poker runs?

[chevy45412001]

Ive been reading the fourms for awhile now,can't seem to find info on poker runs,(thats what we call them ).Anyone?

[MartyA]

I don't think you find too many poker runs listed here because they are mostly very local.
If you are looking for local events like that watch your local newspaper, perhaps hear something on a local radio station, talk to other riders, etc.

I found one site for listing rides and rallies

http://www.motorcycleevents.com/

but it is only as good as the information supplied.

We mostly talk about XS-XJ get-togethers and sometimes there is mention of more national type rallies like "Thunder in the Valley - Some Town" in the Rallies section.

Occasionally if a few members live close enough we might get together through the forum for a local poker run.

But you are right, maybe we should all mention some local rallies in case some of our members are close enough to be interested, but might not have heard.

[John]

We are like the Jedi...not many of our species left, dispersed over a wide area and becoming fewer all the time. Poker runs seem to be for the h-d crowd. Their breed seems to proliferating out of control. How many XSers live in your area? Here near Dallas/ Ft. Worth there aren't but a handful of us, but you see, or at last hear the h-d riders no matter where you go. There almost like roaches. Just so many of them. Just mention a meet and they come swarming, trying to impress each other with the latest and greatest shiniest do dad. And what's up with the fringes on the handlebars? My 8 yo daughters bikes have those...

[MartyA]

Same up here. You get a few metric bikes. I remember being the only one at a small run, then a kid on a new SV650 pulled in, spotted me and pulled right up tight, thanking me for being there. Had fun riding with him, he could wheelie pretty well. But up here in the woods it is mostly (mostly) "We're all riders" with only a few rare comments about some bike not being a HD. Some of the roads around here are not very wide, I always worry about taking curves in a 'parade' formation. Had one HD go into a guide rail on a curve last year, killed him, wife on back broke a leg and an arm.

By the way, how do they do it in the big city? Here we ride 30-50 miles, stop for a brew, drive another 30 or so miles, stop again. After 5 or so stops, we have 150 to 200 miles on the run, not counting the ride to get there and back again. We also have dice runs, highest total wins, highest roll wins, lowest total wins, like that.

[Ron Moss]

A friend of mine said the worst thing that can happen to a H-D rider is to go on a ride and no one sees him.
I had a guy that used to work for me bought a H-D, gave almost $25,000 for it and will only ride it to some kind of event to show it off.

[chevy45412001]

poker runs

I never really thought of it that way.Your absolutly right.I am the only rice at theese events,but i do it cause i just love to ride.Theres probly a couple handfulls of xs-xj's here.But i would travel couple hundred just to ride a 100 or so than camp or comute back.I love to ride.

[John]

Here in the D/FW area I don't keep up with the h-d events, but the christmas toy runs are a JOKE! Clubs and riders will meet up in either downtown Dallas or Ft.Worth, and ride 15 miles to Arlington, which is located halfway between both cities, and drop off their toys. While the intention is honorable, and the turnout is large, and a lot of toys get donated, I don't consider 15 miles much of a run. Back in 1978, while in the Navy in San Diego, I was invited to go on a toy run to L.A. with a shipmate of mine whom I had helped chopped his KZ900. We left S.D. with over 500 bikes, and we had the state police block off the right lane of I-5 so all bikes could enter the freeway without worrying about somebody plowing into us. When we got to the LA area, I don't remember what town it was, but the residents of two streets had allowed all of us to set up camp in their front yards. That was really cool of them. What really surprised me was the fact that NOBODY got out of hand, or trashed anything. We left the place looking like we had never been there. When we arrived at Griffith Park in LA, there was an estimated 10k bikes there. A sea o' scoots. The LAPD had their MC demo team there, and so did the Shriners. The official Santa even rode a Honda! That to me was what a toy run should be. A good long ride. As I said the local intent is very honorable, but it needs to be a bit longer. Maybe a 100 mile run to Waco... maybe make it worth getting the h-d's dirty

[Jeff]

