New Forest Chapter Bylaws
Article 1 – General
1.1 Definitions
New Forest Chapter UK is an official H.O.G.® Chapter, #9081, affiliated with H.O.G.® UK.
New Forest Chapter’s sponsoring dealership is Southampton Harley-Davidson, Heritage
House, Second Ave, Southampton SO15 0LP. The sponsoring dealership’s decision-making
authority is vested in the Dealer Principal.
New Forest Chapter is a non-political, non-religious, voluntary organisation formed solely for the
enjoyment and benefit of its members and promoting motorcycling as a family- oriented
recreational activity.
1.2 Precedence
The order of precedence for all decision-making in the Chapter will be:
1. All National Laws
2. The Annual H.O.G.® Charter
3. New Forest Chapter Bylaws
1.3 Purpose
The Chapter Bylaws have been developed to aid in resolving situations that might arise in
association with maintaining the Chapter’s intent to provide for the good of the Chapter and its
individual members. The purpose of the Bylaws is to promote a relaxed, pleasant, fun and safe
environment for all, consistent with the Annual H.O.G.® Charter. The Chapter strongly
discourages its members from engaging in any dangerous or adverse activity. Any member
engaging in a dangerous or adverse activity may be subject to suspension or expulsion in
accordance with these Bylaws. The following may be, but are not limited to, dangerous or
adverse activities:
• Any action that could cause harm or injury to any person.
• Any action that could cause damage or loss of property.
• Any public act that could cause Chapter members to be perceived as troublemakers and
unwelcome.
• Any unreasonable or unwanted personal or sexual advance made upon another.
• Consumption of alcohol that in the opinion of any Officer could be dangerous to the individual,
other Chapter members, or the public in general.
• Any consumption or sale of any illegal drugs that presents an immediate threat or danger to
other Chapter members, or the public in general.
1.4 Activities
Chapter activities are the sole responsibility of the Chapter and include any wholesome, legal
and safe activity that appeals to the Chapter members. The activities or events may include, but
are not limited to, organised rides, social or charitable functions, rallies and other public events.
Article 2 – Chapter Membership
2.1 Requirements for Chapter Membership
Membership to New Forest Chapter is open to anyone who is a member of H.O.G.® and is in
good standing. Where there is any doubt about the good standing of an applicant, the majority
vote of the Committee will decide. Failure to maintain membership in H.O.G.® automatically
disqualifies anyone from Chapter membership.
New Forest Chapter will not discriminate against any member, member’s guest or potential
member on the grounds of age, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, culture, physical or
mental challenges.
Membership to the New Forest Chapter is open to members of other H.O.G.® Chapters.
However, members of multiple Chapters or other motorcycling groups that adversely compete
for the member’s time are not normally eligible for any Officer positions within New Forest
The conditions of Chapter membership include agreement to abide by: the Annual Charter for
H.O.G.® Chapters; the terms of the declaration and release statements, these form part of the
annual online membership application and by ticking the box you agree to this declaration; and
these Bylaws.
2.2 Membership Effective Date
Full membership in the Chapter is granted by full annual dues payment (unless waived) for the
year, and completing the online member application, which includes agreement to the
declaration and release statements. Membership is effective following the Chapter’s receipt of
the completed form, the appropriate fees and confirmation of the applicant’s H.O.G.®
membership. Membership must be renewed annually by 28th February , at which time annual
dues are payable (unless waived).
2.3 Membership dues
Annual dues are determined by the Committee and the Dealer Principal and are reviewed
annually. Annual dues are always subject to the limits published in the overarching H.O.G.®
Charter. Annual membership dues for the current year are payable in full (unless waived)
2.4 Verification of H.O.G.® Membership
At the time of joining or annual renewal, each member must declare their active H.O.G.®
membership number, which will be checked against the national H.O.G.® membership
database.
2.5 Privileges
All Chapter members will receive confirmation of membership, and access to these Bylaws.
All Chapter members will receive regular copies of the Chapter Newsletter (i.e. by email)
containing details of Chapter activities, news and promotions.
All Chapter members may apply for inclusion in the official Chapter Facebook page, which is a
closed group operated for the benefit of New Forest members.
All Chapter members may participate in any and all Chapter activities, subject to prior booking
and availability of space if applicable.
All Chapter members may participate in the management of Chapter activities of the Chapter as
set out in these Bylaws.
All Chapter members may nominate candidates, including themselves, for Primary Officer
positions (subject to the provisions in these Bylaws).
