DATE: 10 Oct 2008, 6:20 pm / MOOD: Eager to ride

http://www.bikerworlds.com/groups/?id=79

New list of upcoming toy runs around the USA just posted.

 

Too many to list in one day, but there's about 2 or 3 pages of rides from now until end of December.

Check them out or add your own.

Remember only post toy runs, not other non toy runs.

Rebel Ruthi

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DATE: 09 Sep 2008, 10:23 pm / MOOD: Eager to ride

The Great "Punkin" Ride

 

Start Date: 10/11/2008
End Date: 10/11/2008
Start Address: Triple Play Sports Grill
2685 Buford Highway
Start City/State/Zip: Buford, GA 30058



Benefit Ride for The Family of Beth "Punkin" Bennick-Stein
Cost is on a DONATION Basis
Sign up @10 AM Run Leaves 11 AM
All proceeds will go to the family to help cover Funeral Expenses
All Bikes Welcome
Door Prizes
Fun
Food
For further information Please Call
Terrie Hoopaugh 678-283-6471 or
Pat Stein 404-516-8974

PLEASE COME OUT & HELP THIS FAMILY IN THEIR TIME OF NEED

"Punkin" was killed on August 3, 2008 while riding in the North GA Mountain, with her husband, mother, brother & sister in law, when a horse darted out in front of her.


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DATE: 09 Sep 2008, 2:39 am / MOOD: Elated

It's that time of year again, when different groups are starting to prepare for their toy runs for the holidays.

I welcome all to join my national group Toys For Tots Crew & come list your runs.

All toy runs are welcome.  

I will start posting the USMC runs that will be starting their meetings prior to the runs.

Rebel Ruthi

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DATE: 03 Feb 2008, 6:56 pm / MOOD: Anxious

It's been 16 months and two laminectomies with rod insertions that I have rode. It's a little scarey. Why I don't know.  I have been riding since I was 11, yet here I am 46 years later, scared to death to get back on the bike to ride. 

The accident happened in 1997. I was at Daytona Bike week riding out of Bulow Campground when I drunken cager rearended me.  I remember hitting my left leg on handlebar, flying forward into windshield screaming "oh shit, not again", then waking up on cement pavement with an unknown woman holding me in her arms. I woke up, pulled my helmet off, and had the worst hip & neck pain imaginable. I was lying on my left side with my head in this woman's lap. Her husband was measuring the scene, while other bikers were trying to detain the cager until the cops showed up. 

I know he was speeding over 65mph in a 45 mph zone. In order to know that, I would have had to be doing that, but I had already stopped with both feet down on the pavement. He never stopped.

The HJC 3/4 helmet broke my cervical spine at C6-C7, where there are also now titanium rods in place.

And at the time of crash, I broke lots of body parts.  They healed eventually.

But in October of 2006 for the first time in along time, I helped lifted a patient in bed, and the disks that were ruptured in that accident way back in 1997, finally ruptured in my lower back. 

Having NO health insurance, I had to play the free clinic game. I went for months in severe pain, until I could take the pain no longer, and walked into a lawyer's office for worker's comp & a neurosurgeon's office to show I had an attorney working on this case.

First surgery took place. Doc was in a hurry, flew in from out of state to do an emergency surgery on me, and we think he goofed. He said I'd be fine in 6 weeks. Less than 6 weeks later the pain was worse than before surgery, and had to do the ER visit for non-insured patients and sit for hours before being seen.  I finally got in, doc was called and I had another emergency back surgeries done, but not by the same doc, by his partner.  This time the rods/bolts/screws were inserted because the first doc's surgery collapsed from the cement he inserted. No support was added to my spinal cord area.

So I have until June to actually heal, as I'm a slow healer.  I want to get back in the saddle so bad, but am really afraid that after all of this time, that 1100# motorcycle and I might no longer have a lasting relationship.

A friend of mine two weeks ago, who has also been riding as long as I have, told me I no longer need to prove things to others. She & I have both been hardcore women bikers with big bikes. We both have ridden cross country, spent our lives with kids on bikes. She went from a big harley to a small 450cc Honda because of the weight of the bike. Easier to pick up.

