The Palm Beach Knights Newsletter
The Knights Table
Monthly Newsletter April 2015
Greetings from your President
Will
KFFK
Sorry this is long,
but it's a riot. This came off one of the Valkyrie message boards:
This is long, but it is well worth the read!
Neighborhood Hazard (or why the Cops Won't
Patrol Brice Street anymore!)
I never dreamed that slowly cruising on my motorcycle
through a residential neighborhood could be so incredibly dangerous!
Little did I suspect . . . I was on Brice
Street, a very nice neighborhood with perfect lawns and slow traffic. As I
passed an oncoming car, a brown furry missile shot out from under it and
tumbled to a stop immediately in front of me. It was a squirrel, and must have
been trying to run across the road when it encountered the car. I really was
not going very fast, but there was no time to brake or avoid it - it was that
close. I hate to run over animals, and I really hate it on a motorcycle, but a
squirrel should pose no danger to me. I barely had time to brace for the
impact. Animal lovers, never fear. Squirrels, I discovered, can take care of
themselves!
Inches before impact, the squirrel flipped to
his feet. He was standing on his hind legs and facing my oncoming Valkyrie with
steadfast resolve in his little beady eyes. His mouth opened, and at the last
possible second, he screamed and leaped. I am pretty sure the scream was
squirrel for "Banzai" or maybe "Die, you gravy-sucking heathen
scum"! The leap was nothing short of spectacular ... as he shot straight
up, flew over my windshield, and impacted me squarely in the chest! Instantly,
he set upon me. If I did not know better, I would have sworn he brought 20 of
his little buddies along for the attack. Snarling, hissing, and tearing at my
clothes, he was a frenzy of activity. As I was dressed only in a light t-shirt,
summer riding gloves, and jeans, this was a bit of a cause for concern. This
furry little tornado was doing some damage! Picture a large man on a Huge black
and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and leather gloves, puttering
at maybe 25 mph down a quiet residential street, and in the fight of his live with
a squirrel! And, losing!
I grabbed for him with my left hand - after a
few misses, I finally managed to snag his tail. With all my strength, I flung
the evil rodent off to the left of the bike, almost running into the right curb
as I recoiled from the throw. That should have done it. The matter should have
ended right there. It really should have! The squirrel could have sailed into
one of the pristinely kept yards and gone on about his business, and I could
have headed home. No one would have been the wiser!
But, NO! This was no ordinary squirrel. This
was not even an ordinary ticked-off squirrel. This was an EVIL MUTANT ATTACK
SQUIRREL OF DEATH!!!!!!!!!
Somehow, he caught my gloved finger with one
of his little hands, and, with the force of the throw, swung around and with a
resounding thump and an amazing impact, he landed squarely on my back and
resumed his rather anti-social and extremely distracting activities. He also
managed to take my left glove with him!
The situation was not improved. Not improved
at all! His attacks were continuing, and now I could not reach him! I was
startled, to say the least. The combination of the force of the throw, only
having one hand (the throttle hand) on the handlebars, and my jerking back
unfortunately put a healthy twist through my right hand and into the throttle.
A healthy twist on the throttle of a Valkyrie can only have one result. T o r q
u e !!!!! This is what the Valkyrie is made for and she is very, very good at
it. The engine roared and the front wheel left the pavement! The squirrel
screamed in anger, the Valkyrie screamed in ecstasy, and I screamed in ...
well, ..... I just plain screamed!
Now picture a large man on a huge black and
chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a slightly squirrel-torn t-shirt, wearing
only one leather glove, and roaring at maybe 50 mph and rapidly accelerating
down a quiet residential street on one wheel and with a demonic squirrel on his
back! The man and the squirrel are both screaming bloody murder. With the
sudden acceleration, I was forced to put my other hand back on the handlebars
and try to get control of the bike. This was leaving the mutant squirrel to his
own devices, but i really did not want to crash into somebody's tree, house, or
parked car. Also, I had not yet figured out how to release the throttle .... my
brain was just simply overloaded!
I did manage to mash the back brake, but it
had little effect against the massive power of the big cruiser. About this
time, the squirrel decided that I was not paying sufficient attention to this
very serious battle (maybe he is an evil mutant NAZI attack squirrel of death),
and he came around my neck and got INSIDE my full-face helmet with me. As the
faceplate closed part way, he began hissing in my face! I am quite sure my
screaming changed in intensity. I had little effect on the squirrel, however.
The RPM's on The Dragon maxed out (since I was
not bothering with shifting at the moment) so her front end started to drop.
