Iceman was a founding member of the Rotten Dead MC. He lived in Korea for a number of years with his wife and his adopted daughter both as a member of the United States Army and as a civilian.

At the end of 2007, he made the decision to return to the United States. He shipped his houshold items, including his beloved Suzuki Intruder,home in December 2007. Upon arrival in the states he was counting the days until his bike arrived.

Finally, his bike arrived. On the day it came, he hooked up the battery, hooked up the fuel line, dropped some gas in the tank and fired it up and took off down the road to fill the “Truder” up with gas. On the way to a gas station, an oncoming cager turned left across his path.

Iceman was killed.

Iceman was a devoted husband and father. He was also a Brother in the fullest sense of the word. He loved his bike, he loved his Club Brothers, and he loved his Club. He served as the Club’s first Sgt-at-Arms.

The Rotten Dead MC’s motto is “Brotherhood survives beyond the grave.” Iceman was our Brother in life, and he will be our Brother forever.

You will be missed, Brother Iceman.

Rotten Dead Forever! Forever Rotten Dead!

This particular Rotten Dead MC episode involved Big Daddy, Heretic, and Prospect Jeremy. Flash is still in Australia. Prospect Azrael had to leave for the airport at 4:00 am the next morning, so he was unable to join in the festivities.

Saturday, 7 June 2008, started out like any other day for Prospect Jeremy. Drinking too much the night before and waking up at 4:00 in the afternoon.

Jeremy had intended to ride down from Seoul to enjoy the long weekend plus a couple of extra days of vacation. As the weather called for rain over several days, he decided to take the train to Pusan on Friday evening. Of course, the weather was beautiful all weekend, with only a little rain late one night.

Jeremy kept to himself and recovered from the night before until around 7:00 pm on Saturday night. Jeremy and Big D. hooked up for dinner at Amby’s Restaurant, a streetside restaurant with both indoor and outdoor seating on Pusan’s infamous Texas Street. They enjoyed a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs on the outside table. The dinner extended over an hour as they sat on the street and admired the beauty that summer has to offer as it passed back and forth down the street in front of them.

After dinner Prospect Jeremy and Big D. wandered from establishment to establishment killing time until Heretic fishined work and made the train ride down from Seoul. Heretic arrived around midnight, and the party began in earnest.

We then prowled streets, bars, and clubs across the city, visiting five or six different establishments during the course of the night, and visiting some places more than once.

The general idea was to get Jeremy significantly more intoxicated than he thought he was. Jeremy was more than willing to play along.

As night slowly rolled toward day, the party raged on.

Finally as it began to get light outside, Jeremy began to realize that he was not as well off as he thought he was and started making noises about going home and sleeping it off. That was the cue to launch Operation Knight Rider! Heretic and Big D said that they were hungry and suggested having breakfast at Amby’s Restaurant before going to sleep. Prospect Jeremy was easy to influence at that point. He agreed to have breakfast. He was even convinced that he didn’t really want the egg breakfast and should have the hamburger instead.

Lani, one of the waitresses at Amby’s began cooking the burger.

When it was time to put all of the pieces together Big Daddy stepped in and made sure that the burger had way too much ketchup and way too much mayonaise on it. It was essential that the burger be slippery and messy.

Lani put the buger in front of Jeremy, but Big D. picked it up and walked across the alley. Jeremy’s face registered several different flavors of bewilderment and confusion. Big D. called Prospect Jeremy to come front and center. Jeremy came like an overly-inebriated dutiful pup.

Big D. put the plate on the ground and ordered Prospect Jeremy to eat the burger “Hasselhoff style”. Jeremy blinked a few times as the instructions began to work their way through the muddled, cluttered corridors of his brain to the main information processing center. Once the light went on and he understood what he was to do, he hit the deck and assumed the position. He prostrated himself on the street in the morning daylight as people were passing by to either end their long night or start their early morning.

His instructions were to eat the burger in the same manner as legendary TV star David Hasselhoff had consumed his Wendy’s burger for all the world to see.

The Hass:

Prospect Jeremy performed admirably:

Through hard work, patience, and loyalty, Prospect Jeremy displayed his committment to the biker lifestyle and his love and loyalt to the Rotten Dead MC. Jeremy received his full patch. He was no longer Prospect Jeremy. He became our Brother.

