2019 - Issue # 5
COGnitions: Ramblings from the Northeast Area Director Winter arrives in a few days, and as the snow, ice, and salt (oh my) hits the road, fewer of us will be riding. Fret not, because you can still get your winter COG fix a couple of ways. One is to keep an eye on the COG calendar, forum, and Facebook for winter COG Northeast activities. Many are social events this time of year, but it’s a perfect excuse to grab some good grub and connect with COG friends. Steve Smith #3184 The winter down time is also a perfect time to begin planning COG activities for next riding season. We have been fortunate to have many activities throughout the riding season each year. For this to continue COG needs member support to help plan and organize activities. Organizing a meet & greet is a very easy activity to plan. Select a date and time to meet at your favorite eatery. Even if no one else shows up you can still enjoy yourself. If you have a local ride you enjoy, you can share it with other members by organizing a day ride. It all begins with an idea, selecting a location, date, and time. COG staff can provide guidance, and to get the activity listed on the Northeast Calendar of Events. Remember, COG is only as good as we make it together!
Since we are chatting about member support, another way to help is to volunteer to become part of the staff. The Assistant Area Directors (AAD) are a key position within the club and set the general “flavor” and “character” of the organization in their local regions. They organize activities or assist other members to do so. Many hands make light work, and you can team up with one or more other members as co-AADs. It’s all up to you. We are very fortunate to have some great people helping to run COG Northeast. Hosting activities, creating a great newsletter, and being COG ambassadors are a few examples of the things our staff does throughout the year. Many thanks to each of you for another year of your time, effort, and contributions that benefit the members of this wonderful club. COG has been in a nomination and election period for the 2020-2021 two-year term for three of the six Area Director positions, including the Northeast. The process began in October when the club secretary put the call out for nominations. Thank you to the members who sent in nominations. The secretary reported in the last board meeting that the 3 candidates were unopposed, and I will continue to be your AD for another term. I truly appreciate everyone’s support and show of confidence that our area is on the right track. That said, when the next term concludes I will have served as your AD for 20 years. I truly enjoy doing this, but I feel getting fresh ideas is important to the organization. Do not think it would cause hurt feelings. Let me know and we can have a planned transition. Look for details in this issue for the Spring Fling Rally, May 14 th-17th. Steve & Sue Cerutti have found a terrific mom & pop motel in Windham, NY that I feel you will like. photo courtesy Bob Barbanti #7134
Kevin Martin is putting the final touches on the Fall Foliage Rally planning that will be held in Stowe, VT September 18th-21st. I wish you all a very enjoyable holiday season, and a very happy and healthy new year. That’s all for now – Ride safe,
Concours Owners Group NORTHEAST AREA NEWS
New Members First things first, a warm welcome to our Newest NE Area COG members! Steve Campbell 13050 Scott Coughlin 13052 Harlan Woodward 13074 John McQuade 13078
Millis, MA Severna Park, MD Hagerstown, MD Amesbury, MA
photo courtesy Wayne Geiser #4627
Concours Owners Groupsm
NORTHEAST AREA NEWS Published 5 times a year for the Concours Owners Group and distributed to Northeast Area members. Past newsletters are archived in the club’s online member library at www.cog-online.org Also available at: issuu.com/cognortheast Written (most formats except Works) & photo (most formats) submissions are welcomed and members are encouraged to share their COG experiences. Please send to: Email: NECOGEditor@gmail.com Snail Mail: COG NE Newsletter c/o Maryann Geiser 139 Kennedy Rd Tewksbury MA 01876
Editor’s Corner I belong to a few volunteer organizations and I’m always blown away by the generosity of people who are passionate about something. The folks who run COG, who volunteer their time and energy to create events, brainstorming ideas, tend all the on-line resources, and the people who support those who keep this all going do their work with little thanks. I would like to thank all the members who make me look good by contributing their thoughts and photos to this newsletter. Without all of them, you would be looking at blank pages. I also want to thank all the AADs who plan events so we can gather, share ideas, ride together and tell tales. Through these events I have met a great number of interesting people and made good friends. I also want to thank Steve Smith for pulling us all together and steering the ship in the right direction (so to speak.)