Now picture a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a
very ragged t-shirt, wearing only one leather glove, roaring at probably 80
MPH, still on one wheel, with a large puffy squirrels tail sticking out of the
mostly closed full-face helmet.
By now, the screams are probably getting a
little hoarse. Finally I got the upper hand ... I managed to grab his tail
again, pulled him out of my helmet, and slung him to the left as hard as I
could. This time, it worked!!!!......sort of. ..so to speak.
Picture a new scene...You are a cop. You and
your partner have pulled off on a quiet residential street and parked with your
windows down to do some paperwork. Suddenly, a large man on a huge black and
chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a torn t-shirt flapping in the breeze, and
wearing only one leather glove, moving at probably 80 MPH, on one wheel, and
screaming bloody murder, roars by and with all his strength throws a live
squirrel grenade directly into your police car!!!!! I heard screams, and for a
change, they weren't mine. I managed to get the big bike under control, and
dropped the front wheel to the ground. I then used maximum braking and skidded
to a stop in a cloud of tire smoke at the stop sign of a busy cross street. I
would have returned to fess up (and to get my glove back). I really would have.
Really.... except for two things.
First, the cops did not seem interested or the
slightest bit concerned about me at the moment. When I looked back, the doors
on both sides of the patrol car were flung wide open. The cop from the passenger
side was on his back, doing a crab walk in somebody's' front yard, quickly
moving away from the car. The cop who had been in the driver's seat was
standing in the street, and was aiming a riot shotgun at his own patrol car.
So, the cops were not interested in me. They
often insist to 'let the professionals handle it' anyway. That was one thing.
The other? Well, I could clearly see shredded and flying pieces of foam and
upholstery from the back seat. But I could also swear I saw the squirrel in the
back window, shaking his little fist at me, shooting me the finger........ That
is one dangerous squirrel. And, now he has a patrol car. A somewhat shredded
patrol car, but it was all his............
I took a deep breath, turned on my turn
signal, made a gentle right turn off Brice Street, and sedately left the
neighborhood. I decided it was best to just buy myself a new pair of gloves.
And, some band-aids.
Who has the COOLEST VEST ???
At this time we have NEW large patches.. If you'd like to have a club vest let me know.
NEED A SHIRT ? SEE WILL!!
LONG & SHORT
SLEEVE SHIRTS AVAILABLE
$20 short sleeve men/ women
$25 long sleeve
Don't forget to pay your dues!!
Starting on April 1st. All dues will be $20 per year. Just $5 increase.( .41 cents per month)
There is a link on our main page on our website on how you can pay your dues.
As always if you have any questions, just contact me and I’ll try to explain. Thank you for your support.
I now can take any payment with my PHONE at any ride !!!
To pay your dues or any other payments to the club, you can pay by Paypal or credit card. Or give cash or check to will!!
go to:
https://www.paypal.com/home
The Palm Beach Knights MRC thanks our sponsored :
Force-E Dive Centers has the best dive staff in South Florida. We have staff members ranging from Photo experts to, Blue Heron Bridge masters, to Free Diving experts.
Please look for more info coming soon about special events for the Knights and others.
Diving can be a wonderful experience, but it takes you out of your element and puts you somewhere that can be very dangerous!! When you go diving or snorkeling always go with someone who knows the rope and you can trust with your life...like Force-E Dive Centers. The best dive center there is.
Skip and Cathy are the owners of the three Force-E Scuba Centers located in Pompano Beach, Boca Raton, and Riviera Beach. Skip started his diving career at the first YMCA Scuba Diving Certification course in Atlanta, GA and later became a Dive Instructor in 1961. In 1975, Skip and Cathy met and Cathy started diving here in Florida. The first Force-E Scuba Center was opened in 1976, and is currently one of the leaders in the dive community in South Florida to offer retail, training, and dive experiences. When Skip and Cathy go diving, their favorite dive site is the ledges in Delray called the Snapper Hole. Cathy loves diving in her new Aqua Lung Lotus i3 BCD and Skip loves to dive in all the equipment he sells at Force-E.
https://www.force-e.com/
Tim McKim
4/20/1965
Vern
4/28/2015
We had 6 different activities this month.
Monthly Newsletter April 2015
Greetings from your President
Will
KFFK
Will
KFFK
Sorry this is long,
but it's a riot. This came off one of the Valkyrie message boards:
This is long, but it is well worth the read!
Neighborhood Hazard (or why the Cops Won't
Patrol Brice Street anymore!)
