Well, here we go again! Those that know me well, know I found myself in a situation similar to this back in Late 2022. I spoke with the Manager at that establishment and was allowed in with my vest, but there was a fallout afterwards that changed my perspective and gave me insight into the CVMA in many facets and made me reevaluate many things that got pretty deep overall.
Well, today I handled it a little differrently. Two of us from my Chapter rolled up in Grand Pararie TX at TWIN PEAKS, parked the bikes and headed to the door. As I was grabbing the handle, I noticed this sticker. (Yes I'm intimately aware of what this company endured in 2015 at the Waco location) . And yes, my word(s) were ... "Fuck!!" EasyOut was like, well ... lets go. Me, I was hungry. Thirsty. And .. I've thought this scenario through a hundred times over the last 40 months or so since that last fiasco. We had two choices. Leave and spend our time and money at another establishment or ... secure our Cuts in our Saddlebags and enter the establishment. EasyOut followed suit when I asked if he'd go along with taking them off. Deep down it pissed me off and if we were on a major ride or had a lot of others in our group, we'd probably had just walked away, straddled the Bikes and headed elsewhere. Not today. Food was good, Beers were cold, waitress was cute and filled out her uniform nicely. So did all the other co-workers; JS. My opinion: we made a good choice.
Now, why this Blog Post? Well, after posting this on my FB page, few things were discussed by some friends in the comments section. Got to admit, I expected as much. Was a lil' curious what comments would pop up? After my 2022 fiasco, since that day when that subject comes up, most ... yes... most ... don't understand why it was ever an issue. Hell, that's how I felt on that day. But life ain't so simple in the motorcycle world nor The Association.
This is a CVMA specific post. We are not an MC, we are an Assoication. But as I try to explain to newer members, and our leaders to all the members, we play in the MC world and abide by the rules that MCs do. Simple as that. Not all understand that. Not all agree, but ..... doesn't matter. Want to wear our Patch, you've got to play by the rules. Otherwise, the door may hit one in the ass on the way out. Now, that being said, every year especially during Sturgis and other large Rallys this always comes up. Certain Bars / Establishments have a No Cut policy. I'm not going to argue whether they are right or wrong, or what we call our vest (last few years we do refer to it as a cut, not just a 'vest'.) Or the subject of "colors.". Here is what matters. And this alone.
On the National Website, under the Repository Section/Tab, go to the "Protocol" Section/Tab. There is a Single Document in there : CVMA National Protocol - Revision D
Download and Open the PDF. The current version as I type this is Rev D October 2022. You know, the revision posted the month before I got myself in a jam back over 3 years ago? That one. Low and Behold , under Points to Remember, On Page 6, Item number 21 states .. " ..... If an establishment has a sign indicating “No Colors” the vest will be removed ......."
Discussion Over. Direction Provided. My .02 cents on this? If one doesn't like it, then pursue internally to get it changed because until then a member WILL remove it at these locations. Or, even better.... leave and take yourselves and your $$ elsewhere, which in my opinion and most others .. is the best option. The vast majority of other buinesses want our money and truly want our patronage.
There you go............
