2020 - Issue # 4
COGnitions: Ramblings from the Northeast Area Director The weekend prior to Labor Day weekend I headed out for an early morning breakfast to Falls Village in the NW corner of Connecticut to visit Toymakers Café. The small eclectic restaurant has attracted motorcyclists from far & near, including COGgers. Not only can you find almost any style, make and model there, the chances are good to find some terrific vintage machines that were ridden there. Unfortunately, this was my final breakfast there. At the end of business on Labor Day they hung up their ‘Closed’ sign permanently. Since its inception 18 years ago this breakfast and lunch spot in rural Connecticut has been one of my ‘go to’ breakfast ride locations. I am hopeful that they will eventually find someone who will reopen the place in some reincarnation. One of our CT activities last year was a group visit to the New England Motorcycling Steve Smith #3184 Museum in Rockville, CT. This is a relatively new museum with a focus on vintage motorcycles. Ride-CT.com recently posted that Discovery Channel Motors will be featuring the museum, and its owner Ken Kaplan, in a special series named “Kaplan America” which begins airing on Discovery, September 9 at 10:00 PM. Here is a local take on the announcement: ride-ct.com/kaplan-america-becomes-discovery-channel-special Using good health safety practices, at least five day-ride activities and two weekend events took place since the last newsletter. Some of the day activities had a larger than expected attendance, which I feel is due to folks being cooped up inside too long without being able to meet up with COG friends for a camaraderie. Coming up in the next months will be the Big W BBQ Meet & Greet in late September, possibly the Ephrata Bikers Breakfast the first Sunday in October, and the Brrr Ride in November. Check out the schedule of events in this issue or visit the online event calendar. Last month I provided a brief update on the web migration project. The team set a September 30 completion and cut-over goal – it was completed ahead of schedule on August 30. I am sure there will be more about the huge undertaking in the next Concourier. By the way… contact the IT Officer if you have tech skills you would like to share with the club – they may also be seeking volunteers for clerical data entry to help populate the library and Tech info. One thing I am very happy to see is bringing back use of concours.org for branding of our internet presence. Update your contact book as my COG contact email has changed to NEAD@concours.org although the old email address may forward until the service is canceled. The first time you visit the new website at www.concours.org you will need to establish a new password by using the Forgot Password feature found by clicking on Log In in the upper left of the screen. Instructions are provided on the home page. One important thing to remember is that login is required separately for main page and the forum – however, if you are logged in to the main page, just clicking Log In on the forum should get you in. If you can't post in the new forum after logging in there for the first time, sign out of both the membership site and the forum and log in again. Also, there are several notices regarding common issues users are having and possible fixes. Please review them before dismissing.
photo courtesy Bob Barbanti #7134
If you have visited the new forum recently, you probably saw a post from our Executive Director titled PRIZES, PRIZES, PRIZES FOR COG MEMBERS... I suggest reading that post for the complete scoop. In short, the club has around 30 prizes in total worth of over $3000 that will be given away via a random drawing at the end of September 2020. The give-away is one way of honoring our supporters old and new alike. Good luck, and stay tuned. That is all for now. Stay healthy and ride safe.
Concours Owners Group NORTHEAST AREA NEWS
New Members
Kevin Wagoner Pat Elliott First things first, a warm Ken Hicks welcome to our Robert Noeding Newest NE Area COG members! Ryan King
Latham, NY Lancaster, ON Cornwall, ON Charlestown, NH Absecon, NJ
13194 13195 13202 13217 13220
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 https://concours.org/library Also available at: issuu.com/cognortheast
RIDES & EVENTS Time listed is START time. Visit www.concours.org/events for updates and more details.
