SAVANNAH RIDE

What a time we had in Savannah! if you have ridden long, you know the value of a good rain suit. well, it came in really handy when we left on our Savannah ride. That Friday morning it was misting on the way to the shop but by the time we got there, it had quit. We had a group of about 15 bikes that left about 9:15 with a Douglas county escort through the rush hour of Thornton Road. We continued down Camp Creek Pkwy. to the freeway and headed south to exit 69 where we picked up the rest of our group. Many thanks for the fine job of the Henry County Sheriffs Dept. for leading us through the county. Of course by then it was pouring rain but we just kept on going. By the time we came to the first gas stop, the rain had retreated to an occasional fine mist. We picked up some new members there and kept on our journey. After a gas stop in Sandersville we broke for lunch at the Villa South Restaurant. Talk about some great food, this is a must eat place if you are ever in the are and like good home-cooked food. With our bikes full of gas and the riders/passengers full of food, we continued our trek to Savannah. After some ignition repairs to one member's bike at the last gas stop, we rolled into Savannah about 5:30 where the weather was just perfect. We checked into the motels and split up for dinner. A group of us went to the Shellhouse Restaurant for some delicious broiled and boiled seafood and the dinner will not soon be forgotten by anyone there. The next morning we welcomed a perfect day for riding. After a breakfast group that kept growing at the Cracker Barrel, we met the Savannah Chapter at the dealership and they took us on some rides through the historical areas where some of us stayed the day and the others went out to the beach.

Thank you to Mike and Chris with the Savannah Chapter for spending all day Saturday showing us the sights! Those of us at the historical area took a bus tour of the area where Joe Cobb and Ray Duncan took advantage of having no windows in the bus, much to the dismay of a couple of ladies in front (has connection to Shellhouse comment above)! We met in front of the LaQuinta at 5:45 and rode to Snapper's Seafood Restaurant for dinner. Allan Farmer and I had already met with the manager and reserved one wing of the restaurant for ATLANTA H.O.G. The food was great and the view through the surrounding plate glass windows was breathtaking. After dinner, a group of us rode over "the bridge" to see the blanket of lights of Savannah spread out below. It was the perfect evening. Some of our other members went downtown and partied with the crowd. The next morning brought threats of rain on our return trip which held off until we were 60 miles east of Macon. We all returned home safely and all agreed it was a great weekend getaway. Thanks to everyone who helped make this a huge success.

SLOW, LOOK, LEAN AND ROLL
Paul Gardner,
Director, Atlanta Chapter H.O.G., Inc.

Atlanta H.O.G. Safety

"Braking"
by Mendel Stafford

Hey, someone does read the safety articles. Thanks very much to Cathy Davies for giving me updated information on the experienced rider course. In the safety article last month I stated you must have taken the basic riders course (MRC:RSS) before you can take the experienced course (ERC). This is true if you have had your "M" class license less than two years. If you have had your "M" class license for more than 2 years, you can take the ERC. I highly recommend to anyone, regardless of his or her riding experience, to take a basic course.

Braking is a vital fundamental skill of riding a motorcycle. We all need to practice good braking skills. I came across this article on the net and found it very interesting. I do not totally agree with every detail of the article, however front braking is a skill I constantly work on. Many things to remember about front braking, but to me, the MOST important is to stay off the front brake at low speeds (20 mph or less) especially during slow maneuvers, for example, turning around in a parking lot. If you get a chance to see any precision motorcycle riding team, watch their right hand. While maneuvering at slow speeds they never use the front brake. They regulate their speed with the clutch and rear brake.

Remember, if you are not safe
................. No One Is!!!

