Why Harley Davidson Insurance Tends to Cost More  

Even a standard stock bike straight off the showroom floor will cost big bucks. Every time you take it out on the street there is the possibility of damage to its chrome and clear coat. Harley Davidson riders are proud of their bikes and tend to park them where they are highly visible. Unfortunately, this tends to be near the edges of roadways where cars are more likely to hit them. 

Harley owners are right to be proud of these beautiful bikes. Unfortunately, their beauty also tends to attract thieves. Harley Davidson motorcycles are often stolen and then customized to make them unrecognizable to their former owners. These bikes are much easier to steal than most cars because their motors are exposed all the time. Sadly, most stolen Harleys are never recovered. 

Agreed Value is Important for Custom Bikes 

A custom motorcycle costs even more to insure. It is important to talk to your insurance company about modifications every time you make them. Customization can drastically change the value of your motorcycle compared to a stock model. If your insurance company only covers the value of a stock bike, you will be out of luck if something happens to your Harley. 

Try to find a company that sells agreed value insurance for bikes. With this type of policy, you and the agent discuss the real value of your bike with all of the custom accessories included. Once you agree on a value, you will be reimbursed up to that agreed upon price should there be any covered damage to your custom motorcycle. Without an agreed value policy, you will only receive standard stock rates if your bike is stolen or damaged.

Ways to Keep Insurance for Bikes Affordable 

One way to bring down the cost of Harley Davidson insurance is to protect your bike from theft. Electronic alarm systems and other theft deterrent mechanisms can make your bike a less inviting target for thieves. Parking your Harley in a covered, locked garage while you are at home will also protect it…plus you’ll get a discount on your insurance.

The preceeding article was wrote by Jessica Bosari who writes for carinsurancequotescomparison.com, a site that seeks to keep motor vehicle consumers informed. Those who understand insurance are more likely to get the best rate when they compare car insurance.

The following are responses to some of the questions I had concerning how the money is handled for the charities and prizes;

• We work actively with all of our charities on a daily basis, and have started a separate 501c3 Foundation for all charitable donations. It is The Guts & Glory Foundation. All of the proceeds from the RIDE A MILE program will be split as such: 50% to the Shriners Hospitals for Children; and the remaining 50% split evenly between our three Veterans groups (Not Alone, Able Forces and Project Healing Waters). None of the charity donations are being used to fund the rally in any way.
•  I can say that we are not looking for 1000 riders. In fact, we are limiting the number of long rally riders to 400. We are also limiting the number of RIDE 4 A REASON leg riders to 400 as well. This is due to organization logistics. We want a safe ride… And too many bikes out there, staggered though they will be, will create a mess…. That is something that no one wants, especially us.
• The entire prize package is bonded through One Beacon/Lloyds of London as part of our $100,000,000 insurance policy on the event. Again… The Guts & Glory Rally is about a SAFE long distance ride.
• We will be awarding the winner $100,000;  a custom motorcycle;  and a hand made Gibson Guts & Glory Trophy Guitar. These prizes paid for with 1) Rider apps, 2) Sponsor dollars, 3) our money.
• The Guts & Glory Rally will include checkpoint stops at two Shriners Hospitals for Children, with additional lunch stops at two more Hospitals along the route.  Camp Guts locations range from Speedways to Fairgrounds to private land…. We have tried to mix and match each checkpoint locations to make this a very fun experience for any rider.

The following is the press release;
Guts & Glory Motorsports Announces RIDE A MILE for the Shriners Hospitals for Children and three Veteran Charities.

 Nashville, Tennessee, November 30, 2010 –  The Guts & Glory Rally Across America is proud and honored to announce the Shriners Hospitals for Children as the leading charity in its landmark inaugural Guts & Glory Rally Across America in May of 2011.

 On May 17, 2011, The finest motorcyclists in the world will depart Los Angeles on a 9,000 (plus) mile, 11 day timed rally across America.  Crossing 48 States, and concluding in Bar Harbor, Maine, the Guts & Glory Rally Across America may well total up to 10 Million collective miles ridden by its participants. The Guts & Glory RIDE A MILE sponsorship program is aimed at National and International corporations that are proud to support the work of the Shriners, and the three Veterans charities already a part of the Guts & Glory Rally Across America.  Guts & Glory Motorsports seeks to raise up to, if not more than, $10,000,000 through marketing sponsorships of at least $1 per collective mile ridden for the Shriners Hospitals for Children, Able Forces, Not Alone and Project Healing Waters, with all proceeds from RIDE A MILE going directly to these deserving causes. 

