The DGR is what inspired us to get moving Arkweldr Higher Moto.  The Movember Foundation has a nice page summing up what the ride’s all about and how you can jump in to help the cause. Here’s the low down:

On one day every year, over 500 cities around the world are abuzz with thousands of finely dressed gentlefolk upon their classic and vintage motorcycles, riding together in their support for men’s health.

The DGR cites some pretty impressive growth since they started the event:

In 2013, over 11,000 participants in 145 cities around the world raised over $277k (US) for prostate cancer research.

In 2014, over 20,000 participants in 257 cities in 58 countries raised over $1.5M (US) for prostate cancer research.

In 2015, over 37,000 participants in 410 cities in 79 countries raised over $2.3M (US) for prostate cancer research.

For the 2016 fundraising year the the ride page is showing over $3.5M raised at the time of this post. Impressive stuff.

Source: The Movember Foundation

The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride was founded in 2012 by Mark Hawwa in Sydney, Australia, after being inspired by a photo of Mad Men’s Don Draper astride a classic bike, wearing his finest suit. It was decided a themed ride would be a great way to combat the often-negative stereotype of men on motorcycles, whilst connecting niche motorcycle communities together. That first ride brought together over 2,500 riders across 64 cities, with the success of the event encouraging Mark to consider how it could be used to support a worthy cause. The rest, as they say, is eloquently attired history.

Recently, the DGR cited this about their fundraising goals: Influenced by the tragedy of losing one of our ride hosts to depression, 2016 will see a change in our health goals. Now, the funding of suicide prevention programs is a DGR focus, in addition to prostate cancer research through our new official charity partner The Movember Foundation and the support of our title sponsors Triumph Motorcycles and Zenith Watches.

Source: Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride

The Movember Foundation is the official charity partner of the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride. Both organizations share one simple common goal: giving more life to our fathers, sons, brothers and friends. Funds raised by the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride will be invested by the Movember Foundation in local prostate cancer research and suicide prevention programs.

Source: The Movember Foundation

This year's event will be Sunday, September 24 / 2017.

To find out more about your local rides or how you can get involved, head over to the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride website.

And remember! Every Arkweldr purchase supports the Movember Foundation and fights prostate cancer and men’s mental health issues.  And if you don’t see something you like on our site you can donate directly to the Foundation through the Arkweldr MoBro Page to support these causes.

Ride on!

Best,

The 2016 Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride in St. Louis had a great turnout of riders. Lot’s of cafe bikes and vintage standards to get excited over. But one bike in particularly caught everyone’s attention ~ Chris G’s 1976 Harley-Davidson Ironhead.

I can’t remember what caught my eye first, Chris or his bike. He’s a big dude and would stand out in a crowd on a regular day. But at the DGR he chose to get dapper in red velour pants and a vest. And when big dude’s wear red pants, ride custom-vintage Harley’s with turquoise paint and the fleur-de-lis crested on the tank - well, they’re kind of hard to miss.

Can you pick Chris out of the line up?

Fortune Teller Bar, Cherokee Street, St. Louis, Missouri

I didn’t really talk to Chris much that day about his bike or where the hell he sourced his pants. But since that ride, many of the guys, including Chris and myself, have joined The Toasted Reviolis Motorcycle Club (more on the T-Revs some other time), which allowed me to catch up with him about this great bike.

Below is a post from Chris about how this bike came to be. And if you catch a “u” where you think it’s not suppose to be, that’s King’s English and you better get with the program.

~ I had an idea !! I could see the result in my mind’s eye as clear as if it were sitting there right in front of me – the overall look, the shape, the balance, the flow from front to rear, the colour – yes the colour was critical – it had to capture the spirit of my heart’s desire… the details started to emerge, the larger wheel to the front, a brown sprung seat and oh and it simply had to be a springer… something I had wanted on a bike of my own since I first saw one at 12 years old on the ferry from England to the Isle of Man to watch the TT with my father in 1982. It all seemed so simple. All I had to do was keep on imagining and without doubt it would just come together right? Only there was a problem. Actually, there were several problems. The first being, I had never ‘built’ a bike before. Sure, I had tinkered and tuned and switched parts and done most things the average petrol head (I do not apologise for the liberal sprinkling of Anglicism’s that have occurred and may follow) had undertaken – I had sprayed many a can of paint liberally over a variety of articles but this was different, right? I mean this was to be something completely special. The next problem was more straight forward to deal with mentally. The concept of dealing with a lack of skill and expertise was particularly daunting however the lack of a bike to actually start, well if anything, it kept me from having to worry about problem one – no bike, no problem… phew, what a relief. But then it happened. My greatest dream and worst nightmare rolled in to one. My best friend, an awesome dude and an owner of many rides, hit a bump in the road. More metaphorical than literal thankfully. He had issues that needed resolving and the purchase of his beloved 1976 1000cc 4 speed Harley Sportster bolt on hardtail half chopped and looking cool as you like already, well, it was the least I could do to help. And now I had no choice – well I did, I could leave it just like it was – high rise bars, chunky single seat, classic black and glittery orange tank and awesome pipes stretching out the back,swept up just behind the home made sissy bar that rose to a peak culminating in a fleur-de-lis of epic proportions and solidity. I mean it looked great – especially to him. And therein lies the rub. It was his idea of cool. It was his idea of what a motorcycle should look like. It was his baby – each bracket, nut and bolt was attached or tightened by him. He knew it inside out. What to do when this wouldn’t turn, when that wouldn’t work or what needed tightening every ride v’s every second ride (it was a ’76 Harley after all). Yes, I could have learned all those things either over time or quite quickly by asking the questions but ultimately, they would all have been his things, not my things. Things he already knew about… some he had caused during the build, others he had just to wait and see about… but all his things. It almost felt like stepping in to someone else dream. It wasn’t my dream – I simply had to do this. Stand up. Be a man (or woman – after all, anyone can do this). Take a leap of faith. If not believe in myself then believe in the outcome. And so I began !!!