Braking Method Determined By Speed
By James R. Davis

We have all heard that up to 70% of your stopping power comes from the front brake. Not desiring to start another war, but it is my opinion that this is historic information up to 100% of your stopping power comes from your front brake now! With today's modem brakes and tire compounds it is entirely possible, with speed and good road surfaces, to get so-much stopping power with the front brake that you can break your rear wheel entirely off the ground (known as a "stoppie"). This is not good. Not to worry, in a later article I will demonstrate that it is virtually impossible to do a "stoppie" with a GoldWing. But raising the rear wheel off the ground at high speeds is not the typical problem with over-applying your front brake - it is locking the front wheel and dumping the bike at slow speeds. So? Well, traditional training argues that for most effective braking you should try to obtain about 75% of your stopping from the front and 25% from the rear if the road is dry, and 50% from the front and 50% from the rear if the road is wet. This might no longer be the best advice because speed is not being considered. That is, in my opinion, the advice should better focus on what you should do at various speeds. For example, if you are moving at less than about 20 MPH, regardless of the condition of the road surface, virtually all of your stopping can be derived from the rear brake, and if the road surface demands it (slippery, grass, loose gravel, etc.) exclusively. (I advocate using BOTH brakes virtually every time - I am here only arguing that you can rely on the rear brake for most of your stopping at slow speeds - not that you should only use your rear brake.) The slower you go, the more likely your front brakes will grab - thus, you should not be trying to get 75%, or more, of your stopping power from the front brake at slow speeds. (We have already talked about how fast a bike goes down if the front brake locks.) When moving faster than 20 MPH then traditional advice (75%/25% or 50%/50%) applies depending on road surface condition, paying particular attention to NEVER applying brakes so quickly that you lock either of them, and that during hard braking you should tend to ease up on the rear brake as weight shifts towards the front wheel. The next Tip argues this far more clearly, and suggests 75%/25% should now be more like 85%/l5%. More importantly, it describes 'Taper Braking' as a method to be used at all times. I fully endorse that thinking. Copyright C) 1992-1996 by The Master Strategy Group, all rights reserved.

Reproduced with permission by The Master Strategy Group, April 1998.

1998 Georgia State H.O.G. Rally

In response to a lot of the questions I have been getting about the Rally. Hopefully, this will shade some light on most of the standard questions. First of all, the Rally is again at Jekyll Island on August 27-29. We decided to have it at Jekyll again because of the national H.O.G. ride leaving Savannah on the Monday after our Rally Weekend. The "Thunder in Savannah" party that in listed in the H.O.G. Tales will be on Saturday afternoon and will not conflict with our Saturday evening festivities. In fact, we may even have an organized ride to attend this party. On Saturday evening, at the Jekyll Inland Conference Center, we will be having our Low Country Boil and then our party with awards and live music. These will be held in two separate halls at the Conference Center so if you elect not to purchase tickets to the Low Country Boil, you will not be excluded from the closing activities. Which brings me to my next point. Several of you have questioned the fact that last year the Low Country Boil was included with you Rally registration and this year you have to pay to attend. The Rally in still subsidizing the cost of the Low country Boil, you are not paying she full price for this meal. Last year we elected to include this in you Rally Cost and everyone enjoyed it. This year we are not able to afford to do that again, but since it was such a hit last year we wanted to be able to offer it again this year. We still feel like it's the best dinner bargain going for the quality and quantity of food available! In closing, we're looking for a Rally every bit as fun and successful as last year, so ya'll come on down and party on the Island with us!

The above article was from Margaret King who is our Rally Secretary for the Georgia State Rally. I hope this answers some questions that many of you have.

Also, you will find a Rally application in this newsletter so fill it out and send it in early or you can bring it to me.

See you on Jekyll.

Rene' Durham
Rally Coordinator

MINUTE BY MINUTE

At our business meeting in April, we had present: Paul Gardner, Dan and Ginger Gardiner, Mike and Karen Volk, Rene' Durham and Amy Wilder (from MDA).

We made plans for our MDA POKER RUN which will be June 6. We also discussed the ride to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, September 26-27, the American Diabetes Ride on May 3 and The Cave Springs Ride also on May 3. We will also start having "New Member Rides".

RENE DURHAM, SECRETARY TREASURER

UPCOMING EVENTS

MAY

2, 3: AMERICAN DIABETES ASSN.. RIDE TO LIVE '98. VOTE FOR EDDIE TO KISS THE PIG!
2, 3: CEDAR CREEK MOTORCYCLE RALLY, CAVE SPRING, GA.
9: CRUISIN' CAR SHOW AND POKER RUN TO ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY.
23: SALEM BAPTIST CHURCH BIKE SHOW.
30: CRUISE NIGHT AT H-D OF ATLANTA. CUSTOM CARS AND BIKES GALORE. BEGINS AT 5:30 PM.

