Intro
From STMC
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[edit] Welcome to the Steel Thunder Motorcycle Club website
The Steel Thunder Motorcycle Club was officially established in 2005 as a non-profit organization located in Montvale (Bergen County), NJ. As a club, Steel Thunder is nationally sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (A.M.A.), as well as members of the New Jersey District II Chapter of the AMA. Our focus is to bring like-minded riders together who are interested in giving back to the communities in which we live. In the past few years, Steel Thunder has donated more than $15,500 to the Footprints in the Sand Foundation located in Montvale, NJ. Members of the club have also participated in, and donated to, countless other charity rides throughout NJ and NY.
The Steel Thunder M.C. membership is as diverse as the motorcycles we ride. Most of the members are family people. The club is comprised of men and women from many diversified areas. Professionally, we have teachers, electricians, CEO’s, IT professionals, project managers, sales representatives, police officers, architects, presidents and vice presidents of companies, owners of companies, managers, personal trainers, and designers/manufacturers. The membership represents all makes and models of motorcycles, including Harley-Davidson, BMW, Honda, Iron Horse, Suzuki, and Yamaha.
The STMC holds monthly meetings at Davey's Irish Pub and Restaurant, in Montvale, on the first Wed. of each month. The general meeting begins at 8:30 PM. Interested riders can email us at info@steelthunder.orgor call us at 201-930-8952.
[edit] 2008 STMC CHARITY RIDE FOR ST. JOSEPH'S CHILDREN HOSPITAL
The Steel Thunder M.C. would like to thank all who attended the 2008 Charity run. With nearly 200 registrations (171) on a day that predicted a 70% chance of thunderstorms, we appreciate everyone's effort to make this ride. As it turned out, we were lucky enough to only get hit with very light rain as we returned to Montvale. Fortunately, the heavy rains and thunderstorms held out until after all the raffles were given out and clean-up began.
Of course the day didn't go without incident. A minor accident within the back end of our ride slowed things down for a bit until the riders could get themselves back up and ready to ride. 39 miles into the 110 mile ride, a detour due to a non-related fatal accident occurred on 9W over Storm King mountain, which forced us to change our route "on the fly". Still, this did not stop us. This just slowed us down to enjoy the scenery of Rt. 218 once again. After we changed course and made it to Orange County Choppers for our mid-point gas and stretch stop, the President's bike had a short and wouldn't start. With some assistance from membership and the club wrench, the delay was minimal and we were back on the road. On the return to Montvale, with a clutch burning, one of our motor cops had to pull off for his own safety. Of course all of our motor cops did an outstanding job getting us all out and back safely. Our volunteer tow truck driver, Bill from Mikeco Transport, had a full day picking up bikes that had issues along the way.
A BIG thanks to our many volunteers who helped tirelessly throughout the day, the motor cops for assisting in the ride, and the vendors for their donations and raffles.
A special thanks goes to Davey's Irish Pub and Restaurant for donating all of the sandwiches, salads and chips; Isbre Norwegian Spring water for supplying the bottled water, DePiero's farm for the apples and all of our generous sponsors.
If you would like to see pictures of the event, click HERE.
Next year we plan to break the streak of bad weather. Three years in a row is enough for us. We hope to see you all at next year's ride. Save the date: July 26, 2009.
Click HERE to see our 2008 Charity Ride promo video. QuickTime is required to view this video.
[edit] Affinity License Plate /Education Proposal
The Steel Thunder M.C. has also spearheaded the push for Motorcycle Affinity license plates in the State of New Jersey. Vice President, Tom Mascarelli, first proposed the concept to the membership in September of 2007. With the help of the club Secretary, Mark Landy, a proposal was drawn up. President, Jim Freeman, and Tom Mascarelli met with NJ State Senator, Gerald Cardinale back in February, 2008. Senator Cardinale enthusiastically approved of the idea that could generate a substantial amount of money that could go toward motorcycle education. The license plate would have a picture of a motorcycle to the left and the phrase “Watch for us” in print.
Both Freeman and Mascarelli have continued to gain support around the state. Freeman has been in touch with an organization, ABATE of the Garden State(American Bikers Advocating Training and Education), that continually works toward the betterment of the motorcycle riding environment in NJ. A trustee of the organization stated that ABATE would be interested in working with Steel Thunder on the affinity plate issue. Mascarelli has since proposed the idea at the NJ District II meeting. The proposal was met with great support from many of the clubs in the district.