The American Legion Department of Tennessee

The American Legion Riders had a productive meeting at the Mid-Winter Conference, So far, two resolutions have made it through all the hurdles necessary to be changed in the Constitution and Bylaws. The only hurdle left is the Summer Convention. Riders, we need you to be there for your vote. The 2nd Annual Tennessee Legacy Run is starting to take shape. We will be staying in Knoxville all three nights and branch out from there each day. If you will go to our Facebook page and search “American Legion Department of Tennessee Legion Riders”, you see the hotel information pinned at the top (you can scroll left to right). There are other hotels in the area, with varying prices. That is where I post information regarding the Legacy Run. The registration form will be posted on or about the 4^th of February, along with other information regarding the Legacy Run. Please check our Facebook page often, I will continue to post more in the near future.

Please remind each Post, Auxiliary Unit, SAL Squadron and Riders Chapter of the $300 Challenge. I am asking each family entity to donate at least $300 to the American Legion Legacy Scholarship Foundation this year.  This could be our biggest year ever. If you donate $500 or more your group will receive recognition from National. Also, remember to send your donation to Rick “Top” Wright, if you send it to National, Tennessee will not get any credit for your donation.  Please come ride with us on the Legacy Run. We will have a meeting on Thursday June 1^st, time and place to be determined.  We had 28 Riders, with 22 bikes. (5 Riders/4 bikes were from Missouri). We would like to more than double that this year.

 My address is 239 Apollo Dr., Bumpus Mills, TN 37028.

Ride Safe and God Bless y’all.           Top

AMERICAN LEGION RIDERS

MOTORCYCLE SAFETY ACADEMY

• Rider Coaches for the program are all experienced motorcycle operators, and are ready to help our members experience the most from our riding course.  We strive to deliver a safe, fun, and consistent motorcycling experience to American Legion Riders of all skill levels. This course is not for beginners.

• Our members will learn to ride better and more confidently using their personal motorcycle, on a safe closed-circuit course consisting of various cone patterns.  This is “slow ride time”.

• Efforts have begun to produce a 10-15-minute safe riding video that will become an integral part of the courses Orientation.  This was decided so as to eliminate any possibility of infringing on copywrites by using someone else’s film.  Many of the scenes will be shot from drones while other scenes will be shot using conventional video equipment.  All video editing will be done in-house, using software that we own.

• The Course:  The course will be set up so as to provide adequate clearance from side to side of a motorcycle.  With respect to 360 Circles and 180 U-Turns, the course will start at -30 feet diameters.  This should be enough for any member regardless of type, size and weight of motorcycle to easily navigate the circles and U-turns.  Depending upon the skill level of the participants, these problems can be tighten up to as small as 18 foot diameters, although it is doubtful that, (with the exception of a very few Riders)  the majority of Riders will not be capable of doing better that 22-24  foot Circles and U-Turns.

• The Program:  A 10x10 canopy with three enclosed sides will be set up at the course location.  Inside, the safe riding video will be played for participating members.  Following that, a 20-question quiz will be administered.  The test will be self-grading, and will not be shared with anyone.

• For the next 60 minutes:  After the ALR participants have become familiar with the cone patterns, we will allow them to take the next 60 minutes to practice riding the course and navigating the cone patterns.  At the end of the 60 minutes, our Riding Coaches will evaluate each participant as he/she navigates all the cone patterns in the course.  This evaluation is “point based” and will be review with the participant and our plan is to give the evaluation sheet to the participant.  (The evaluation sheet will not be shared with anyone other than the participant.)  If the participant wants copies of various types of cone patterns, we will make them available to the participant so when they go home, they can set up soccer cone patterns in a large parking lot and practice so as to further improve their riding skills.

• Friendly competition:  In the end, when all is said and done, a friendly competition will be offered with the winner receiving a nice trophy for their improved riding skills.  The competition course will be part of the course they practiced on, so the riders will be familiar with the competition course part of the event.  The competition course will be “TIMED” and the person with the lowest time will be the winner. Cones that are overrun or knocked down will add 5 seconds to the Riders overall time on the course.

• For more information, contact Norm Black, training coordinator at 931-644-1889.