Please consider sending a photo of you and/or your bike if you rode in a Toys for Tots Ride this holiday season!

Here I am getting ready to ride in our local Toys for Tots Run in Olympia, WA. Normally between 5,000 and 10,000 motorcycles participate. Please consider sending a photo of you on a charity or holiday ride!

244 Members of WMA worldwide! We keep growing even in the winter! Must be those riders from below the equator!

Merry Christmas! Joyeux Noël! Vrolijke Kerstmis! Feliz Navidad!

and

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL AROUND THE WORLD......!!!!!!!!

Welcome new Member from New Zealand - David Moreton

Hi - I live near Cromwell in Central Otago New Zealand - great riding roads around here. We can help group members out with a rental motorcycle if they want to ride around the lakes and mountains in our area while on holiday. We are near Queenstown.http://www.comotorcyclehire.co.nz . Cheers, Dave

Welcome WMA Member Christi Kapp!

Hi



I sent a photo of my trike – I just requested to join on Linkedin. (Christine@justintegration.com)



Christi Kapp

Art In Motion LLC

1728 N Kelley Ave

Kissimmee, FL 34744

(407) 361-9992



www.ArtInMotionLLC.com

More 'Strange' Motorcycles from Richard Schlinkert!

More Crazy Motorcycle Shots from Richard Schlinkert!

Ride Safe!

New WMA Member Tjerry Sanders sends some photos!

Dear Robert,

Many thanks for accepting my invitation.

I'm riding motorcycles but I also work for the European headquarter of Kawasaki.

Currently I do have an own bike which is for sale. See picture.
However I'm also responsible for the European accessory photoshoots.
I'm visiting the biggest shows in Europe etc etc.

Nice job for a motorcycle enthousiastic guy.

Find in the attachment a nice photo of the 2009 ZX10R incl. accessories.

Best regards,

Great Motorcycle Funnies from Richard Schlinkert!

Some great photos from Richard....thanks Richard. I've just put a few up today, and will put more up daily until I get them all posted! So come back to see them all.

I've put many additional photos from Richard on the Motorcycle Photo Gallery. Just click on the url on the right of the page and you can see the more than 100 bike photos from members around the world, plus lots of strange looking bikes.

Ride Safe!

Welcome to new WMA MEmber Rohit !

We are truly the 'Worldwide' Motorcycle Association with members spread around the world.

Long live Riding!

Ride Safe brothers and sisters!

Our last ride of the fall season! Make sure to read the many posts from the year!

Last weekend, Joyce and I made what probably will be the last ride of this year for us! In the Pacific Northwest when November hits, the rains are not far behind. Riding in cold rain is not on my list of desirable hobbies, so we normally stay off the bike until the spring.

On occasion we might ride in a Christmas ride of some type for charity, but that's only if there is a day that is without rain that coincides with the ride.

I don't want you to think we're just fair weather riders. I've riden through rain, snow, sleet, hail, super high winds, super high temps (twice to Las Vegas and back thru the desert in the summer). I just don't like to 'start' my ride knowing that it's going to be rainy. In addition, safety goes downhill quickly no matter how much I put into my riding safety.

I hope you'll read the many posts from the year, and look at all the many motorcycle photos that are in the previous months. When it's cold out, and you feel like a ride; just take the time to go thru and find a ride story or two and drink them up, until the sun comes out again next spring.

I'll continue to post from time to time....and I'd love to keep receiving your photos and posts.

After all, this is the 'Worldwide' Motorcycle Association.....and there are truly members from around the world. I know that in the Southern Hemisphere it is spring, and you riders from below the equator are probably just beginning to get on your bikes.

Send me a photo and a ride story from your part of the world....I'd really enjoy that, and so would the other readers.

Until next spring.....ride safe!

Our last ride before winter perhaps!

Joyce and I decided to jump on 'Ruby' (our bike) and take a ride with absolutely no clear destination in mind this morning.