Welcome to the Rotten Dead MC, Brother Pony.

How and why he became known as Pony is a story for another time and place.

RDFFRD!

This was a run where so many things went right and so many things went wrong. I guess that means it was a success…for some of us.

Everybody worked hard to get ready for the three day ride. The Club agreed to meet up in the tiny town of Mungyeong, which is exactly halfway between Pusan and Seoul. WIth Brother Flash still in Australia, that left Brother Big Daddy and Prospect Azrael to ride up from Pusan and Brother Heretic to ride down with brand new Prospect Jeremy to ride down from Seoul.

Prospect Jeremy, who stands just over 9 feet 7 inches tall (ok. probably more like 6 feet 6 inches : 2 meters), got his prospect patches the day before the run. He and Heretic went out and found a vest that sort of, kind of, almost fit Prospect Jeremy’s massive frame and sewed on his patches. The guys coming down from Seoul were packed and sitting in a Starbucks Coffee at 7:00 am on 10 May 2008. They hit the road around 7:30 am and had an uneventful 4-hour ride down highways 1 and 34 to highway 3 and then into Mungyeong.

The guys riding up from Pusan did not have quite an easy go of it. After getting of work on Friday night, Big Daddy went to pick up Prospect Azrael. The plan was to have Prospect Azrael sleep at Big Daddy’s house so they could leave together early in the morning. They left Prospect Azrael’s house and got under way. About 10 minutes later Prospect Azrael’s bike suddenly stopped in the middle of an 8-lane road about 30 meters in front of a mile-long tunnel. His battery was totally dead and had no juice at all.

Big Daddy managed to get Prospect Azrael’s bike back to Prospect’s house without much trouble. Unfortunately, that ended Prospect Azrael’s participation in the ride and left Big Daddy to spend a lot of time on the road alone.

After a sad parting, Big Daddy left Prospect Azrael and went home to get some sleep.

Big Daddy awoke to a light rain falling Saturday morning. A quick check of the internet determined that the rain did not extend very far to the North. So, Big Daddy hit the road at 8:00 am without rain gear, determined to ride through the rain and let the wind dry him off the rest of the way. Because of the rain, Big D was forced to ride a bit slower than he had wanted to and fell a bit behind schedule. The rain stopped just on the other side of Masan.

So foregoing rest stops and bathroom breaks, Big D. took highway 2 to 5 and then turned left onto 26 just before Taegu.

He then turned right onto 33 and followed it up to 39 and on into Kimcheon, stopping only once along the way to take a leak on the side of the road near a beautiful river flowing from a dam on top of the mountain just before Kimcheon.

Big D. rode down out of the mountains and into Kimcheon.

The Rotten Dead was scheduled to meet in Mungyeong at 12:00 pm. In order to arrive as close to the meeting time as possible, Big D. rode through Kimcheon and onto highway 3. He hoped to have enough fuel to get to Mungyeong, but he was forced to stop for gas about 20 kilometers outside of Mungyeong.

As he was filling up, Heretic called and asked when Big D. would be arriving. In the middle of the phone call, Heretic said that some guy had just wrecked his motorcycle in front of him and Prospect Jeremy. Heretic said to meet at the convenience store in Mungyeong and then hung up to attend to the accident. Big Daddy raced up the street and into Mungyeong hoping to see what was going on.

Big D. arrived at Mungyeong around 12:30 and pulled up in front of the convenience store where everyone was supposed to meet. Prospect Jeremy and Heretic stepped onto the street from the convenience store talking about the guy that was temporarily pinned under his bike until they assisted in rescuing him.

We walked across the street to a restuarant we eat at when in Mungyeong.

We spent an hour or so eating some deliciously spicy chicken and having a good laugh.

The restaurant was full of elderly people that were fascinated by us. We then went back across the street to have a cold drink.

After the long rest, we mounted our bikes and headed up highway 3 back toward Seoul.

We rode along highwway 3 until we reached highway 34.

We headed west on 34 and followed the road until it met with highway 1 at the town of Seonghwan.

We made a stop along the way to fuel up and stretch the legs.

We turned North on Highway 1 and rode into pyeongtaek where we stopped along the road to get a drink and rehydrate our bodies. From there, we pushed on into Seoul arriving about 11 hours after departure.