Maryann Geiser #4627A
Happy New Year! I hope to see you on the road next year. Maryann
© 1989-2019 Concours Owners Groupsm
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2019 - Issue # 5
Concours Owners Group NORTHEAST AREA NEWS
Around the NORTHEAST News from your Assistant Area Directors (complete list of AADs on back page)
Metro NY, NJ
So, here we are again! Another season has come and gone and the holidays are barreling towards us! Let's hope Old Man winter goes easy on us. Saturday, December 7th, was our traditional gathering at the Terry Faherty #792 Progressive International Motorcycle Show at the Javitz Center in Manhattan. We had a total of ten folks come out to Tir Na Nog in Times Square and enjoy some fine food, spirits and comraderie! The show was about the same as last year with all but Triumph and Ducati having a presence. The vendor presence has been dropping steadily also, guess the lean times are hitting everyone. On the plus side, ole Terry boy has decided on his next steed in two years when my daughter is done with school. The updated Ninja 1000 is the new front runner now that it is updated with all the latest gimcrackery! Don't get me wrong, I love my FZ-1 but it'll be 14 seasons with her next year and time for a change and fuel injection! Mark your calendars with the Spring Fling dates and come on out for some riding and benchracing. I wish you all a happy and healthy Holiday Season. See you all after the thaw! Terry
Eastern Ontario
It’s only mid-December and I’m already suffering from PMS - Parked Motorcycle Syndrome, that is! The C14 has been parked for only a month, sitting very quietly under its new winter cover, and I miss riding so much. But, I guess this makes riding so much more special come Derek Pugh #11636 spring. Hopefully this winter won’t be as long as last winter, which just wouldn’t end! This was an amazing year on the motorcycle for me. My previous rides have only been in Ontario and all day trips. But this year I
2019 - Issue # 5
attended my first COG rally in Alexandria Bay, NY. We had 4 days of fun and great riding with great friends, old and new! It was my first time riding the motorcycle across the border and my first multi day trip, but it won’t be my last! I’m already planning for the next rally and more multi day trips! I will be planning our usual mid-winter social in early February, location and date to be determined shortly. Please watch the COG calendar for all the details. We have some new COG members that I hope we can meet them there. And I’ll be there showing off my tan again this year because once again my fiancé and I are going on a Caribbean cruise! Riders of eastern Ontario feel free to offer your ideas. Let’s work together to have a great 2020. Merry Christmas to all and please have a safe happy holiday season. Derek
Greater Toronto Greetings from the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario COG groups. Mother Nature has seen fit to hit Toronto with about 10" of snow in two separate storms in as many weeks but, in typical fashion, it will be gone by Christmas. Please, try to hold your tears; we'll get through it! And it will be gone by April Dave Perkins #5932 anyway. I don't have a great deal to report for the past quarter. We had generally good weather here in southern Ontario this summer and fall and most of our members took advantage it, whether riding to work, or for day or week-end rides. We were well represented at the Spring Fling, National and Fall rallies. I n the case of the latter, nearly a third of the 45 attendees were from Ontario and Quebec. I encourage all of our members to attend these rallies as they are all easily accessible from southern Ontario and are always rewarding, both from the experience and friendships made or renewed. Despite the distance, myself and others are planning on going to the National next year in Vancouver, WA. We will be going for the "Long Distance" award by using our accumulated mileage! The major event over the winter is the (ahem) "Toronto International Motorcycle Super Show" on Jan 3rd, 4th, and 5td, 2020 at the International Centre near Toronto Pearson Airport. It is primarily for dealers, clubs (whose space is provided free), accessory and clothing vendors, etc. (Kawasaki is the only manufacturer with a display, the others opting for a manufacturers show in late February in downtown Toronto.) For what I think is the 20th straight year COG will have a booth in the show staffed by local members. We'll have a