All Chapter members may wear or display the Chapter patches, and any H.O.G.® logos or
insignia made available to the Chapter by H.O.G.®, in line with patch etiquette
2.6 Late Renewals
Membership is terminated if dues are not paid by 31 Mar. Termination entails permanent loss of
membership number and constitutes a break in consecutive membership years. Full payment of
yearly dues and submission of a signed and validated application form will reinstate the member
to the Chapter. Reinstatement incurs higher fees to defray additional administration costs and
the issue of a new membership number.
2.7 Resignation from Chapter
A member may resign from the Chapter anytime they wish. To avoid any ambiguity, the
Committee will write to the resigning member confirming the resignation request. At that time,
the member’s name will be removed from the membership database. No portion of any paid
membership dues will be refundable in the case of voluntary resignation.
2.8 Membership Forms
New and renewal members must complete the online membership form (including reading and
ticking the declaration and release statements) at the time of their renewal or joining. Reminders
will be issued in Chapter communication channels at least 30 days before the expiry of
membership. It is the responsibility of members to login and renew their membership together
with the making the appropriate payment on or before the renewal date and within 30 days of its
expiry at the latest.
2.9 Membership Database
Membership details submitted on the online membership form will be entered into a
membership system called Membermojo. This membership system will be maintained and
operated by Chapter Officers for the purpose of supporting Chapter activities and their
administration, and in accordance with the Online Privacy Statement. Subject to these
conditions, membership details will not be revealed to any external organisations for any
purpose without the explicit permission of the member(s) concerned. As a voluntary,
not-for-profit organisation, the Chapter is not required to register with the Information
Commissioner under the terms of the Data Protection Act (1998).
2.10 Entitlement to New Forest Insignia
Only current full and joint members of New Forest Chapter UK are licensed to wear any
Chapter- specific patch, rocker, or logo
2.11 Suspension
A member may be suspended from participation in Chapter activities for cause, such as
violation of the Bylaws of the Chapter, or for conduct prejudicial to the interests of the Chapter.
Verbal warnings from the Chapter Director or Dealer Principal may precede a suspension. Total
suspension of any member will be by majority vote of the Committee, and requires endorsement
by the Dealer Principal, provided that a statement of the charge(s) has been sent by mail or
email to the member at their last recorded address at least 15 days before final action is taken.
A notice of the time and place where the Committee and Dealer Principal are to discuss this
matter will accompany this statement. The member will be given an opportunity to present a
defense at the time and place notified. Partial suspension (e.g. from participation in the
Chapter’s closed Facebook page) will be by agreement of the Director, Assistant Director(s) and
Dealer Principal. After the period of suspension, the member’s suspension will be automatically
withdrawn. Any member suspended twice automatically becomes a candidate for expulsion.
2.12 Expulsion
Expulsion of any member shall be by majority vote of the Committee, and requires endorsement
by the Dealer Principal, provided that a statement of the charge(s) has been sent by mail or
email to the member at their last recorded address at least 15 days before final action is taken.
A notice of the time and place where the Committee and Dealer Principal are to discuss this
matter will accompany this statement. The member will be given an opportunity to present a
defense at the time and place notified. In the event of expulsion from the Chapter, full annual
membership dues will be refunded and a copy of the cancellation letter will be sent to the
H.O.G.®
Manager.
Article 3 – Chapter Officers
3.1 Primary Officers
The Primary Officers are those defined in the Annual Charter for H.O.G.® Chapters and are the
Chapter Director, Assistant Director(s), Secretary and Treasurer. With the exception that the
Dealer Principal exercises the right under the H.O.G.® Charter to appoint himself as the
Chapter Director, all Primary Officers must have been Chapter members for a minimum of 2
years to be eligible. Other eligibility criteria may be published by agreement with the Dealer
Principal. Chapter members who are committee members of another H.O.G.® Chapter are not
eligible for election or appointment as a Primary Officer of New Forest Chapter. Primary Officers
may be removed from office by the Dealer Principal.
3.2 Discretionary Officers
The Discretionary Officers are those defined as such in the Annual Charter for H.O.G.®
Chapters. In addition, they include the post of support crew (the latter as defined under Road
Crew, below), and any others that may be agreed from time to time between the Chapter
Officers and the Dealer Principal. Currently the following posts are in use within the Chapter:
Activities Officer, Editor, Historian, Head Road Captain, Ladies of Harley Officer, Membership
Officer, Safety Officer and Webmaster. Chapter members who are members of other H.O.G.®
Chapters or motorcycling groups that adversely compete for the member’s time are not normally
eligible for appointment as a Discretionary Officer of New Forest Chapter. Discretionary Officers
may hold more than one appointment, either concurrently or successively. Discretionary Officers
may be removed from office at any time by the Dealer Principal,
3.3 Road Crew
Road Crew include both Road Captains and Support Crew.
