ga-rage was almost as big as our bungalow in back in England; the bedroom had views across the valley and there were 5 bathrooms. It was so well furnished – two large living rooms each with mega flat-screen TV, quality furniture and personal effects – that it looked like the owners had moved out for Sturgis week in order to rent it out. And who could blame them? We were the second renter that week, the previous occupants obviously here for Sturgis too as they had left event maps behind, so the income for that week must have been over $12000. Our next door neighbours were bikers, too - a group of old guys who seemed to always be hanging out in their garage, sat on their bikes, drinking beer. And why not? As we were there for the latter part of the week we had missed the racing events. Sturgis Bike Week really kicks off on the Friday before, and winds up on the last Saturday, with most of the main events on until Wednesday. However, there is still lots going on right on until the last day, and, of course, as the event draws to a close the T-shirts get cheaper! What is it that makes Sturgis special as an event? I would say it’s the countryside; there is some of the finest riding to be had in the whole USA in the area. There is the Badlands area (so called by early settlers because it was bad to cross the can-yons, hillocks and gullies), the Custer State Park, the Nee-dles Highway and the Iron Mountain Road to name just a few. Comparing it with other big events such as Daytona Bike Week, which has much the same support from the factories and dealers, it is the riding in South Dakota that makes it dif-ferent, and that is what attracts people in their hundreds of thousands. This year we heard that numbers were down from the peak of well over 750,000 in 2000, to somewhere

round the 300,000 mark but everywhere was still pretty busy, though without the major congestion I’d expected. As the various attractions and events are spread out over the area from Rapid City to Hulett, the crowds can get swallowed up in the vastness of the American West, with hotspots such as Sturgis Main Street being busiest. One event we wanted to see on the Thursday was the Harley-Davidson Ride –in Custom Show at Rapid City, so that was where we headed first. The show was pretty disap-pointing as there were only a handful of entries, and most of what was there looked pretty average. Next time we’ll do the first part of the week, when the bigger shows are on. In the end, we spent more time on Harley’s Road Tour display at Rushmore Plaza looking at the new models. What I found interesting was the accessorised bikes on display; these are the ones actually featured in the new P&A catalogue. Some of the new paint schemes were excellent. For instance, the Cross Bones on display had a denim finish chameleon paint in a blue/purple effect was something I’d not seen before, and there was a Softail Deluxe with their “Chance” paint scheme: all denim black with bomber art pin-up on the tank. In fact retro pin-up’s seems to be a theme with Harley-Davidson at the moment, they appear on many of their T-Shirts. There are usually some differences between the USA and the Inter-national range of Harley’s and some of the USA only models look pretty good. Barbara was quite taken with the Street Glide Trike (or FLHXXX as it is known). Without the Tour Pak of the Tri Glide ultra Classic, it looks much more like the old Servicar, last produced in the 60’s. Also on display was the FLTRX Road Glide Custom. Road glides are only avail-able in the States, and this one is similar to the Street Glide, but with the frame-mounted fairing instead.

Next destination was the Black Hills Harley-Davidson dealer-ship where a whole village of stalls and food vendors had been set up. A lot of the big names were here, Kuryakyn, Performance Machine etc so there was a lot to keep us occu-pied. During the afternoon the temperature had started to climb again and eventually we dragged ourselves away to go for a ride. South of Rapid City the interstate passes the Custer State Park – a good place to look for out for buffalo – but if you turn off to the north of the entrance you join the Iron Mountain Road. This narrow road twists and turns and climbs through forests and alpine meadows and at the summit gives you a terrific distant view of Mount Rushmore. From the car park at the top you get an unusual view of the giant carved faces of the four presidents completed in 1941. The road has a num-ber of loop-the-loop (“pigtail”) tunnels and bridges – out of a tunnel, over the bridge, then under it. The one-lane tunnels are, interestingly, aligned with Mount Rushmore so you get a

