HOGSpeak 101: A Glossary of H.O.G and Chapter Terms

Chapter Officers: The Chapter is lead by Chapter members elected to certain offices. There are four Primary (elected) Officers – Director, Assistant Director, Secretary, and Treasurer. Elections are held at the October Chapter meeting for the following year. There are also several Discretionary Officers appointed by the Director to oversee the following Chapter functions: Activities, Ladies of Harley, Editor, Historian, Membership, Photographer, Head Road Captain, Safety, Quartermaster, Webmaster and HOG Room Curator.

Road Captains: These are experienced Chapter riders who plan and lead Chapter-sponsored rides. The Chapter’s Head Road Captain is responsible for the training, selection, and retention of members serving as road captains.

Chapter Website: www.hdwashhog.com  This is the official website of the Fort Washington H.O.G. Chapter. Its features include a Ride/Event calendar, photo gallery, membership information and application tab, H.O.G./Chapter merchandise tab, and other Chapter information/activity tabs. The password-protected “members only” section contains the monthly newsletters and meeting minutes.

Fort Report: This is the newsletter of the Fort Washington H.O.G. Chapter. It is published monthly and may be received via e-mail, U.S. mail, or it may be viewed at the Chapter website, “Members Only” tab. Printed copies are also available at HDW while supplies last.

H.O.G. Magazine: This is the official magazine of National H.O.G. It is a member benefit to all full members of H.O.G. It is published bimonthly. It has feature articles, rally updates, and more.

HOG-Announce: The HOG-Announce is a periodic e-mail communiqué from select Chapter Officers, to all Chapter members who have supplied their e-mail address to the Chapter. The purpose of HOG-Announce is to provide timely notification of upcoming events or changes to those events, important information about Chapter members or our sponsoring dealer, and to provide information on area motorcycle events. HOG-Announce is an announce-only e-mail list. Only authorized Chapter Officers may send messages and your e-mail addresses are NEVER given out.

HOTLINE: The telephone number is 301-248-1200, #4. This is a recorded announcement of upcoming Chapter events. For up-to-the-hour information on ride cancellations, call 301-248-1200, #9, or contact the Road Captain scheduled to lead the ride you are interested in.

Ladies of Harley (LOH): This promotes women’s enjoyment of motorcycling as riders or passengers. Membership in National LOH is open to all active female full or associate National H.O.G. members as a free benefit, but it is not automatic. To join, update your Member Profile on www.hog.com  or call 1.800.CLUBHOG.

Loyalty Rewards Program: The Dealer and the Chapter awards points to Chapter members for participation in Chapter and/or Dealer-sponsored activities. Additionally, points can be earned by purchases at our sponsoring Dealership (Harley Davidson of Washington, DC). For additional information, go to the Dealer website, www.hdwash.com , scroll down, find the Loyalty Awards logo on the right-hand side and click on it.

Chapter Merchandise: Rockers, patches, t-shirts, jackets, nametags, and other cool items are emblazoned with your Chapter’s name. All are National H.O.G. approved. You may purchase merchandise at Chapter meetings and special events, or you can contact the Quartermaster, whose contact data you can find at our website’s “Take Me To Your Leaders” tab or on the second page of the Fort Report. Check the merchandise section of the website for a price list and photos of available merchandise.

Activities: The Chapter sponsors its own activities and participates in the activities of other H.O.G. Chapters as well, the MD/DE American Motorcycle Riders Association, as well as activities sponsored by National H.O.G. There are three types of activities; meetings, rides, and events.

Meeting: A meeting is officially sponsored by the Chapter, dealership, State Association, etc. It can be a Chapter meeting, an officer meeting, a joint Chapter/dealer meeting, a State Association meeting, etc.

Chapter Meeting: The purpose of a Chapter meeting is to do business, share information, meet old and new friends, and have fun. Chapter Merchandise is available for purchase at the meetings. All members are encouraged to attend Chapter meetings which are held monthly. To accommodate members with non-standard work schedules, meetings in the odd-numbered months (Jan, Mar, etc.) are held the first Thursday evening of the month and begin at 7:15 p.m. Chapter meetings held in the even numbered -months (Feb, Apr, etc.) are held on the first Saturday morning of the month and begin at 9:30 a.m. (except December and February which start at 11:00 a.m.)  The meeting location is the H.O.G. Room located in the Harley-Davidson of Washington DC, Dealership, 9407 Livingston Road, Fort Washington, MD 20744. [NOTE: Dates and times are subject to change. If there is a change you will likely receive an e-mail HOG-Announce notifying you of the change. If you don’t use e-mail, check our website, or the H.O.G. Whiteboard located near the entrance to the Dealer’s service area. You can also use the Hotline, see above.

