Ideas on changing the format of the DFW VRCC Chapter

[RainMaker]

From Speedo and RainMaker:

Meeting Report.

Attendees: Speedo, Sidecar, RainMaker, Dave in Frisco, Baron.
Location: Joe’s Crab Shack in Grapevine.

The last few meetings have been accommodated by one table at Joe’s Crab Shack.  Maybe it’s been too cold.  Maybe it’s American Idol.  Some say it’s the location. But probably, the attendance is a direct reflection of the value of the meeting to the membership.  We can stay the course and hold our meetings in a booth or we can change directions and make these gatherings better.

On Thursday, we really didn’t have a meeting as much as a conversation between friends.  It was great to hear about Dave’s VTX adventure, David talking about the upcoming Catfish ride and, of course, keeping Gary in check, making him stop his dancing of the Macarena on tables, etc.

And then we brainstormed.  What was missing from our meetings?  Did the structure hurt or help?  Was having one place to meet an advantage or a detriment?  We stayed until nearly 10PM and the time flew by.  It was a great “meeting”.

From the ideas presented at this meeting, Speedo and RainMaker are making some changes to the club.  Within the current bylaws, we are allowed to designate the meeting location, time and date.  We are allowed to control the format as well.  Consider this our “stimulus” plan to make the meetings more meaningful and something that you will put on your calendar.

1.    The idea was floated to have a dinner ride every second Thursday of the month instead of meeting at the same place. Different members will volunteer to arrange a dinner site in their neighborhood. Ex.: Rockwall, Sherman\Denison, Downtown Ft. Worth. We are planning to start this right away, in March.   David Barron has volunteered to organize a dinner at Po Melvyn’s in Irving for March 12th. This means we will NOT be meeting at Joe’s Crab Shack next month.

2.    We want to abolish the position of Treasury. We would donate the $185 to the treasury to the charity we have been supporting all these years: The Ride for Kids, Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.  The check will be given at the March 12th dinner meeting. We are not collecting money at meetings, there are no dues and no expenses for supplies to speak of.  So no need for a treasury or a Treasurer.  This will require a Bylaw change to abolish the office (also to abolish the $20 dues clause).

3.    We propose to change the structure of the club into a riding club (owning a Valkyrie is optional).  Why?  We need new members.  No more Valkyries are being built.  So we need to incorporate other bikes and riders to grow the club, get new ideas on places to ride and make the experience better for all members.  We will still have a President and VP, whose sole function will be to function as contact persons.  Elections for new officers come up in July and we’re recommending only the President and VP spot being filled.  (Per the Bylaws, the offices of President and Vice President are only one year positions - this has been misinterpreted for years by the club.  The only two year positions are the Directors spots on the Board of Directors.  So the next President and VP will only be one year gigs.)

4.    Rides are organized and planned by ride leaders, who post the dates on the DFW VRCC calendar and email the details to the President and VP for distribution by email and on the forum.

5     In summary: More riding, more fellowship, less work! The whole idea is to make the club more flexible, more fun and distribute the workload.

Your input is valuable.  This is your club. Your suggestions are welcome, given that you will participate in implementing them.

Speedo and RainMaker

[Houdini]

The last few meetings have been accommodated by one table at Joe’s Crab Shack.  Maybe it’s been too cold.  Maybe it’s American Idol.  Some say it’s the location. But probably, the attendance is a direct reflection of the value of the meeting to the membership.

I cannot comment on the value of the meetings since I haven't attended any due to the location.

Was having one place to meet an advantage or a detriment?

Detriment!

The idea was floated to have a dinner ride every second Thursday of the month instead of meeting at the same place.

As long as the diner rides aren’t always in Arlington. If the rides are in N. Dallas occasionally then I will attend when possible.  Unfortunately due to illness in my immediate family, I rarely know an hour in advance if I will be able to attend and sometimes as I am walking out the door my plans get changed, so I will not be able to lead any rides.  It is not due to lack of interest that I don't take a larger role in the club.

I can definitely recommend some fine (re. affordable) dining in the Allen area for those interested.