members' bike on display and hopefully a C14 supplied by Canadian Kawasaki. They have been good to us in past years and we hope they can come through again for this show. Regardless, it is a great venue to advertise COG, spread the word and meet riders. I'll be putting it on the COG calendar, so our friends in the upstate NY and PA should think about attending. Entry is $20 CDN which is about $15 US at current exchange. We hope to see you there. As an added bonus the Red Knights (fire) and Blue Knights (police) are going to have a rumble on Saturday afternoon. The White Knights (EMT) will be there to clean up and hide the bodies. So keep your tank topped up with stabilized fuel, the battery on a trickle charger, and the front wheel pointed at the garage door. There might be a warmish day over the winter to go for a spin. From all of us here in southern Ontario to the rest of our fellow COGGERS in the northeast, we wish you a very Happy (insert your own appropriate seasonal festivity here!) For me it is Christmas. Also, remember Tom 'Mr. T' Taylor and those who will miss him this Christmas. Please have a safe one. See you next year... E-gards! Dave
E Hudson Valley NY I hope you are all staying warm, and riding when the weather allows as we finding ourselves sneaking into the official start of winter. I am writing this on the heels of what I thought was a very productive Northeast Region staff conference call, where we discussed the upcoming (2020) riding season, events, recruiting volunteers and Steve Cerutti #6763 new members, and all of our roles -officers and members alike- in enriching the COG experience for everyone. I am happy to announce that Sue and I will be hosting the Northeast Region Spring Fling in the Northern Catskills of New York from May 14th - 17th, 2020. The venue: Hotel Vienna 107 State Route 296 Windham, NY 12496 518-734-5300 thehotelvienna.com This will be a small rally, with attendance limited to 60. We are essentially holding the entire hotel for COG. Our goal is to keep the rally fee very reasonable, by having an outdoor pizza party in lieu of a formal sit down banquet. (Continued on page 4)
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Concours Owners Group NORTHEAST AREA NEWS (Around the Northeast - Continued from page 3)
We will be renting a tent and tables. The tent will be present for the duration of the rally and will also serve as a gathering/hang-out spot. The hotel has a lovely indoor pool with lounge area and Jacuzzi, a spacious outdoor patio, and a small cozy basement lounge. I implore you to be considerate when reserving a room, and ask for the layout that would be most efficient in insuring that anyone who is planning to attend is able to procure a bed. For example, if you are solo or a couple, please don’t reserve a room with two beds. The hotel staff will be happy to steer you through this and advise you on what room might be best for you, since they have several different room/ bed floorplans. There are overflow hotels very close by if we do manage to get over 60 people who are adamant about attending, but those room rates have not been negotiated by COG. ***Book early if you plan to attend. Official rally registration will be posted in the cog-online.org calendar of events by late December or the first week of January. The riding in the northern Catskills is spectacular, scenery sublime, and history abounds in the region. The Hudson Valley is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I hope to see you all in the spring, but until then, I hope the holidays bring you all peace, happiness, and cool bike-bike related paraphernalia. Steve C.