In writing this I had a choice. I could delve in to every nut and bolt, every cut, saw or grind mark. Each snip and spark. But that is not what this was about (plus I can save that for another day – they count the words when you write these things you know – you have to save some for later). I had one reason for pulling together this barely lucid personal diatribe. You see there is kind of a point to this. And that is, if I can do this then you can do this. It sounds a little contrite, but damn it, it is true. I should qualify this a little. And this may sound like I am a little over qualified in some respects… a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Engineering for starters. But the realities of these are that knowing that ‘In any cyclic process the entropy will either increase or remain the same’ and that ‘heat is a form of energy, and thermodynamic processes are therefore subject to the principle of conservation of energy and therefore that heat energy cannot be created or destroyed’ has much more chance of leading to a weld that looks like something deposited by the rats of the sky (pigeons to you and I) on the pavement – ok I give in – sidewalk. Because here’s the thing. You learn. You learn so much and in such a short time that you WILL surprise yourself. You learn in so many ways too. You learn practical skills. I learned to paint, I learned to weld (a little better), I learned how to wire a bike from scratch, I learned what works and just as importantly, I learned what did not. I learned much more though. I learned if I try I may fail. I may fail again. But if I am determined I will succeed. I am proud of myself. And I achieved. It’s not perfect. It’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But it’s my ‘not perfect’. They are my nuts to tighten. They are my leaks to watch out for every ride or every second ride. I know I have to check the steering regularly (that’s a new thing ‘I’ built in to this machine – before I switched to the springer it was fine !!). I’m the only one that knows the paint on one side of the tank is different than the paint on the other. But none of these things matter. They are all mine and I wouldn’t have it any other way. So, gentlefolk. I implore you. See your dream. Feel that dream. Build that dream and best of all…. Live that dream !!! ~

Chris G. is a great dude. And if you see him out and about, ripping through your neighbo”u”rhood, sporting a T-REVS MC shirt and a pair of red velour pants, make sure you check this bike out. Thanks Chris for the awesome post!

After getting moving in October 2016, Arkweldr “soft launched” in February of this year. We opened our store front to family and friends, received some great input on design and all the scrabbly bits that needed to be figured. It’s been a lot of fun getting this project off the ground and it was a real thrill as we made our first sales, especially because it meant that we could put our money where our mouth is and get down to supporting the Movember Foundation as we moved to launch.  

We’ll be donating a portion from each sale to fight prostate cancer and men’s mental health issues. Our funds will flow to our MoBro page on a quarterly basis and we just made our first donation of $106 USD for Q1 2017!  Super pumped.

Our fundraising goal out the gate is $1000 and we hope we knock this out in our first year.  

Arkweldr would like to give a gentlemanly nod to it’s first customers, fellow bikers and bros who helped prime the Higher Moto pump:

Iron Maiden Blake

Wally

Sterly 

DGR Jake

Austin 

Cheers gents! Here’s to the road ahead ...

Arkweldr is the intersection of my love of motorcycles and classic style and my interest in the fight against men’s health issues. A portion of each purchase made at Arkweldr supports the Movember Foundation to to prevent men from dying from preventable causes.

~

It was at the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride where I met an incredible group of people riding and rallying to fight men’s prostate cancer and mental health issues. The day had an impact on me and I remember saying to myself, "I hope I never know one". I hope we get to a place where the people affected by these serious health issues are few and far between.

This thought motivated me to do more and more often to help extinguish these issues. So I built something that raises funds beyond the great events that support this cause - Arkweldr.

You have a ton of choice when it comes to where you get your gear, but with Arkweldr your purchase stands to make a difference in the lives of men and their families affected by prostate cancer and mental health issues. Approximately 13% of men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point during their lifetime. Three quarters of all suicides are male. With your support this will change.

At Arkweldr you’ll find some of my favorite distinguished brands and moto-inspired goods brought together to support these issues. I hope you find something that moves you to ride, give to the cause, and reach your Higher Moto.

Best,

Noah