Here in SE Idaho..... the H-D's and their clones like Big Dog and others run rampant. As far as dealers go... here in Pocatello we have a Yamaha, a Suzuki and a Kawasaki...... one each..... but 3 that cater to the H-D and clones. The metric shops do much of their business selling quads and sleds instead of bikes. In many areas where I have lived.... the H-D crowd would have nothing to do with you if you rode a metric bike. Though you do have to deal with being the brunt of most of the jokes, we are at least accepted in this area. I tend to return the "favor" at any gathering by commenting on having to pick my way out of the parking areas being careful not to slip on all the oil spills or my personal favorite.... when a large portion of the bikes just refuse to start again after we stop for a bit. Most of what I hear about my bike tends to be along the lines of.... "Hey... nice bike.... but.... when are you going to trade in in for a Harley?" I see quite a few H-D riders at my pawnshop because we carry a pretty good selection of used leather jackets. I lost track of how many times one would come into the shop looking for leather and then have to come back in to buy or borrow tools to work on their bike so they can take their purchase home. Either that or borrow the phone to call a friend with a pickup to haul the beast away to figure out why it won't start. On most of the rides around here.... the biggest concern besides "Where's the next beer stop?" tends to be "Do we have enough chase trucks to haul off the breakdowns?". The only time I have a problem is when someone calls me "un-patriotic" because I ride a Jap bike.

[John]

Well put Jeff! I won't even go near a group of h-d rider, had enough of their $#it over the years. There is this one h-d freak at work who just put some 2000cc, or 131 cu monster in his super fat hydra electra dyna wide glide, or what ever the thing is, and claims he can get it into the low 13's high 12's. My 24 yo XS will still do that on an old motor. I can't wait till I complete my big bore job. I'd love to put this A$$#ole in his place. I'll bet the shops that work on the h-d's and clones are swamped with work, and the metric shops have very few bikes there needing repair.

[Jeff]

Don't get me wrong.... I have nothing against H-D riders or the bikes they ride. A friend of mine once told me that there are 2 types of motorcycle enthusiasts.... Bikers and H-D riders. With Bikers.... its ALL simply a passion about being up on two wheels regardless of the label.

[Pat Kelly]

I'm really not Harley bashing here but.....

Many years ago when I lived in AZ I was getting gas when a HD 'biker' with his 'ol lady' pulled in to another pump.
He kept saying "they don't sell rice here, they don't sell rice here" (I was on my cafe'd CB400TII). He must have said that 10 or 12 times. When I got ready to leave I turned to him and said "Real bikes are kick-started", kicked mine over. His ''ol lady' started snickering. I don't know if his bike even had a kick pedal or if he'd ever attempted to use it but I can imagine his anger as he thumbed his button to 'fire-up the hog'.

[John]

Well, I've lways thought the different types of owners were bikers, and riders, of which I claim to be. I also heard that the two two kinds of riders were: those who have been down, and those who are going to go down.
The weather here has been in the high 60's, low 70's but yet most of h-d riders I work haven't been riding 'em yet. Must be too much dust in the air. They don't want to have spend two hours of cleaning for every hour riding. have been seeing a few more on the freeways though. They all have their 'Saturday go to Rally' leathers on. Is it an unwritten law that if you own or have owned an h-d, that you must wear an h-d t-shirt, and no other shirt is acceptable? Even the former h-d owners wear nothing but h-d t's. When they give me a hard time about my bike, I just ask them ''What are you riding right now?"
Sorry for beating a dead horse, but ever since I restored my 80SG 13 years ago, I've heard nothing but 'shoulda bought a harley, or why you wasting your time and money on that piece of crap, or something along those lines. I tell them that for what I have invested in my bike, I couldn't buy a box of BROKEN harley parts, and I don't want to have to carry a fishing net along with me to pick up the pieces that fall off going down the road.
And what makes them worth $18-22K? It surely isn't the 1930's engine technology. Oh, it must be that little h-d emblem on the tank. I could buy a nice car for that kind of money, and STILL trick out my XS!

[MartyA]

Jeepers chevy454, look what you started! And I encouraged you.

[Ron Moss]

I'm semi-retired and work the summers at a small motorcycle shop and we refuse to work on the H/D's because we are set up for Japanese only and we don't have to put up with their crap.
We do have a few that come in that are pretty good guys but they are few and far between.

[mitch]

HD GUYS

OK i think we all agree about additudes etc , who cares we drive yamahas, sooooooo we just leave them behind us eating our dust and keep smiling ........MITCH