I never dreamed that slowly cruising on my motorcycle
through a residential neighborhood could be so incredibly dangerous!
Little did I suspect . . . I was on Brice
Street, a very nice neighborhood with perfect lawns and slow traffic. As I
passed an oncoming car, a brown furry missile shot out from under it and
tumbled to a stop immediately in front of me. It was a squirrel, and must have
been trying to run across the road when it encountered the car. I really was
not going very fast, but there was no time to brake or avoid it - it was that
close. I hate to run over animals, and I really hate it on a motorcycle, but a
squirrel should pose no danger to me. I barely had time to brace for the
impact. Animal lovers, never fear. Squirrels, I discovered, can take care of
themselves!
Inches before impact, the squirrel flipped to
his feet. He was standing on his hind legs and facing my oncoming Valkyrie with
steadfast resolve in his little beady eyes. His mouth opened, and at the last
possible second, he screamed and leaped. I am pretty sure the scream was
squirrel for "Banzai" or maybe "Die, you gravy-sucking heathen
scum"! The leap was nothing short of spectacular ... as he shot straight
up, flew over my windshield, and impacted me squarely in the chest! Instantly,
he set upon me. If I did not know better, I would have sworn he brought 20 of
his little buddies along for the attack. Snarling, hissing, and tearing at my
clothes, he was a frenzy of activity. As I was dressed only in a light t-shirt,
summer riding gloves, and jeans, this was a bit of a cause for concern. This
furry little tornado was doing some damage! Picture a large man on a Huge black
and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and leather gloves, puttering
at maybe 25 mph down a quiet residential street, and in the fight of his live with
a squirrel! And, losing!
I grabbed for him with my left hand - after a
few misses, I finally managed to snag his tail. With all my strength, I flung
the evil rodent off to the left of the bike, almost running into the right curb
as I recoiled from the throw. That should have done it. The matter should have
ended right there. It really should have! The squirrel could have sailed into
one of the pristinely kept yards and gone on about his business, and I could
have headed home. No one would have been the wiser!
But, NO! This was no ordinary squirrel. This
was not even an ordinary ticked-off squirrel. This was an EVIL MUTANT ATTACK
SQUIRREL OF DEATH!!!!!!!!!
Somehow, he caught my gloved finger with one
of his little hands, and, with the force of the throw, swung around and with a
resounding thump and an amazing impact, he landed squarely on my back and
resumed his rather anti-social and extremely distracting activities. He also
managed to take my left glove with him!
The situation was not improved. Not improved
at all! His attacks were continuing, and now I could not reach him! I was
startled, to say the least. The combination of the force of the throw, only
having one hand (the throttle hand) on the handlebars, and my jerking back
unfortunately put a healthy twist through my right hand and into the throttle.
A healthy twist on the throttle of a Valkyrie can only have one result. T o r q
u e !!!!! This is what the Valkyrie is made for and she is very, very good at
it. The engine roared and the front wheel left the pavement! The squirrel
screamed in anger, the Valkyrie screamed in ecstasy, and I screamed in ...
well, ..... I just plain screamed!
Now picture a large man on a huge black and
chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a slightly squirrel-torn t-shirt, wearing
only one leather glove, and roaring at maybe 50 mph and rapidly accelerating
down a quiet residential street on one wheel and with a demonic squirrel on his
back! The man and the squirrel are both screaming bloody murder. With the
sudden acceleration, I was forced to put my other hand back on the handlebars
and try to get control of the bike. This was leaving the mutant squirrel to his
own devices, but i really did not want to crash into somebody's tree, house, or
parked car. Also, I had not yet figured out how to release the throttle .... my
brain was just simply overloaded!
I did manage to mash the back brake, but it
had little effect against the massive power of the big cruiser. About this
time, the squirrel decided that I was not paying sufficient attention to this
very serious battle (maybe he is an evil mutant NAZI attack squirrel of death),
and he came around my neck and got INSIDE my full-face helmet with me. As the
faceplate closed part way, he began hissing in my face! I am quite sure my
screaming changed in intensity. I had little effect on the squirrel, however.
The RPM's on The Dragon maxed out (since I was
not bothering with shifting at the moment) so her front end started to drop.
Now picture a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a
very ragged t-shirt, wearing only one leather glove, roaring at probably 80
MPH, still on one wheel, with a large puffy squirrels tail sticking out of the
mostly closed full-face helmet.
By now, the screams are probably getting a
little hoarse. Finally I got the upper hand ... I managed to grab his tail
again, pulled him out of my helmet, and slung him to the left as hard as I
could. This time, it worked!!!!......sort of. ..so to speak.