 “It’s FEZTASTIC for the Guts & Glory Rally to be sharing the proceeds of this 9000  mile (+) ride with the  “worlds greatest philanthropy” as SHRINER’S continue the monumental job of giving a better life and future to our kids.   The lengthy and prestigious history of providing specialized care for almost a  million children in need has been the Shrine focus for the past 88 years.  It is my hope this event will reflect on all Shriner’s past success.  THANK YOU for being partners in our Shrine Family as all efforts are very much appreciated in support of the children that come to SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN for help” says George Mitchell, Imperial Potentate of the Shriners International.

 The RIDE A MILE program provides major companies an innovative marketing opportunity through the Guts & Glory Rally Across America phenomena.  Sponsors will be able to leverage the hundreds of millions of impressions garnered by simply committing to pennies per mile, or even fractions of a penny per collective mile ridden. 

 ”This marketing platform is both powerful and meaningful to our corporate partners.  It brings smart marketing and humanity together for what will be the Ride of Our Lives, as ailing Children and Brave Veterans fight for their life each and every day.  It is an amazing privilege to work with the Shriners, and our Veterans, on what we all know will be the Ride of 2011.  We are excited about making a difference in the lives of thousands of children and veteran hero’s … two things very close to the hearts of all of us creating the Guts & Glory” says Robert Swope, president of Guts & Glory Motorsports.

 The Shriners and staffers from the three Veterans charities will work alongside the Guts & Glory Motorsports production team in handling all logistics and organization of the 11 checkpoints along the route.

 Says Able Forces Executive Director Skip Rogers, “What an incredible event!  48 States, over 9,000 miles in 11 days, this has never been done and will undoubtedly capture the interest of our entire Nation.  Able Forces is honored to be one of the recipients.”

 “We’re pleased to join Guts & Glory Motorsports in this inaugural event and we’re looking forward to the awareness the Rally Across America will generate for the organizations who do so much for deserving individuals,” stated Ed Nicholson, president of Project Healing Waters.  “When America’s warriors participate in a Project Healing Waters activity they’re involved in a great national pastime.  Plus, there are also significant therapeutic and rehabilitative benefits associated with fly fishing, and for a while these injured soldiers forget about their injuries and feel good about themselves.  And, that means the world to them.”

 As a key component of the Guts & Glory Rally Across America, Emmy Award winning Sunrise Entertainment will be filming a reality television series throughout the course of the rally.  This television series will chronicle the joys, struggles, challenges and most importantly, the personal stories of many of the participants.  Filmed in High Definition using cameras mounted on motorcycles, chase vehicles, helicopters and even an ultra-light aircraft, viewers will not only feel as though they are a part of the rally, they will also see the amazing scenery and vistas of this great country as seen through the eyes of each rider.  Fast moving and engaging, the programs foundation is the overwhelmingly compelling personal stories of victory and defeat, joy and hardship, camaraderie and competition.

 For further information about the Guts & Glory Rally Across America and/or to become a RIDE A MILE Corporate Partner, please visit:

 www.GutsandGloryRally.com

 Contacts:
Jane Crossman
Marketing & Promotion
Guts & Glory Motorsports, Inc.

As I get information I will be printing it. Hopefully I can get a heads up and some pictures of the custom motorcycle that they are having Dave Perewitz build. I am sure there will be one one lucky person who will be a very happy biker. I am still looking for someone who is doing the ride to send me updates on the ride and a few pictures. I plan on giving someone $100 for their time. Contact me through this link; Open Road Biker contact form

Related Article; Guts and Glory Rally Across America

This year the good ole US of A will play host to two very large rally rides across its great land among the scenic highways and byways. Both pledge to cross all 48 lower states, be over 9,000 miles, and rewards to the best finishers. They also have a $1,000 entry fee. I don’t know about you but that’s a hell of a lot of money. One of the rides has a sort of notoriety that it picked up from its last outing. It is called the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge. It had its challenges all right, from fatal wrecks, tons of scam rumors, and a photo finish with two riders arriving at the finish point in Alaska at the same time. The ride publicized a half million dollar grand prize with the rest of the proceeds to benefit the Oglala Sioux Tribe providing water to the Pine Ridge Reservation. There were stories of motorcyclist mortgaging their homes just to compete for the grand prize. This year they are back again but with Harley Davidson as a major sponsor.

The other rally ride, the one we are here to talk about today, is called the Guts and Glory Rally Across America. It will be a competition with the winner being decided by who has the most points remaining at the finish line. The organizers will have a company ride the route from checkpoint to checkpoint to determine a safe time in which to complete the ride. That time will not be made available to the riders. If you come in over or under that time you will be docked points. At each checkpoint there will be some type of lodging that is paid for with your $1,000 entry fee. You will be on your own for the rest (food, gas, repairs) but they will provide information for those conveniences. The grand prize will be $100,000 and a custom motorcycle by Dave Perewitz. There will also be prizes awarded at the checkpoint for the rider coming in closest to the appropriate time.

