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