Rising Son

Motorcycle Independent

Last Monday morning, I quit the riding club I had belonged to.

In one respect, I made the decision quickly, but in another respect, I could see this developing over the past several months. That is, I had this feeling inside that a confrontation would come, but I just didn't know when or how.

I actually eluded to this on this very same blog, back in November of 2006 in a post entitled, "Riding Club Leadership"...

But I hate making enemies, and I can forsee myself making some enemies down the road. When that happens, I'm going to really question my involvement with this club.

I always felt I had great intuition, I knew there was "writing on the wall", but I just didn't know exactly what it read.

A good friend of mine, Tom, who was also in the club, quit as well, on the same day. He actually told me that he could see this coming, even back before I could sense it. But then again, he knew the other two founders better than I. They were the reason why I chose to quit.

Tom and I were two of the four "founding members" of the club, while the remaining two were the ones that I had a falling out over.

I'm not going to spill it all out here in writing, because I sense that others in the club read this blog. I'll only say that I have differences with them in the direction the club should go in. The differences were fundamental enough, that we could not resolve them, nor put them past us. And that's just putting it nicely.

So I'm going to remain "independent" for awhile. That is, I'm not going to ride with any clubs for the forseeable future. I may join a club eventually, but for now, I don't see anything on the horizon.

And here's why. For the past year-and-a-half, since becoming one of the club's founders, I've worked my ass off for the club. I stepped up and organized majority of the rides, meetings, and bike nights. I led most of the rides. I promoted the club across several public access websites and forums. I attended rides with other clubs, and established relationships with other clubs. I created avenues for recruiting new members. I did more for that club than anyone else.

The members who remain in that club, would never have been there if not for me. I may not have recruited them all, but I was the one that gave them reason to join. It was the rides and bike nights that I organized, it was the people I brought together, it was the reputation I built throughout the public, that made it great to be a member.

After putting so much effort into the club, and then to see the other two founders act the way they did, and say the things they said, I simply don't have the inspiration to do it all over again. Even if Tom and I were to take over this club ourselves, and have the other two founders walk away, it still wouldn't be the same. I'd still feel uninspired about giving myself to an organization.

I mean, this is the reason why I quit my regular job, and went to work for myself. Organizations don't love you back, people do.

So for now, I'm going to focus on the people.

Labels: Motorcycles

Posted: Wednesday, August 15, 2007
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Freedom of the Ride

It perhaps seems redundant to keep writing about my interest in riding motorcycles. But in the context of an autobiography, it's really does shed light into who I am.

Just about any biker will tell you that riding a motorcycle is perhaps the closest thing to freedom they can experience. I agree with that as well.

When I was a kid, during my step-child years, I wanted to run away. I actually attemped it when I was 16. But I had enough common-sense to pull me back. My mother actually ran away from home when she was 16, and never went back. When I showed up home again, she knew what happened and tried her best understand me.

In those years, I would frequently spend a lot of time walking for miles and miles on my own, venturing out into areas my family had only driven through. I had done this on bicycle too, roaming as far 40 miles out and spending almost the entire day, returning late at night.

Being alone in such unfamiliar territory caused me to reflect deeply into myself. When all you have is yourself, all you think about is yourself, from survival, to eating, and just relying entirely on your own faculties.

Jumping on a motorcycle and riding for miles out into countryside is perhaps an extension of that. I get away from everything else familiar to me, and rely upon myself. It helps me understand the person I am.

I suppose you could do this in a car too, but a car tends to provide you with a certain amount of protection. A motorcycle leaves you out in the open, just you against the elements. It also gives you that old familiar sense of freedom.

Freedom is a very important part of my ideological thinking. In my childhood, I had always wanted to run away and find a someplace to belong to. That's really what riding a motorcycle means to me.

Now days I belong to a riding club, but still get on my own sometimes. I do like riding with other riders though. Perhaps many of the folks I ride with have at least something in common with me. I may not wear the tattoos, or the jewelry piercings, but I do feel like I belong.

Labels: Childhood, Motorcycles, Philosophy

Posted: Friday, November 17, 2006
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Riding Club Leadership

I find myself taking more and more responsibility in the motorcycle riding club I'm in.

In this year of 2006, our riding club experienced the loss of several members, all leaving because they couldn't get along with other members. It's been devastating to the club, and is trying the patience of myself and the other founding members.

I'm trying to get the remaining members interested in riding more, and trying to get more people to join our club. Read my article on Biker News Online entitled, "Is This The Sophomore Blues For Our Riding Club", where I touch on this subject.

I don't really want more responsibility, because I have enough it already running Clear Digital Media, and managing our personal lives.

I joined the club because I wanted ride motorcycles with other folks, and to make friends. I didn't want to "run" the club. Rather, I'm only interested in helping the club, and helping the other founding members build it into a success.