MA, ME, NH, VT Looking back at 2019 both Tracey and I set new records; but not the kind of records that encompassed epic motorcycle travel. On the bike side Greg & Tracey Habel least miles #7010/7010A travelled in 1 year; about 2,900. Both of us have changed jobs in the same year when we typically have been long term employees; often staying 10 years plus. On the family side - record time spent helping out my aging parents; probably triple or more than previous years. But that’s ok. As I’ve aged, it’s become more clear to me where I want my priorities to be; what I need to do; and how precious time really is. With 2020 just around the corner; I hold my arms open wide, ready to embrace and cherish what may come. It was great to see so many of you at our End of Year Social on November 2nd at the Horseshoe Pub in Hudson, MA. We’ve been using this location since it seems to be fairly
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central for many of us. During the social, thank you for helping us understand that direct emails from us prior to rides is a helpful reminder of upcoming events and we’ve seen this boost attendance. It also allows other people to chime in or meet up and ride together to the event. This is in addition to the 4 other ways we post rides: www.cog-online.org (the COG calendar), http://forum.cog-online.org/northeast-events/ (the COG forum for Northeast events), https://www.facebook.com/groups/ ConcoursOwnersGroup/?ref=bookmarks (the COG Facebook page) and the Northeast Newsletter. We hope by utilizing all of these means of communication that we can reach as many of you as possible to give you the opportunity to enjoy the many benefits of COG camaraderie. Something new, something fun! On Sunday January 12th starting at 12 pm we are meeting at the Apex Entertainment complex (21 Apex Dr, Marlboro, MA.) We will decide at the start where to eat. Apex has a variety of pay-as-yougo activities however there is no cost to get into the building just to watch. The indoor multi-level go-kart track is what caught my attention but the other activities look like fun too. From their site: “Apex Entertainment is 80,000 sq. ft. of pure fun! Located off I-495 on rt 20, we offer fun for all with 30 lanes of bowling, a multi-level indoor go-kart track, and 70+ arcade games featuring VR Rabbids and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. You can challenge your friends or co-workers to a game of laser tag in our 3,500 sq. ft. two-story arena, a 360-degree bumper car ride, or play in our multi-sport simulators. Don’t forget to grab a meal or a drink at our American cuisine restaurant.” Some things I am thinking about for rides/ events in 2020 are: Springfield Museums (there are multiple museums and an Indian motorcycle display), New England Air Museum in CT, Vermont ride to Dots restaurant, a south MA/ northern CT ride with a stop in Palmer, MA at the Steaming Tender restaurant (cool old train station on an active line), Loudon Road Race Series motorcycle races in NH. Got any other suggestions? Want to host a ride or event? Email, phone, Morse code, tin can; whatever works for you! Please join us on Sunday March 1st at noon for lunch at the Horseshoe Pub in Hudson, MA for our annual Start of the Year Social. As for all the COG events, please help us out to estimate attendance by signing up on www.cog-online.org or drop us an email, phone call, text etc. Hope to see you there! Greg & Tracey
South Central PA/MD
Wintertime is the time to reflect on the past year of riding, while planning and looking forward to the next year of riding. I’m fortunate that I live far enough south in PA that I can sneak a ride in every time some rain washes away the salt. It helps a lot with parked motorcycle Steve Rutter #9715 depression. Winter is also the time to do the major work on the bikes. This year, my only big to-do is adding the self-cancelling turn signal module to my new 2019 Versys SE LT plus. Why did a motorcycle with all of those electronic gadgets not include that? I put the Safer Turn System on my C-14 two years ago and not once have I ridden with the blinker on by mistake. The product is found at Safer-turn.com. I don’t care how good of a rider you are, you will inevitably leave your blinker on. For me, it’s when I’m in a new congested area with a lot going on and perhaps looking for a gas station. That is the worst time to signal the world you are turning while riding straight! I’m not naming names of course, but many riders in our group rides wear out their blinker fluid. The installation for the C-14 is on the forum, but the same principle applies to most motorcycles. The installation is not that difficult, but it does involve splicing into the turn signal wires and modifying the turn signal switch to make it a momentary not latching action. Back to thinking and planning for the next year riding. Please think about your favorite ride, and contact me and we will plan a group ride so you can show it off! Ride safe. Steve