There will be a few charities that will benifit from the ride.  The charities being advertised are;

• The Shriners Hospital for Children
• Able Forces (Benefits Veteran)
• Not Alone (Benefits Veteran)
• Project Healing Waters (Benefits Veteran)

I like the thought of the ride supporting charities that benefit Veterans me being in the military and all. Even more I like the thought of support going to a children’s charity. 

I have visited a few forums and sites and they are all buzzing about the ride. Another thing I have noticed is that there seems to be a fair amount of people that are polarized on this ride and the Hoka Hey. Some say it is a rip-off of Hoka Hey, while others believe that while it does cover all 48, the way they go about it makes it original. I don’t care one way or another, hell they both seem to be loosely based off of the Iron Butt runs.

If there is anyone out there who is planning to do it, I will offer $100 to someone to cover the run for me (can’t do it from Afghanistan). Use the contact form to send me and email and I will discuss the details of what I want you to do.

I have sent a series of questions to the chairman for the run; I am currently waiting on him to respond. Once he does I will post the questions and answers on the site.

I know, this is a motorcycle site but hey I did ride down there right? Also Barber’s is a motorcycle museum that has tons of great bikes.
I started off the weekend with a nice 250 mile ride down to my brothers on Saturday (April 18th) through what looked like potential bad weather but it turned out okay. A few drops of rain never hurt anyone. I decided before I left that I wasn’t going to use the interstate at all on my way down so I mapped out a route and took back roads and state highways all the way. It was nice not to get on an interstate and have all of those great roads and scenery at my disposal; it helped that the roads were a little twisty and not boring super slabs of mind numbing concrete. I arrived at my brother pretty late thanks to leaving the house around noon and stopping off at my cousin’s place up near Huntsville.

For those interested; I took TN HWY 48 to Dickson, HWY 46 until it turned into HWY 7 and ran that down to US 31 in Columbia. I ran US 31 until it joined Interstate 65 and ran TN 110 to AL 53 until getting close to my cousins house. Once I left there I was on US 231 running through Huntsville straight down to where it joined AL 79. I followed 79 to Locust Fork and my brother’s place.

A few highlights of the trip down; just north of Dickson is a historic little town called Cumberland Furnace. It was once the site of a large Iron furnace that produced cannonballs for troops under Andrew Jackson during The Battle of New Orleans. There are a few historic building left in the area, maybe someday when I have more time I will stop in and do a little sight-seeing. Another part of the trip that I enjoyed was going up the mountain that is just south of the TN River on US 231. Most of my family was born up there (I was too, as a matter of fact the same doctor who delivered my mom, delivered me) and for some reason every time I get there I feel home even though I only lived there a few years when I was first born. Going up the mountain at night is serene. With low traffic you can almost feel like you are alone in the world. Then look in your mirrors and you can see Huntsville lying out below you a few miles away. Another thing to note is TN HWY 7 crosses the Natchez Trace Parkway. One of these days I will try and run it. I have seen a few articles written where other riders have ridden it and it look and sounds like a great ride. 

That next morning at my brothers we got up and headed out to check out some bikes and Mustangs and see the late model Mustangs run on the road course at Barber’s Race Park. There was a nice selection of vintage Dearborn iron there with just a small helping of the later stuff. I was in Mustang heaven there for a little while wishing I had the dough to build my dream Mustang (68 fastback with a 428 Cobra Jet).

After a while we decided to head into the museum where we were treated to a great selection of motorcycles. There seemed to be a little bit of everything there. If you are a motorcycle lover then you need to visit this place. There is something for everyone, from super bikes, Harley Davidson, Indian, and even some British bikes. They also have two nice displays that I really enjoyed; one was a board track with some early board trackers on it and the other was a few super bikes that were displayed like they were on a speedway. There are approximately 600 or more bikes on display at any given time and they have somewhere around 1200 bikes there. If you plan on going, go early because there are tons of bikes to see. I was only there about two hours and I felt extremely rushed. I probably missed a ton of great motorcycles.  The price for admission into the museum is $15 for adults and $10 for children. A little steep but it is worth it. I plan on going again, maybe October 7-9th 2011 for the Vintage Festival. There will be plenty of antique motorcycles out on the raceway tearing it up that weekend and also a swap meet. You never know what kind of great motorcycle parts you can find. All in all it should be a pretty good weekend. Hopefully the weekend after that though will be spent in Daytona at Biketoberfest with my brothers and sisters in SHDC.