It is Sunday, and it was supposed to be cloudy all day. Instead the sun was shining brightly. About 10 AM we decided we had to go for it. If it turned cloudy and cold, we'd just be prepared and not worry about it.

We have a good collection of jackets and helmets to select from so we really can ride in almost any weather; although we'd probably not ride in snow.

So, we chose the warmest riding jackets and helmets with full face protection to make sure our ride wouldn't be cut short by cold and wind.

The day turned out to be just great. We rode south from our home in Olympia, Washington on old highway 99. This road used to be the main north and south highway from Vancouver, British Columbia to Tijuana, Mexico...all down the west coast of the United States.

Now it passes thru small town after smaller town and includes lots of interesting things to look at that you wouldn't see if you were on the interstate highway going 75 mph.

We took State highway 507 south from Tenino, Washington on down to Centralia. Centralia is loaded with choices for most anything you'd like for a lunch stop. We decided to pass on them all as we had a late big breakfast. Instead we slowly ended up heading west from Centralia to a very small place called Galvin, Washington. There is one stop sign, and this old gas station/museum, 15 or 20 houses, and thats about it.

A few miles west of Galvin we could see that if we continued west we would ride straight into a dense layer of clouds and possibly hit rain. So, being the 'no destination in mind' kind of riders we were today; we simply turned a u and headed back into the sunshine.

We essentially retraced the ride down, although I believe you'd admit, the ride is quite different when you are going the opposite direction. You see entirely different things.

By now, we'd become hungry enough to stop for lunch in Centralia. We often stop at La Tarasca a traditional southern Mexican restaurant that is serviced by 'mom' and her daughters; straight from Mexico. Their specialty is slow cooked port roast, just like my mom used to make on a Sunday back home in Nebraska in my youth.

Today we decided to eat junk food. We passed many favorite restaurants and headed for Mr. J's on the north end of Centralia...just a little stand.

They have great tater tots...and I had a growing desire to eat some of these.

So....we ended the day after tots and hot dogs....and retraced the route back to Olympia and home.

It was just beginning to cloud up and get cooled off as we arrived back in town.

Will this be the last ride of our season?

You never know....

Please be sure to send me a photo of your bike and I love 'ride' stories.

Ride Safe!

#230 Members in the WMA! Welcome all new members!

With just 'electronic' word of mouth advertising to spread the word; we have grown from 0 - 230 members worldwide in the last 6 months!

Our membership is truly worldwide. It's been very interesting to hear from the riders who join, as no matter where they live; they have a special feeling for 'the ride'.

Many have been kind enough to send photos and some even have sent stories of their favorite rides! This really is the most fun part of the group. I truly enjoy receiving the pictures and stories, and hearing how much we all have in common, from our 'two wheeled' view of things.

From Pravin in the U.A.E. who is riding now in the cool part of the year in the desert; to Richard Schlinkert in Alabama who rides year round, to our many riders from Slovakia and the guys from India....it's just great to hear from you all and see the photos of your bikes. Although the men far outnumber the number of women, there are plenty of women who have joined.

Please keep the photos and stories coming...and I'll promise to continue to add them to our growing collection for all to share.

Ride safe!

We're at 225 members worldwide!

www.motormakkers.be

Welcome to member #222 Sankara

Below is from the email I received from Sankara; Welcome to the WMA!

Hi Robert,

Apologies for my tardy response. I have been traveling and hence slow with my email responses.

I am thrilled to be a part of the Worldwide Motorcycle association and would love to share my and my bike's snap with the group.

I have attached them for your reference. I would have no problems if these snaps get posted on the forum.

Cheers and look forward to a long saga!
Sankara

Message from Robert Grawet, Group Founder, WMA, "The Virtual Motorcycle Gang"

I am so excited as we have member #216 join this last week. We have grown at a very steady rate since beginning in April of 2008.

We had a couple of fluxuations in the numbers as our main source of members; LinkedIn.com changes some of their rules for group participation. AND they were very good changes in my mind. The changes they made was to make it impossible for any LinkedIn member to belong to more than 50 groups. There had become a "MySpace" type race to add groups and 'connections' to your profile in order to appear to be well connected.