We pull up to Heretic’s house, dropped our gear and bags, took a quick shower, and had a bit of a rest. We Then kicked off the evening’s activities be setting out to hook up with American Steel Peenut, American Steel Goose, and other riders. We were supposed to meet at ASMC Peenuts’ house for an awesome bbq dinner. After getting lost a few times, we arrived shortly after ASMC Peenut and the others had left.

We made a phone call and found out that they were at a bar in Apkujeong. So, we rode across town to meet them there. However, due to certain logistical problems we spent 30 minutes riding around the neighborhood looking for the bar. We found it and pulled up at exactly the same time that everyone was leaving the bar to head to Itaewon.

We jumped right back on our bikes and joined the pack on the ride to Itaewon.

The night in Itaewon started with a coke and nachos around 10:00 pm and ended around 7:00 am playing darts with transexuals in a seedy second floor bar on hooker hill.

The plan was to wake up early, make the two-hour ride north to Dongducheon for some bbq and then head back to Seoul and hang out for the afternoon and night. However, people didn’t start stirring until around noon and then, only grudgingly. We ordered some pizza and hung out at Heretic’s house watching Spinal Tap.

Big D. was supposed to head back to Pusan the following day. However, after considering several factors he decided that it would be best to head back to Pusan later that day. So, Big Daddy, Heretic, and Prospect Jeremy took off at around 4pm. After stopping for an iced beverage at Starbucks and some gas, the troop headed South. Prospect Jeremy peeled off around Anyang to take care of his chain. Heretic followed Big D. down to Osan before turning around to head back up to Seoul.

Alone, Big D. headed down highway 1 bound for Taejeon.

It was getting dark and bugs were coming out. Before too long, Big D. was in the midst of a bug holocaust. He had to clean his helmet several times in order to see through the insect corpses.

After getting turned around, lost, bugged up, and hungry, Big D. decided to call it a night in Taejeon. He woke up early and refreshed and hit the road, arriving back in Pusan about 5 hours later.

For more pictures from the ride, click here.

The Rotten Dead MC moved to converge on Pyeongtaek, Korea to participate in the American Steel MC Poker Run on 12 April 2008. The RDMC had a small but festive showing at the Poker Run. Heretic and Big Daddy made the trek, the others were unavailable due to travel and other commitments. Heretic rode down from Seoul and made the poker run. Big Daddy took the train up from Pusan after work.

7:30 at Starbucks in Itaewon, Seoul, was the meet-up time and place for Heretic. Heretic was greeted by three of the Seoul-residing American Steel MC members as well as a few guests. A few cups of joe and and muffins later, Heretic and the crew rumbled off quickly South towards Pyeongtaek. To Heretic’s short-sleeved chagrin, the sun refused to come out from behind a thick ceiling of clouds and the temperatures remained well short of the projected high of 22 degrees Celsius.

Riding hard down Highway 1, the group arrived comfortably before registration at the ASMC clubhouse. It was wheels up at 11:00 and the group of 53 bikes set off for the four stage run which saw the riders driving past, parking in front of, socializing to the backdrop of, and warming up to the sights of early Spring.

The riders were greeted by thousands of cherry blossoms.

There was a lake rimmed with vinyl lazy-boys.

At one point along the run, one of Korea’s seven ‘free-range’ bees accentuated Spring by bouncing off Heretic’s face at 100 KM/H.

To prove that April is the cruelest month, Heretic’s Nightster’s massive 3.3 gallon tank did him the favor of turning on the low-fuel light ten seconds after departing from the second stop. Taking a cue from the bee, Heretic decided to keep on trucking in formation. His engine was cutting out as the group reached the third stop, but he had made it. Heretic backtracked half a kilometer and filled up as the other riders parked and drew their third card.

At this point, Heretic had a pair of tens, an eight of clubs and the sun was finally beginning to give some warmth and comfort. The rest of the ride was a lackadaisical affair and Heretic slipped a few times into the nothingness of the roar of the river of Harleys and the halcyon waves the sun provided. Finally, the group arrived back at the ASMC clubhouse. Bikes lined the street near the ASMC clubhouse as the riders made their final card draw.

Heretic’s hand never improved beyond the pair of tens, but all the hamburgers and hotdogs anyone could want were on the grill and the best chili on the peninsula was simmering in crockpots inside. After a good feed, Heretic waddled off to the hotel room for a bit of a rest and to wait for the Pusan contingent to arrive.

