Archive for the ‘Meetings’ Category

June Meeting

Friday, June 8th, 2012

The Section meeting is this Saturday at Vic Cohen’s at 5PM. See the most recent issue of K17 for particulars, or contact Josh Bogage at k17@socalvoc.com

May Ride and Meeting in Redlands

Saturday, May 12th, 2012

A long but amazingly enjoyable day that started bright and early with a 8:45 AM arrival at Tom and Debbie’s place. Tom rode his Velocette as his Vincent stable is currently under construction.

Tom’s Velo 

I will leave the specifics for newsletter, but here is a shot of the group gathering. Bill Easter’s Shadow is on the right and Greg McBride’s Series B Shadow is next going left. There are a few Velos and a few more Vincents farther to the left.

May Ride - Before

That’s me in the middle with my overalls in flux.

Not lot after we departed Derry had a gremlin pop up in the engine and although the bike would run, the sound it made was not desirable. Derry trucked his bike back to Tom and Debbie’s place to wait while we did a run to Idyllwild.

The ride was amazing. We were now separated from the bunch and it was just four in our group now. What a beautiful ride. The valley as we rose up. Then over the ride and into another valley. Then seemingly out of no where a small town. It looked like it was a town that had been frozen in time. Motorcycles everywhere. We relaxed a short while and then blew back down to the superslab and a great meal and meeting at the Gross’.

When we returned there we found that Bill and Derry had nearly field stripped  Derry’s Shadow in a search for the elusive gremlin. Bill had returned earlier with some clutch slipping issues not much farther into the ride then when Derry had turned back.

They had the Primary case off, the clutch disassembled and the generator disconnected.

Derry’s Primary

They also had the Timing case open and the current theory is that the issue may be related to the distributor.

Derry’s Timing

Here’s and after shot of the bunch.

After the ride

Two Rapides, two Shadows, a Velocette Venom, Shadow in the pickup bed, Bill’s Shadow lurking in the back of the drive.

 

Speaking for myself, it was a great day. I have been riding many years. Never have I seen the comraderie and friendship that the So Cal VOC show to each other. A bike breaks down and within two hours a group of club members already have the motor apart and are well on the way to finding the gremlin.

A truly special experience this Vincent one is.

April Meeting and Ride

Sunday, April 15th, 2012

We departed on a short pleasure ride through Griffith Park and up around the Lake Hollywood reservoir where we stopped to obtain evidence of said ride. Bill Easter and Doris Endo were on Bill’s Shadow, Dave Marshall rode Mitch Talcove’s Red Rapide. Victor Cohen was on his TR6 Trophy, and I was on my Series C Rapide.

April Section Ride Hollywood Ca. 4/07/12

We returned to my home in time to prepare for the gathering hordes. I would say we had a decent turnout which I am sure will be fully covered in the next newsletter. Here is a shot of two guys named Mike I was honored were able to attend.

Mike Aleksander and Mike Parti

Liz made some Easter eggs in since it was the Saturday prior.

Vincent Hardboiled eggs 

Mitch’s bike looked lovely as usual.

Red Rapide

It was a lovely day and I know I enjoyed myself.

Cheers

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April Meeting and Ride

Monday, March 26th, 2012

The April meeting will be Saturday, April 7th.  The ride will start at 2 PM, so please arrive by 1:30 with a full tank of gas.  The meeting will start at 4 PM, and the food will be potluck.  Meet at Josh’s place in Echo Park near Dodger Stadium.  Details in K17.

March Meeting at the Melvin’s

Tuesday, March 13th, 2012

Well another month has blown by and the So Cal section had a very nice gathering at the Melvin’s in San Clemente. The Bill and Marge had a great spread and everyone was very happy we made the choice to attend. There will be a more comprehensive write up in this months K 17 so be on the look out.

Here is a shot of the Bill’s, Bill Melvin and Easter on either side of Doris and Jim Shaffer’s back and Setsuko’s side and a gentleman who’s name escapes me, but he drove his GT40 to the meeting and it was a hit.