[RainMaker]

The idea was floated to have a dinner ride every second Thursday of the month instead of meeting at the same place.

As long as the diner rides aren’t always in Arlington. If the rides are in N. Dallas occasionally then I will attend when possible.  Unfortunately due to illness in my immediate family, I rarely know an hour in advance if I will be able to attend and sometimes as I am walking out the door my plans get changed, so I will not be able to lead any rides.  It is not due to lack of interest that I don't take a larger role in the club.

I can definitely recommend some fine (re. affordable) dining in the Allen area for those interested.

Per the original message, the dinner rides will be all over, depending on which member volunteers to set a dinner location up.  Where do you suggest we meet in Allen?  Do you want to set this up for April?  As for Arlington, when that meeting comes around, it will be at Tom's Burgers at I-30 and Cooper.  The best burgers in the world!  But that won't happen for a few months. 

[Houdini]

JC Burgerhouse has excellent burgers and great chili-cheese fries.

Brooklyn’s Pizza is one of the best pizza's I have eaten.  I took Wanderer there once and he acted like he enjoyed it.

Italian Villa is an all-around good place to eat.

I can make suggestions and we can plan on meeting at any of these locations but I have to say that I may or may not be there.  Mary's health changes by the hour sometimes and if she is sick I have to play parent and/or doctor and she has not been doing well lately.

I miss my 2-wheeled family and enjoy each and every one of you but my family has priority and makes huge demands on my time.

[Curtis_2Valks]

3.    We propose to change the structure of the club into a riding club (owning a Valkyrie is optional).

 

I think that's a good idea.  MOOT (Magna Owners Of Texas) has been doing it that way for a while.  They are open to Magna enthusiasts.  Having owned one for three years, I consider myself an enthusiast even though I no longer have a Magna.  I think many former Valk owners and even those who once thought about owning a Valk might like to participate.

Curtis

[godfire]

Chuck,
I'm sorry if I missed something, but what is going on with Mary?
If you want to take this off the board my email is f6godfire@yahoo.com.
gf

[Ten Bears]

Mark,


May I suggest that before any serious changes are made to the club's format that discussions with the other chapters take place to find out how they are doing and any changes that they foresee. Maybe a discussion with the leaders of the national VRCC. We have always welcomed any rider with any type bike to ride with us even though we are a club dedicated to the Valkyrie motorcycle. Yes, the bike is no longer made, but they are still around and even more special because of that fact. Certainly the fact that it is winter has made some difference in the number of folks attending the club activities. Do we know how many active members we still have? Maybe gathering more facts and information would be the best way to start before drastic changes are made, once again, we have always been and still are a chapter of the national VRCC, dedicated to the Valkyrie Motorcycle.

I am certainly guilty of not attending functions over the past couple of years due to work, however my love of the Valkyrie and the club has not changed. I think that is true of most of the core members and I think we all want this chapter to survive and thrive as a club dedicated to the Valkyrie, otherwise we would just become another motercycle riding club, hell they are a dime a dozen, we are special because of the Valkyrie.

Jimmy "Ten Bears" Curtin
Founder DFWVRCC

[Houdini]

I guess this was one of those situations where I assumed all the local riders knew.  Mary has Multiple Sclerosis, the worse kind of MS, primary progressive, which means her symptoms are always on and always worsening.  Most of last spring and summer she was doing good enough to go riding with me but since fall she has been experiencing acerbations of the disease which has caused her to lose strength and mobility.  We are trying some new therapies but none of them are helping much.  Imagine walking from your living room to your kitchen without falling or exhausting yourself is a major accomplishment and you can begin to understand her predicament.

I have been seriously considering sending her out of the states to China, Israel or Costa Rica where they have been making great strides in adult stem cell treatments.  They are many years ahead of the US in these therapy’s but the cost is insane since my insurance will not cover any of the procedure, much less the cost of the flight and hotel stay for a month while she is getting treatment.