New Support Crew are appointed by the existing Head Road Captain at any official Road
Captains meeting, based on the general criteria of riding ability, personal disposition, and
commitment to the Chapter’s ride-out programme.
The Head Road Captain is appointed by the Director and or Assistant Director and Dealer
principal from the pool of Road Captains.
Article 4 – Chapter Meetings
4.1 Regular Meetings
Regular meetings of the members will normally be held once per month on Club Night. All full
members, their guests and dealership representatives may attend regular meetings.
4.2 Special Meetings
Special meetings of the members may be held at any time, at the request of a Primary Officer or
the Dealer Principal. Only full members and dealership representatives may attend special
meetings. At least 7 days notice will be given for special meetings.
4.3 Committee Meetings
Committee meetings will normally take place every 2 months, but the Director and/or Dealer
Principal may call a Committee meeting at any other time that they see fit. In addition to Chapter
Officers, the Committee meeting will be open to any Chapter member and other dealership
representatives, by arrangement. At least 7 days notice will normally be given to all Officers for
Committee meetings, although some meetings may carry less notice than this if circumstances
dictate.
4.4 Quorum
Twenty-Five percent of all Committee Officers will constitute a quorum for the purposes of
decision-making at any of the meetings specified in these Bylaws, provided that a majority of
Primary Officers is also present.
4.5 Order of Business
The order of business at all regular Committee meetings will normally be as follows: • Roll Call
(if needed for pending business) • Officer Reports • Discussion items • AOB • Agreement for the
next meeting. The order of business at all special meetings of members will be as follows: •
Statement of reason for holding the meeting • RollCall • Business • Adjournment
4.6 Meeting Minutes
All Committee meetings will be minuted and all such meeting records will be shared with
Committee Officers for review. Following their formal approval at the subsequent Committee
meeting, Committee Meeting Minutes will be made available to Chapter members on the
members only page on the website and will be placed on the committee shared drive.
Article 5 – Financial Provisions
5.1 Financial Year
The financial year of the Chapter will be 1 Jan to 31 Dec, or as fixed by Committee resolution.
5.2 Compensation
The Committee will not compensate Officers for their services as such but may provide for the
payment of any and all expenses incurred by Officers in attending H.O.G.®, Officer Training or
other meetings for the purpose of conducting Chapter business, or in pursuit of agreed Chapter
activities for the benefit of the Chapter membership. In all cases, the Officer(s) must seek and
obtain approval from the Committee before incurring the expense.
5.3 Business Payments
Two different Primary Officers of the Chapter shall raise, and approve bank payments issued in
the name of the Chapter. To facilitate on-line banking, payments and transfers may be made by
any Primary Officer by explicit emailed agreement with another. Such documented agreements
must be filed as part of the account audit trail.
5.4 Charity Payments
Charity funds collected by the Chapter shall be kept in a charity account that is separate from
normal Chapter business and controlled by the appointed Chapter Treasurer. Payments from
the charity account may be made by two online approvals from the committee Officers, after a
minuted Committee agreement to do so.
5.5 Loans
No loans shall be contracted on behalf of the Chapter, and no evidence of indebtedness shall be
issued in its name.
5.6 Deposits
All funds of the Chapter not otherwise employed shall be deposited from time to time to the
credit of the Chapter in such depositories as the Committee may select.
5.7 Accounts
The Chapter business accounts will be made available in summary form to all members on
request within 3 months of the preceding year-end date.
Article 6 – Other Provisions
6.1 Amendment of Bylaws
These Bylaws may be adopted, amended or repealed, and new Bylaws may be adopted by a
majority vote of the Committee and approval of the Dealer Principal, provided that notice of the
proposed adoption has been included in the notice of the meeting. Proposals for new, amended
or repealed Bylaws may also be initiated by petition of not less than 25% of the Chapter
membership as determined by the Secretary from the membership database. Such a petition
must be forwarded to the Secretary and shall be acted upon by the Committee within 60 days
after receipt.
6.2 Limited Liability of Volunteers
Each Chapter member who provides service to or on behalf of the Chapter without
compensation (“Volunteer”) will be immune from liability to any person for damages,
settlements, fees, fines, penalties or other monetary liabilities arising from any act or omission
as a Volunteer, to the fullest extent provided by statutory or common law. For clarity, these
Bylaws conclusively presume that any Volunteer who is licensed, certified, permitted or
registered under law or by professional charter, and who is performing service to or on behalf of
the Chapter without compensation is not acting within the scope of his or her professional
practice under such license, certificate, permit, or registration unless otherwise expressly stated
to the Chapter Secretary in writing.