Until next time; be safe, keep the wind in your hair, the sun to your back, and get out and ride.

On my way back from Virginia I thought I would check an item off of my Bucket list, hell I actually knocked two off but more on that later. I ended up spending September the 4th on the Tail of the Dragon. The ride was awesome but getting there was just as fun. I had planned the trip to take advantage of as much of the scenery and roads in the area as I could. What a great way to spend the day after leaving a month long army school huh? The only bad thing about it was that had to be back home that day and the day was already halfway gone. Hell I still had 340 miles to go with a few hours of it on back roads.

I left the Wheels Through Time museum earlier that day (I have an article in the works for that one too), headed south/west on US 19 to Cherokee NC which was a fairly nice ride in itself. It had a nice set of twisties going up and back down the mountain with some awesome views. After passing through Cherokee I jumped on US 74 (Great Smokey Mountain Expressway) for some smooth riding and some great vistas. I pulled off the road a couple of times to take in the views and snap a few pictures. From there I hit NC 28 running alongside Fontana Lake. Now if you are going to do the Tail of the Dragon you really need to do this road too. There isn’t as much traffic, the twisties are just as good, and talk about views. There are a few pull offs where you can look down onto Fontana lake and you don’t have to worry about being run over when trying to pull off the road. Another thing I really enjoyed was being able to ride it my way. The only vehicle that I caught was a vette. He was going a little slower than I would have liked but he soon pulled off at a little store. I didn’t have to worry about me slowing anyone down either, not really sure why though. When I finally made it to the Tail I constantly had to slow down for others. Plus there are more cops on the Tail than on some of the other roads leading into it. Towards the end of NC 28 you cross over the river leading from Fontana Dam. About 6 more miles from the bridge you will run into US 129, the Tail of the Dragon, and Deals Gap.

This is what you came for right? The Tail of the Dragon, the ultimate twisty road in the US of A which seemed to be made just for riding is there for the taking.  Just imagine, 318 curves in 11 miles running through the Tennessee mountains.  Before we get into my ride though I want to give you a few pointers on riding the Tail of the Dragon;

• Ride your own ride. If you get nothing else from this remember, ride within your own ability. If you can’t keep up with those around you, then let them go. They will wait on you at the end (maybe). The tail is a bad place to make a mistake.
• Ride it once at a lower speed and take it easy to get a feel for the curves. There are some curves so tight that you can almost kiss your own ass. There are some curves that I could barely do 15 mph in and the suggested speed limit for them was 10mph.
• Use your engine to slow you down and stay in the proper gear. That’s not saying not to use your brakes, you are going to have to, just let the engine do some of the work and by all means brake carefully.
• Watch out for cops! They will have 3 or 4 cops on that 11 mile stretch on busy days. Remember, this is a public road not a private racetrack, traffic laws apply.
• If you are in a group, do not ride in formation and understand there will be people who will want to pass you if you are going slower than them.
• Last but not least, if there is someone on the road that has moved up on you fairly fast and wants to pass, let them. Pull to the right side of the lane as far as you can, slow down, and let them go by.

With that out of the way we can get on with talking about my ride. I spent a short amount of time inside the store there at Deals Gap; you know I just had to buy a shirt. Not sure why a person has the urge to have so many damn t-shirts, but to my defense the Army says we have to wear long sleeve shirts when riding on a motorcycle. A long sleeve t-shirt isn’t going to do much good but it meets the letter of the law, just not the intent. I left out of there and headed North on 129 (The Tail of the Dragon) and cruised along at a good clip for just a few minutes until I fell behind some riders enjoying the scenery. Not that I didn’t enjoy the scenery, I just wanted to watch it go by a little faster so I passed ‘em up. It was just a few riders at first, maybe two packs of two bikes and then I ran up on a slow moving car which was a little troublesome to pass. By now I have probably knocked out only a mile out of 11 but it wasn’t too bad. I had a few minutes without following anyone but then after knocking out about two more miles I ran up on a pack of riders. There were probably 7 or 8 bikes and a few of them were riding two up. I passed the last two bikes no problem. They saw me coming, slid over for me, and let me squeeze in but after that it got a little more difficult. The next few riders weren’t paying any attention and it took me a while to get around them. So here I am, about 4 bikes in this pack left to pass and they start giving me trouble. I go to pass one of the guys and he sticks his leg out like he wants to kick me off of my bike. His woman on the p-pad is shaking her fist at me and yelling what I am sure were some pretty tasty words at me but hell I couldn’t hear her over my pipes. I pass another and this one decides he is going to pull back up alongside me and try to get me to pull over. Well, I don’t claim to be a badass, and I sure wasn’t going to see against a possible 8 others so I ignored him, passed the last two bikes left in their group and moved on out. The sad part about it, I only had about two miles left once I got past those guys. There was one cop sitting on one of the cutoffs flashing his lights at bikers when they went by and then I met another right as I was finishing.

