Volume VII Issue IV

Trails End Minutes by Stan Viets

April 2008

The following members were in attendance at our March Meeting, Don and Marion Oller, Bobby Sharp, Don and Teresa Hester, Paul and Dian Talkington, Rick Totty, Hildia max, Larry Cole, Paul Romesburg and Yours truly. We had two visitors, Carl Duncan and James Kyp.

We had a moment of silence as our tribute to the loss of Sandy Stroud; Sandy was a enthusiastic MTR member and sponsor. He was a cheerful, always smiling, God loving man and will be missed by all. He was an active and long time member of the Broadway Baptist Church in Southaven, MS. God Bless Sandy and his family.

We had one Birthday in March; David Elston on the 13th and two Anniversaries, Don and Teresa Hester on the 22nd and Terry and MC Scott on the 23rd. As always our best wishes to all.

Our bank balance is $182.04.

The Member’s web page has been updated and if you find any errors please let me know.

As I mentioned at the January meeting Eddie Garner now operates his own hosting space, midmemphis.com. He can easily handle the MTR 1 Gigabyte of space we now have, currently our MTR site is only using about 75 Megabytes ( 0.075 GB ). Eddie is going to host our MTR space, with a seamless transfer, without any cost to us. His web space for midmemphis.com is paid up for the next two years, so the MTR website will be in safe hands for that length of time. The renewal fee for our domain name mtrmc.com is $10/year and paid it up until March 7, 2009. MTR will pay next year’s renewal fee.

Eddie states “You made me a life member, you let me advertise all over the MTR website at no cost and I still get to help in the group's progress...I'm just returning the favor.” This will save MTR the $215.00 we now pay for our present hosting service, thanks to Eddie.

We also appreciate and thank our Advertiser/Sponsors for continuing their ads; we value your contribution and support.

Please remember our ailing members in your thoughts and prayers. Prayers are priceless and they do work.

The Long Ranger Mileage Challenge ended Sunday March 9th at midnight. The tabulations are in and Dan announced the wining group of as follows.
1. Stan Viets 15,833, 2. Paul and Dian Talkington 9,661, 3. Bob Branch 9,356, 4. Dan Randall 9,341, 5. BJ and Hildia Max 8,405, 6. David Elston 6,489
We are starting our 2008/09 Long Ranger Challenge immediately; we will use the ending mileage of the above members as their starting odometer readings. Register now, all the new participants have to do is send Dan Randall your current odometer reading and you are in. The soon the better. As we have done in the past, you can register 2 bikes maximum. Any questions check with Dan venture69@comcast.net

Another reminder, the MTR annual $24 membership dues will be due at the April 10th meeting. We appreciate your continued support and dedication, hopefully everyone will renew again. Thanks to all that have already renewed.

Thanks to Billy I distributed copies of our 2008 ride schedule; it is also available on our web site. We appreciate all the hard work Billy puts into organizing our ride Schedule and then the Heads Up emails with ride details prior to each ride. We gave him a well deserved hand for another great Ride Schedule.

Our first 2008 ride, March 15th was to the Mid-South Cycle Show at the Agri-Center and then on to Brads on Oakland. We had a good turnout, on an iffy weather day, a total of 16 including guests, ride report on the web site.

We had 4 folks ride over to Batesville, AR on Friday March 21st to visit Mark Martin’s Open House Ford Dealership and see his special guests, Tony Stewart and Kenny Schrader. Pictures are on the web site.

April 5th--Phillips Grocery--Holly Springs, MS

Some long range plans…
The Honda Hoot coming up in June 18-21 at Knoxville; several will be going. I have Super 8 motel information if you need it.

17th annual Ride to Work Day, July 16th.

Paul and Dian discussed the Trike Riders International Rally July 24-26 at Sikeston, Mo and invited anyone wanting to come, they would be welcome. For details check this link. http://www.trikes.org/leadership.shtml

Blazing Saddles #6 is on for October 4th at Gaston’s Resort, Lakeview, AR. We have the River Villa reserved with 10 rooms. If you haven’t signed up yet and decide to join us if we get 4 more we can get an additional 4 room villa.

I receive an email from our guest speaker at our January meeting, Norm Allen, District manager for Cycle Gear, with reference to advertising; he mentioned it would take corporate involvement and to go by the store and pick up some door prizes. Floyd went by the store and picked up the goodies, we will spread them out over three meeting, thanks Norm.

