When electrical engineering sophomore Daniel Barlach brought his motorcycle to campus, he was overwhelmed by the number of people who shared his interest.
"There was a ridiculous amount of people that were nice to me," Barlach said. "If I needed help with my bike, there were like eight people in my phone that I could call. I think it's a really warm community, and I think that people need to take advantage of that."
Barlach and his friend, advertising junior Matthew Roth, relaunched the MSU Motorcycle Club three weeks ago. The club had been a registered organization at MSU until 2001 and an unofficial group until 2003, but fizzled out after a former member graduated and the other members didn't keep it going, Barlach said.
"I wanted to make it a registered student organization," Barlach said. "So I went and did the paperwork."
The new version of the club became a registered student organization April 11 and has grown to 55 members.
"It's not just a guys' club," Roth said. "Girls are welcome to join, too. You don't have to have a motorcycle. Anybody interested in motorcycling and anybody that is thinking about buying one can join."
Barlach rides a 2003 Kawasaki. Members own many different kinds of motorcycles, which is beneficial for those planning to purchase a bike, Roth said.
"We have lots of good stories," he said. "We have scary stories and we have lots to tell somebody that might want to buy one."
The club's main focus will be on safety, and the club is planning to have a police officer come to a meeting and teach the club about safe riding, Roth said.
"Instead of getting together and riding together as a group and doing tricks, we want to get together to promote safe riding," he said.
Barlach said he would like the group to help with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, a nationwide program that teaches people how to ride motorcycles properly.
In 2004, more than 4,000 motorcyclists were killed and approximately 76,000 were injured in highway crashes in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Like many clubs attempting to start up, the motorcycle club had trouble finding a faculty sponsor.
"There weren't very many faculty members that were that into riding that they wanted to be a sponsor," Roth said.
Anne Ginther, secretary to the chairperson of the Department of Mathematics, agreed to be the faculty sponsor for the MSU Motorcycle Club.
"We kept an eye out for a faculty member, and when we saw her, she was riding her Harley and we sprinted over to her and told her about it," Roth said. "She was interested and willing."
Ginther's husband sparked her interest in motorcycles.
"My husband has been in it for years," Ginther said. "I got tired of riding on the back, so I went to motorcycle safety classes and I've been riding ever since."
On Tuesday nights, members participate in "bike nights" in Lansing, during which the club rides together to restaurants in downtown Lansing.
On Saturday, the club will hold its first event as an entire group, during which people can have their photos taken with Sparty.
"I wanted to start with a couple of things to get our name out," Barlach said. "I would like to do some road trips to other events, like rallies and things like that. I want the group to pick the events that they want to go to."