Written (most formats except Works) & photo (most formats) submissions are welcomed and members are encouraged to share their COG experiences. Please send to:
SEPTEMBER 2020 Saturday, September 26, 8:30 am Central NH Early Foliage Ride [NH] Email: NECOGEditor@gmail.com 170 mile ride starts in Hookset, NH. Contact Robert Dallon (robertwdallon@gmail.com) https://concours.org/event-3985590 Snail Mail: COG NE Newsletter Saturday, September26 , noon Big W BBQ Meet n Greet [NY] c/o Maryann Geiser Meet for lunch in Wingate, NY. Two ride options to get there. Contact Terry Faherty 139 Kennedy Rd (tmcefah@aol.com) 917.837.6634 or Steve Smith (nead@concours.org) 203.720.7575 Tewksbury MA 01876 https://concours.org/event-3963786 OCTOBER 2020 © 1989-2020 Concours Owners Groupsm Sunday, October 4, 9:00 am Ephrata Bikers Breakfast [PA] A bikers gathering at the American Legion post in Ephrata. Optional ride following event. https://concours.org/event-3941254 Tuesday, October 13, 6:00 pm South Central Ontario Meet & Greet [ON] Dinner at Red Harp Pub in Acton, ON. Contact Dave Perkins (perkins43@rogers.com) 416.691.2191 https://concours.org/event-3941262 Monday, October19, 6:30 pm COG GTA East - Meet & Greet [ON] Dinner at Tartan Tavern, East, ON. Contact Dave Perkins (perkins43@rogers.com) 416.691.2191 https://concours.org/event-3941265 NOVEMBER 2020 Tuesday, November 10. 6:00 pm South Central Ontario Meet & Greet [ON] Dinner at Red Harp Pub in Acton, ON. Contact Dave Perkins (perkins43@rogers.com) 416.691.2191 https://concours.org/event-3941273 Thursday, November 12 - Sunday, November 15 Brrrrr Ride Weekend [VA] Camping weekend at Natural Bridge KOA. Lots of details on the web site. https://concours.org/event-3941281 Monday, November16, 6:30 pm COG GTA East - Meet & Greet [ON] Dinner at Tartan Tavern, East, ON. Contact Dave Perkins (perkins43@rogers.com) 416.691.2191 https://concours.org/event-3941268 DECEMBER 2020 Saturday, December 5, 11:00 am NYC Motorcycle Show Hootenanny [NY] Great motorcycle show. Meet at Kawasaki booth at 2pm to join those attending for lunch. Contact Terry Faherty (tmcefah@aol.com) 917.837.6634 https://concours.org/event-3956310 Wednesday, December 9, 6:00 pm South Central Ontario Meet & Greet [ON] Meet at Red Harp Pub in Acton, ON. Dave Perkins (perkins43@rogers.com) 416.691.2191 https://concours.org/event-3977520 Monday, December 14. 6:30 pm COG GTA East - Meet & Greet [ON] Meet at Tartan Tavern, East, ON. Contact Dave Perkins (perkins43@rogers.com) 416.691.2191 https://concours.org/event-3977537
Area Director NE Newsletter Editor
Naugatuck CT Tewksbury MA
203-720-7575 978-851-2710
nead@concours.org maryanngeiser@gmail.com
Greg/Tracey Habel #7010 Steven Rutter #9715 George Griffith #6377 Tim Traylor #12811 Steve/Sue Cerutti #6763 Terry Faherty #792 Dave Perkins #5932 Derek Pugh #11636 Christian Dupuis #10098 Claude Doucet #9011
AAD MA/VT/NH/ME AAD S. Central PA/MD AAD Northeast PA AAD US Capital Region AAD E Hudson Valley NY AAD Metro NY/NJ AAD Greater Toronto AAD Eastern Ontario AAD Greater Montreal AAD Atlantic Canada
Hopedale MA Elizabethtown PA Benton PA Waldorf, MD Copake Falls NY Staten Island NY Toronto ON Ottawa ON Sainte-Martine PQ Middle Sackville NS
508-444-2235 717-361-1189 r 570-925-5010 301-535-6193 914-953-4154 718-227-2099 416-691-2191 613-222-9554 450-427-0182 902-252-5062
COG7010@verizon.net ruttersm@comcast.net gbgriff.gg@gmail.com ebonyzg1400@gmail.com Steveonlineusa@gmail.com tmcefah@aol.com perkins43@rogers.com concoursderek@gmail.com d1user@mac.com motorcycleclaude@gmail.com
OPEN POSITIONS—please inquire
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AADs for Central NY, Southeast PA/Philly, DelMarVa, VA/WV, W Hudson Valley NY, Long Island NY, Central NJ, and CT/RI NE Webmaster
NE AREA STAFF
Steven Smith #3184 Maryann Geiser #4627A
2020 - Issue # 4
Concours Owners Group NORTHEAST AREA NEWS
Around the NORTHEAST News from your Assistant Area Directors
