Thought it was time for an update from the Bernice MacNaughton High School Bike Club and the “Chain Gang”! For those who are unaware of the Bike Club, it is an on-going after-hours school project committed to giving some “At Risk” and “Introvert” kids a chance to redirect their energies to be more productive. The Bike Club is solely funded by donations.
Well, a lot of crazy stuff going on; recently the gang has had a fundraising drive to raise money for parts, supplies and trips. It was unfortunate for us that we didn’t make it back to the “Canadian Championship of Bike Building” show in Alberta this year; we simply could not raise the funds or find the support to get all the way from New Brunswick to Alberta. We would like to apologize to all our supporters in Western Canada; we wanted to see you guys as much as you did us. Thanks to Belt Drive Betty for the invite as well as her crew who treated us so well in 2006.
After the fundraising, we decided we would spend most of our money on purchasing some of the parts we truly needed to proceed with the “mock up”. We bought our transmission, a six-speed Ultima, then a starter from Ultima and our 3.25-inch wide belt-drive primary kit, also from Ultima. Russell Mitchell and the crew at Exile Cycles graciously donated a “Sprotor Kit” and the kids installed it once we bought a new rear axle, spacer kit and wheel bearings for the rear wheel assembly. To cap off our parts purchase, we bought some Big Growls shotgun style pipes from, yep, you guessed it, Ultima. Our friend, Luc LeBlanc of Kent County Custom came by to help the kids install all the parts and give a lesson on alignments and proper installation procedures. Thanks Luc for all you do for us. Performance Machine came through with a set of brakes so we installed them on the front end. Tim and Rob at Trick Factory sent us another little package, one of many, with some cool risers and an ignition cover, thanks again guys. Now that all those parts are on the bike, folks are asking us if it runs! We are working on the electrics, so, nope, it hasn’t run yet, but man, are we close.
With all the hard work the kids are doing, some cool things were bound to happen. We were invited to Atlanticade which was a great way for us to get some local exposure. We handed out a ton of information and we’re hoping that some support will come in. Robert and Dale helped us out a lot and we thank them for thinking about us. Once again this year the Atlantic National Hot Rod Show, now Canada’s largest outdoor show, gave us an invite and free space to fundraise and get some more much needed awareness. To all the crew at the “Nationals”, we say thanks. After the Nationals, the “Canadian Biker Build-Off 3” called and invited us out to Welland, Ontario. We had a little money left and a cool donation of a car and trailer, so we loaded up the Betty Bobber and Justin’s recently finished peddle bobber, still un-named, and drove 18 hours to Welland, Ontario to see a bunch of old friends like Glenn and Gwen (Motorcycle Mojo). It was great to finally meet Gwen in real life. Plus we made a bunch of new friends. Tom, PeeWee and Heather from Biker TV came by to see us and catch up. Thanks to Vern and Randy for their invite and support while we hung out at the CBBO for the weekend.
On the way home from Welland, Bob McKay asked us to stop by so he could see the bike and give us a tour of his shop and latest build. Bob and Diane are just incredible people! We got to talk to Bob; he showed us his fantastic new shop, his bikes and his collection of “yet to be dones”! It was a wonderful opportunity for the boys and myself to meet Bob and have a chance to talk “bikes” with him. We would like to thank Bob and Diane for being very gracious hosts and opening their home to the kids and I. It was cool finally meeting you.
OK, the end of this long painful update. We have been invited by the fine folks at the “Digby Wharf Rat Rally” in Nova Scotia, our final show of the 2007 summer. They have graciously given us a booth right across from the guest builder, some dude named Russell Mitchell of Exile Cycles. Who knows, it may be cool to meet him. The kids seem excited!
Once again, as always, we want to thank all of our sponsors and supporters across Canada. It’s been a long haul to this point and we still have a ways to go. We need more of you to help out so please take some time to look at our website, www.bmhsbikeclub.zoomshare.com, and see if what we are doing is in line with your beliefs of keeping the industry alive by getting our youth involved. Another very important aspect of the ‘Bike Club’ is that we are giving some “At Risk” and “Introvert” kids a chance to redirect their energies to more productive means.
Marc Mazerolle
BMHS Bike Club, Manager.
www.bmhsbikeclub.zoomshare.com