As a result, many people joined 10 - 25 or more groups on every day. You'd see the same old names on LinkedIn in their update section, and these names would be there to announce that they had joined 25 groups today.

With the change, many were forced to actually drop out of groups that they had no real interest in. This caused us to have a long series of membership bounces.

Things seem to have finally stabilized, and it now appears that EVERY single one of our members ACTUALLY is a motorcycle fan; whether they own one or not.

So, the end result seems good, as I never had expected anyone to join unless they were a motorcycle nut like me.

Let's all get some good riding in before the fall weather begins to slow us down!

Ride Safe!

The Oyster Run in Anacortes, Washington this weekend!

This is a reminder to those who are planning to attend the
Oyster Run
this
Sunday, September 28, 2008.

Meet at Denny's Restaurant just north of Triumph of Tacoma/Lakewood Motosports got breakfast at 7:00 A.M.

Meet at Triumph of Tacoma/Lakewood Motosports at 8:00 A.M.

Please let us know if you plan on riding.

We may make last minute route changes depending on the number of riders.

Thank you!

We will take scenic 101 to Anacortes.

Welcome to new WMA Member Jeff Lee from the U.K.!

Welcome to Jeff Lee from 'soggy' Blightly (as he puts it), in the U.K. Soon it will 'soggy' here at my home in Olympia, Washington....but WOW...what an amazingly beautiful fall.

Here's Jeff's note below; where's your photo and ride story....I'd like to post it.

Good evening Robert,



Please find attached a picture of my VN1500 Classic, yes in the garage, I live in soggy Blighty!



Will send some more if the sun ever comes out!!!



Regards,



Jeff.

Ride for the Red! Red Cross event in Ohio.

Sixth Annual Ride for the Red presented by National City Bank, Liberty Harley Davidson and the Main Street Saloon will depart from LIBERTY HARLEY DAVIDSON NORTH IN BOSTON HEIGHTS at 1:30pm.

The police escorted parade will tour thru the Cuyahoga Valley ending with a HUGE biker's blow-out at Lock 3 in Downtown Akron. We literally shut down downtown!
Last year more than 2,000 bikers and Red Cross enthusiasts raised more than $50,000 for local disaster relief and safety programs in Wadsworth, and Summit and Portage counties. Once at Lock 3, riders will enjoy LIVE music with TONY RIO & RELENTLESS & DC Flux, barbecue chicken and pulled pork, chips and their favorite beverages. Riders can stop by our vendor tables to shop for decals, motorcycle art and a wide variety of leather garb. The first 1,000 riders registered get a FREE collectors t-shirt. All of which are included in the cost of the event.

This event benefits local disaster relief, services to the military and veteran's assistance and other lifesaving Red Cross programs and services.

Call Jackie Z at 330.535.2351 or email zavodneyj@usa.redcross.org for more information.


Pre-registration is $20 rider/$10 passenger
Day of Registration is $20 rider/$20 passenger

SATELLITE REGISTRATION LOCATIONS:
**If you register at one of the satellite locations, please allow yourself enough time to ride out to Liberty Harley in Boston Heights for the 1:30pm parade start**

Summit County
American Red Cross, 501 West Market, Akron
The Main Street Saloon, 1481 South Main Street, Akron
Medina County
Century Harley Davidson, 3053 Eastpointe Drive Medina

Portage County
Deerfield Circle Restaurant, 1290 State Route 14 Deerfield, OH

NEW THIS YEAR...
OFFICIAL PARADE START AT LIBERTY HARLEY NORTH
334 E. Hines Hill Road Boston Heights, OH

WMA Member #205 is an Artist named Lucretia Torva!

The post from Lucretia is below:


Thanks!

I currently don't own a bike, however...I draw them!