[Thalas'shaya]

Vermithrax:  My thoughts and prayers are with you.  My college roommate has a very mild form of MS and that was hard enough.  My sister has a related autoimmune condition that comes and goes, causing total paralysis when it's "on."  Her docs had great luck treating her with chemotherapy, but that was a very hard road, as anyone who has ever had chemo or cared for a chemo patient knows.  They went that route because the IVIG and plasmapheresis were not controlling the advancing condition, but the chemo was as experimental in its way as stem cell treatments are.  I know stem-cell therapy is showing great promise with these types of nervous-system conditions.  Here's hoping for many more good days for your wife.

[godfire]

Chuck,
I'm sorry brother, but somehow I missed what you are going through.
If there is anything that you need, let me know.
My heart and prayers go out to you and your family.
Me and Sly have had some experience with stem cells, so talk to us before you go to long down that path.
We are not going to try and talk you out of it. We have just been there and can shed some light.
Stay strong and know that you are not alone, we are here for you,
Godfire and Sly

[SideCar]

Chuck,

Very sorry to hear that it has worsened.  Prayers are with you guys.

[SideCar]

Thought I would throw in my 2 cents about the proposed changes.

I think the main changes we discussed and are suggesting are

• a roving dinner ride each month
• reaching out to others who want to ride/eat with us
• and less worry about structure of a meeting

I don't see any downside to any of it.  In fact, I think it's all upside.

Having attended the meetings in all the parts of town we've had them, at a minimum, I agree with the idea of mixing it up and not worrying much about the formality of the meeting.  Any pressing topics can be handled, but we can throw out Roberts Rules of Order.  Oh yeah, we don't use em.  Never have. 

Hey, even a ride across town is an excuse to ride and a little variety on the dinner menu is a great idea.  Hopefully, folks who don't ride to Grapevine will get a chance to ride to somewhere closer to them and join us, but in any case, we'll get some good food in different places. 

Yep, we have always welcomed all Valk enthusiasts, even those who bought bright yellow Old Wings.  Heck, you guys even let me ride a HD on club rides.  Yes, it's about Valks, but it's also about having fun with friends.  It isn't about formalities of meetings.

Valk riders are a pretty independent breed, with some preferring to ride alone or in small groups and others open to larger groups.  That's never slowed us down and it won't now.  For rides, anyone can and should post where they are heading if they want company.  Lots of lunches and dinners happen that way.  Some of the weekend rides still need some planning on routes and destinations and each of us who wants to go on some can step up to help plan and/or lead the ride.  When you plan it, you know it's going to be your kind of ride and your kind of food.

Sounds like some area rides are in the planning stages, and rides are shaping up for the Hill Country with Dag (our Norwegian member of the Texas VRCC) and State gatherings in Houston for BBQ (with other fools) and for the Houston area Ride For Kids on April 26 with an entirely new ride route from its new location in Humble that makes it easier for more of the State to join in http://www.pbtfus.org/rideforkids/calendar/2009/houston.html

Looking forward to riding with ya'll this year! 

[Houdini]

Thanks everyone, I'll let Mary know she is in your your thoughts and prayers.

GF, I sent a message to your yahoo account.

Chuck

[Hollywood]

I think what has been proposed is a great idea. Redneck works Mon-to Thurs late shift every week, so that is mainly why we haven't been able to come. But also, when we had a couple dinners at Tuckers( NRH) area, not many came due to it's a long way for some, and they didn't like the traffic on 820. We had the same problem going to Dallas. Maybe we can have an occasional meeting on Friday night? Some people say they don't mind riding a long way to the meetings" it's the ride that matters" but that's not the truth. When you have to fight traffic to get there by 7 pm, it does make a difference. also, some of the rides have been quite a long ways from us, mostly meeting in the east, and we have misssed out on those 2.
we did go on the Polar Bear ride, and it was very cold(okay, I get it, Polar Bear) but that was also a very poor showing, besides I lost my phone.

I think it should stay a VRCC club. Changing it to something else won't make a difference. Other people have ridden other bikes with us. DFW Freedom riders is an open group, with dinner rides too. They also vary from 10 or so bikes showing up. Maybe it's a sign of the times. But even though our bike is radically different form most of the Valks, it's always great when people talk to us about our Valk. It still kicks butt over any other motorcycle. We are proud to be "Dragon Riders" That will never change.  I like some of you, miss people who have been former officers, it seems when they are done, they don't come around anymore.