Picture a new scene...You are a cop. You and
your partner have pulled off on a quiet residential street and parked with your
windows down to do some paperwork. Suddenly, a large man on a huge black and
chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a torn t-shirt flapping in the breeze, and
wearing only one leather glove, moving at probably 80 MPH, on one wheel, and
screaming bloody murder, roars by and with all his strength throws a live
squirrel grenade directly into your police car!!!!! I heard screams, and for a
change, they weren't mine. I managed to get the big bike under control, and
dropped the front wheel to the ground. I then used maximum braking and skidded
to a stop in a cloud of tire smoke at the stop sign of a busy cross street. I
would have returned to fess up (and to get my glove back). I really would have.
Really.... except for two things.
First, the cops did not seem interested or the
slightest bit concerned about me at the moment. When I looked back, the doors
on both sides of the patrol car were flung wide open. The cop from the passenger
side was on his back, doing a crab walk in somebody's' front yard, quickly
moving away from the car. The cop who had been in the driver's seat was
standing in the street, and was aiming a riot shotgun at his own patrol car.
So, the cops were not interested in me. They
often insist to 'let the professionals handle it' anyway. That was one thing.
The other? Well, I could clearly see shredded and flying pieces of foam and
upholstery from the back seat. But I could also swear I saw the squirrel in the
back window, shaking his little fist at me, shooting me the finger........ That
is one dangerous squirrel. And, now he has a patrol car. A somewhat shredded
patrol car, but it was all his............
I took a deep breath, turned on my turn
signal, made a gentle right turn off Brice Street, and sedately left the
neighborhood. I decided it was best to just buy myself a new pair of gloves.
And, some band-aids.
At this time we have NEW large patches.. If you'd like to have a club vest let me know.
NEED A SHIRT ? SEE WILL!!
LONG & SHORT
SLEEVE SHIRTS AVAILABLE
$20 short sleeve men/ women
LONG & SHORT
SLEEVE SHIRTS AVAILABLE
$20 short sleeve men/ women
$25 long sleeve
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!!!!!!!!!
Don't forget to pay your dues!!
For more than 2 ½ years we have managed to keep our dues at a very low $15 a year. Unfortunately due to a substantial increase in the cost of the website, we are restructuring our dues and how they are paid. It is your dues that helps keep our club running and pays for expenses you may not be aware of, such as the cost of the meet up site, decals, BBQ, Patches, club Banner and other items. We also are able to give away door prizes and gift certificates., and much more.
Starting on April 1st. All dues will be $20 per year. Just $5 increase.( .41 cents per month)
There is a link on our main page on our website on how you can pay your dues.
As always if you have any questions, just contact me and I’ll try to explain. Thank you for your support.
I now can take any payment with my PHONE at any ride !!!
To pay your dues or any other payments to the club, you can pay by Paypal or credit card. Or give cash or check to will!!
go to:
https://www.paypal.com/home
go to:
https://www.paypal.com/home
The Palm Beach Knights MRC thanks our sponsored :
Force-E Dive Centers has the best dive staff in South Florida. We have staff members ranging from Photo experts to, Blue Heron Bridge masters, to Free Diving experts.
Please look for more info coming soon about special events for the Knights and others.
Diving can be a wonderful experience, but it takes you out of your element and puts you somewhere that can be very dangerous!! When you go diving or snorkeling always go with someone who knows the rope and you can trust with your life...like Force-E Dive Centers. The best dive center there is.
Skip and Cathy are the owners of the three Force-E Scuba Centers located in Pompano Beach, Boca Raton, and Riviera Beach. Skip started his diving career at the first YMCA Scuba Diving Certification course in Atlanta, GA and later became a Dive Instructor in 1961. In 1975, Skip and Cathy met and Cathy started diving here in Florida. The first Force-E Scuba Center was opened in 1976, and is currently one of the leaders in the dive community in South Florida to offer retail, training, and dive experiences. When Skip and Cathy go diving, their favorite dive site is the ledges in Delray called the Snapper Hole. Cathy loves diving in her new Aqua Lung Lotus i3 BCD and Skip loves to dive in all the equipment he sells at Force-E.
https://www.force-e.com/
| Tim McKim | 4/20/1965 | ||
| Vern | 4/28/2015 |
We had 6 different activities this month.