I attached one and there's 3 motorcycle pictures on my website:
http://evecustomart.com/gallery/drawnpaint/myart.htm

Take care!
Lucretia Torva
www.evecustomart.com
480-251-3817

We now have 201 members in the WMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Welcome all!!!!!!

Thank you WMA Members! We just went over 200 members this weekend and we have truly become a 'Worldwide' Motorcycle Association.

We have members from every continent and representing just about every motorcycle make that I know of.

Now...if I could just get everyone to send in a favorite ride story and a photo....we'd really have something, wouldn't we?

Thanks everyone....and Ride Safe!

A ride from Olympia, Washington to Packwood, WA and back around!

Picture is Barbara Lee and Joyce Grawet at the gas stop in Morton, WA.


On Sunday, September 7th, 2008, Joyce and I hit the highway at 10:30 AM to meet Howard and Barbara Lee in Centralia, Washington by 11:30 AM.

We had decided to meet at McMeniman's Restaurant in Centralia for lunch and then to head out on backroads to make a circuitous trip to the base of Mt. Rainier and back home.

From Centralia we took Hwy 99 South to the cut-across road that goes thru Onalaska, WA and eventually in Morton, WA. The road meanders thru open foothill country with farms and ranches on both sides of the road along with the occasional stream.

As you approach Morton you begin to follow the route of a river that eventually goes up to Mt. Rainier. At the entrance to Morton there are some gorgeous rock formations in the river that sort of make a natural swimming and fishing hole right in town.

We gassed up in Morton along with about 50 other bikers as it is a great spot to fill up and have a drink of water before beginning the ride up toward the mountain.

We ended up stopping in Packwood, WA. at Pete's (picture) to have a snack and some coffee, and then we were off again from Packwood over the mountains to Ashford. Ashford is on a high plateau surrounded by Mt. Rainier and many other lesser mountains. It is a gorgeous road from Ashford back to Elbe along another river and finally into the little dinky town of Elbe. In Elbe there is a hamburger stand along the road that always has a crowd. This little stand makes some of the best burgers and hotdogs you could imagine.

Finally you make your way slowly back down from high country going west into Yelm and back around to Olympia and home.

This route takes about 5 hours or more if you stop much. It is always devoid of much traffic and you see more motorcycles on a warm day than cars is seems like.

I invite you all to take a look at your Washington map and take the time for this trip one day.

Ride Safe!

Welcome to new WMA Member Pravin Bhagwat from Dubai!

Pravin; I am so excited to have a member from Dubai! We are truly a 'Worldwide'Motorcycle Association. I would love to be able to ride with you in the 'top down' time of the year (as you say).

You're welcome to come ride with me anytime!

Ride Safe!


Here is the email I received from Pravin below:


Robert,



Thank you for adding me to your club. I think it’s a fantastic way to keep all the road hogs, the wannabe bikers, the new entrants, the cool bikes and people like us for whom the passion for biking is just.. AWESOME.. I live in Dubai, UAE and its HOTT out here… bike and open top season is usually form end October to end march …



I’m hard-core devout car & bike passionist….. I currently have a SUZUKI GSXR 1000R SuperSport bike.. and trust me… 300kmph aint a bling on this…. She’s mean and hard and can really hit the road… I’ve not ventured over the 300 mark as it was wayyyy too scary .. !! its not about the speed though.. its about the passion and love .. I also have a Dodge 67 challenger R/T, currently in my garage for a paint job. My baby.. is a Chevy Corvette Stingray ’74 350Ci V8 and shes a growler….



I’ve attached a few pics of my babies .. feel free to put some or all. I would love to keep in touch now that I’m a member and share experiences. I travel often to the US for business and pleasure as I have family staying there. I’m actually going to be up in Atlanta during dec for a varsity reunion and might hit the road on some bikes with friends… will post updates…..





Regards,





Pravin Bhagwat

Dubai, UAE

A ride for food! Rain Country Restaurant in McCleary Washington.