I hope the changes make a difference, and the locations sounds great. But what I know is every riding club has their meetings on Thursdays. Maybe a day change would help get more people interested. I know we could come more often.
Anyway, good luck . we are with you in thoughts and prayers.

[grego]

I read this forum every day but don't post much. Have been member of VRCC for ~1 year and attended a handful of rides and 1 wrenching session. Cant make the monthly meeting as Thursday conflicts w work too often.

One suggestion I would like to see is more wrenching sessions. I want to learn more about this terrific machine and gain confidence in significant maintenance tasks (rear drive/spline inspect/lube/seals). Wrenching sessions are a great excuse to get folks together, promotes the core purpose (the Valk) and generally ends up with a ride , and/or lunch or dinner. ...kinda covers it all.

[Six Guns]

We use to have wrench parties at least  once a month, usually the Saturday after the Thursday monthy meeting. We had great turnouts at Flyboys Hangar and I think everyone had a good time and learned a lot about their valkyries. I always enjoyed the wrench parties even if I didn't have anything to do on my bike. Those days are long gone and I wish they would come back. In these hard economic times, if we could help each other out and save some money on labor cost, I think it would boost the club spirit and we would get to know each other better. I have been around awhile but don't know some of our newer members as well as I would like and I think the wrench parties help in that regard. Just my 2 cents.......

Six Guns.....

[Hollywood]

Yeah, what happened to Flyboy?  Six Guns and El Gato,are you still around? Who is hosting the wrench parties this year? I know Addison was kinda far for us too, besides, Redneck works on our bike, but we did enjoy getting together with everyone else.I do know the wrench party was conflicting with the monthly Sat. ride, did that ever get resolved?

What about Al Lambs? are they still our sponsor? They used to give us stuff for our meeting for door prizes. I do know we can still get price matching and discounts, I have been using that advantage. Just talk to Colby or Payton in parts( for those who don't know) and not just on the Valk, either. Any honda parts for any bike . Being as we have been members since 03, we also have seen many changes.
There are lots of Dragon Riders still out there, maybe me & Red can put a ride together this spring.
I did post the CMA Bluebonnet ride on the calendar, maybe we'll see some of you there. It's a great ride and a great lunch. They said the ride route will be better laid out this year.


And the Dragon roars..............


if any one wants to post rides and meetings or stuff, I'd be happy to get it on our website www.dragonbrethe.com ,just send me an email from the website.   
and I appreciate Daniel putting that with Red's picture on the home page of DFWVRCC.

[RainMaker]

So far, the consensus is to keep this a Valkyrie Owner Club in terms of membership if I read the messages correctly.

Second, no one seems to care about the treasury or treasurer.

Third, not much comment on the ride leader options. 

Last, the dinner ride idea is getting some notice and it seems to be favorable.

Sound about right?

Please come to the dinner ride in March if at all possible and let's do some voting.

RainMaker

[Hollywood]

I'm glad there are still some of us around that care about the club! We'll come soon as we can, but as I said before, Thursdays are out. Sorry! Red has to work Mon-Thurs. Mybe we'll catch you all on a Sat ride. I'm sure it will include bfast.

If you will, vote us in favor of keeping it VRCC, tresurer not an issue, and change meeting locations and dinner rides as the members vote. thanks,
I did send you and Speedo an email, as I come in contact with potential VRCC members, I'll let you know.

[LemonDrop]

For me, and some others, a weeknight ride, no matter where the destination is, it pretty much out.  I don't mind riding 60 +/- miles to go on a ride in the daylight (on the weekend), but not on a weeknight when I have to come home in the dark, clean up, go to bed, and get up and go to work.  I have talked to several Valkers in the Grayson/Cooke county area, and that is the main reason cited for not participating with the VRCC.  Also, they don't participate on weekends because they do not feel part of the group because they cannot make the meetings

[Hollywood]

I totally see your point, Lemon Drop, that's why I have brought up a different day for meetings many times( like Friday night or Saturday) I had also asked about different locations, and from my recent posts, you can see my reasoning.
We have not made any rides with VRCC since last years Polar Bear Ride, forthe simple fact of it seems all of the meet locations were in Timbuktoo, the wrench party was in Addison, most times, on the same day as the ride.