I know she is right, I have nothing to prove to anyone anymore. I have always ridden full-dressed motorcycles.  It has always been a thrill to ride, and be recognized as a loner/nomad/gypsy on a bike. A woman who can handle her own.  A woman who needed no man to ride with as she wanted her independence.

I still have nothing to prove. So if I go to a lighter bike, no matter what the make is, it will be because after all that has happened, I can still ride. I can still be me.  And who knows, I have a man who loves me, and this time I won't make the same mistake I did for years before.

My late husband always begged and pleaded with me to ride behind him. Mr. Hardcore biker.  I flatly refused because of who I am. Yet this time, I don't want to lose those precious moments riding and being with someone because of my pride. I might just sit on the back to hold onto the man I now truly love.

And then again I might not.............as I still am a proud woman who hates to be the bitch.........

 

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DATE: 09 Aug 2007, 1:03 am / MOOD: Other

Well, for those that are wondering why I haven't been out riding to the benefits or on the runs, I am recuperating at home thanx to a drunk driver at Daytona Bike Week.In 1997, before the helmet law was changed I had on my HJC 3/4 helmet & had just left Bulow Campground in Flagler where I was set up to vend. I thought it was a beautiful night for a ride, so I packed my products up & got the bike out.The street in front of the campground leads to Kings Hwy. The care behind me was clipping faster than the limit, as I was also, however. I came to a complete stop, with both feet down on the ground. His car never stopped, and he rearended my bike throwing me to the ground far from my bike. Where my helmet ended on my forehead was where my windshield hit, knocking my unconscious. Before leaving the bike also, I hit my left thigh hard on the left handlebar causing a hematoma from the left groin to my left knee.I awoke in the arms of a Red Knight from PA, who removed my helmet, guess he wasn't a paramedic, and I was lying on my left side.A few years later the herniated disks in my neck ruptured where the helmet hit & I now have titanium in my c-spine.At the hospital in Ormond Beach as I wasn't taken to Halifax trauma center, an MRI showed herniations on my lumbar/sacral spine. Well last year they were aggravated by helping to pull a patient up in bed & L5 all the way down thru my sacrum ruptured.So when people call me to ride now, I just can't. The new titanium rods in my lower back are still trying to set in place, and the left sided pain I had from the accident was from the hip that never healed from being broken as seen in a different MRI after Daytona.So here I sit, bike in front of window, making me just want to go out and get on it.Well, I did just that. Took off the cover, and turned it on, dead battery. No big deal. I wanted to set it in a different position in the parking space, and hell, I think it gained weight waiting for me to ride it. I couldn't push it backwards to save my life. It was like so damned heavy I just sat there & cried.Before surgery 1100# meant nothing to me. After surgery the bike feels more like a million pounds now. I just sat there, swore as usual, with a dead bike that I can't budge right now. Damn!Since I can't move it on my own anymore, I will wait out until my lumbar/sacral spine heals, so I don't push the rods out of place. I'd rather have healing spinal rods, than try to ride my bike, hit a bump, and hurt myself all over again. Makes sense to me.Oh, the guy who hit me, Thomas Michael Constant, of Perth Australia, took out a 1 million dollar liability policy on his renatl car from Enterprise. He got a ticket for DUI, was not arrested, his car was held back by about 60 bikers who threatened his life for trying to leave the scene of the accident. After he left the scene he ditched the car in a ditch, and took off for Australia. When we contacted the police the next day, they said they found the car miles away from Bulow, and the rental company knew nothing about the accident. We called Enterprise who also stated they knew nothing, but would take care of my hospital bill, if I didn't contact an attorney. Yeah right. I did, and my attorney was paid off more than I ever got.Oh well. He'll get his, Enterprise will get theirs, and as for my attorney, I've told two friends who told two friends, etc.So, I will be home recuping for a little while longer. Trying to exercise so I can walk further each day.Drop a line if y'all want to. And let's all learn to ride together & get along.Rebel Ruthi 

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DATE: 22 May 2007, 10:10 am / MOOD: Disappointed

Well, for those that know me, I have had two wheeled vehicles since the age of 12. I lived in northern WI for the younger years of my life ice racing on Lake Winnebago, and riding to college at UW Oshkosh all year long.