If anyone has someone they would like to invite to give a talk or presentation at any of our meetings please let me know. We always welcome informative input.

Thanks for coming out for tonight’s meeting and to all that brought door prizes, win one bring one.
Our next meeting will be April 10th, 2008, here at Fox Ridge Pizza. Eat at 6:00 PM, Meet at 7:00 PM, gone by 8:00 PM.

Safety starts with an S but in reality it begins with U.
Ride safe to-day and every day!

Adjourned at 7:49 PM
Stan

Review: How To Repair Your Motorcycle 4/8/2008 By Bart Madsen ~
I am not a wrencher. I wish I could say that I was and that I possessed some innate mechanical aptitude, but putting together an lkea bookshelf transforms me into a suicidal rageahollc wielding an Allen wrench. You see. I get the technical side of things, but anytime there is an issue in the MotorcycIeUSA garage that actually involves turning some nuts and bolts, my editorial colleagues shoulder me aside and get to work
Lucky for me, and fellow riders in my shoes (I know you're out there). there is a new guidebook to turn your pathetic wrenching skins around -
Motorbooks How To Repair Your Motorcycle. Penned by motorjournalist Charles Everitt, the 191-page trade paperback is a well-written introduction to the mechanical side of the two-wheeled world.
The book is set up in a straightforward manner: Twelve chapters each cover a specific system of the bike, like the Fueling. Suspension or Brakes Within each chapter there are at least two or more projects, with detailed instructions, that relate to the chapter subject. In total, there are 50 projects in the book. Each project begins with a heading that specifies: the amount of time and tools required. costs and parts involved, as well as the level of talent needed to complete the project The level of difficulty ranges from checking tire pressure all the way up to adjusting engine valves. Everitts prose is well constructed and easy to follow. with some splashes of humor to keep the technical info from getting too dry. The photography, much of which is contributed by MCUSA pal Evans Brasfield, serves as excellent visual aids and complements the text well. So can a fumbling fool like myself perform the projects? Welt, the Level I jobs arc straightforward and pretty much idiot simple (for example there is a project devoted to the proper way to wash grease off your hands.) Much of the Level I projects arc basic knowledge and maintenance that every rider should know, but probably doesn’t - like winterizing a bike or adjusting the chain.
The more difficult projects, like adjusting valves or installing aftermarket exhaust and suspension. will most likely have novices riding into the local dealership to seek the expertise of a real mechanic. But the steps are there, and no doubt many weekend warriors will read through the instructions and think, “yeah, ! can do that."
Even if you never plan on tackling those higher-level projects, How To Repair Your Motorcycle is still a beneficial read. Everitt does an excellent job of introducing the various systems on a motorcycle in plain English. In fact, even without the 50 projects, the book still would make an excellent primer as to how a motorcycle works.
Always wondered about how your bike delivers the optimal stoichiometric mixture of air/fuel to your motor? Read the book. Ever been perplexed what the hell all those numbers on the sidewall of your tire actually mean? Read the book. Always been too afraid to ask what compression, rebound, preload and damping are and how you can change the settings on your suspension? You guessed it, read the book. Its all in there in tasty. informative and entertaining bite-sized sections.
For beginner riders, or just the plain curious, HT Repair Your Motorcycle is a must read
Publisher: Motorbooks
Price: $21.95

ISBN: 9780760331378

Door Prizes
Win One Bring One
Donated by	Prize	Winner
Don and Marion Don and Marion Stan Charlie and Darnell Charlie and Darnell Hildia Hildia Hildia Larry Cycle Gear Cycle Gear Cycle Gear Cycle Gear	Chenille sponge Dust cloth Box of crackers Spray polish Helmet care Armorall cleaning wipes Armorall protectant Armorall auto glass Glass cleaner Leather gloves Leather conditioner Car wash Battery Tender	Hildia Stan Rick Hildia Larry Rick Don Oller Bobby Larry Larry Larry Rick Hildia
50/50 Jackpot	$20.00	Paul

Quotation: THE MISSION OF THE AMERICAN MOTORCYCLIST ASSOCIATION
(AMA) IS TO PROTECT AND PROMOTE THE INTERESTS OF MOTORCYCLING WHILE SERVING THE NEEDS OF ITS MEMBERS.