THE BEGINNING
They began to come together in the spring of 1986. Eight men and six women were the original charter members. Some of those charter Longriders previously were members of another club. As they began to ride and participate in runs and rallies of friends and families an idea began to form among them. The idea was to form a different and brand new motorcycle club (This they did).
Those original charter members met on a hot March night and formally resigned their previous club affiliations, retired that set of patches, and the LONGRIDERS MOTORCYCLE CLUB was born. As it goes on some of those men and women are still with us. Some are not.... One member came up with a place to meet and professed a desire to hold the reins and lead this unusual group of ......well I guess you could call them many things, but we call ourselves riders. Another member came up with a unique design for a logo, which came to be known as our CLUB COLORS. Another came up with our name, LONGRIDERS, incidentally from a movies of the same name. They all sat down and came up with some guidelines, which eventually became the club constitution and bylaws, and so on.....
First among the Longriders decisions as a new club was to obtain and hold a charter in the Texas Motorcycle Roadriders Association. This decision reflected their desire to stay in the mainstream more or less, of organized, citizen friendly groups. Charter #295 of the TMRA was granted in April of 1986. The Longriders M/C holds that charter today.
The Longriders began to set goals and principles and to promote, maintain, and enjoy the sport of safe motorcycling, as well as to promote the brotherhood of motorcyclists. Our goal was to further awareness and goodwill of the general public view of motorcyclists. So it goes, these goals and principles guide the Longriders today.
As the first year of the Longriders merged into the second, this unique band of men and women burst into the world of organized motorcycling at a furious and sometimes alarming pace. In the years to follow, local, state, national, and perhaps even international recognition was and still is theirs. From their very first small rally, a somewhat silly, very enjoyable carnival run and first poker run emerged a wildly successful 1st HOT FUN SUMMER RUN, which is now on a 19th annual tradition. This club has set and met their original goal and then some.
Their most shining achievement in this historians eyes is their partnership with a small and very deserving children's home in the Tyler, TX area. The Longriders have befriended and benefited the children with many thousands of dollars and many hundreds of smiles, tears, laughs, hugs, and helping hands. May God bless and keep this friendship alive and growing.
The Longriders M/C produced a very formidable and fearless Harley dragster racing pilot and the racing team began. The Longriders M/C volunteered for one of the first Texas Adopt a Highway roadsides and still holds that honor, privilege, and responsibility. They were invited to star in a historic television commercial bringing awareness to the famous "Don't Mess With Texas" anti-litter campaign. They were also part of the historic 1994 Texas Democratic Convention in Ft. Worth, Texas, and were in fact seated voting delegates in that state convention. They played a small part in overturning an oppressive helmet law.
The brief history of the Longriders M/C of Tyler Texas can not at this time begin to scratch the surface of all of the achievements and happenings this band of riders have sponsored and participated in. In the year to follow we will produce, in chronological order, a more detailed, complete, and almost unabridged summary of the years from our humble beginning in that spring of 1986 up to the present. Such a summary should amaze and inspire even the most jaded of those that are interested in organized motorcycling. Until then, don't change that channel, stay tuned, and .....
LONG LIVE THE LONGRIDERS M/C OF TYLER TEXAS.
BY: Night Al