JUNE

6: MDA POKER RUN AND COOKOUT AT HARLEY-DAVIDSON OF ATLANTA, 10 AM
10, 11, 12,13: COMING HOME, MILWAUKEE! 15TH ANNIVERSARY H.O.G. AND 95TH BIRTHDAY OF HARLEY-DAVIDSON.

JULY

4: 2ND ANNUAL DALE MOOREFIELD MEMORIAL RIDE TO BOSTWICK FOR BARBECUE

AUGUST

28,29,30: GA. STATE HOG RALLY IN JEKYLL ISLAND. PICK UP A BROCHURE AT THE SHOP.

September

26-27: GATLINBURY RIDE, CHECK YOUR NEXT HOGWASH OR PICK UP DETAILS AT HARLEY-DAVIDSON OF ATLANTA.

MEMBER APPRECIATION DAY

SATURDAY, MAY 2 20% OFF MUST SHOW CHAPTER ID CARD FOR DISCOUNT

MEET!! WILLIE G. DAVIDSON BILL DAVIDSON

THIRD ANNUAL CEDAR CREEK MOTORCYCLE RALLY CAVE SPRING, GEORGIA MAY 2 & 3, 1998 PROCEEDS GO TO THE GEORGIA BURN REGISTRATION FEE: $ 10.00 REGISTRATION 11:00 AM TO 2:00 PM MAY 2,1998 MOTORCYCLE SHOWS (5) CLASSES TOURING CRUISERS CUSTOMS VINTAGE BEST OVERALL FIELD EVENTS - RESTAURANTS - HOTELS CAMPING WITH BATH AND REST ROOM FACILITIES COME AND SEE THE SIGHTS OF THIS PICTURESQUE LITTLE CITY LOCATED IN THE ROLLING HILLS OF NORTHWEST GEORGIA AND SHARE THE FELLOWSHIP OF OTHER MOTORCYCLE ENTHUSIASTS AS WELL AS THE WARMTH OF THE PEOPLE WHO RESIDE IN THIS AREA. CAVE SPRING, GEORGIA IS LOCATED 14 MILES SOUTH OF ROME, GEORGIA AND HAS US # 411 RUNNING THROUGH THE DOWNTOWN AREA. US # 411 ALSO INTERSECTS WITH US # 27 AND INTERSTATE I-75 NEED MORE INFORMATION? CALL 1-800-866- 7051 CINDY GOOD RAIN DATE MAY 30,1998

THE GEORGIA OUTSIDERS RODS AND CUSTOMS PRESENT THE EIGHTH ANNUAL CRUISIN' CAR SHOW SATURDAY MAY 9, 1998 THE ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY HAMPTON, GEORGIA NEW ATTRACTION THIS YEAR: CUSTOM BIKE SHOW POKER RUN SPONSORED BY HARLEY OWNERS GROUP ATLANTA CHAPTER REGISTRATION WILL OPEN SATURDAY MAY 9TH AT 9:00 AM SHOW AND SHINE TILL 5:00 PM. COMPETE FOR THE TOP 10 BIKES IN GEORGIA. PLUS OTHER AWARDS. DOOR PRIZES, AND GAMES. REGISTRATION FEE IS $5.00 PER HAND AND ALL PRECEDES WILL BENEFIT THE SPEEDWAY CHILDREN'S CHARITIES. AWARDS WILL BE PRESENTED AT 5 PM. FOLLOWED BY MORE LIVE MUSIC FEATURING THE BEST 114 SOUTHERN ROCK BY HOURGLASS DON'T MISS IT HOT RODS/HARLEYS/TRUCKS CUSTOM-TRICK-RESTORED INFO: CALL BRUCE WILSON 770-954-1237

HARLEY-DAVIDSON OF ATLANTA CRUISE NIGHT SATURDAY MAY 30, 1998 BEGINNING AT 5:30 PM WE WILL HAVE BIKES AND CARS MUSIC AND FUN HARLEY-DAVIDSON OF ATLANTA 501 THORNTON ROAD LITHIA SPRINGS, GA 30122 770-944-1340

MDA POKER RUN AND COOKOUT

JUNE 6 HARLEY-DAVIDSON OF ATLANTA FIRST BIKE OUT 10 AM LAST BIKE OUT 12 NOON FOOD PRIZES AND ALL FOR A WORTHY CAUSE PICKUP YOUR PACKET AT H-D OF ATLANTA

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Updated 5/17/98