But even with my status as a founding member, I still enjoy it. Even if I'm having to lead most of the rides, or organize most of the rides, or be in charge of keeping everything on schedule, I still enjoy it.

But I hate making enemies, and I can forsee myself making some enemies down the road. When that happens, I'm going to really question my involvement with this club.

The truth is that you don't need a club to ride a motorcycle. You don't even need a club to find other riding buddies. There are times when I'm not sure being in a club is necessary. What's the difference between riding in a club, and just riding with other buddies? I've tossed that question around, and I just can't seem to figure it out.

If anything, a club is just an organization, and organizations lend themselves to power-trips, egos, and bureaucracy. I don't want any of that. Another founder in the club suggested establishing "First and Second Officers". To me, that's the start of creating the power-trips, egos, and bureaucracies. I DO NOT want to manage egos.

But like I said, I still enjoy riding with this club. I hope that enjoyment continues.

Labels: Leadership, Motorcycles, Riding Clubs

Posted: Wednesday, November 15, 2006
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How My Interest in Motorcycles Started

I guess I have my step father to thank for getting me interested in riding motorcycles.

He had a 1948 Harley Davidson Panhead. He actually built it from junk yard parts. It was actually a 1948 frame, but with a 1952 engine. He built this in his college days after high school. When he joined the Navy, the bike remained in Colorado.

I remember in 1976 the three of us, my and my mother included, drove his Chevy van to Colorado to retrieve it. When he brought it home, he dismantled and begun a long process of putting it all back together.

I think it wasn't until 1984 that he finally put it all back together. I remember him starting it up for the first time. He hopped on to the bike, put his foot on the kick starter, and the damn started up on the first kick. I was floored. I thought for sure he'd had to kick it several times, and play with the carburetor settings for a while.

For the next several years he rode that thing to work and everywhere else. That got his interest in motorcycles back up. He would ride with his buddies to various watering holes.

In 1984, after I graduated high school, he convinced my mother to buy me a used a motorcycle. He bought 1979 Kawasaki KZ400 from a friend of his. It was actually a third-hand bike. It had dented gas tank, and a ripped up seat. It wasn't running because it sat in storage for a couple years.

We took it all apart, and he showed me how to put it all back together. That was my only mode of transporation during my college days, and I rode for three years.

It was actually a lot of fun riding it. My friend Greg ended up buying a Kawasaki KZ450 shortly after, and we would ride everywhere. Those times riding with Greg to the pool hall, to the movies, to everywhere we could think of, is what cemented my interest in motorcycles.

It wasn't just the riding, but riding with a friend, and enjoying the freedom together. Back then, California didn't have a mandatory helmet law. We'd hop on our bikes with a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals, and go all over the place. What fun!

Then in 1988, I had my first accident. I was on my way to work, to downtown Santa Ana, to the library where I was working weekends only. It had rained the night before, and the streets were all wet. I was riding down 4th Street, approaching Grand Ave, when the traffic light turned yellow. I had to make up my mind to go through the light, or stop. I hesitated for a moment, and then noticed several cars on Grand Ave. I decided to stop. There was water and oil on the asphalt near the intersection, and the wheels on my bike locked up, and threw me high side.

I landed on my knee pretty hard and it hurt pretty bad. Fortunately, I had on full gear, including a full-face helmet. That probably saved my life because it took some bad scrapes and gashes.

From that point on, I decided I needed to get a car for commuting to work, especially on rainy days. I bought a 1989 Chevy S10 pickup truck. From that point on, I just stopped riding altogether.

My motorcycle stayed in my garage for several years. Finally, I gave it to Shaun, my nephew. He wanted a motorcycle to work on and ride. I don't think he ever it got it running.

It was until 2004 that my interest in motorcycles grew up again. This time it was neighbor Don Watkins. He told me about the Harley Davidson he wanted to get. He finally decided on the Dyna Wide Glide. He kept talking about it everytime I saw him. So finally, I decided to get one too.

I was originally looking at the Harley Davidson Road King and the Heritage Softail. But when I saw the Yamaha Road Star, which looked like a competitor to the two Harley models, I was sold. It was a more powerful bike, looked really great, but had much lower price tag.

For the next several months, Don and I rode our bikes to all sorts of places. It was just like those college days with Greg. But Don was in the Navy, and often he was gone for weeks or months. I wanted more friends to ride with.

Doing a search on the Internet, I found a club called Southern Cruisers Riding Club, with chapters all over the USA. They had one in Temecula, which was just 15 miles to the south. I met with them, and joined up. I met several people who went on to become good friends of mine. Since then, the Temecula chapter shut down, but we went on to form a new club, the Iron Horses Riding Club, and kept the magic going.

Like in the college days, it was the friends that made riding so much fun.