Another thing to note, there are people parked taking pictures. Some of them are for websites where you can look up the picture they have taken of you and your bike while it passed and pay a fee to get it printed out. They have a neat little service if you want to pay for it and you’re not a cheap bastard like me. There are also others out there taking pictures that don’t appreciate all of the traffic and are making a case against us using the road for recreational purposes. 

The scenery is awesome, the road runs beside a river part of the way and you will see a few dams as you go. Just beware; this is not really the road to sight-see on. There are nice embankments on one side and rather steep drop offs on the other. Some of the curves are blind and diminishing radius. If you are unskilled and still wet behind the ears you may want to get a few miles under your belt before tackling it. Just search Deals Gap or Tail of the Dragon on Youtube and you will see a few videos of people making mistakes.

Last but not least, if you plan on going, build a little time into your trip for stuff other than the Tail. There are so many attractions within 50 to 100 miles that you could spend days there and not do and see everything. A motorcyclist must see though is the Wheels Through Time Museum but you have to plan ahead because they are only open a few times during the year so try and plan around that. Until next time; be safe, keep the wind in your hair, the sun to your back, and get out and ride. 

( This ride took place in September of 2009, sorry I just got around to writing it)

Northern Indiana Ride for Kids
10 July 2011
Pinhook Park
2801 Riverside Dr
South Bend, IN 46616
Registration open at 8:00am EDT
Ride starts promptly at 10:00am EDT
www.NorthernIndianaRideforKids.org

Join us for an escorted charity motorcycle ride through the beautiful Northern
Indiana Country side and support the Pediatric Brain Tumor
Foundation. www.pbtfus.org

After the ride stay for a lite lunch and the Celebration of Life and meet the
Stars(young brain tumor survivors) who will join us for the ride.
www.NorthernIndianaRideforKids.org
Contacts
Bobby Newman
219-324-0706 H
219-363-6071 C
bear.kitten@frontier.com

John Zepik
219-363-3256 C
jwzvtx@gmail.com

Ej Ford
219-324-3459 H
EjFord@frontier.com

Grip Warmers

This morning I had a nice little brisk ride home from work on my motorcycle. It was somewhere around 17°F before factoring in the fact that I was going 45 MPH. Needless to say I was cold. On the 26th of December I installed Heat Demons Grip Warmers. That was my Birthday present from the parents. They do work but it just wasn’t enough to battle the low temps. The fingers were in pain about halfway home on my 11 mile journey but at least my toes and the rest of the body was okay. I guess some better gloves are in order or maybe a Road Glide (I wish). I also saved up some money and purchased a removable windshield from someone off of craigslist for $150. Not too bad of a price for something that probably cost him $300 or more.  

No matter what ensure that you prepare properly when riding in the cold. Hypothermia can sneak up on you fast and before you know it you are in the hospital or worse. Dress warm, make sure you have something to break the wind, and eat enough calories for your body to burn. Just  try to stay warm while still keeping your motorcycle on the road.

Saturday January 16th 2010

Days Inn, Spring Street Nashville

$50 motel rooms if you mention CMT/ABATE Motorcyclist Party call 615-254-1551

for more information on the party call 615-944-9797 or use my contact form for the email addresses to contact.

If you are already a member it is free, if not there is a $10 fee. This is also a dinner so bring a side dish. I guess it will be sort of a potluck. You can also join at the door if you want to become a member. It says this is also a BYOB.

Now that that is out of the way I guess some of you may be wondering what CMT/ABATE is huh? Well the acronym stands for Concerned Motorcyclist for Tennessee / A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments or (A Brotherhood Aimed Towards Education) and many others. It is a Motorcycle Rights Organization. Sort of an organization designed to lobby for your rights as a rider. If you want more information about MRO’s or CMT ABATE head to the following links;

Motorcyclist Rights Organization

CMT/ABATE

If you are a biker, rider, motorcycle enthusiast, or whatever you may call yourself, it may be in your interest to belong to some group that is thinking about your rights.

Check them out,

36 Special

This is the time of year when bikers get together for charity runs or other motorcycle events such as toy runs. If you have any events you need to advertise let me know and I will try to post them. Get them to me fast though, I know there are a lot of them out there.

Keep on riding,
36 Special