great view just as you pass through. During Sturgis week there is a steady stream of bikes following this route. From Mount Rushmore the ride back to Lead, via the old western town of Hill City, was as pretty as you’d want. Friday 7th Friday was our first visit of the week to Sturgis town itself. Stur-gis normally has a population of 6,500 and is a pretty sleepy place for most of the year until it gets half a million visitors - not all at once fortunately! It certainly looked different from the last time we were here, after visiting the 90th anniversary event in Milwaukee in June 1993. We had ridden our Fatboy across the plains and spent a few days in the area, and it was pretty quiet. Now, there are bikes parked end to end of Main Street, at the sides and in a double row along the centre. We wanted to look at the Rat’s Hole Old Skool Chopper Show, which is on Lazelle Street, and what luck, we can park right outside (for $5 the whole day). As there didn’t seem to be much happening inside the Show, just a couple of bikes, we walked along Lazelle Street, which is where most of the bike vendors had set up. Much to our lack of amazement, there were loads of T-shirt ven-dors too. I was surprised at the quality and variety of T-Shirts at the event. I’d noticed in previous visits to other big US events that there tended to be loads of vendors selling the same crappy shirts, but here there was a real choice. As it was the 69th rally there were some obvious themes involving happy-looking skele-tons, but it seemed a long way from the dreadful tat you used to see back in the 1970’s. Hooray for H-D’s clampdown on unoffi-

cial use of their trademarks. After a quick look at Main Street (we planned to return later) we went back to the Rat’s Hole, and there were a few nice bikes and a desperate-looking master of ceremonies trying to get his audience of about six people to enter a tattoo competition. We took some photos of the bikes and left, but not before buying a coffee at the stand next door which turned out to belong to the Ace Café. Yes, THAT Ace Café, sadly without their fantastic breakfast sausages. We rode back along Spearfish Canyon; yet another scenic route, but rather spoiled by the 40 mph speed limit that was too low for what is a fantastic, sweeping road. My guess is that there had been some bad accidents some time ago. We even-tually reached Deadwood and stopped to look for Saloon No. 10. This was famous for being the location of the murder of Wild Bill Hickock by the assassin Jack McCall. Well, the saloon was actually somewhere else originally, and the whole town burned down a couple of times since then, but it is still Saloon No. 10. Deadwood is a gambling town with lots of small casinos, nothing like the scale of Las Vegas or Laughlin, but it retains a lot of its old west atmosphere, and there are still some old (by US stan-dards) buildings including the historic Franklin Hotel.

Just as we were about to leave there was a tremendous rain-storm that turned into hail that battered down for fifteen minutes. The hail gradually turned bigger until it was the size of marbles. While we were sheltering in the doorway of the Saloon, taking photos like the tourists that we were, a teenager walked out into it wearing just T-Shirt and jeans. He stood in the street for a few minutes, much to everyone’s amusement, wincing from the mul-tiple impacts, then walked back in. As he did so, someone handed him a $10 note. Kids… Saturday 8th

