Chaparral Meeting Minutes

July 11, 2010

Welcome!

Guests: Carol Angier, Tye and Loretta York

New Member: Big Dave and Dennis

Upcoming Events

Chaparral Motorsports Bike Night. First Wednesday of every month

Irwindale Family Day – 7 August –admission $15.00, free parking for motorcycles, $1 hot dogs, meet at Chaparral at 3:30pm come out and watch the Nascar races and the trailer races.

San Simeon Overnight Ride – 18-19 Sept. - Pete has 4 rooms reserved so call him if you need one

September club meeting will be on the 12^th due to the Labor Day holiday.

24 August – Hondas and Harleys at the Irwindale Speedway – proceeds to go to Loma Linda Hospital, contact Randy H. for more information.

Old Business

Membership Cards: Please pick yours up from Erlene Hopper, you will not be able to get your membership discount at Chaparral without it plus she is tired of carrying them around!

June Safety Day: The event was awesome! A lot harder than we thought and everyone learned a lesson or two. Participation certificates were handed out. Thanks again to Randy H. for setting this up and to Karen Carter for making up the photo CDs.

Chaparral Monster Block Sale (Oct 2, 2010): John Wilson volunteered to head up the committee and is looking for helpers!

T-Shirts – We have one more to sell, size XL short sleeved, $12.00 Contact Erlene

Michelle Hernandez has reserved their club house for the 2010 Christmas party to be held on 12/5, Thank you!

New Business

Poker Run: September 12, Right after the club meeting, volunteers needed to work the stops, call Ron J.

Safety Report: Keep the Shiny Side Up!

Stinky goes to: Randy Sawn who sold it to Randy Hernandez who sold it to Steven Herick! Stinky is gonna get a complex if everyone is so eager to get rid of him, but the money goes to Loma Linda so he will sacrifice his pride.

Club Funds: General $1,829.49 Loma Linda $715.86

50/50 Drawing:  $54.00 was raised, $26.00 goes to the club and $14 each went to winners Ron and Ron who both donated it back to the Loma Linda fund! Thanks guys!

Loma Linda Funds:  Thanks to Linda Akers plea for pocket change $43.50 was raised; Eddie Hopper won 10 tickets for the end of the year drawing!

Ride Captain: Ron Judge is leading us up through Running Springs, Crestline, SkyForrest, Silverwood, Wright Wood and along the Angels Crest Highway for lunch at Newcombs Ranch.

Meeting adjourned 8:30am

Stinky

Well, for a little critter I have had a long life.  I was introduced to the Chaparral Riders over 14 years ago.  Those that are honored to escort me have provided special events for other members to smile about, learn from, or simply want to share my company.  I would bet that I have more miles under my belt than any single member in the club.  I have been, heck, I can’t remember them all.  But here is a peek.  Umm, probably all of the major bike events out here like Sturgis, Vegas, Hollister.  Been to Colorado, 14 different states on the west coast, and even been out of country in Canada.  I have cruised, and toured, and ridden on the back of just about every kind of bike.  I am still going strong though and want to do a ton more miles and smiles.  This month, it really does look like I have an Aunt who really likes to take care of me.  Aunt Janet won’t admit it out loud but I heard her whisper it once, that she secretly likes me, although she made some embarrassing comment about my private parts.  So, we showed her that I do carry some covers to make me “presentable”.  But I was afraid that the brown streaks might not go well so we decided not to wear them.  I gotta find a washing machine, or a lake.

                                                                                        Yippy Ki Ya

Stinky S Chaparral

Captain Report    July, 2010

It was a pretty nice day for a ride. This ride took us up into Running Springs, down through Crestline, by Silverwood Lake, on through Wrightwood and to Hwy 2 ending at Newcombs Ranch. I think we had about 5 miles of highway total, the rest was back roads with some real nice scenery.