6.3 Dissolution of Chapter
Should events dictate the dissolution of the Chapter, all debts will be paid from the Chapter
account(s). Excess funds will be donated to a Charity or Charities to be decided by a majority
vote of the Committee.
Attachment A – Declaration and Release Statement
These words are a part of the Chapter membership joining/renewal form. It is a condition of
membership that these terms are agreed to. These are stated on the online membership form.
Declaration
I have read the Annual Charter for H.O.G.® Chapters, and the New Forest Chapter UK Bylaws
(both available on the Chapter website) and hereby agree to abide by them as a member of this
Dealer sponsored Chapter.
I recognise that while this Chapter is chartered with H.O.G.®, it remains a separate,
independent entity solely responsible for its actions.
Release (this statement forms part of the membership agreement)
I agree that the Sponsoring Dealer, Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.®), Harley-Davidson, Inc.,
Harley-Davidson Motor Company Inc., Harley-Davidson Europe Ltd, my Chapter and their
respective officers, directors, employees and agents (hereinafter, the ‘Released Parties’) shall
not be liable or responsible for damage to my property occurring during any H.O.G.® or
H.O.G.® Chapter activities and resulting from acts or omissions occurring during the
performance of the duties of the ‘Released Parties’, even where the damage is caused by
negligence.
I understand and agree that all H.O.G.® members and their guests participate voluntarily and at
their own risk in all H.O.G.® activities and I assume all risks of damage arising out of the
conduct of such activities.
I release and hold the ‘Released Parties’ harmless from any loss to my property which may
result from my participation in H.O.G.® activities and event(s).
I understand that this means that I agree not to sue the ‘Released Parties’ for any damage to my
property arising from, or in connection with, the performance of their Chapter duties in
sponsoring, planning or conducting said event(s). Nothing in this disclaimer is intended to
release any party mentioned herein for any liability for injury or death caused through that
party’s negligence.
I understand that the ‘Released Parties’ may take photographs of members and their guests at
the event(s) for use in official Chapter and H.O.G.® related media.
I hereby confirm that I have no objection that such photographs are taken and used in this
context. I further understand and agree that with respect to any photographs I may take and
submit for publication in Chapter and H.O.G.® media I grant a non-exclusive right in perpetuity
to the Chapter and to H.O.G.® to use and reproduce the photographs in support of Chapter and
H.O.G.® activities.
I understand and agree that personal information supplied on this form will be maintained in a
Chapter Membership Register and that it will be accessed only in accordance with the privacy
statement, as published on the Chapter website. By signing this Release,
I certify that I have read this Release and any associated documents, fully understand them and
that I am not relying on any statements or representations made by the ‘Released Parties’.
Attachment B – Online Privacy Statement
Personal privacy and security of information are mutual concerns of H.O.G.®, its members, and
visitors to the New Forest Chapter UK website. This Statement explains the H.O.G.® Internet
policies and security measures relating to personal privacy and information security.
New Forest Chapter UK collects and stores the following information about you when you visit
our website: the name of the domain from which you access the Internet (for example, aol.com,
if you are connecting from an America Online account); the date and time you access the site;
and the Internet address of the website from which you linked directly to our site. The Chapter
uses this information to measure the number of visitors to the different sections of its site. This
helps us to make our site more responsive to our members and prospective members.
We will not obtain personally identifying information about you when you visit our site unless you
choose to provide such information. If you choose to send email, registration, or other personal
information over the Internet, you do so voluntarily.
New Forest Chapter UK will not disclose personal information provided to it (either through its
website or membership registration process) except as follows:
• By your consent, which may be oral, in writing, by telephone, electronic or other means we
recognise;
• To assist us in evaluating our programmes and to continue to improve the quality of your
on-line and membership experience;
• When disclosure is required by law, such as pursuant to court order, subpoena, legal process
or government agency examination or investigation, or to protect or enforce our rights;
• To companies that perform services for us in connection with your membership, such as data
processing and financial transaction processing companies and agencies;
• To Harley-Davidson® affiliated companies and carefully selected third parties for their own use
to provide products and services, or other opportunities to you, unless you have instructed us in
writing not to do so; and
• In connection with Harley-Davidson® corporate due diligence and audits. By your use of and
connection to our website, you understand and consent to this privacy statement. If for any
reason you are concerned that the personal or member information maintained by H.O.G.® or
the New Forest Chapter UK is not correct or if for some reason you believe H.O.G.® or the New
Forest Chapter UK has not adhered to these privacy principles, please notify H.O.G.® by calling
01280 700101.