Atlantic Canada Well, in less than a week it will officially be winter. It's funny to say but I can't wait for winter because that means the days will start to get longer. This fall has been quite quiet here in the Atlantic Canada. I find it difficult to organize any type of ride or event late in the season because of the distance between the members and the Claude Doucet #9011 unpredictable weather. I stored my C14 more than a month ago already and I have severe PMS (Parked (Continued on page 6)
2019- Issue # 5
Concours Owners Group NORTHEAST AREA NEWS
Event Reports Kawasaki C14 Riders and Friend’s Ride Fall 2019 [PA-MD] Russell Fleming and I have been discussing how to merge the PA and MD regions for group rides. It seems the majority of the riders are located near the state border. For riders north, it becomes a long trip just to get to a more popular Maryland start point. For this particular ride, we identified the first starting point in Westminster, MD and the second in Marietta, PA. The original interest was strong, but a surprise rainstorm forced a reschedule to November 3 rd. The cold start and temperatures in the upper 40’s likely decreased the number of overall riders. However, we had nine riders start in Maryland and three riders start in PA. I met up with Jack Frederick and Tony Neiderer at the Marietta Sheetz. We rode a route of twisty back roads up to Fort Indiantown Gap and down Rt 443 through Fishing Creek. Then a run up and around Peters Mountain, and then crossed the Susquehanna River and down Rt 274 to Rt 233 and Shippensburg Road to the Thirsty Farmer. We had a great ride, and the trees were still turning colors and showing off, there was light traffic and two cars pulling over to let us speed past. We met up with the Maryland riders at the Thirsty Farmer for good food and a band. Gerard Salmon (AKA Fish) adds his perspective of his group's ride. Note that Fish rode past our starting point to go another 70 miles to ride with those guys. He had his C-10, so there was a least one Concours that showed up for the ride that day! He doesn’t remember most of the roads, as he was too busy enjoying the amazing route that Russell prepared for them to ride. He did so many wonderful twisting roads in MD & PA, the route was 170 + miles to the Thirsty Farmer for some great food. His total for this great weather day was 320miles (can't beat that). We all look forward to the next ride in the spring. Steve Rutter
CT Meet & Greet, December 1. 2-019
RIDES & EVENTS Time listed is START time. Visit www.cog-online.org for updates and more details. (MA) Sun, January 12, 12 noon - 4:00 PM Indoor Fun at Apex Entertainment Join Greg and Tracey for fun indoors at Apex Entertainment. Once we are there we will decide whether to eat on-site or venture to a nearby restaurant. Apex is located at 21 Apex Dr., Marlboro, MA and has a variety of pay-as-you-go activities however there is no cost to get into the building just to watch. The indoor multi-level go-kart track is what caught my attention but the other activities look like fun too. GREG HABEL 508.444.2235 (H) 508.745.6677 (M) COG7010@vertizon.net (ON) Tue, January 14, 6:30 PM South Central Ont. Meet & Greet 2nd Tuesday each month at Mohawk Inn, 9230 Guelph Lane, Campbellville, ON, just North of 401. All welcome. Many hungry people arrive earlier to get their dinner. A mainly social function to meet other riders, shoot the breeze, plan rides. DAVE PERKINS 416.691.2191 perkins43@rogers.com (ON) Mon, January 20, 6:00 PM GTA East - Meet & Greet 3rd Monday EVERY MONTH at Tartan Tavern, 555 Rossland Rd East, Oshawa, ON. All welcome. Arrive early to kick tires and tell lies in the parking lot (weather permitting). A social function to meet other riders, discuss tech issues, shoot the breeze, and plan rides. DAVE PERKINS 416.691.2191 perkins43@rogers.com (MA) Sun, March 1, 12 noon - 2:00 PM Start of Year Social Join Greg and Tracey at a get together to talk about planned events for 2020. Horseshoe Pub, 29 South St., Hudson, MA GREG HABEL 508.444.2235 (H) 508.745.6677 (M) COG7010@vertizon.net (NY) Thu - Sun, May 14 - 17 Northeast Spring Fling Rally Join your hosts Steve & Sue Cerutti for a long weekend in Windham NY. See Steve’s column on page 3 for more details. STEVE CERUTTI 845.528.0543 (H) 914.953.4154 (M) info@hvmp.com (WA) Mon - Fri, June 15 - 19 COG 2020 National Rally Gateway To the Gorge Rally Central is the Heathman Lodge, 7801 NE Greedwood Dr., Vancouver, WA. www.heathmanlodge.com Hotel reservations available now.
