Appeal Process, Contac, and Method of Communicaton

[rbenash]

Hello folks:

I'm one of those PIA's that want to file an apeal to the judging I received at a recent meet.

Read through all the docs but what is not clear anywhere - at least anything that I've looked at is:

Who is and what is the contact info (phone, email, etc) for the Chief Judge?

What format do I provide my appeal in - printed docs, email reference with .jpeg photos, etc.?

I'd appreciate anyone who can tell me who to contact and how.

I've left emails to the org as well as vmail - but I know everyone is basically volunteering so trying to get to the process fast so I stay in the
30 day window.

I want to start the process ASAP or be on record as starting the process ASAP.

Thanks

[Chris Haynes]

Your appeal should be made before you leave the judging area. Always have all of your refrence material with you when your bike is being judged.

[jwl]

Page 97 of the last AMCA magazine has all of the contact info you will need. I would contact Don to see how he wants you to file your appeal. Don't worry, he will treat you fairly if you have your ducks in a row. You don't need to file your appeal before you leave the judging area but if the judges are still available after the judging ends it is a good place to start the process if you have all of your documentation with you. Good Luck.

[rbenash]

Thanks jwl - I did have a conversation after the meet. Unfortunately left the "bible" at home :-( So need to take this route. Only one of the judges was available after the awards ceremeony, that conversation was worthless of course without having my docs with me.

[Duda]

I had my servi judged by Carl and Don at Oley in 2012. I discussed the judging with them at the meet and then contacted them thru email. easy to deal with. I made the changes and Don re-judged it at Rhinebeck and only looked at the things that were noted on the 1st judging sheet. The process worked very well for me and I give Don and the process high marks.

[rbenash]

Yep, already in contact with Don. He was excellent to deal with at the meet as well. So I'm just going to work through the line by line on the sheet and hand it off the details and supporting info to him and work through it. Very positive person to work with. I'll share the experience later so that others understand the process. Will probably post a summary here but details on the Panhead forum.

[jwl]

Ray, In one of your prev. post you mentioned that you had left your "bible" at home. When I hear the term bible in the Ant. MC world I think of Palmer's book but mine only goes up to 64. If you are referring to the same publication that I am it won't be of much use since you have a 65, don't you??? Anyway, I wish you the best with your appeal.

[rbenash]

Hah - There is no single book for '65. My "bible" in that regard is the collection of factory docs/references, brochures, and other stuff that I can point to to support some things specific to '65 FLH challenges. There's some general stuff in there too like parts manuals, accessory manuals, etc. Palmer's book I have too - it's great for the pan restorer in general, has a pretty good reference on saddlebags too. Doesn't cover much of anything specific to '65, I think he considered the '65 a first year shovel which in a lot of ways it is frankly.


Hey it's just a motorcycle/collection of parts :-) There's some things that I feel I got judged incorrectly on is all that pretty much kept me from the less than 2 points I needed to get my Senior. There's some deductions on the sheet that would be wrong for me to do on a '65, but probably correct for a '64 or earlier Pan that I got hit pretty hard on that wasn't a concern at Oley. We'll see how it goes. Education works both ways.

[rbenash]

Definitely needed to follow up here. I did contact Don back in July.

All I can say is even though we didn't agree on everything the whole appeal process and the discussions with Don was a very positive one. Don spent a lot of time with me, and we worked through
everything that I didn't agree with on the judging of my '65 FLH which everyone knows is a really tough year to get right.

I think we have a great judging program in the organization and with Don's leadership a true appeal process that leverages expertise and learning that improves the process overall from both sides.

Can't say enough about the whole thing.

If you go to a meet, get judged and don't agree - reach out to the judging leadership and work the process.

I did and I found an open opportunity for discussion, dialog and working towards an understanding of the whole process which gave me
an even better appreciation of the club efforts and value in terms of the whole judging program.

Don was very challenging and I did need to prove my points with proper documentation and detail which is a good thing.

There will be occasions where the judging can be perceived as sub standard but when you take the time and effort through appeals and do your homework, remain open, etc
the current leadership does a great job in accommodating without lowering the bar in terms of accuracy and proper change an improvement to thoe whole process.

Don't know how it was in the past but have to say that currently I am totally impressed with the professionalism of the current leadership. Hope it stays this way!

In my experience the judging program in this club is a huge benefit that differentiates us as a national organization dedicated to the correct restoration and evaluation of
old bikes.

Thanks Don!

Any individual judging event can be different - but in the end the appeal process in place is the avenue for correction, education and improvement of the whole process.

Take the time and use it all as a member.

Thanks Don - and thanks to the whole program - judges that volunteer to spend their time working with us to get thing right. Can't expect the judges to know everything.

[Chris Haynes]

What were the issues you questioned?