We learned that in Rapid City the hail had been the size of golf balls and done a lot of damage, but today was shaping up to be a nice day, so we joined the rest of Rainy City for a ride out to the Monkey Rock bar where Boss Hoss were offering test rides of their 5.7 litre bikes, taking riders out in groups of six. The solo’s were broadly similar, with only differences in the trim, but there were a couple of trikes too, one like a giant servicar (or FLXXX), the other with a sort of 1957 Chevrolet pastiche body-work. I took a flame-painted solo out, Barbara opted for the slightly more subtle version of the trike. The Boss Hoss is a huge bike, not only in engine capacity; it is very wide; the fuel tank about twice the width of a normal tank, but the riding posi-tion pretty comfortable apart from the heat from the exhaust manifolds of the 5.7 litre V8 GM engine rumbling away between your feet. There is no clutch lever on the wide bars, which is a bit disconcerting: with that amount of horsepower going through a single wheel I’d rather feel I could disconnect it occasionally! Final drive is via a two-speed automatic transmission with torque converter, so once in gear opening the throttle results in a sort of minor earthquake and the bike surges forward. It is also very long; and consequently was somewhat challenging to ride on the gravel-strewn car park of the Monkey Rock. Once out on the road, however, it all came together and made some kind of sense. It was surprisingly easy to trickle along in town, and was absolutely brilliant at merging with traffic due to its massive presence and enormous torque. Once out of the 30 limit, our test-ride leader opened up his bike, so naturally so did we. Acceleration to 70 mph seemed almost instantaneous, and the bike felt unstoppable. It felt like you were the hood orna-ment on the front of a big diesel locomotive. Fortunately, the brakes were well up to their job and too soon it was time to use them, turn round and head back to Monkey Rock. Barbara said that the trike was a doddle to ride, very easy to steer, and she loved all the power. Hmm, maybe she is looking for a change from her Sportster, then. The 5.7 ZZ4 version is only the baby of the range with only 355bhp, if you opt for the LS3SS with the 6.2 litre engine you’ve got 440bhp to play with. Boss Hoss claim

21 – 26 mpg (US) for this 1600lb model! These wonderfully insane bikes certainly tick a number of boxes if you are riding on wide US roads, but wouldn’t be much use on the kind of roads we have in Cumbria, other than for frightening sheep. Obviously not satisfied by 440bhp, someone was riding a su-percharged and nitrous injected version up and down Main Street. It certainly seemed docile enough but its name was, maybe appropriately, “Organ Donor”. The rest of the day we wandered up and down Sturgis Main

Street and Lazelle, watching the bikes come and go and watching the people watching the bikes and the people – if you see what I mean. On Main Street there is the excellent Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame which has a great collection of motorcycles and memorabilia dating back to the old board-track racing days. You can see the lines of many modern European custom bikes in the Flying Merkel on display. There was a good video presentation telling the story of the Sturgis Rally from the original gathering organised by the Jack Pine Gypsy’s motorcycle club, which also gave us an opportunity to rest our weary feet. At the North end of Lazelle Street the current incarnation of

the Indian Motorcycle Company had a large display of their new models, with a variety of different colours on display. I have to say the bikes looked very impressive: much better than the previous modern Indian models. The fit and finish was excellent and the styling pretty much spot on, from the basic models to the top end Roadmaster. I particularly liked the Bomber, somewhat similar to the opposition’s black cus-tomised Deluxe I saw in Rapid City. I tried to find out if the range was going to be available in the UK, but I couldn’t get a straight answer from the rep I spoke to. I hope they do, but at

prices starting at $26,000 I can’t see them making a significant dint in Harley’s sales. Apparently Indian turned up outside this year’s Harley-Davidson Dealer Conference with a semi trailer full of their bikes that they unloaded right opposite the en-trance. Full marks for cheek, but sometime that night the truck was toilet-roll bombed! Just looking at what people do to their bikes at a big event like this gives you an idea of the trends coming your way. Bob-bers are back, as everyone knows, but we did see quite a few bikes that had taken Harley’s Dark Custom style further. Skinny front ends, especially springers, and everything in site powder-coated black seemed to be pretty popular. It seems black is the new, er, black. Whitewalls are so popular now that they are practically unobtainable in the UK, but they do look great on painted wheels. As mentioned, bomber nose style pinup art seem to make an appearance everywhere, too.