Officer Meeting: The Chapter officers have a monthly meeting to coordinate activities and the business of the Chapter. Officer meetings are held on the Thursday preceding the next Chapter meeting, at 7:15 p.m. in the H.O.G. Room. Check the calendar for exact dates and times.

Road Captain Meetings: The Head Road Captain (HRC) hosts road captain meetings at his/her discretion. The meetings are used to develop the schedule for Chapter rides and designate the leader and tail-gunner for each ride. The HRC may also use these meetings for road captain training, re-training or other topics he/she deems necessary for the Chapters’ road captains.

State Association Meetings: MD/DE American Motorcycle Riders Association (State Association) meetings are held every few months, with the date/time/location announced by the Association leadership. These meetings are attended by the Chapter’s officers.

Rides: A ride can be a Chapter-planned/sponsored motorcycling activity, or it can be an informal pick-up ride that includes Chapter members. A ride can also be sponsored by a different Chapter or by the State or National H.O.G. Associations. The Chapter’s Head Road Captain is responsible for overseeing the planning and execution of Chapter-sponsored rides. Rides are posted on the Chapter’s website; go to the activities calendar tab and you will see them listed on the various days of the week. Reminders about upcoming rides are provided in the HOG-Announce when they are sent, and you can read about upcoming rides in the Fort Report. Although each year new and different rides are planned and executed by Road Captains, some of the rides are very popular and continue to be placed on the agenda year after year. These rides have achieved the status of “Annual Favorite Rides.”

Annual Favorites:

Wild Irish Ride: This is a Chapter celebration of all things Irish, conducted in March, close to St. Patrick's Day. The destination is usually Baltimore.

Polar Bear Ride: This the Chapter’s New Years’ celebration. Conducted on January 1st, typically it involves a shorter ride to a lunch destination and may be done in conjunction with another Chapter.

Full Moon Ride: This activity is a dinner run conducted on the evening of a full moon.

Yellow Ribbon Ride: This ride is held in conjunction with the annual Rolling Thunder celebration and was initiated by HDW. Its purpose is to honor the POW/MIA cause. The ride, lead by an FTW H.O.G. contingent, features a police escort, and is conducted on the Sunday morning of Memorial Day/Rolling Thunder weekend. The ride departs our dealership, and includes thousands of motorcyclists from around the country. It proceeds to the Pentagon parking lot where participants join the hundreds of thousands of other Rolling Thunder celebrants gathered for the annual Rolling Thunder ride into and through D.C.

Red Roost Ride: This ride is a joint event coordinated by the MDAMRA. It is a day-long event where Chapter members from the various chapters all converge on the Red Roost Restaurant in Quantico, MD (eastern shore) for a long lunch of various Chesapeake Bay seafood entrees.

Spring Tune-Up Ride: This ride marks the “official” start of the Chapter’s riding season. The destination is usually a southern Maryland restaurant location. There is always a large turnout and is usually the largest ride turnout of the year. As usual, four wheels are welcome if the weather doesn’t cooperate.

Other Rides:

Chapter Ride: Each year the Chapter Road Captains establish a schedule of Chapter rides for the entire riding season. Normally these are 1-day rides, but there are also over night and multi-day rides as well. Chapter rides are advertised on the activities calendar at our website, listed in the Fort Report, and are verbally addressed by the Head Road Captain at each Chapter meeting.

Pick-Up Ride: Informal weekend rides among chapter members and guests, not sponsored by the Chapter. Pick-up rides can occur through planning activities by the riders involved, or you can take advantage of a Chapter tradition, which provides for pick-up riders to show up at the dealership on any Saturday at 11:00 a.m., agree on a route and a destination, choose a ride leader(s), and then ride and have fun.

Events: An event is a sponsored activity that is not riding centric and does not fall into the category of a meeting. Examples include the Chapter picnic, the Chapter party, a Chapter sponsored bike wash, supporting a dealership open house, supporting the dealer at the annual Rolling Thunder celebration, State or National H.O.G. Association events, etc.

Open Event: This is a Chapter activity that is open to the public. Participants must sign appropriate release forms.

Closed Event: This is a Chapter activity that is open only to Chapter members and their family members/guests. Guests must sign appropriate release forms.

Chapter Picnic: The picnic is a closed event. This event is usually held at a regional park facility, and always features PLENTY of food, fun, motorcycle field events, and other games. Don’t miss it!

