Life HOG member myself. Never been in a local chapter, but a LOT of people just love it. Ya really have to try it. That is the only way that you will ever know for sure.
Every year I ask myself the same question, I'm starting to think I'm a gluttin, it costs a lot of money and you don't get much for it.
Yes I am a member of HOG and our local chapter. I like eating pizza once a month for free. I like having free sausage dogs, hot dogs, and hamburgers every Sat. I like going on different rides almost every day of the riding year led by members of the local HOG Chapter. I like the discount I get from our local dealer. I like the fact that our chapter has about 600 members of which probably 100 are actively involved. They have rides to the York Factory, to movies, to museums. They ride to lighthouses around the Chesapeake, they go on rides around the Chesapeake, they take rides on the Blue Ridge Parkway, they support Rolling Thunder and have police escorted rides to the Pentagon, they have local rides, medium rides, and long distance rides. They have a Ladies of Harley rides for the women. They do charity rides, poker runs and chilli cookoffs. They do a toys for tots ride at Christmas for disadvantaged kids. They have picnics, baseball night, Potomac Speedway rides, Philly Cheesesteak rides, NASCAR rides around the track and so many other rides, that one cannot participate in all of them. The leadership of our club is great and I enjoy the camaradrie. Come visit us, we are in Hughesville, MD. Our website is: http://www.allamericanh-dhog.com/
Some of the chapters are pretty cliquish. The members in the chapter I belong to I belong to are very friendly. They have a lot of rides, dinner rides to various sponsors, and are involved in many charities. They made me feel welcome from the first meeting. In addition to the organized rides, the chapter has a Rider's Challenge Book that has all types of ideas for individual rides. They are a great group of people.
The best advice I've seen is to go to a meeting and check it out for yourself. I'm just looking for a few friends to ride with so I joined when I first got my bike. I found my local chapter to be very cliquish so I quit. I just rejoined because there's new leadership. I'm hoping for the best. Remember, each local HOG chapter is tied(owned) to the dealership so expect that slant on all things HD.
I belong to the local chapter because my wife likes the social aspects and so do I but in a more limited fashion. If'n it were just me..., welllllll, I'm pretty much a loner so....I suppose that I would be a member of the Nomad chapter if HOG had one.