Wheels Across The Pond British Classic Car and Bike Show
Always a great show. We started with a nice ride on Palm Beach along the water and made our way to the show. The weather while a bit warm, was still pleasant as long as we were riding. This show features many cars we don't normally get to see and this year was no exception. A special bonus was welcoming an old friend and new Knight Vic Piorro to the Knights. I even got to be next to a Kara Kara Bird.. We missed our SAA Echoes who was not feeling well.
Vic Piorro said" What a great day .... my first ride with a group in several years. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone and look forward to many more rides together and getting to know everyone."
Hump Day Ride, for a short ride to Jupiter Island
Another great mid-week ride from Greenies!! The Knights had a great ride. Steve told me that the original plan for a place to eat didn't work out, but all Knights know how to find a eatery. During the ride the Knights stop by the hospital to visit our SAA Echoes. Tom is doing well, but having some intestinal issues. We wish him a speedy recovery!!
Joseph Ciancio said" Not only was the ride,food and weather great but we also got to see Big Tommy C. Excellent day. Thanks Steve."
Elliott Museum on Hutchinson Island in Stuart
Always a nice ride to Hutchinson Island. A smaller crew, but a great one. We played hide and seek with the rain for awhile, but thanks to Gunner keeping a sharp eye on the radar...we won.
Neal Alvanos Said" Home safe and sound. Conchy Joe Restaurant in Jenson Beach for lunch always pleases. Riding to Ft. Pierce along the ICW has got to be one of the best routes for bikers in Florida."
Club (K)night
Well I first have to say THANK YOU to all that came and brought great food!! It's always a good time when the Knights get together. I have to be honest and say I was feeling pretty bad about the last minute cancellations. Some were for good reasons, but some people just didn't show or had lame excuses and that was upsetting. Not to mention the cost!! My wife Sue told me to enjoy the people that were there, and thats exactly what I did. It ended up being one of the nicest times the Knights has had. It was really good to see some people we don't get a chance to see often enough. So good to see Rich love and his lovely wife, he brought the now famous sheet cake...also good to see Mark "Buzzcap" and his wife, Mj(thanks for making the long trip) ,Rick, Greenis, David, Dale, Keith, Dan, Neal, and Lauren and her guest. You guys made the night special. Greenies is still smiling about winning the 50/50, and we announced that we will be starting a new Knights Chapter -Lake County lead by Neal " Stogies" Alvanos.
I want to thanks my wife Sue and my daughter Kelsie for helping with all the preparations and for
putting up with my wanting everything to be just right.
putting up with my wanting everything to be just right.
Dale Goldstein Said" Nice to see you all. Will and family thank you great effort, excluding not winning the 50/50. Will, that was my last $5 for the weekend!!! Now I will have to hang low and clean my bike for the big ride to Leesburg. Congrats to Neal on being Knighted the Mt Dora "Capo di tutti i capi". I hope the NSA is not picking up on this?? Always good to ride with you and look forward to many more."
Leesburg Bikefest
A great event this year made better by the company of Knights that attended. The ride up was very enjoyable, except for one mishap and a few too many love bugs. Seems Greenies battery decided that enough was enough and committed suicide! After lunch, we discovered the battery had died and after a short memorial service I'm happy to say we were able to revive the patient with electrical stimulation from a nearby truck.Alas this was to prove a short lived celebration and Greenie had to replace said battery with a new one. The rest of the ride was just perfect. Great weather with just a light sprinkle of rain.
That evening was spent at a great restaurant called the Cooked Spoon and hanging out at the pool.
Saturday we ended up splitting into 2 groups for some great day rides. I think everyone enjoyed the beautiful roads and climate. Some Knights chose to attend the event earlier, while some of us went in the evening. The ride home was another perfect day even if a little warm. We stopped off and had lunch at the Landing Strip Cafe at the Okeechobee airport. This was such a great trip and I have no hesitations about going back next year. One of my personal favorite parts was just hanging with the Knights at the pool in the evening.
That evening was spent at a great restaurant called the Cooked Spoon and hanging out at the pool.
Saturday we ended up splitting into 2 groups for some great day rides. I think everyone enjoyed the beautiful roads and climate. Some Knights chose to attend the event earlier, while some of us went in the evening. The ride home was another perfect day even if a little warm. We stopped off and had lunch at the Landing Strip Cafe at the Okeechobee airport. This was such a great trip and I have no hesitations about going back next year. One of my personal favorite parts was just hanging with the Knights at the pool in the evening.
Rick Pirozzoli said" The sun , moon and stars lined up for a great 3 day ride with my knightly brothers"
THROW BACK PICTURES!!!!
