Bike of the Month

Congratulations! James Lymn Jr. Winchester, TN

The Bike Name of Bike: Phoenix Fabrication: Big Dog Year Built: 2007 Model: K9 Time Took to Build: 10 days Engine Year: 2007 Model: S&S Builder: S&S Displacement: 117 cubic inch

Painter: Big Dog Primary Color: Big Dog “yella” Special Paint: Frame – Topaz (House of Kolor) Frame: Big Dog K9 Year: 2007 Builder: Big Dog Type: K9 Chopper Rake: 39° from 3° tree Stretch: 8” downtube / 4” backbone

I bought the Big Dog K9 in 2017. I’ve always been a fan of BDM. I also own a H-D Streetglide and wanted another bike but I wanted something different. I came across this K9 and fell in love with it. It definitely is different riding because of the long rake and big 300 rear tire. She is an eye catcher for sure and I hope to own another BDM soon!

If you have a cool custom bike you would like to have featured in our magazine, enter it in our monthly Facebook contest by submitting a pic of your bike to ThunderRoadsTn@gmail.com

THE HIGHGROUND VETERANS MEMORIAL PARK

Located on US 10, west of Neillsville WI, The Highground is a 155 acre memorial to fallen military and an honor to surviving military personnel and veterans. It is not a memorial to war, but rather the participants. As Tom Miller held his dying friend in 1965 Vietnam, he vowed his friend’s death would not be forgotten. He kept that vow in 1984 when he and others with similar vows formed the Wisconsin Vietnam Veterans Memorial Project, which was later expanded to include all wars and all branches of service, including WASP’s, nurses and working dogs. There is also the National Native American Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The Highground is a nonprofit organization staffed by volunteers and it receives no ongoing federal or state funding.

To visit the memorial with its sculptures and memorial gardens is a moving and spiritual experience. Visitors speak in hushed tones as they walk over the honor stones purchased by the families of veterans, remember their friends at the sculpture representing the relevant war, or ring the replica Liberty Bell to honor their hero. As you exit your vehicle, a volunteer will inquire about your veteran’s status and thank all veterans for their service, then point visitors to the Gift Shop where free audio tours are available.

Probably the most moving sculpture is the Fountain of Tears where a GI holds the dog tags of his fallen comrade and his

tears flow down the fountain to where the man’s wife and child hold a folded flag. “Fragments”, the Vietnam tribute, includes four interlocking figures, including a woman and an inverted M16 (inserted in an orange piece of glass as a reminder of Agent Orange), bolt trigger missing, signifying medivac needed. The woman’s flowing rain poncho contains bundles of bamboo shaped rods, each inscribed with the name of a Wisconsin casualty. The Gold Star tribute honors all families that have lost a member during any US conflicts and those helping survivors who came home. The newest tribute represents all of the Persian Gulf conflicts. Korea and WWII also have tributes. Visit thehighground. us for more details as I could go on forever about this memorial. Be sure to visit the museum.

This is a must visit for any veteran and their families – you are not forgotten. Ride Safe and Have Fun!! Cooper

