About Us

Welcome to the Wild Prairie HOG® Chapter web site!

The Wild Prairie Chapter of the Harley Owner's Group® was formed in 2008. The Wild Prairie Chapter of the Harley Owners Group® is a non-religious, non-political, non-profit, volunteer, organization which is part of the largest manufacturer sponsored owner's association in the world!

If you are looking for a fun group to ride with, you have found the right place! Our motto is to “Ride and Have Fun,” and to that end, we have dozens of rides, events, and activities throughout the year. We start our riding season off with a bike blessing and then follow that with many dinner rides, day rides, weekend rides, chapter events, and various other activities. We have short rides, long rides, Saturday rides, Sunday rides, breakfast rides, lunch rides, dinner rides, in-state rides, out-of-state rides, vacation rides, and over-the-weekend mini vacation rides across some of the most scenic roads in America. Check out our events calendar and come join us. We average a ride, event, or activity every 2.3 days… lots to choose from.

In addition, we support Cornerstone, a shelter for battered women, by cooking a meal for them and providing toiletries for the women. We also support Toys for Tots each Christmas by purchasing bicycles for the kids. In the last two years, Wild Prairie Harley-Davidson customers and HOG® members have donated 424 twenty-six inch bicycles to Toys for Tots. Our fund-raisers for this charity go year round. We also support other charitable organizations.

When we are not on our bikes, we still get together to have fun as a Chapter. We’ll get together for bowling, Saturday morning breakfast, Monday dinners, holiday theme party, chapter challenges, Million Mile Monday rides, and much, much more.

We’re About Safety

Riding and having fun is based on a foundation of safety. Safety at Wild Prairie HOG is reflected in the roads we select, the time of our rides and the timing of rest stops, the required training of our Road Captains (see Road Captain’s page), our pre-ride preparations, the first aid supplies the Road Captains carry, practice sessions we conduct, our no-alcohol policy during Chapter rides, and an emphasis on a safety topic within each Chapter meeting. All of this is evident in the conduct of our Chapter members and their riding behavior.

No Alcohol Policy

Our Chapter has adopted a NO ALCOHOL policy during our rides. Consumption of alcohol immediately before or during a riding event will not be tolerated and will result in the exclusion of the offending party from the even or the cancellation of the ride. We want to ride and have fun – safely.

Chapter Officers (see Chapter Officers page)

Our Officers are volunteers. They are elected by the membership and serve a term of two years. Our Officers are extremely active in the Chapter are always on the look-out for what we can/should do to ‘Ride and Have More Fun’.

We have a group named Spokesman. The group is responsible for welcoming new members and getting them to engage in rides and activities.

Membership

You MUST be a member of National HOG® to belong to any local chapter. To join, simply bring your National HOG® card and $24 to the reception desk at Wild Prairie H-D® (or to the next chapter meeting) and fill out a brief application. That's all you have to do to begin enjoying the fun and fellowship found in the Wild Prairie Chapter of HOG®.*

You can join National HOG® by calling 800-CLUB-HOG or visiting www.hog.com. Be sure to have your Harley-Davidson® or Buell motorcycle VIN number and credit card ready.

*The application for membership in a local chapter requests that you read the Annual Charter for Local HOG® Chapters. This document is available on the National HOG® website under the Members Only section. You will need to login as a national member on the www.hog.com website to find this document. Once logged-in, select “chapters” at top of page, then the Annual Charter is on the lower right of the light green box near center of page.

Preamble

The Harley Owners Group® (HOG®) is an organization founded and sponsored by Harley-Davidson® Motor Company. The group was established to offer motorcycling benefits and services to Harley-Davidson enthusiasts throughout the world, and to develop a close relationship between the Harley-Davidson® rider, the Harley-Davidson® dealer and Harley-Davidson® Motor Company.

The opportunity to start an independent chapter affiliated with the Harley Owners Group® is offered to bring members together for the common interest of promoting motorcycling activities. The goal of each chapter is to generate an increased level of enthusiasm for riding Harley-Davidson® motorcycles.

Why Are Harley-Davidson Motorcycles called Hogs

Harley-Davidson Wrecking Crew 1921It is believed that the term "hog," in referring to a Harley-Davidson® motorcycle, traces back to the early 1920s. The official Harley-Davidson company racing team of that era was known as the "Wrecking Crew" because of their nearly total domination of the dirt track races they entered.

Hog mascot of Harley-Davidson wrecking crewAn additional member of the team (a mascot not a racer) was a small pig. Whenever a Wrecking Crew team member won a race, he stopped to pick up the pig, put on the gas tank, and took it with him for a victory lap. After a while, race fans and some in the media began to informally refer to the team as the "Harley Hogs." Over time, the "Wrecking Crew" moniker stuck and people stopped referring to the team as the “Harley Hogs”.

Original Harley-Davidson hogHowever, as the "Harley Hogs" nickname faded, the word "hog" stuck as the slang term among enthusiasts for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The 3rd Edition of the Dictionary of American Slang even contains an entry for "hog" as being a "1960s motorcycle or motorcyclist" with a following entry mentioning Harley-Davidson by name. The word then became more official in 1983 when the world's first factory-sponsored motorcycle club appeared. The choice must have been obvious: The Harley Owners Group®, or HOG®.

Harley Owners Group history

origmembersHarley-Davidson® established the Harley Owners Group® (HOG®) in 1983 in response to a growing desire by riders for an organized way to share their passion and show their pride. By 1985, 49 local chapters had sprouted around the country, with a total membership of 60,000.
By 1999, worldwide membership had hit the half-million mark and the number of local chapters totaled 1157. Today, more than a million members make HOG® the largest factory-sponsored motorcycle organization in the world—and it shows absolutely no signs of slowing down!

What does the future hold? No one can say for sure, but from here the road ahead looks long, wide open, winding, and scenic—with lots of new friends to make along the way. So why not join HOG® now and come explore it with us?

The great thing about Chapter activities is how much they reflect the passions and personalities of our chapter's members. Keeping that in mind, here are some of the types of activities our Chapter is involved with.

Official HOG® website

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