ZS Mechanized Cavalry club consideration event

by **PistolPete** » Thu May 24, 2012 8:33 am

An idea that has been kicked around for some time is a ZS motorcycle specific chapter. We have a lot of people in the ZS community that enjoy motorcycles and having a club to serve those people makes sense. Since this organization will not be geographically based, we're going to call it a club instead of a chapter. But maybe not a "motorcycle club". But that's a topic for another day.

We can discuss and practice emergency and disaster preparedness uses of motorcycles.

Like any ZS club we have to apply for membership. This means getting 3 people who have actual ZS membership to take leadership and responsibility for the club. We've got that covered as we have lots of people who have volunteered their time for this effort. The other thing a club must do to be considered is to get the prospective members to hold a charity event. That is the purpose of this thread.

ZS Mechanized Cavalry is a ZS chapter open to anyone interested in motorcycles in any land where you've heard of ZS. You don't need to be a paying member, you don't need to live in a city where there is an existing ZS chapter. You don't even need to know any ZS members. All that is required is an interest in ZS and an interest in motorcycles.

Our pilot event is going to be a food drive. The premise is easy- each participant will use a motorcycle for transport and make a donation at a food bank. The food bank can be one in your town or it can be one in another country. We don't care. Use a bike to deliver food. You can deliver a single box of generic mac and cheese on your beat up moped if that's all you have. You can fill up the sidecar on your Goldwing with Caviar and drive cross country if you have the means and time to do so. That part is entirely left up to you.

Then, tell us about it. Maybe take a picture or two. We'll tally up the total here and submit it with the paperwork to corporate for consideration. If we get approved as a club we can work on bigger events and maybe even decide what to name the motorcycle club!

We are constraining this event with dates. To participate you should make the donation between June 1st and 4th. This allows for 2 weekend days and 2 week days as we know lots of people work different schedules.

So take some time out of your busy schedule and make a donation of food. It can be to a local organization, a national organization, a church, some hobos under a bridge- it's entirely up to you. One of the purposes of ZS is to inspire people to get involved in their local communities and we think this event captures the spirit of that.

*despite rumors there will be no award given for top speed achieved, longest wheelie, longest jump or smokiest burnout while transporting food to the donation site

by **Blacksmith** » Thu May 24, 2012 10:48 am

Everything has to start somewhere so I think this is a good place as any.

I can't wait till June though so I think I will donate some zucchini this weekend. It is starting to overwhelm us faster than we can eat it anyway.

by **Readphnx** » Thu May 24, 2012 11:34 am

I'm in. I already gathered my cans this week.

by **Sledgecrowbar** » Thu May 24, 2012 7:34 pm

I'm going for the Award for Most Caviar Fitted Into the Sidecar of a GoldWing.

by **imrcly** » Fri May 25, 2012 11:00 am

Guess i won't change that rear gear out for the longest wheelie.

by **Readphnx** » Fri May 25, 2012 11:20 am

I'm going for most cans on a 800cc or smaller bike.

by **Blacksmith** » Fri May 25, 2012 11:46 am

Readphnx wrote:I'm going for most cans on a 800cc or smaller bike.

I am thinking you won't have any problems giving them away near the food bank.

by **HMPlatinum** » Fri May 25, 2012 6:02 pm

Hmmm...no saddlebags...

Where can I hire midgets to hang on my bike with BOB's full of canned food?

by **Impus** » Fri May 25, 2012 6:41 pm

Don't expect the bike will be up-n-running before @June 15th, but will participate then. Willing to serve as a club officer, if needed.

by **PistolPete** » Sat May 26, 2012 12:31 am

I've strapped a bag full of hockey gear to my bike a couple times, I bet I can get a fair bit of food loaded up. This'll be a great way to find out how much.

Remember to keep your loads low as possible to keep the center of gravity agreeable. This would also be a good time to check your tire pressures if you don't do that regularly.

by **greenear123** » Sat May 26, 2012 2:52 am

Sounds great! It's an actual food "drive"!

Question: If the rear tire on the KLR is low can I fix it with a can of cheez whiz?

by **Blacksmith** » Sat May 26, 2012 8:50 am

greenear123 wrote:Sounds great! It's an actual food "drive"!
Question: If the rear tire on the KLR is low can I fix it with a can of cheez whiz?

Nope. The only thing that will fix a flat is a patch or a new tire. Unless it just needs air.

by **Sledgecrowbar** » Sat May 26, 2012 3:56 pm

Blacksmith wrote:
greenear123 wrote:Sounds great! It's an actual food "drive"!
Question: If the rear tire on the KLR is low can I fix it with a can of cheez whiz?

