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Travelling, Friends, and Trips
Started by RichNCT at 07-17-2008 9:55 AM. Topic has 7 replies.
  
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 07-17-2008, 9:55 AM
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RichNCT
 
Joined on 03-02-2006
Posts 2,079
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I'll be driving out to VMD, Ohio Thursday, 7/24, be there Friday and Saturday, departing for home Sunday morning. If anyone else is going, how about a posting here? I'll respond with some contact info, or answer questions. On site campsites are about 20 x 25 ft, so it is unlikely we will be able to house anyone else, what with our truck, trailer, two bikes, tent and tarp, but social hours are fer sure! Camping reservations are strongly suggested this year. If you want to revisit your cycling youth, this is the place! Vintage road and dirt racing, lots to do, 35 acre swap meet, etc. This year Triumphs are headlined.
http://www.amadirectlink.com/vmd/2008/
Born to be relatively wild
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07-28-2008, 8:27 AM
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Anonymous
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Re: Vintage Motorcycle Days
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Rich,
How about a report on what happened??? Do you have any JPEGs to post on HTTA for us to look at???
David from Wisconsin
R80Dave
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07-28-2008, 8:31 AM
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PWG in Lowgap NC
Joined on 01-08-2008
Lowgap, North Carolina
Posts 470
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Re: Vintage Motorcycle Days
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And I'm waiting for the banner for the next HTTA International Amish Rally. All we need is for Sture to show up.
82 Honda GL 500 SilverWing Trike "Old Yeller"
06 Suzuki S 50 Boulevard Cruiser
ANY WARM DAY ABOVE GROUND IS A GOOD ONE
(unknown senior citizen)
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07-28-2008, 9:14 AM
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RichNCT
Joined on 03-02-2006
Posts 2,079
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Re: Vintage Motorcycle Days
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Phil, hold yer horses! I just got back late last night, and have to play catch-up at work (remember that?). The banner will ship this week, it was still flying in Ohio until yesterday morning. Dave, I'll have my pics ready pretty soon. They're digital , I'm not so much. VMD went off without a hitch.
Born to be relatively wild
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07-28-2008, 3:17 PM
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RichNCT
Joined on 03-02-2006
Posts 2,079
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Re: Vintage Motorcycle Days
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VMD 2008 (Long)
Triumph was the honored "Marque" motorcycle brand, Laverda was the highlighted owner's club. There were many of each among the tens of thousands of motorcycles who brought their forty thousand owners/riders to VMD this year. It was a mildly regulated hell of a good time!
Dave and I trailered in this year, in order to bring the camping luxuries we wanted, (okay, yeah, it WAS a cooler, along with cooler accessories like camp chairs/table, and large screen tent) and also out of respect for his 1972 Triumph Trophy mc. I selected a blue 1979 CX500 Custom because it would be easy to handle on the 300 acre site as we rode from area to area (and it forced me to take her out of storage and make her run again). The event was 90% motorcycles and everyone rode from place to place inside. Other years we had made the 630 mile ride to Mid Ohio Sports Car Course on bikes more appropriate to an all day Interstate run (my GL650) and then made friends with guys who had coolers. We entered MOSCC Friday morning about 8:30 AM. and set up camp. During the next two days we saw about ten CX/GLs, of which two cafe modified CX500s were on display in the Cafe Racer Corral, and only actually met and spoke with one CX rider, Jason of Ohio, on a very nice ’80 Custom with HondaLine hardbags (not GL bags). There was an ’83 GL650I we saw several times, and on which I left a card, and an ’83 CX650 Custom on display in the VJMA (Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Assoc) area. And darn few other CX500s here and there. That’s about .04% CX/GLs, and since we all know they are the best bikes out there, where were the rest of us? I don't mean to shock anyone, BUT OUR BIKES ARE VINTAGE TOO! I saw several turbos, but, alas, they were not Hondas. We saw the "MotoSphere" steel cage ridden, (one of the riders was an attractive, scantily clad young woman, who quickly doffed her leathers each time she came out, to the great approval of the crowds). Kevin Carmichael Triumph (street) stunt rider, FMX "jumpers" (geez, at least a gadzillion feet in the air), and many classes of