My thoughts on how to do a charity run.

Few things are as enjoyable as a ride on your bike with a group of fellow enthusiasts, knowing that your donation went to a good cause! This is the time of year when we start seeing the posters for charity rides pile up on the bulletin boards of dealerships all over the Western Pennsylvania Area.  

Over the winter and into early spring, I've had many people come to me to inquire about what it takes to start a charity bike run. My first answer would be "time."  These rides don't come together overnight, and the more successful rides are those that have been doing them annually for several years.

There has to be a lot of planning well in advance to make a successful charity ride. People often think that you can start one month out when in fact you should truly be starting more than a year ahead of time to make a successful charity run.

Another thing to consider is "manpower."  How much help do you truly have?  Help will be needed far in advance of the ride day.  Many things to consider including start and location destination the timing the route the distance you want to travel not to mention the price what you want to include T-shirts dinner giveaways and prizes go as well as other factors when planning a ride.

Often people see rides with large numbers of motorcycles. But these rides have been around for quite some time and have been well planned in thought out over the years.

Another question that often comes up Is police escorts. Do police escort motorcycle runs? The answer is sometimes. Often we see many motorcycle rides taking the law into their own hands and blocking for other riders. This is illegal.

Getting a police escort also requires planning in advance, The cause of the ride, and the location of the ride. Please departments often do not like to travel into other jurisdictions. Frankly many police departments are often understaffed as it is and to take a car away from a shift would interfere with the operations of the police department. So it's not that the police do not want to escort, it's that the manpower isn't there to provide an escort for every single ride that happens.

There is a lot to consider when planning a ride.  For more info, email rocky@hotmetalharley.com