Author Archive

Impromptu Ride thru Malibu and the Rock Store

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

Bill Easter has mentioned that we did not have many rides planned so I proposed a short ride last Sunday and got 5 of us out early and up to County Line by 9:30 AM. Here’s a picture that I cropped and blew up so it may be grainy.

Vincents in Malibu

This one may be better:

Neptune's

So we stopped for a bit and around 10 AM we headed up into the hills. We wound around for a while and ended up on Mulholland Highway and the Rock Store. Unusual to have 4 Vincents at the Rock Store so we got some attention. Until Antoine Predock, a So Cal VOC member, showed up on his Bimota Tesi, a very exotic bike. It’s front end is a swing arm and it is center hub steering. Way ahead of it’s time the bike is over 20 years old now. It was a treat to see him as well as another Vincent owner, Bjorn Nilsen. Bjorn saw us and mentioned that he had a “C” Rapide that he had not run for about 10 years. He had issues with backfiring that he felt were fuel related. I believe that seeing us invigorated his desire to ride his again and I think we will see him and his Rapide soon!

Antoine generously took my photo with my Rapide so here’s that prize.
Bones at the Rock

Then we left the Rock Store and grabbed some chow. Tony, Patrick and me headed into the belly of the beast and started lane splitting about Tamp as we crossed the Valley and finally got back to Echo Park. Tony peeled off in Burbank and overall the day was a success.

Bill informed me the following today about the end of his ride:

After Derry and I left you guys at the restaurant, we went back
to Mulholland Hwy. and proceeded east. Somewhere on a straight stretch
after passing Las Virgenes Rd., Derry passed three cars with me catching
up and after pulling in front of them, his bike quit. He had a suspicion
what was wrong and he proceeded to remove the mag cowl to find a wire off
of the coil. That was fixed and we were off. Derry took Old Topanga
Canyon Road, which leads to Topanga Canyon Blvd., and I continued on with
my original plan to turn right at the end onto Mulholland Drive. After
crossing Topanga Canyon Blvd., Mulholland turns into a narrow,
residential road which some very interesting homes situated on the north
side. Eventually, a “Pavement Ends in X Feet” is encountered and then an
“Pavement Ends” sign is encountered and the pavement dose indeed end.
The dirt road has not been maintained for a long time and it is full of
ruts and it is extremely bumpy. After a while, “No Motor Vehicles,
Motorcycles, etc. are permitted beyond this point” signs were encountered
quite frequently. I could not determine if they were for the road or for
off the road. Eventually, I came to an impressive gate across the road
just beyond the top end of Santa Maria Road so I gave up on going farther
on Mulholland Drive. This is in Marvin Brade Gateway Park (per the mat
and some sign that I passed) which is totally undeveloped. Your tax
money at work. I checked the map which showed that Santa Maria went
through to Topanga Canyon Blvd. but it was signed private property,
permission to cross required from owner. This road was paved and went by
a number of ranches and I eventually got to Topanga and went to PCH with
a lot of traffic on Topanga. I retraced my route home via PCH, I-10 and
the I-405, arriving about 2:00 P.M. Derry would have hated the dirt road
as it was very rough where the ruts were not. There was no washboard,
probably because it had not been leveled for so long. I usually think
that the washboard effect is created by the bull dozer tracks to begin
with and then use and rain intensify them.

That’s all for this week, next week is Hansen Dam, BSA ride and the following week is meeting with ride preceding at Tom and Debbie’s. See K17 for more info.

Busy May, get those bikes ready!

Cheers!

February 2013 Section Meeting

Saturday, February 16th, 2013

I know it’s been a while and I haven’t forgotten. Been busy… riding.

Here are some pictures from our last get together at my house on Feb the 2nd. There was a decent turnout and my friend Heather took some nice pictures so here they are:

Section Colors

 A shot of the Driveway / dining area, frenzy ensuing

 

Reverse Angle

from the other side to illustrate the proceedings

Tom Gross, James Salter, Jody Nicholas, and Peter Aish

a decent cross section of the Section membership

Tom, James, Jody & Peter

 BikeMike’s Bike

Pretty Picture!

Josh and Ed

No shortage of opinions!

 Bookends

Mike A, Derry & Dave from the back

 CU

 I will try not to be so elusive. More to come, ride to Ojai is tomorrow. The season begins!

 

 

New Shadow Owner

Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

The smiles don’t get much wider than that. A happy man, Kiyo bought his bike at El Camino last month. He has some work to do but he did well overall. Let’s see how it looks in the months to come. I’m sure he will get it looking better than it has in years.