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Of course Bill Melvin had some bikes on display. Here is a shot of his Reading Standard, Indian and Ducati.

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I will come back and edit model and year info soon.

All in all it was a lovely day and a full day. I rode down on my KTM 950SM and it was an hour and a half each way and mucho traffic. Thank the lord for legal lane sharing in California.

Be on the lookout for the next K17 which will have a more complete rundown.

March Meeting

Monday, February 27th, 2012

The March meeting will be Saturday, March 10th at noon.  It will be hosted by Bill and Marge Melvin in San Clemente.  Please phone the Melvins if you are planning to attend.  Details in K17.

February Meeting

Saturday, January 28th, 2012

The February meeting will be a repeat of last month’s venue, Bill Easter’s loft, 6 PM Saturday the 4th.  Pot luck again, Bill will provide pizza and his usual dessert, and asks that you coordinate with him for your dish selection.

Off and Running, the First Meeting of the Year

Monday, January 9th, 2012

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Well, I’ve only been attending these meetings for about 35-40 weeks now as opposed too some in the section who have been doing so for nearly that many years! I’ve enjoyed all the gatherings up to this point, but this was the most fun so far. Perhaps it was the venue as much as it was well attended.

The meeting was held at the section headquarters AKA Bill Easter’s loft and, speaking for myself,  I think that this made for a comfortable setting. I must qualify these remarks by saying that, all the meetings I have attended have been comfortable and welcoming, but there is was certainly less inhibition at the clubhouse and for those who have hosted other meetings I have attended please do not misconstrue my observation. All the meetings have been a blast, but the clubhouse affords a special experience. Considering that you must go through Bill’s home to access the loft and in doing so you pass a good deal of motorcycle literature, as well as actual motorcycle history below the loft. Suffice to say there are various motorcycles in addition to Bill’s Vincents.

The Loft provides a wealth of seating as well as a couple of bars to obtain refreshment. Of course there were many Vincent signs and even some evidence of  the Vincent’s record breaking abilities in the form of a Bonneville speed record certifications! I’m sure that the more one visits, the more one will see.

We had a good bit of food to help soak up the libation and we even held a meeting!

Initial plans for the years possible journeys and picnics, etc were outlined. Stay tuned to K 17 and this Blog for specifics when they become available.

Here’s a couple of pictures submitted as proof of these allegations. I seemed to get Bill Easter’s back each time and he was a superlative host as one would expect.

Afterwards, I had a constructive discussion with Mitch Talcove regarding the sorting of my Rapide (which is almost complete). I feel like this is only the beginning and I look forward to my continuing education.

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The pictures do not do the gathering justice. If anyone has any pictures or anecdotes or both, please send them to me and I will disseminate them to the Section masses.

Here’s to a great 2012, it’s off to a good start so far!

Cheers

January Ride and Meeting

Thursday, December 29th, 2011

Here are a couple of dates to save, sorry for the short notice regarding the ride on the 31st!

Quoted from Norton Club Update:

Dec 31st – How about ending the year on a high note at the 26th Annual New Year’s Eve ride? Join us for a breakfast buffet on Saturday, January 31st at Burger Continental, 535 S. Lake in Pasadena (south of Colorado, Lake exit off the 210). We leave for Newcomb’s at 11 am and return to Pasadena around 2 pm stopping at a new Lucky Baldwin’s location just east of Pasadena City College on the south side of Colorado Blvd (before Allen). The weather forecast is for temperatures in the high 60s in town and the mid-50s in the mountains, no rain, ice or snow… and no excuses. New Year’s Eve is on a Saturday this year.

January 7th –  Meeting at Section HQ (Bill Easter’s Loft) 6PM This is a pot luck meeting refer to the K17 or contact Bill Easter for further info

December Meeting

Monday, November 21st, 2011

The December meeting will be Saturday, December 3rd at Bob Mitchell’s home.  The meeting will start at 6 PM.  It is not a pot luck meeting, so to make sure there is enough food for everyone, please RSVP by November 30th.  Bob’s contact info is in K17.