Yesterday was Saturday. Nine days from the date of Joyce's surgery to remove some sunshine caused cancer on her lower lip (they removed the entire surface of her lower lip and built a new lip), she was itching to get back on the bike and go 'anywhere'.

So, we hopped on about 11 AM and road west from Olympia, Washington where we live. About 20 miles west of Olympia is a very small town called McCleary. We end up riding thru McCleary often as there are three nice 'riding roads' that meet in McCleary.

From McCleary to Shelton on back roads ending up at the Little Creek Casino (and then going either North to Port Townsend or South back to Olympia), is a great 45 minute road with very little traffic on it.

McCleary going west parallel to State Hwy 8 on the side road is fantastic! The speed limit is 50 mph so a nice speed to ride and look around at the scenery. There are farms, ranches, a huge range of housing types from beat up old trailers to spectacular mansions on mini-farms. You ride over a couple of rivers, and they are full of salmon this time of year. On this road you can go out to Elma and then from there to some other great riding roads.

Finally there is the road from McCleary that goes south to Malone and connects up with Hwy 12.

Each of these roads are almost completely car free, and often the majority of traffic are motorcycles on a sunny day.

McCleary itself is a very small little place. There isn't even a traffic light, although there is ONE STOP SIGN! You'd better be sure to stop as the police station is at the same corner, and there is almost always a local police car sitting there.

There are two restaurants, a bar, and a non branded Harley repair shop in town, plus a couple of quick stop grocery/gas stations, and a few other stores.

One of those restaurants is fairly new. It is called "Rain Country Restaurant". We made our third stop there yesterday. They make the best Club Sandwich in the world! It is so huge that even when we had them split it for us both to share, we could barely finish it. A few weeks ago, we split one of them into quarters as a snack for four of us to share. Even then it filled all four folks up for a good while. They also have 'curly fries' to die for!...(probably would die if you ate too many of them). AND....there is always something special in the home made desert cooler....Yesterday they had some Lemon Merangue Pie and a Sticky Bun that looked incredibly delicious. Luckily I was able to overcome my strong desire to have desert, as the sandwich really filled me up again.

So....Ride Safe fellow members! If you're ever out near McCleary, Washington, stop in the Rain Country Restaurant, you'll be glad you did.

Welcome new WMA Member Leda Roth from Los Angeles!

Hi, Robert.
I saw your blog and I want to join your Worldwide Motorcycle Association. My name is Leda Roth and I'm from LA, CA. I'm on blogger as well.

Regards,
Leda

Welcome to new WMA Member Lee Ajaye!!!!

Below is the email I received from Lee.....OBVIOUSLY a very active rider just like me! Lee...thank you so much for the great email.

Best of luck to you in Germany. Watch out for those 250 kph Mercedes, BMW's and Audi's passing you by...... I have to admit, I'd be quite intimidated if I had to ride in fast traffic like that.

Welcome Lee....Please send us a ride story from Europe if you have one you'd like to share!

Ride Safe!

My name's Lee Ajaye and you just accepted me as a member of the WMA, so
I thought that I'd go ahead and provide you with a picture ASAP! Please
see the attached. Please feel free to post either one or all of them.
They were taken when I was living in Alexandria, VA, which was any time
before the 6th of June (from March 31st the prior year). I work for the
DoD (Army) as a Computer Specialist (prior as Helpdesk Chief, then
Network Admin, then Sys Admin, and now Service Desk Chief). So I guess
that I've been around the (GS) block for a little while. It's
interesting doing the managerial thing, and I'm welcoming the time to
actually singularly focus on one thing, instead of the multitudes all at
once, as in the past. Oh, I'm currently living in Laumersheim, Germany
(near Bad Durkheim, which is in one of Germany's many wine regions) and
working in Heidelberg, Germany. So I do the daily commute thing.