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kiyo-2.JPG

Best of luck! I’m sure we will be riding together soon!

Cambria Ride

Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

Although I was not able to attend I did receive some action shots of some folks and their Vincent’s as they enjoyed the vistas around Cambria.

gregnlu.jpg

Guess who?

 tom2.jpg

How about this guy?

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What can I say, Bill is the man!

 

I will see if I can get someone who attended to try and update with particulars if possible.

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Our S.O. showing it how it’s done!

Keep the Rubber side down.

 

Rally in the Rockies Update

Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

The Rally was a blast from this participants perspective. I had to leave prior to the end but not before taking a few rides around the area. Here are some photos. I will expound more on the Rally but I have a lot of updates to enter so for now take a look at the pix!!

Josh’s Outfit for the Rally

My Setup in Mancos

Bar Hodgson and his bike Gunga Din

Bar Hodgson and Gunga Din, his factory racer

Dennis Magri and his Vindian

Dennis and his Vindian

 Bob Ives, Mike A., Robert Rymer, Josh B., and David Marshal in Dolores Co.

The boys on a ride to Dolores, Co.

Bob Ives, Mike A., Robert Rymer, Josh B., and David Marshal in Dolores Co.

 

There were about 75-80 Vincents there from what I was told. I was able to take a ride with Robert Rymer and Bar Hodgson on Monday and with the guys above on Tuesday. Monday was a joyride through the mountains around Mancos. Tuesday we went to Dolores and saw Sam Manganaro’s VincentWorks shop as well as  Colorado Norton Works a few miles away. It was a beauty day and fun was had by all!

 

Rally in the Rockies Sept 3-7 2012

Sunday, August 26th, 2012

See the link for all pertinent information:

http://www.vincentworks.com/rally.php

 

 

 

Rally 2012!

Venue information:

Echo Basin Ranch

43747 County Road M

Mancos, CO 81328

970.533.7000

echobasinranch@gmail.com


 

Annual Section Picnic 2012

Friday, August 17th, 2012

It was a gorgeous southern California afternoon and the picnic attracted a large gathering. A gathering that arrived enthused and left fulfilled without doubt. There were 10 Vincents on hand and Mitch Talcove won the Dick Busby Memorial Trophy this year with his 37 Comet, a bike that would be hard to ever beat for beauty. Here are some pictures that Side Car Suzy sent my way via Mike A.

Here’s a pan shot of Mitch presiding.

Mitch Holding Court

The Dick Busby Memorial Trophy

Dick Busby Memorial Trophy

A Panoramic  Shot of the 10 Bikes

Pan Shot of 10

Normal Shot

10-vincents2.jpg

Mitch and Bill

mitch-and-bill.jpg

It was a real blast! Great turnout.

Annual Picnic and Prince of Darkness Ride August 11,2012

Tuesday, August 7th, 2012

The Annual Section Picnic starts at noon and is held at Chevron Park in El Segundo. Please RSVP with Bill Easter if you have not yet done so. See Julys K 17 for further info.

then

6PM at Glory 4659 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles just east of Vermont. Ride leaves at 7 and goes through Hollywood and over Mulholland  Dr. to Bob’s Big Boy in Toluca Lake

It will be a hot day in many respects. Shine em up!

Here’s another pic of Steve Batesole, the Rollie Free trophy winner from last year and his stock Shadow. Get that bike out of the shed. The trophy could be on your mantle!

Steve and his Shadow

July Section Meeting

Thursday, July 5th, 2012

Saturday at 6pm at section HQ. Contact Bill Easter or Josh B for further info

Mike Parti: Honorary SoCal Section Member

Monday, June 18th, 2012

Joining Marty Dickerson and the founders of the section Bob and Cathy Kountz. Mike has worked on over 200 engines over the years and he is still a vital go to man when one begins to try and unravel various dramas that may arise in relation to sorting one’s machine. His machining capabilities are superior to most and his history with the marque, from piloting a sidecar rig, to working side by side with Rollie Free, made the decision to bestow this honor on him all the easier.

Here is a picture of Mike receiving a small plaque to commemorate the event, his grasp was tight and his appreciation for the recognition remains high. I saw him last week and he mentioned that he is installing a shelf to display the plaque for all to see. He is a very proud but humble man and I was honored to share not only in our section organizer Mitch Talcove’s presentation, but the celebration as a whole.

A day I won’t soon forget. Mike is so generous with his time and knowledge. And he has a million stories too! Congratulations to Mike, for being recognized for his wealth of knowledge, and to the section for making a good decision to acknowledge a man who has spent countless hours getting to know the method to Vincent’s madness

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