Flash back a few hours and a few hundred kilometers to the Southeast.

Big D. had trouble concentrating on work that beautiful, but slightly chilly, Saturday morning. He knew what was ahead and wanted desperately to get out of the office as quickly as possible. He had arranged to meet HAMC Prospect Frode at Pusan Station around 1:00pm. Finally, Big D couldn’t take it any more and escape from the office an hour early and relatively undetected.

Big D was hanging out at Amby’s Restaurant on Texas Street across for the train station waiting the arrival of Frode. The big man showed up with just enough time left to get some lunch before jumping the train to Pyeongtaek. After stuffing their faces at Amby’s Big D and Frode hopped the 1:20pm train to Pyeongtaek.

They arrived at around 4:15 and taxied to the ASMC clubhouse. Big D and Frode met up with Heretic at the hotel and dropped their bags off in the room before heading over to the clubhouse.

At the ASMC clubhouse, introductions were made and Frode got to know some of the other bikers that were there. A few cold hamburgers and a few beverages filled our stomachs, and then it was time to party.

We finished eating around 6:00pm and settled in for a few hours of biker talk and banter. The RDMC mingled with the other clubs and independent riders and at around 8:00pm, everyone set out on a bar crawl around several drinking establishments in the neighborhood of the ASMC clubhouse. As the night wore on, more and more bikers and some of their old ladies showed up.

The fun continued to escalate and eventually we had entire bars full of American Steel MC, Rotten Dead MC, Boozefighters MC, Freedom Rider MC, and independent-type bikers.

Frode was having a great time. He was an instant hit with bikers, non-bikers, bartenders, and babes. Within minutes of arriving at any bar, he had all of the patrons and employees of the bars joining him for his Madhouse Crew “HEY HEY HEY!!!!!” yell.

However, one of the rules of late nights and alcohol is that, at some point, the party reaches critical mass, and the whole thing begins to fall apart. Slowly, the numbers dwindle as people drift off to bed. Eventually, the party is over.

WIth any booze-filled party comes the inevitable morning after. Heads pound from wicked hangovers and lack of sleep. The 30 watt light bulbs of the darkened VFW club proves to much to handle as the people who have managed to wake up tuck into a delicious breakfast of bacon, sausage, eggs, toast, and biscuits and gravy.

After breakfast, Heretic straddled his bike and rode back to Seoul. Big D and HAMC Prospect Frode took an adventurous train ride back to Pusan, which included a mad dash to a train platform, getting off at the wrong station, a racing taxi cab across a city, a run to a terminal, confusion, leaping up stairs, and barely catching the connecting train.

Once Big D and Frode got back to Pusan, they loaded up the bike that Frode bought from Big D and headed out toward Frode’s home approximately 3 hours from Pusan.

While still in Pusan, Big D had to stop to take care of some business. Across the street were two guys wearing nearly identical clothes sitting astride matching pink scooters. Even more amusing was the store they were sitting in front of was playing the Village People’s “YMCA” on the outdoor speakers.

After completing the business, Big D and Frode rode about halfway to Frode’s home, at which time Frode continued on and Big D returned to Pusan.

Click on the video to see images and video from the ASMC Poker Run.

For more pictures of the event, visit the photo gallery by clicking here.

Thanks again to ASMC for their hospital and a great time.

Congrats to Prospect Azrael!

On 16 February 2008, the club met for the twofold purpose of having fun and to conduct some serious club business.

We gathered at the United Seamens Service Center in Pusan (aka “the Seamen’s Club”)

While there, we feasted on fried chicken, patty melts, fish and chips, soda, iced tea, beer, and snacks.

After feasting and having a great meal and laughs, we vacated the bar and moved over in the pool room where we shot pool for a while. The games were seriously high stakes. The loser had to pay the dollar for the next game.

The Seamen’s Club closed at 10:00pm so we moved our party to our adopted club house, “O’Briens Irish Pub”. When we arrived, we took a few solemn moments to tell Azrael that he had been accepted as a prospect for the Rotten Dead MC. After smiles and a good round of man hugs, we promptly started bossing him around until about 4:00 am. Great fun was had by all….including Prospect Azrael (at least we assume so…because he came back).