great "old time" road races on the fantastic almost 3 mile very viewable sports car track. New bike Demo rides galore, including that three wheeled thingy. Seminars including an informative one on carburetion in the GoodYear Tower overlooking the track and several from Craig Vetter (who has seen better days I'm sorry to report), casual walks through all the pit areas where the riders were happy to show and talk about their racing machines, and the unbelievable 35 acre swap meet. The sea of bikes was a huge and constantly changing visual/audio background to the whole event. Friday evening we went offsite 20 miles to the Ashland Flat Track for many classes of vintage dirt oval racing, the kind of stuff we don't have on the east coast. More pit visits there. Gravel hitting us outside of turn four. Ambulances hauling away 60 year old racers after their bikes cartwheeled off the haybales on turn one at 60 mph. Plenty of excitement, lots of noise. Got back to camp about 11:30 PM. In the campsites we met various friendly and interesting sorts and lots more bikes. We didn't see much of the motorcross or trials events as we had less interest in them, but they were there too. Saturday evening found the two of us cruising the surrounding Ohio farmland, riding 50 miles for the peaceful serenity and cool breeze to contrast with the mayhem that is VMD, followed by late evening fireworks in the infield. Sunday morn dawned quiet and bright, we cooked breakfast on the tailgate and packed up for our all day drive home and moved on, leaving the last day to most everybody else. The trip was all we had hoped for, no problems, and entirely satisfying. While big, noisy, a little dusty in some places, and hectic, it was apparent that it was populated by a nice bunch of folks, who were there because they loved older bikes. Mostly, they were reasonably well behaved, apparently needed little sleep, and were having a good old fashioned time. The only thing missing was a "HTTA Camp Compound" of the sort Jon/Ohio sponsored in 2005. My '79 was lonely and blue. The HTTA banner only gained two names. It should be different than that. It has been and could again be different than that. We need a couple of central Ohio CX/GL folks to make it "their event" and get us there. More on that later, but the EconoLodge in Mansfield (<$60/night/double and clean) would make a great base, 20-30 minutes outside MOSCC for those with hearts too weak to take the campsite confusion overnight (it is a bit noisy and hectic until well after midnight in the campgrounds). It is off the beaten path, already attracts a handful of riders, and has large and casual parking spaces. One more thing of note, Thursday evening at the EconoLodge, (MOSCC opens at 7:00 AM Friday) we met a young soldier from Fort Drum, New York State, a Regular Army helicopter mechanic. He had ridden down on a Suzuki Boulevard, taking two days, to experience VMD. He had gone to the trouble of passengering his younger brother for the trip, who was probably getting the greatest experience of his 16 or so years. My brother's comment later said it all. Said Dave, "That young man's mother raised those boys right." We'll see ya in PA!
Born to be relatively wild
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07-28-2008, 3:53 PM
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Anonymous
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Re: Vintage Motorcycle Days
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Great write up, Rich. I'm glad I didn't go, I don't deal well with large crowds & late nights, You know that. No sign of Jon Gibson? Must be a colf tournament going on.
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07-28-2008, 7:48 PM
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RichNCT
Joined on 03-02-2006
Posts 2,079
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Re: Vintage Motorcycle Days
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"Rich. I'm glad I didn't go"
Any Mouse, That makes two of us!
No,I didn't see JG, but I was looking out for him. Two best tee shirt slogans:
"I live in my own little world, but it's okay, everybody there likes me."
"Please tell your b00bs to stop staring at my eyes!"
Born to be relatively wild
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07-28-2008, 8:08 PM
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mcreviver
Joined on 05-06-2007
Williamsport, PA
Posts 568
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Re: Vintage Motorcycle Days
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+1 on the great write up. Scantily clad women, huh? I took my wife to the grand opening of a new Target store at the Lycoming Mall on Sunday and saw two things I really wanted.........................but they just kept walking. Honest to God, one of them would have made Marilyn Monroe envious.
Ron in PA
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Honda CX500 & G... » CX500 GL500 Tra... » Travelling, Fri... » Vintage Motorcycle Days
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