I know we can all come to some kind of agreement, especially now since the meetings are down to 4 or 5 people.
How about a Saturday ride with bfast and a meeting? I don't see anything wrong with that.
Surely there is SOMEWHERE  we could all get to without a lot of riding or hassle. Grapevine always was fine for us, till they moved it to Dallas in the ritzy restaurant in the ritzy neighborhood( I used ot manage apartments around there and I wouldn't go there after dark if you paid me) course, no one really wanted to come to Tuckers in NRH either, but the Catfish was good!

Maybe we need 3 events that people could participate in, meeting/dinner ride, saturday bfast/meeting/ride, and wrench day/meeting. That way more could participate and not feel left out. I don't think we need a seperate room for our meetings till we can get 10 to 15 or more people together.
and stay out of restaurants over $10 a person, some people can't afford that anymore.

My .03 cents

[RainMaker]

Jean, I'm at a loss for a good answer for you on your post.  There are Valk riders who won't go on the rides because they can't attend the meetings.  How will they get to be "part of a group" if they don't at least come on the rides that go north?  Rides are planned to go all directions and we've been in your area a few times in the last year.  I think of how we changed meeting places last year to attract more of the west side metroplex riders and with the exception of Hollywood and Redneck, it was mostly the same people that attended in Dallas and Grapevine.  We actually had an attendence decrease.  You can lead the horse to water....

How do we, the VRCC, get through to the Valk riders you know that the rides are where we really meet and talk about our lives and become friends?  Meetings have never been mandatory for members to attend.  They are required for the officers to attend and that's about it.

Someone pointed out there are a lot of Valks around that we could get enrolled into the VRCC.  I agree.  There are also a lot of members who have stopped coming to rides or meetings who are already in the VRCC.  Why did they stop coming to the rides?  Perhaps some found new clubs that fit their personality better.  I don't have an answer and feel responsible for that participation deterioration due to the rides I have planned over the last few years.  I just don't have an answer.

[Hollywood]

Rain maker, it's definately not the rides you planned that has resulted in less attendance. You and Speedo stepped up and have done a wonderful job . Look at the 1st meeting we had at Tuckers, we had about 10 show up. I even talked to Tuckers staff about having more catfish ready for the next meeting. Next meeting, more food, less people.
 on the PolarBear run last year, us and Speedo were the only Valks from VRCC, the others 3 riders were a Goldwing club.
 One year Me and Redneck planned a ride to Oklahoma( Lake Murray) but people complained about taking the hiway to get there, they wanted "backroads"  only, so we let them go thier own way and they missed out on some great sites, that were part of the ride.
you 2 are only guilty of trying to be accomodating to what the members wanted.

In my comments to LemonDrop, i asked about some other options.
Even though we are all very different people, with different life styles,( and different mods to our Lady)  we all have one thing in common, we all love the Valkyrie!

Please make sure you email reminder for the next Saturday ride, in April, as we have a benefit fish fry( hosted by BTW at their clubhouse)  on the 15th of March for our Pastor, and a wedding on the 21st.
I'm emailing you the flyer, all are welcome to attend. I will put it on the calendar too.
You can accomodate some of the people all of the time, but not all of the people all of the time.

Thanks and great respect, H

[LemonDrop]

Jean, I'm at a loss for a good answer for you on your post.  There are Valk riders who won't go on the rides because they can't attend the meetings.  How will they get to be "part of a group" if they don't at least come on the rides that go north? 

I pointed that out to them, but still no show... That may have just been the best excuse they could come up with.

Personally, the VRCC group is the best group of people I have riden with of all the groups I have riden with (except maybe 1 out of 4-5).  I do not want the group to disband.  I will ride when I can, but cannot attend meetings on a weeknight in the metromess.