I was also reading what you wrote about how I try to wrench my neck when
I'm driving my car and I see another motorcyclist. Not to mention a few
of the other things that you mentioned really seemed to have struck a
chord with yours truly. Uncanny, I must say. I'm considering going to
the Intermot ( http://www.intermot.de/ ) on October 8th up in Koeln, but
am not sure yet if I can make it or not yet. I'd love to ride, but
parking always seems to be a bit of a hassle at these things (unless I
go to Frankfurt, I like and know that area VERY well, so parking's never
an issue), so I may just take the train (more relaxing as well).

Oh, and one last thing. My bike is a 2001 Sprint RS. If there are any
other Triumph riders out there, they can look me up on the
TriumphRAT.net pages as BTR01 (Black TRiumph 2001).

Keep the rubber side down man, and I look forward to crossing your path
one of these days. Maybe if I ever make it back to the states again.

Ciao-Ciao,

Lee Ajaye

Welcome to new WMA member Pina Sicari!!!!!

Hi Robert

Thank you so much for accepting me in the group and for your kind response.


I have sent you three pictures, two of my motorcycle and one of myself and the puppy Smokey, he's not a puppy any more but I love the picture.



Pina Sicari

Our Ride to Westport,WA!..WMA Founder Robert with his partner Joyce Grawet!

We rode out to Westport, WA with our great friends Howard and Barb Lee. They live in University Place, WA. and we often ride with them in Southwest Washington.

We met in McCleary, Washington about 16 miles west of my home in Olympia, WA. There is a new restaurant in McCleary called the Raincity Cafe (it's a very small town, you'll see it right smack dab in the middle of town). We had an amazing Club Sandwich...which was so big we split it....wonderful food, and great service...we'll be back.

We then rode thru the backroads and ended up at our destination of Westport. It was supposed to be a hot day in Olympia, so we decided a ride to the coast would be good...where the temps would be much lower.

Westport was having a celebration, booths, food, goodies to buy, and lots of folks.

It's always a nice place to ride to....great views of the ocean on one side of the peninsula where it is located, and the entire Westport fishing fleet in the harbor on the other side; where the main street is located.

I didn't take enough pictures, sorry...but here's a little look. Also a look at my partner Joyce....just a few days prior to a very painful surgery on her lower lip to remove some cancer built from tooooo many days laying in the sun as a teenager....

McCleary, Westport, backroads of Southwest Washington....all make for a relaxing ride and some good eating....

Ride Safe brothers and sisters!

Seattle WMA Member Keith Sawka and Friends ride to Snoqualmie Falls, Washington!

Hey Bob, I thought I'd share a few pics.

We had 10 bikes on yesterday's ride to Snoqualmie falls.



--
Keith Sawka
Executive Producer
Advanced Method
Seattle, WA

Welcome WMA Member Keith Royle! Very Cool Photo!

From Keith below:

Thanks for linking in with me.

I attached a pic of me and my SV650 back from when I raced out here in the SW.

Don’t have a picture with me of my current bike, a DRZ400SM, lots of fun. Great commuter bike.

Keith Royle

Director of Dynamometer Sales

Dynojet Research Inc.


Ride Safe Keith!

Welcome WMA Member Larry Penrod!

You wanted a pic of my bike… here’s the bike and the go-kart I designed and built.

Thanks,

Larry Penrod

By the way! Did I tell you that I love riding my bike!

Ok, yeah...I'm sure I must have mentioned it by now......but just in case!

I LOVE riding my motorcycle!

If you do....send me a photo of you with your 'steed'.....with you in the pic....or not.....and send us a ride story!

The only thing better than riding itself....is talking about it, and thinking about it!

Ride Safe, brothers and sisters!

Another Howard M. ride story below just a few posts!

Howard and his wife Ellen take a big ride quite often.....Howard has graced us with two stories of his rides.....I only wish my website was more kind to large storage, so I could have included some more of the many pictures that Howard sent me, of this wonderful, amazing ride!

Make sure to check it out....just a few below this!

and.....Ride Safe!

Welcome WMA #195 Member Steven Lambert

Thanks WMA:



This photo taken on a weekend out of Cypress Texas. Heading to the Lake