PRINCIPLES OF A SELF-DEFENSE CLAIM – PROPORTIONALITY

Good afternoon bikers! As I sit here in the middle of September, the The last thing which must be considered is escalation of force. If you are weather promises to be very Fall-like this weekend. Cool enough to arguing with someone and they throw the first punch, you have the right to need a sweatshirt in the mornings. Hopefully you have had time to get defend yourself with non-lethal force. Your fists would be the most logical in lots of riding since last month. response. But if you are overpowered and the attacker is on top of you, Over the past several issues we have explored the principles of an effective selfpounding you in the face, this would represent a deadly threat or an attack defense claim. Last month’s column was on Imminence. This month’s column which could cause grave bodily harm – the amount of force has escalated deals with Proportionality – the third component of a successful defense of your and you have the right to protect yourself with escalated force. But again, you use of deadly force. In review, here are the five components which must all be must be the innocent party. answered affirmatively for you to prove you acted in self-defense: My son-in-law is a sheriff’s deputy in Florida. He carries roughly 25 pounds of 1. Innocence gear on his belt when he is working. His defensive tools include pepper spray, 2. Imminence a TASER and his service pistol. Law enforcement officers are trained to use 3. Proportionality what’s called the “continuum of force.” This would involve going up-and-down 4. Avoidance 5. Reasonableness From a law enforcement and legal perspective pulling a gun during a fist fight would be not be considered a proportional response. Doing so would fail the third component and would certainly put you at risk of being charged and spending time in prison. But before I get ahead of myself, let’s take a look at weapons that are always considered deadly: • Guns the ladder of lethality of their tools. Their first tool is their yelling, “Stop!” This is obviously everyone’s first tool. Next would be pepper spray, then their TASER and lastly their service pistol. Obviously, if they are experiencing an imminent threat from a gun wielding robber, they are not going to start by pulling out their pepper spray. But if during a routine traffic stop, the person becomes belligerent, they may well go to the pepper spray and escalate force only as necessary. This is a useful illustration because many civilians often carry only their fists and their firearm. And while some of you may carry a knife, as I do, don’t fall into the potential legal trap of thinking it is considered • Bows less lethal than your pistol. If you are in close combat with a thug, pulling • Crossbows your knife is the same a pulling a gun and can certainly be considered an That is the entire list. So, would it be correct to assume only these projectile escalation of force. Remember, from the law’s perspective, it is just a deadly weapons are considered deadly? No. Common items can be used as a as your gun. contact weapon and be deadly: baseball bats, hammers, clubs, walking So, what other non-lethal weapons should you consider carrying? Pepper canes, bowling balls, bricks, tire irons, etc. Even one’s fists can be used to spray is the most obvious. It is quite effective and will give you time to deadly effect if the attacker is much larger, he’s choking you or you are no separate yourself from the bad guy and call 911. But pulling pepper spray longer able to defend yourself. But the use of any of these other weapons may also be considered escalation of force if the threat is not imminent. Case would have to clear the AOJ Triad hurdle in order to be considered deadlylaw in many states has shown that juries will convict a criminal of aggravated force: assault if they use pepper spray in the commission of a crime. So, remember, 1. Ability – The attacker has the ability to cause death or grave bodily you must always be the innocent party before you do so. Another tool which harm you might consider is a key chain mounted kubotan. A kubotan is essentially 2. Opportunity – The attacker can get to you with the force to cause a mini-club and is quite effective at taking the fight out of an attacker if used death or grave bodily harm correctly. But training and speed are essential with such a tool. And again, 3. Jeopardy – The attacker intends to do grave harm to you you will still need to be the innocent party in order to justify your use of a As an example, if you were having an argument at a softball game with the kubotan. batter and he poked you in the chest with his bat, he would have ability and In summary, you cannot use force that is not proportional to the force an opportunity. But unless he intended to attack you violently with it (jeopardy), attacker is using against you. During a fight, your attacker may escalate their you could not immediately resort to using deadly force. Your self-defense force against you, and you may escalate proportionally to their force. claim would fail the third leg of the triad. Until next month, ride often and be safe out there. Now, if you were approached in an alley by a thug carrying the same bat, and he gets in your face saying he’s going to kill you, the shit-bag has ability, Molon Labe, opportunity and there is jeopardy. In this scenario, your use of deadly force Mike Noirot would be considered justified. But only if you are innocent. You cannot be the person who started the altercation, you have to be a place you are legally Note: I am not a lawyer and nothing in this column represents legal advice. My allowed to be and the threat to your life has to be imminent. article is based on common sense and many years of studying self-defense.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Thunder Roads® Magazine Owners/Publishers. Any content provided by our authors are of their opinion, and are not intended to malign any religion, ethic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything.

Pastor Ron Baptiste Founder of Covenant Confirmers Ministries Inc. www.covenantconfirmers.org Covenant Confirmers Ministries; a “Certified Recovery Congregation” Founder of TN. Biker Medical Clinic Inc. www.Tennesseebikermedicalclinic.org Messages Available on Podbean https://covenantconfirmers.podbean.com Live You Tube https://www.youtube.com/user/ covenantconfirmers1/live

“FAITH & FLESH”

In these challenging times that we live in, we believers must be able to tell the difference between our “Faith and our Flesh.” Today’s believers are under such a vicious attack from the evil one, we are experiencing attack after attack, after attack. Satan wants to wear us down so we will just give up and blame God. Everything we have ever learned in Sunday School, Church, camp meetings, Christian TV, radio, CDs, DVDs, tapes, or testimonies, are on the line! Those that have been playing Church will fall by the wayside, only those that are rooted and grounded in God’s Word will be left standing. Matt. 13:4 & 8 “And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up…But others fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit Eph. 6:13-14 “Take the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, having done all to stand. STAND THEREFORE…” This is not the time to run from God but to God. The devil wants to separate us. the Word of God. The devil’s final attempt was in Vs. 8-9 “The So many Christians have stopped coming to church and now watch church services on the internet, therefore they have stopped tithes and offerings, stopped fellowship with other believers. This is an attack from the devil to separate us, if he can divide us, he can overtake us. When we are under an attack, we are being squeezed by the world and our Faith in the Word of God will come out of us or our Flesh in the form of fear will come out. In these times of trials and tribulations, if we don’t know the Word of God, we will confuse our Flesh with devil…shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; And he said unto Jesus, all these things will I give thee if thou will fall down and worship me.” Satan appeals to the Flesh, he showed Jesus a short cut, an easier way to get what He came for. Vs.10 “Jesus said unto him; for it is written, thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shall thou serve.” The devil will always try and show our Flesh a short cut, but our Faith will show us; “It is written.” our Faith. 2 Cor. 5:7 “We walk by faith and not by sight.” Gal.5:16 “Walk in the Spirit (Faith), and ye shall not “Great Faith with poor Judgement will kill you.” Don’t let fulfil the lust of the Flesh.” your emotions rule you. Matt.4:1-11 three times, Satan tries to bring doubt to Jesus by Until next time, keep your face in the wind and your asking “If thou be the Son of God.” It’s the same trick today kickstand up. that Satan uses on us today, “If you are really a Christian.” But To be found faithful, notice how the Lord responds to him three times; “It is written,” never respond to the devil from your Flesh, but only through Pastor Ron OCTOBER 2020 ThunderRoadsTennessee.com 11

