We had a great meeting last Saturday at the Black Forest Brewing Company! They had the coffee ready for us and then some members get a draft beer canned to take home and enjoy. We had 17 members show up despite the snow packed roads and cold temperatures. We were pleased to see two new faces at the meeting, Chad Kalisch and Bill Champlin. It was great to chat with them and both have a bunch of British bikes. Some new rides were also discussed, with Gary getting a Honda 90 trailbike roaring back to life, and Tony having a Ducati Multistrada waiting for him in Washington State when he goes back there for part of the year.
Frank did a presentation on tank rust removal, with an emphasis on trying electrolysis for the first time. The vinegar and Evapo-Rust methods were also thoroughly discussed. Lots of experience from several members improved our understanding of the pluses and minuses of all these methods. It doesn’t take much to get the interior of an old tank going crazy with rust, but it is good to know that it can be remedied quite well.
We also had a thorough discussion on whether to reinstate dues again, which haven’t been collected since COVID times. Our main expenditures are for the July picnic and the December Christmas party. Fortunately, the Black Forest Brewery doesn’t charge us anything to meet there. We have had enough money in the treasury to keep us going through the years. The goal is very minimal dues to help keep the email list up to date, and see who wants to still be part of the club. We have no real membership list, and dues would help us develop a true list of interested people. I plan to keep more information going out about club meetings and activities to keep members up to date, and we are working to have interesting presentations at the meetings to make it worthwhile to come, in addition to the great camaraderie and upcoming after-meeting rides.
So you will be hearing more about dues in the near future as we put together the details. The plan is $15 a year for a member, family members included.
Contact me if you have feelings about this move and you were not part of the discussion at the meeting. When you reply to this email, your message only comes to me, not the whole email list, for your information. There was a consensus at the meeting to have dues again and keep them very reasonable at the $15 level. Many already paid!
Frank Puckett