I learned to ride thru a fishtail without dumping my bike on oil or wet pavement.

My life has been led for 46 years on two wheels. I used to ride straight into parking spots at Chicago Harley Davidson & wait for Barry Brown the owner to come running out to push me out of the inclined space. I did this for many years until I got the goldwing with reverse.

I've ridden thru hurricane like weather, tornadoes flying to close, snow blizzards in March to make an important ABATE meeting, and felt lost and alone without my bikes close by.

Now the decision comes since this last surgery whether I can handle stopping power on any biker over 900# anymore. And the thought of triking a motorcycle is scarier to me than two wheeling it.

Years ago I was given the keys to another winger's trike to try it out after my almost fatal bike accident. I got on, rode it straight down the road, and found I had a hard time steering it into a turn. I'm sure it takes time getting used to having to "drive" it. Another friend came by with a side car & said try it out. So I did, And I took out a neighbors mailbox & flower bed trying to steer it with a sidecar.

There's just got to be a method on how to ride bikes like that, and if someone would tell me the easy ways around them, I just might finally trike  mine out.

I can still handle my 1100# bike, but after rupturing basically bones in my ass  for you lay  people who don't know what a sacrum is   for I'm not sure I can stop it properly anymore, as I weigh my bikes just a little over the 20# limit. I'm pretty sure 500# of excess things is way to much for a wing to handle or a harley for that matter also. I never travel light, when I ride cross country.

So someone teach me the tricks to trike it out, otherwise I will just keep on riding two wheels.  

And am hoping real soon, I am no longer a pain in the butt to myself either.....

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DATE: 19 May 2007, 7:35 am / MOOD: Elated

http://www.city2e-news.com/

 

Michael "Boz" Kerr is the founder of this website. I have personally known him for many years on the board of directors of ABATE of Chicago, and he is now the VP of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF).

Mike "Boz" Kerr - Vice President
Illinois email: boz@mrf.org phone: 773-583-2764
Photo © Susan Buck   --> Responsibilities: The Vice President serves in the role of the President in the President's absence at a meeting or if the office of the President becomes vacant. In the case of vacancy in the office of the President, the Vice President shall serve as President until the next regularly scheduled meeting or until a successor is elected.   Current Term of Office: September 2005 thru September 2007

 

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DATE: 19 May 2007, 7:22 am / MOOD: Happy

If you felt the Northwest Side rumble on Sunday, that was probably them.

A local motorcycle-enthusiast group kickstarted the cycling season on Sunday as 125 bikers staged a mobile safety-awareness rally.

The Chicago chapter of ABATE (A Brotherhood Aimed Towards Education) Illinois led members of area cycling clubs on the 80-mile, two-wheel trek across Chicago and the suburbs, starting at Alderman William Banks' 36th Ward office, 6841 W. Belmont Ave., in the city's Montclare community. Though he didn't join the procession, Banks, a longtime supporter and eight-year member of ABATE, that morning received the organization's highest honor.

"The Dave 'Dogkiller' White Award is given out yearly to the person that has done the most for motorcyclists' rights and helping us out with different things, and Alderman Banks fit the bill this year," said Bob "Doc" Schraeder, a spokesman for the local chapter, which has nearly 500 members.

Schraeder, a Dunning resident and 6-year member, said Banks has been an ABATE backer for most of the local chapter's 22-year history, one which started before the statewide organization -- now 61-chapters strong -- existed. Schraeder recounted a City Council meeting during which a Near North Side alderman "known for disliking ABATE" interjected into a discussion regarding motorcycle-parking issues to note he'd never met a member of the organization that he liked.

"Alderman Banks stood up and said, 'Excuse me, alderman, but I take offense; I am an ABATE member,' " Schraeder said. "... When we need something, he's there."