Chapter Party: The Chapter party has been a traditional holiday season activity, although there is no policy preventing the Chapter from having an annual party at any time it prefers. The party is a closed event.

Dealer Event: Periodically the dealer asks the Chapter to support dealer events. These events range from the large, complex, multi-day events such as Spring Open House and Rolling Thunder, to very small, short events such as the Halloween Fashion Show.

Poker Run: A poker run is a fund-raising event sponsored annually by most Maryland and Delaware H.O.G. Chapters. Typically these are Open Events (all bikes welcome). In a traditional run, riders follow a planned route, drawing playing cards at stops along the way to build a poker hand. Top hands win cool prizes or cash. There are many variations on the theme. Poker runs are planned and run by Chapter volunteers.

HOGs at the Beach: This is the annual gathering in Ocean City of members of the Maryland and Delaware H.O.G. Chapters. This event features sunshine (or rain), easy riding, and pure relaxation. It is coordinated by the MDAMRA (see below), with financial support from area Harley-Davidson Dealers and put on by members of various Chapters. The traditional date is the weekend after Labor Day.

MD-DE State Rally: The MD and DE Chapters sponsor this annual event during the summer riding season. Typically it is a 3-4 day event with changing destinations each year. The event includes riding, bike games, eating, meetings, more eating, and “just chillin.”

National H.O.G. Rallies: There are various types of H.O.G. rallies, some of which are specifically discussed below. Basically, this is typically a multi-day event sponsored by the National H.O.G. Association. Details about all of these events can found at your association webpage, www.HOG.com . Not all of these events are conducted each year.

Club H.O.G.: An annual rally of National H.O.G. members from around the world. It includes an expo, demo rides, music, and much more. It is at a new location each year.

H.O.G. Hub Rally: Park your stuff in one hotel and ride out daily to various tour the sites.

H.O.G. Touring Rally: These rallies move from a starting point to a final destination, with stops along the way. They can span days or weeks, depending on the agenda of the rally.

Posse Ride: This is a hard-riding expansion of a H.O.G. Touring Rally. This is usually a cross-country experience and will take approximately 3 weeks.

Pin Stop: These are specific rallies and motorcycle events designated by our national association. H.O.G. members attending these events must show their National H.O.G. membership cards to receive an event pin from the National H.O.G. Association.

State H.O.G. Rallies: Most States and Canadian provinces sponsor annual rallies. Maryland and Delaware are annual co-hosts for the MD-DE State Rally, addressed above. These rallies are open to all National H.O.G. members and non-H.O.G. members who are sponsored by members. Activities vary depending on the State or province putting on the rally. For a list of the rallies each year, go to www.HOG.com  read about them in your H.O.G. Magazine.

Other Terms / Terminology:

H.O.G.: The official designation of the Harley Owners’ Group

Sweep: This is an individual rider or small group of riders who follow the last participants in an event such as a Poker Run to ensure that all riders have completed the ride safely.

Tail-gunner: This is a Road Captain-qualified individual assigned to ride at the rear of a group ride, working with the lead Road Captain to guide and assist the group.

Volunteer: Any Chapter member or guest who donates their time to help in the planning and execution of a meeting, ride, and/or event.

Associations / Organizations:

National Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.): The national association for owners of Harley Davidson motorcycles ( www.hog.com )

MD-DE American Motorcycle Riders Association, Inc. (MDAMRA): This is an association of Maryland and Delaware H.O.G. Chapters which meets to support the activities of each of the member Chapters. The MDAMRA also plans annual joint events, such as HOGs at the Beach, the annual Red Roost Ride, and other events for the enjoyment of members in MD and DE H.O.G. Chapters.

Rolling Thunder, Inc: Rolling Thunder, Inc.( www.rollingthunder1.com ) is a national, non-profit organization, comprised solely of volunteers, and dedicated to educating the public about the POW-MIA issue. In addition to their education mission, the organization raises funds and provides financial aid, food, clothing and other essentials to veterans, homeless veterans and veterans' families in need, women's crisis centers and provides toys for children.

Rolling Thunder, Inc. also organizes the annual Ride to The Wall, a public-awareness oriented activity for the POW-MIA cause that features hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists converging on the Viet Nam Memorial during the Memorial Day weekend. See Yellow Ribbon Ride above. Harley-Davidson of Washington, DC serves as the national Harley Davidson sponsor for this event, and chapter members form the bulk of the volunteer force required to run this very large event.

Updated January 2012