Chaparral Riders Club Meeting

April 4, 2010

Meeting Minutes

New Member Richard was introduced and a welcome was given to guests Sandy and Jim who is the owner of MetricThunder.com.  Jim has graciously offered a 10% discount for ChaparralRiders.  Please contact him for purchase arrangements.

Upcoming events

Yuma Prison Run      April 16, 17, 18

We are meeting at the Farmhouse in Beaumont on Friday the 16th.  KSU at 8am.  If you want breakfast please get there early.

Ed and Earlene have bought the bicycles, Becky will take them to Yuma and we will present them at the awards ceremony.

Safety Day - We are working on setting up a Safety Day, possibly doing it as our June Ride.   Randy H. has a contact that would be willing to teach us at no charge, he also has a program for trike riders. We may ask a $5 fee per person to pay for lunch and drinks.  If you know of a good size parking lot or paved area that we would be able to use, please contact Ron or Randy.   More details to come.

Death Valley Ride will be May 8th and 9th.  We have a group of rooms blocked, please let Ron know by April 16th if you want a room.  Price is $45 plus tax per night

San Simoen - Pete and Linda are setting up an overnight ride to San Simon via Frazier Park.  Tentative date is Sept. 18th.  They will not be blocking rooms but they will sent out details on the hotel.  Early reservations are strongly recommended as that area fills up quickly.  More details to come.

New membership cards are available; you will not be able to get a discount at the Chaparral store without a card so please pick yours up from Earlene.

Chaparral Motorsports Bike Night is returning.  The first one is Wednesday, April 14th, 5-9PM.  All bikes are welcome, all clubs are welcome.  We will try to get a table set up to hand out flyers, volunteers are needed to assist. 

Treasurers Report: March club funds - $1329.64   Loma Linda funds - $814.71

50/50 drawing $62.00  $32 goes to the club and  $15 to Michelle Hernandez and $15 to Linda Trowbridge

Loma Linda drawing:  $30.00 was collected.  Linda Trowbridge won an extra 10 tickets which will be put into the bucket for a chance to win $100 cash at end of the year.

Thanks to Pete and Linda for helping with the drawings today.

Ron told about today's ride, we are going to Joshua Tree National Park and then to Pioneer Town for lunch.

Next meeting and ride will be Sunday May 2nd at 8am.

Stinky

Well, Janet showed me a good time and she didn’t run out of gas either.  I dunno though, I think I would have paid David back for letting me run out of gas though.  But that’s OK though.  Jess Siglow was not quite thinking, or maybe his mind was wandering a bit because he forgot to take his hat off during our opening Pledge of Allegiance.  This ought to be interesting because I hear they have a few good rides planned out for this next month.  I always like a good ride.  Got tons of miles under my belly and plan on many, many more.  I was glad to see Bernard at the meeting.  It was kind of unusual though, as he was a little more quiet than usual.  It was really good to see him in good spirits.  If he gets to ride back seat with someone to Yuma, I wouldn’t mind riding on his lap.                                                                                         Yippy Ki Ya   

Stinky S Chaparral

Captain Report    April, 2010

The weather turned out great for this ride.  It was a little long by some standards but was still a good ride.

The route headed east on I-10 for a bit.  We stopped for a break and gas at Cabazon, and then again in Cochella.  At that point, we took Box Canyon to the southeast entrance to Joshua Tree.  It was a little difficult at the ticket booth but things worked out.  We rode through Joshua Tree to Key Point, a lookout that on a clear day you can see the tram going up the mounting by Palm Springs, and even a mountain ridge in Mexico.  Glorious view although it was a little hazy.  We then continued into Yucca and into Pioneer Town and had some lunch.  Service there was a little erratic.  Found out that if you were at a table of more than 4, gratuities were included in the bill so the waitress appeared to place some of us as second priority.  But that’s ok, it was a good ride on a nice day with some nice views.  Thanks to Pete for helping out with a second group.

Next month’s ride is to Borrego Springs.  Not quite as long a ride but will be a good one.

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.