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This time of year you might expect to have to deal with ice and snow, heavy rain, wind and other nasty conditions, sometimes all at once. What’s more, the sun isn’t exactly cooperating, hanging low in

the sky, getting in your eyes, then clearing off early. Here are some tips to help you deal with winter riding: Preparation: Make sure your bike is in good shape, in particular the tyres have plenty of tread and are properly inflated. Good tyres make a world of difference when there is a lot of water on the road. Worn tyres simply can’t shift enough water and you can end up aquaplaning, where the tyre actually skims along the top of the water instead of gripping the tarmac. Check the controls are working smoothly and, most importantly, your lights are clean and working. Make sure you are wearing ade-quate gear: if you get cold it can reduce your reaction times. Make sure your visor or goggles can deal with the cold. Use an anti-fog device or spray. Riding in icy conditions You can actually go quite fast on sheet ice without falling off - so long as you go in a straight line and don’t brake or acceler-ate! Of course we rarely get the luxury of being able to do that, and we certainly don’t advise you test the theory anyway. It is better to leave your bike at home when icy conditions are likely, but if you get caught out, watch the road surfaces care-fully. Keep your speed right down and avoid, if you can, what look like wet patches - they could be icy. Avoid heavy brak-ing and acceleration and leave lots of extra room when following other vehicle. It’s worth having a thermometer on your bike to warn you of potentially icy conditions. If you do have to cross an icy patch, resist the temptation to brake. Some experts advise pulling in the clutch and coasting across the patch, gently letting the clutch back in when you reach clear tarmac again. Snow and Heavy Rain Again the advice is to keep your speeds down: always ride within your limits, and when there is a lot of surface water your braking distances might be a lot longer, your visibility reduced and cornering capabilities affected. If you are being annoyed by following traffic who seem unaware of the conditions, pull in and let them pass: don’t feel pressured into riding too fast. Wind Riding in strong winds can be scary at first, but your Harley is a stable, heavy motorcycle and can usually cope with cross-winds quite well. You’ll find yourself leaning into the wind to compensate; this is normal! Be prepared for the bike jiving to the left or right when you pass trucks or emerge from a cutting - leave lots of room. Sun When the sun is low and shining into your face it is easy to miss seeing traffic hazards. Make sure your visor/goggles are clean and unscratched, and if possi-ble, wear a peak. If you can’t see, slow down! Lastly, don’t let the hazards of winter put you off riding! The roads are quieter, and who wants to get cabin fever? Nitro

Riding all year: a dream for most people, but you can ride for most of the year in the UK. Here are some tips for a safe ride in the winter months...

You don’t have to stay indoors at this time of

year, but you must wrap up warm!

You don’t have to be a stuntman to ride in the winter, but over 100 mph on ice - it helps!..

Easter Egg Run Yes, there will most likely be one! Watch this space: likely to be on Easter Sunday Club Meetings The next three club meetings have been confirmed and will be held at the White Bull, Preston Road, Alston, near Longridge (Post Code PR3 3BJ). The dates are: !" Wed 24th February (Includes talk and photo slide show on Sturgis by Martin Wyatt) !" Wed 24th March !" Wed 28th April Start time is 7:30. Be there! Ireland Bike Fest Fancy a trip to Ireland? How about this annual event in Killarney in June. The event takes place over the Bank Holiday weekend of 4th to the 7th June 2010. There are special rates for on-site accommodation and an event T-Shirt and pin are included in the rally fee. Run by the Celtic Thunder and Gaelic Chapters, this is an open event (you don’t have to be a HOG member). A good time is guaranteed; site of a European HOG rally, the town is famed for it’s lively atmos-phere. More details at www.irelandbikefest.com Thunder in the Glens A favourite with red Rose Chapter, we put up a big number of members last year and had a great time. Let’s do it again! Pre-Registration for the Aviemore-based event held on the (English) bank holiday weekend 27th - 30th August is now open and preferential rates in the hotels are available if you have done this. The Four Seasons hotel is the preferred accommodation for Red Rose Chapter if you are not camping, so make sure you book your room soon! Pre-registration is £30 and includes the rally pack which includes t-shirt, pin and, usually, some shortbread! Pre-Registration closes Saturday 3rd July, but accommodation often sells out. Book now! If you fancy breaking the journey, some members are planning on staying at the Glovers Arms at Perth, where they had a great time last year. Watch this space! South of England Rally (SOFER) Held annually at the National Shooting Centre at Bisley, Surrey, this huge event will be the biggest HOG event in the UK in 2010. as HOG UK are keen to involve northern chapters including Red Rose in a similar event in the North in 2011, you really must try and get to this superb event. It is always sold out with over 2000 attendees camping or staying in the ons-site chalet accommodation. Pre-Registration starts Thursday 1st April and closes 24th July and the rally is on the weekend 6/7/8th August 2010. Rally tickets are £30 and there is so much to see and do, with many bars and cafes, bands, bike shows, stalls and the best games ever. And you can call at the Ace Café on the way home! Organised by the 1066, Thanes valley, Oxford, Hogsback and Invicta Chapters, you can book via www.sofer.uk.com Ride to the Wall (RTTW) This year the date if this increasingly popular run is Saturday 2nd October, registration starts 1st March. Check on www.rttw.org for news. All money raised is donated to the National Memorial Arboretum. This event is organised by Nene Valley Chapter. Circus Maximus VIII The Deva Legion Chapter rally is now in it’s 8th year and is one of the must-do events in the northern HOG calendar. Held at Chester Rugby club on 18-20th June, this is a camping only event that has gained a reputation of one of the more laid-back events of the year. Booking is now open at £20 per ticket. Contact Ade Nicholson on 01244544173 for details.