Banks, he added, even sprang for coffee and donuts for the throng of cyclists before the hour-and-15-minute ride started at 10 a.m. The route took them from the alderman's office to their final destination of Harvard, Ill. There, members met with the town's mayor, who presented a proclamation commemorating May as Motorcycle Awareness Month.

"We were out riding to let people see the bikes and recognize that they're out on the streets, now," Schraeder said of the safety demonstration. "Although there are people who ride them year-round, there are people out there by the thousands" in spring and summer.

Notices for the ride hailed it as a "rain-or-shine" event, but cyclists lucked out, enjoying a sun-soaked day that reached 82 degrees.

ABATE has statewide chapters across the United States, though no centralized authority ties them together on a national level. Chapters comprise members from motorcycle clubs who join forces to promote safety-awareness and education, as well as to lobby local governments in favor of riders' rights, Schraeder explained. He pointed to the defeat of a City Council initiative several years ago to ban cycles on Lake Shore Drive.

The mission of ABATE is encapsulated in its stance on helmet laws, which Illinois does not have, Schraeder said.

"We're not anti-helmet, whatsoever," he said. "We have members who ride and wear helmets.

"What we want is freedom of choice ... . That's what we're about."

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DATE: 07 Dec 2006, 5:56 am / MOOD: Stressed

I have ridden many different types of motorcycles, or I should say many different name brands of bikes in my almost 45 years of riding.

Every bike I have owned has hit the 100,000 mile get up & go limit on the odometer. Some bikes have had much more than that though.

My goldwing has over 250,000 miles on it now. I love it to death. However, it has failed me one time too many now.

Many Harley riders ask me, why do you ride a goldwing when you own an e-glide? To me it's not the name brand I prefer to be on, but the comfort of the ride on a cross country trip.

The e-glide is great for tavern to tavern or local runs, but the vibration is a killer for long distance riding. The 75th anniversary AMF bike is a knock out killer looking bike after the late hubby fixed it up, but my ass and legs can't take the vibes.

So I ride my wing. In it's glory heyday, it rode like a cadillac. So smooth, you could play a tape & it would never skip esp. over the railroad tracks. Now I'm lucky it plays, period.

And don't think goldwings are cheaper to fix or parts are easy to get. That's pure hogwash....oops wrong terms.....but it's true.

Older wings are like older harleys. They don't want to sell you new parts they want you to buy new bikes.

And today is Pearl Harbor Day. My bike was made in Marysville, OH. If one more person tells me that all Harley parts are made in America today, they will be picking their teeth up off the street!!

I met a guy two years ago at Laughlin River Run. He was bragging about his brand new FLHTC that he bought at Las Vegas Harley. He bought it because the salesman assured him that there is not ONE part on his new motorcycle that was made in Japan, or China, and that the whole bike is American made, so he paid big bucks for his all American made motorcycle. He's the one still to this day who can't understand why I don't ride my AMF instead of my Goldwing. Guess he doesn't know anything about the AMF motorcycle, who owned them at one time....

So here I sit, moaning and groaning, because after 16 years of goldwing riding, and so many miles later.....bike packed ready to go from Las Vegas to Seattle......it takes a crap on me...and totally dies as I hit I-15 southbound (route with least amount of snow), yes the long way but I hate snow.

I go one whole year without working on bike, except you know the basic wrenching, and lo & behold the day of trip.....it dies by the Southcoast Casino on the hwy.

If I didn't have bad luck, I'd have NO luck. But I did make a new friend, who stopped to help, from San Jose, CA. And now I have a storage bill I have to pay every month until I can go back & get the bike.

I could have put bike in shop & waited. But I had to be here within 28 hours to run a flu clinic. So bike sits, and I sit also....

I'm thinking of selling it. I can make good money just by selling parts off of it. Because I know how much those parts cost. I've lost 4 side covers since I've owned it, the right one I've lost 3 times, twice on I-405 in southern CA. Not that I lost them, yeah they fell off, and as I was running into traffic, damn semi-tractor/trailers run them over to the tune of $300/each.