It was only 107 miles, but with the scenery and roads it took us a few hours. We wound up getting to the ranch a little earlier than planned but they provided for us. We had roughly 20 bikes on this and after a little while some had to drop out.

I want to thank Randy Hernandez for leading a group. See you next time.

Safety Article
How to Avoid Running Out of Gas on a Motorcycle

Fuel planning tips you can use on your next ride

By Basem Wasef, About.com Guide

Don't blame the Sportster's tiny fuel tank: in all but the most extreme cases, this type of situation is avoidable.

Photo © Basem Wasef

It's a heck of a lot easier than you think to run out of gas on a motorcycle; believe me, it's happened to me more times than I care to admit. But for all my moments of roadside frustration, I can also say that many of those instances were avoidable—even when I was riding long distances on bikes with small tanks.

Here are a few tips on how to avoid the buzzkill of getting stranded because your motorcycle ran out of gas.

Don’t trust your gauges

As much as onboard technology has improved over the last few years, it's still not quite perfect; during more than one instance of riding a modern bike from a major manufacturer with a sophisticated system that displayed an estimated range, I've had the motorcycle sputter and die just a couple miles before it said it would. Even less accurate than digital "distance to empty" displays are analog gauges—and even more vague than that are warning lights that illuminate when you're running low on fuel. If there's anything to be learned from all this technology, it's that trip computers are there to offer a rough—not precise—guideline of how much we can eke out of each tank.

When in doubt, refuel

Especially when you're riding roads you're unfamiliar with, it's a good rule of thumb to not push your luck with riding range. Gas stations may be found on nearly every corner in a big city, but as you get to the outskirts they become increasingly sparse; even if you've got a half tank of fuel remaining but think you might not encounter another gas station soon, take the extra five minutes to top off your bike.

Use a GPS

Most navigation systems can locate the nearest gas station, and some even have advanced fuel planning capabilities that can sort stations by price and/or distance; if you ride with a GPS, get acquainted with its features and use them to your advantage.

Pack a siphon, or even better, stow your own extra fuel

If you're riding across rural stretches where gas stations are few and far between, you might consider carrying a siphon in case you become stuck and need to draw fuel from another rider.

Lots of long distance motorcyclists go one step further by carrying backup fuel in a jerry can or a plastic jug; needless to say, you'll need to exercise caution while traveling with auxiliary fuel. Careful with those ciggies!

Retrofit an extra capacity tank

If you've got long distance ambitions but don't own a touring bike, look into the aftermarket before you trade-in your ride. There are plenty of reputable companies that manufacture higher capacity tanks; investigate your options and find out if you can retrofit your ride with a bigger tank.

What to do if you run out of gas

Some motorcycles are equipped with petcock valves, which enable you to switch to a reserve portion of your fuel tank for a few extra miles of range. They're usually located on the left side of the bike below the tank (so your right hand can stay on the throttle.) If your bike has a petcock valve, it's a good idea to acquaint yourself with its position ahead of time so you can quickly switch to reserve if your engine starts to sputter.

If you don't have a petcock valve and you run out of gas, you'll have to act fast. Your immediate goal is to get to the shoulder or median—whichever is closest. Use your turn signal as well as your arm to signal that you're changing lanes. Surrounding traffic may not be able to anticipate your urgent need to get off the highway. If you don't take initiative when your bike shows signs of fuel starvation, you'll be caught stranded in the middle of the road—a very dangerous situation to find yourself in.

Once you've successfully coasted to a stop on either side of the road, activate your hazard lights, step away from your bike, and stay as far away from traffic as possible while you use your cell phone for roadside service or signal for help.

If you decide to abandon your bike and walk to a gas station, ask for a fuel container you can fill up and take back to your motorcycle. If the station doesn't sell fuel cans, buy a bottle of water and drain it. You won't want to let a drop of water into your fuel supply, so rinse the empty bottle with fuel before filling it up; that way, you can ensure nothing but gas gets back into your tank.