Nope. The only thing that will fix a flat is a patch or a new tire. Unless it just needs air.

It's a KLR. Of course you can use Cheez Whiz, but avoid the spicy flavors. They're better for staving off hunger while waiting for a BMW rider to show up with three Land Rovers and a helicopter following. Well, the servants have to get there, somehow, too.

by **PistolPete** » Mon May 28, 2012 9:37 pm

greenear123 wrote:Sounds great! It's an actual food "drive"!
Question: If the rear tire on the KLR is low can I fix it with a can of cheez whiz?

You probably don't need the whole can. I'd spray at least the first half into your mouth, then the rest into the tire.

by **greenear123** » Tue May 29, 2012 7:56 pm

Hey 'Pete, do we need to have a donation receipt or a photo of the bike making the delivery for membership in the club?
p.s. I've put the cheez whiz in the trail kit.

by **PistolPete** » Tue May 29, 2012 9:52 pm

greenear123 wrote:Hey 'Pete, do we need to have a donation receipt or a photo of the bike making the delivery for membership in the club?
p.s. I've put the cheez whiz in the trail kit.

I think we'll take your word for it, but if you want to get a receipt we can collect those. Corporate does a tally every year about how many pounds of food the various ZS events bring in and I believe they only include documented donations for that.

by **Sledgecrowbar** » Wed May 30, 2012 7:02 pm

I scoped out Dollar Tree yesterday while in for needed junk. They have a nice offering of soup cans (I took note of their Campbell's chicken noodle as an easy favorite with a recognizable label), in the decent-size cans, all for obviously a dollar. I think I'm gonna ride up with some friends, buy them out, ride all over creation, and drop 'em off at the neighborhood soup kitchen I pass on the way to work. Not so much to keep it in the community, just to simplify and reduce the number of things that can go wrong with any plan I happen to get my hands in. I'll have to remember to take some pics.

by **PistolPete** » Thu May 31, 2012 9:42 am

Sledgecrowbar wrote:I scoped out Dollar Tree yesterday while in for needed junk. They have a nice offering of soup cans (I took note of their Campbell's chicken noodle as an easy favorite with a recognizable label), in the decent-size cans, all for obviously a dollar. I think I'm gonna ride up with some friends, buy them out, ride all over creation, and drop 'em off at the neighborhood soup kitchen I pass on the way to work. Not so much to keep it in the community, just to simplify and reduce the number of things that can go wrong with any plan I happen to get my hands in. I'll have to remember to take some pics.

Awesome.

Also, since this is a ZS food drive, it is customary to load your food into cardboard boxes that are already marked with ORM-D stickers. You know you have them. :-)

by **Readphnx** » Thu May 31, 2012 11:46 am

PistolPete wrote:Also, since this is a ZS food drive, it is customary to load your food into cardboard boxes that are already marked with ORM-D stickers. You know you have them.

Since I work at a place that gets cases of hair spray shipped so I have a metric shit ton of those boxes here.

I went a head and loaded the bike with the cans that I bought just to test how much space I have and it looks like I need more cans!

by **Blacksmith** » Thu May 31, 2012 10:50 pm

I must go somewhere tomorrow and do it all month so I went ahead and kicked it off a little early.

Here are my ZS creds.

Need to update my address.

Here is my garden this year. I picked about 25 pounds of Black Beauties.

My saddle bags fully loaded with zucchini I am ready to go on a mission of mercy:

Dropping off at the church. The church makes weekly runs to the food bank on Fridays. They take all food including fresh veggies.

Distance traveled: 2.5 miles.
Donated: 25 pounds of Zucchini
Vehicle Used: Kawasaki V2K

by **Readphnx** » Thu May 31, 2012 11:06 pm

Freaking Awesome!!!

by **Impus** » Thu May 31, 2012 11:41 pm

Keep it up, folks. I'll be joining in soon!

by **PistolPete** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:54 pm

Readphnx wrote:I'm going for most cans on a 800cc or smaller bike.

I'm going to try to give you a run for your money. I stopped on the way home from work and have a trunk full of food. I'm going to see how much I can get on the old KLR tomorrow morning.
I also got some heat wrap for the muffler so the extra weight in the saddlebags doesn't cause anything to catch on fire. :-)

by **Sledgecrowbar** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 12:45 am

PistolPete wrote:I also got some heat wrap for the muffler so the extra weight in the saddlebags doesn't cause anything to catch on fire.

But... that's how you make a hot meal on the road. The wrap keeps the cans from falling off while you cook.