Yesterday I went to Bent Bike in Lynnwood, WA, to look for new/used bike parts, like an alternator, and found a piece of plastic in my bike color which is rare these days to find anything in that color, for the left rear saddle bag. Just a small little part, very worn in & scratched to hell, for a measely $65. Hmmmm, I'm pretty sure that little part cost that brand new. Not that I needed that part, but it was the thought that counted. Not to put Bent Bike down, because they do have some really great prices on new parts there, I just couldn't notion paying new price for old piece of plastic.

I am still bitching because my friend Rich from LV, still calls me up telling me that wings aren't as valuable as harleys, yet I'm sure he's never had to replace lots & lots of plastic on his bikes ever. Over the years & one really bad bike accident, I have doubled paying for parts what I paid for a brand new bike. The plastic is what makes the goldwing different, and it's the plastic alone that is so damned expensive. On my fairing alone there is a skinny short piece on side of it that costs $100. Just a teeny little piece of plastic. Take a look at my bike, it looks like a plastic motorcycle! And plastic isn't cheap.

The bike originally came with a $2000 neon package. I bought it used. The guy before me only put 3,000 miles on it & added the neons & the air horns....one good accident blew the transformer for the neons and that took care of me ever replacing them again. Just one 3" neon tube cost me over $100/bulb. I had 14 bulbs of different sizes & colors on it. As for the airhorns, I don't need to sound like an 18 wheeler going by.

And like any other nice looking motorcycle, I can't forget the murals on there either. But the guy before me had them painted on, and I just left them on. There's also the non-original extra tall windshield with the dolphins etched in that.

I am glad it broke down now, because I'd never have gotten as far as Seattle anyways, due to my dislocated hip pain. And as long as the pain is still here, and the hip is now healing my wing can sit in storage & thank god I'm not torturing it to death on snow/ice with no garage up here to store it in yet.

I want my bike to last forever. I don't want to spend another cent into fixing it up. If I say this 100 times do you think it will come true? I'd like to think so, but it's just like any other motorcycle, one day I will have to shoot it to put it out of it's misery.......until that day I will just ride it ....like I stole it....to death do us part......



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DATE: 08 Sep 2006, 8:43 pm / MOOD: Other

I prefer to ride a goldwing because it is most comfy on long distance road trips.....but I like other bikes as well.......

I prefer to get along well with others, not judging those by what they ride, but by the integrity of their knowledge of the vehicle that transports them...........

I prefer to be an independent biker that rides her own motorcycle, and is a very independent person, who yes, can wrench her own........

I prefer to be an individual, do my own thing, and be left alone because I support causes others don't...........

I prefer to stay away from men, who constantly put women down, try to degrade them online, as well as threaten their lives, because they have refused to date the guy who keeps threatening their life.........

I prefer to stay away from guys who are intimidated by independent woman, esp. those that have great jobs, can support themselves, and own their own motorcycles..........

I prefer to stay far away from these same insecure guys who defame MY Character, because I keep refusing their advances, so instead of leaving ME alone, they come back to every website imaginable online, from bikers to club affiliated ones, to dating ones, amongst many others, to try to put me down, and say I am stalking them.....

I don't care what is said or who it is said to.. My reputation speaks for itself....I prefer NOT to contact anyone to protect me and then splatter it all over the net to make it appear like one club is now threatening another club.......

I prefer for this to stop......but if it won't, I don't care, I do not feel threatened. You can bash my motorcycle of choice all you want, I prefer mine over yours, and you definitely would not look good on the back of my bike!!

I prefer you leave the club affiliations out of your name bashing....the only one who is going to get hurt is the one claiming to have contacted all of the clubs to protect his name.....

I prefer to live where I choose without one club telling me this is their territory. You don't pay my bills, nor live with my lung disease, and I prefer to live where I make a great living, and can breathe better.

I prefer to stay friends with those that have common interests as I do. Number one being motorcycles. I prefer to ride beside anyone that has a great heart & good sense of humor, not someone who won't ride beside me because we don't agree on who should ride what.

I prefer to think of everyone as an equal, doesn't matter what the patch says on your back if you choose to wear one. I prefer to think of bikers as a brother/sisterhood, not enemies.

And now I prefer to go out and ride my scoot all around the country, as I am headed out east.....

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