President’s Corner, November 2011

We have been fortunate to have had a beautiful Fall riding season.  The Euro Motor Union’s club ride on October 22 was well attended and the weather was cooperative.  Dennis Spencer and Mel Heffron put together an excellent route.  We covered a lot of ground and enjoyed some great scenery.  Those of us that took the private tour of the Commemorative Air Force museum and hangars at Smartt Field at the end of the ride, had a chance to see both the Avenger and the B25 bomber.  Both aircraft are expertly maintained and in beautiful condition.  Thanks to Joe Brinkman for making arrangements for the private tour.

Speaking of Joe, he gave an outstanding program on board track racing at the November meeting.  We had a chance to see how the tracks were constructed and see pictures of the track in St. Louis as well as the one in Los Angeles.  Of most interest to me were the profiles of the racers themselves.  With the high speeds, throttles wide open, and no brakes it was an extremely dangerous profession but very lucrative for the time.  Joe’s program concluded with videos of actual races.  For those of you who may have missed the meeting you can find the races on the internet.

We’ve had interesting programs this year and I’d like to thank all those members who spent time and effort preparing and giving their presentations.  We have several scheduled for Spring.  Mark Bosworth will be showing his Triton and Eric Miller is restoring a Puch and a Matchless that will be featured in programs next year.

Our club says we offer rides, programs and tech sessions.  So far we are weak on the tech sessions.  Mark Oldham gave us one on suspension set up but that has been it so far.  I’d really appreciate a volunteer for another one in the near future.  One that would appeal to me would be on troubleshooting electrical problems.  Just some basic tips on what could be done by an amateur, like me, that could prevent calling the tow truck.  There are numerous other topics as well.  Just step up and offer to contribute.

Thanks to Mark Bosworth we have very professional looking counter cards to promote EMU membership.  Mark designed a card that holds the club’s business cards.  He will distribute them to appropriate dealerships in the metropolitan area.  Mark also brought the finished club patches.  They look great and a limited number will be available for ten dollars each.  Don’t forget that you can get the club logo embroidered on any item of clothing for five dollars.  Just bring your shirt, jacket, or whatever, with money to the next meeting.  Speaking of money we still have many long time members who have still not paid their dues.  Remember dues were due in June so be sure you’re paid up.  If your not sure if you’re paid up are not, send me an email and I’ll let you know.

We finalized arrangements for the EMU Christmas  Party.  It will be held Saturday, December 17, in the Moto Europa dealership showroom.  Cocktail hour will begin at six and dinner served at seven.  It will be buffet style with a menu similar to those in the past.  We will have several desserts available (at no extra cost). Coffee, tea, and soft drinks will also be included.  The charge per person will be $12.00.  We have 39 members signed up already.  I met with the Rusty, the person in charge of the restaurant, and he said we don’t have to give him a final head count until our meeting December 6.  If you haven’t made reservations there is still time.

I’d like to start a new feature for the newsletter.  It will feature “The Bike of the Month”.  I’ll pick one for starters.  Other members can submit offerings for future newsletters.  If I don’t get any candidates, I’ll keep submitting my favorites.  We’ll start things off with the Goodman.  It’s a bike that some of you may remember and one that HD should have built but didn’t.  In the mean time, ride safe and see you at the December meeting and the Christmas Party.

Harlan Hock, President