Planning your year? Here is where you start! News of all the latest events by Red Rose Chapter and Preston Harley-Davidson. What are you

waiting for? Get your diary out now!

European HOG Rally - Lugano, Switzerland. Ever been to Switzerland? It is stunningly beautiful, with picturesque alpine villages, mountains, forests and lakes. It is a great place to ride and this year’s European HOG Rally is held at Lugano in conjunction with the an-nual Swiss Bike Week on 16-18 July. Check the website www.swiss-harley-days.ch for more details and on-line accommodation booking. ADMISSION IS FREE!! Getting to Switzerland will take a few days, riding down through France. Make this your summer holiday this year! Check out these photos…

The Gathering Tickets for Clyde Valley HOG’s excellent event at Ayre Racecourse are now available. The Gathering 2010 will be held over the 28th to 30th of May - the Bank Holiday. Closing date for pre-registration is May 14th and tick-ets are £25 per person, which includes camping. Red Rose Chapter are planning to field a good number of mem-bers attending this excellent event. Contact Big Willie Corson’s team via www.clydevalleyhog.com or ring West Coast Harley-Davidson on 0141-883-1450 Hoggin the Bridge As mentioned elsewhere, this event has been cancelled! It simply outgrew itself. However, Bridgewater Chapter are planning an alternative event to coincide with the fantastically popular Taunton Carnival. More news when we get it! Other events you might like to consider are the Peak Riders Rally 11th -13th June (www.peakriders.co.uk) and the Horseshoe Rally 2-4th June (www.rutlandchapter.co.uk), and Hogs in The Hayfield on July 9 - 11th, just north of Bristol, organised by the Great Western Chapter (www.greatwesternhog.co.uk). There’s no reason to stay at home this year! Dunedin Chapter visit Out very good friends at Dunedin Chapter are once again visiting Blackpool over the weekend 23- 25th April. Gordon has offered our hospitality and there may be a joint run-out organised. Watch this space! Don’t forget our very own Wake the Lakes Rally: 30th July - 1st August. Be There!

Ride Dates For your Diary Sun 28th Feb 1st of the Season 14th March Mothers Day Ride 28th March Easy Lakes Run 4th April Easter Egg Run 5th April K & K Bun Ears Run 11th April New Owners Ride 25th April Portmeirion For more details - start location and time - check the website or the Red Rose Hotline 07976 312729

Please arrive at the start 20 minutes before departure time and ensure you have a full

tank of fuel. All listed runs are fully road marshalled and led by a Road Captain.