Getting What You Deserve

By Hank Bonecutter

Ijust returned from a four day three night trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. It’s a trip I make at least a couple of times a year. The Smokies are just a couple of hours down I-40 so it’s an easy ride for me.

What began as a three man trip turned into a group of seven brothers eager to take whatever the landscape could throw at us.

Of course we did the Devil’s Triangle, Tail of the Dragon, Wayah Road, the Moonshiner and a day trip to Helen Georgia. We had hot and steamy weather, for the most part, although a portion of the group were drenched in a downpour on Friday afternoon.

On that afternoon, me and another blogger, Memphis Mike, split from the group after riding through the Foothills Parkway. With our hotel in Robbinsville NC, we had to ride the Dragon. Once you arrive at Deals Gap, you can continue on Tapoco Road (129), or you can take the Moonshiner 28 to get to Robbinsville. I chose the Moonshiner, one of my favorites. If you’ve never been on the Moonshiner, it’s a combination of twisties, sweepers, hair pin corners and beautiful scenery. Running along the Little Tennessee River, it’s a breathtaking ride. Along the way, I managed to find myself behind a pickup truck. The driver and her passenger were engrossed in cell phones and conversation with each other, and didn’t pay me an attention. Normally, most vehicles will pull to the side and let bikers pass, but on this day, that wasn’t going to happen. In fact, we had found ourselves stuck behind MANY vehicles on this day, adding to the frustration of just “poking” along. I finally managed to pass them, but as I was enjoying the open road to myself, I missed my turn on NC143 that takes me into town. After I turned around and made it back to 143, lo and behold, I converged on the turn with, you guessed it, the pickup truck. Naturally, they wouldn’t yield to me and Lt. James Hyde of the Graham County Sheriff’s office came up to me and asked for my driver’s license. After informing him where my gun was, I asked to get off the bike to retrieve my license. He thanked me for telling him about my weapon, and said I could get off the bike, and that this wouldn’t “take that long.” I knew I was nailed. I had no excuse and I admitted as such. He looked at me and said, “listen, the nearest hospital is two counties from here, and the nearest Trauma Center was a helicopter ride, so I need you to slow down and be more careful.” Wait, what? We’re not doing any paperwork? Of course I was grateful and told him I would. Then I asked him, “where were you? I never saw you back there.” He said he had just turned onto 143 when I jumped out around the pickup, and when I took off, he took off after me. once again, I was stuck behind this pickup truck. He was truly one of the most professional and courteous deputies I’ve As you start to roll up NC143, it’s an incline with double yellow lines. Once I got the “single” yellow line, I dropped a gear and blew by the truck, running ever met and since this was the first time I’ve ever been pulled over on the bike, I couldn’t have asked for a more nerve settling encounter. through the gears like I had been shot out of a cannon. In light of the current state of affairs surrounding our law enforcement What happened next just blew my mind. As I slipped into sixth gear and was cruising along, I saw the blue lights in my rear view mirrors. “You are KIDDING me” I said out loud. “Where the HELL did he come from?” On the left side of the road there was a little white church building that had plenty of shade in the front and I motioned to the cop that I was going to turn in there to stop to get off of the main highway. Once I was parked, I turned the bike off and waited for instructions. community I asked if I could pray with him and he agreed. As I placed my hand on his shoulder and his on mine, I was overwhelmed with the moment. I prayed for his protection and thanked God for his forgiving spirit. I asked for his continued safety and good judgement. It was just the perfect way to end a hot and frustrating day, standing in front of this little white church, in the hills of North Carolina. The lesson I learned? You don’t always get what you deserve. #ticket 12 ThunderRoadsTennessee.com OCTOBER 2020