2019 - Issue # 5
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Concours Owners Group NORTHEAST AREA NEWS
(Continued from page 4)
Motorcycle Syndrome). Some of my friends were out riding on December 15th, we just had a major rainstorm roll through and it brought some warm temperatures. Last year I had a street and trail motorcycle that I could take out on days like that but I decided to sell it at the beginning out the summer. Overall, it's been a tough year for membership in Atlantic Canada. I keep losing members for various reasons. Some have changed bikes and no longer have a Concours, some for health reasons, others priorities have changed. My goals for 2020 are to gain new members and organize way more activities. The Motorcycle and Powersport Atlantic show will be held this year on March 6th to 8th at the Halifax Exhibition Centre (www.bikeatlantic.ca ). I'll be attending the show as usual and plan on organizing a meet and greet after the show. I will post the details of the meet and greet on the calendar and Facebook soon. If anyone has any ideas, bring them forward and we'll make them happen. Happy Holidays to all! Claude
Greater Montreal
Greetings from the Quebec area. As the year winds down, those of us still in the workforce go through the season's paces: office parties, holiday preparations and snow removal. Yes, up here, it’s a reality, we get that nasty white stuff and our motorcycle community as a whole just goes into denial. Yet somehow, we make do. Some will pull the snowbird trick and spend some time in Florida, Chris Dupuis #10098 trailering their bikes – or not. Others, well, we just keep an eye on what’s coming up and looking forward to the February motorcycle shows in Quebec and Montreal. It has been quite a year, with the National in Williamsport last July, when old friends got together and new friends got acquainted. The regional rallies where great and I don’t remember the last time we had such an amazing chill as what we experienced in Alexandria Bay. I consider myself lucky to have a job that lets me schedule time off to attend the rallies and luckier still to see the friends I made since joining COG show up at the events. Thoughts turn to the future. Exploring new regions and providing road conditions is a goal. I have introduced some local folks to riding in the Adirondacks and the Green Mountains as well as some of the nice roads in southeastern and western Quebec and I keep spreading the gospel. As we get ready to enter a new decade, I will wish all my COG brothers and sisters health, happiness, and lots more good rides. Stay safe, happy holidays and let’s all get together again in 2020!
photo courtesy Kevin Martin #145
Christian
Area Director
Naugatuck CT
203-720-7575
nead@cog-online.org
Greg/Tracey Habel #7010 OPEN—please inquire Bob Chappell #1283 Steven Rutter #9715 George Griffith #6377 OPEN—please inquire Tim Traylor #12811 Jim Ansbro #8443 OPEN—please inquire Steve Cerutti #6763 OPEN—please inquire Stephen Strock #10396 Terry Faherty #792 OPEN—please inquire Dave Perkins #5932 Derek Pugh #11636 Christian Dupuis #10098 Claude Doucet #9011
AAD MA/VT/NH/ME AAD CT/RI AAD DelMarVa AAD S. Central PA/MD AAD Northeast PA AAD VA/WV AAD US Capital Region AAD Southeast PA/Philly AAD W Hudson Valley NY AAD E Hudson Valley NY AAD Long Island NY AAD Central NY AAD Metro NY/NJ AAD Central NJ AAD Greater Toronto AAD Eastern Ontario AAD Greater Montreal AAD Atlantic Canada
Hopedale MA
508-444-2235
COG7010@verizon.net
Claymont DE Elizabethtown PA Benton PA
302-791-0582 717-361-1189 r 570-925-5010
cog1283@comcast.net ruttersm@comcast.net gbgriff@epix.net
Waldorf, MD Newtown PA
301-535-6193 215-805-0909
ebonyzg1400@gmail.com bluecon06@gmail.com
Copake Falls NY
914-953-4154
Steveonlineusa@gmail.com
Syracuse NY Staten Island NY
315-492-6032 718-227-2099
cogcny@gmail.com tmcefah@aol.com
Toronto ON Ottawa ON Sainte-Martine PQ Middle Sackville NS
416-691-2191 613-222-9554 450-427-0182 902-252-5062
perkins43@rogers.com concoursderek@gmail.com d1user@mac.com motorcycleclaude@gmail.com
OPEN—please inquire Maryann Geiser #4627A
NE Webmaster NE Newsletter Editor
Tewksbury MA
978-851-2710
maryanngeiser@gmail.com
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NE AREA STAFF
Steven Smith #3184
2019 - Issue # 5