Metro NY, NJ Well here we are in September already thanks to the summer that wasn't! I hope you are all well as we enter my favorite time of year. As I write this we are just over two weeks away from a slightly delayed Terry Faherty #792 run up to Big W's BBQ in Wingdale, NY. Here's hoping the weather cooperates because I'm definitely going through COG withdrawal! Good food and good folks cures all ills! Before we know it December will be here and, God willing, I'll be hosting the annual COG Javitz show gathering on Saturday, December 5th. I'll post the details as we get closer. I just hope this crazy year doesn't cancel that, too. Even if we have to share hot dogs from a dirty water dog cart! Thankfully the powers that be have FINALLY decided to open limited indoor dining on September 30th so if the numbers stay down we might just be able to enjoy our usual gathering. Let's stay positive and get out and ride! Stay healthy all and keep the rubber side down! Terry
MA, ME, NH, VT It’s been great reconnecting with our COG friends over the summer thanks to people who hosted rides Greg & Tracey Habel like Lyle #7010/7010A Cooper, Kevin Martin, and Ed Dyer, plus all of you that attended or kept in touch in other ways. We feel so grateful for everyone adhering to the COVID-19 safety protocols during the hosted events. Many of us have
2020 - Issue # 4
family members who are at-risk, or someone else we dearly care about but also want to socialize in a safe way. Thank you. I just submitted an article for the Concourier on our success of ride hosting in our area during COVID-19 with recommendations and things to plan for. We also had the pleasure of personal calls with the 4 new members in the past few months; and are looking forward to meeting you. The new COG website is a welcome change (www.concours.org) with modern features, more flexibility, a phone app for the events, and ease of registration. Being able to see country wide events color coded is cool and I love that the new forum has the ability to post pictures easily. Thank you to all that led up that effort. On Saturday July 18th I held a Bag Lunch at the Quabbin Reservoir followed by a 2 ½ hour extended loop around the reservoir, finishing at Harolds for ice cream. We are loving all the newly paved roads and repairs being done throughout MA and beyond. Although it was a hot day in the 90’s, the ice cream was a perfect ending to the day. Next, on August 1st we had what I called a Triple State Gallop ride (3 states - MA, RI, CT) in which we had a large turnout; having to split the group into two. Thank you Lyle Cooper for leading the 2nd group. Unfortunately at our first stop at the Brown & Hopkins Country Store, the entire village of Chepachet, RI did not have any public restrooms. Lesson learned. I’m not that familiar with CT roads so I consulted the New England Riders (also a member) database and was able to piece together some nice country backroads. The ride ended with lunch at the Steaming Tender restaurant in Palmer (an old train station) in the outdoors with my sister Sherry joining. This is a really cool place on an active railway with old train and town memorabilia.
Medieros in his “high chair”; aka the Tray return table. On September 9th I tried something new for those retired or playing hooky called “Retired or Hooky Ride” during the week on a Wednesday. Traffic always seems to be better and places are less crowded during the week. With 9 people attending (all retired!) and a really nice day with temps in the mid to upper 70’s, Ed Dyer led us through his favorite roads in western MA and southern VT. Before the ride began we got Baked (that’s the name of the restaurant in Shelburne Falls) for lunch outside on the deck next to the river. Once again many roads had just been paved or were in excellent condition. The day ended at the Wagon Wheel restaurant on the Mohawk Trail for ice cream, however most folks had prior commitments and had to peel off earlier. I will likely plan more of these mid week rides in addition to weekend rides. Other rides are in the planning stages as is the End of Year Social (Virtual?) (typically held in November or December). Keep your eyes on the COG calendar for upcoming events. Please help us out to estimate attendance and group ride sizes by signing up on www.concours.org , the Concours Owners Group Facebook page, or drop us an email (cog7010@verizon.net) , phone-call (508.444.2235), text (508.444.2235) etc. Hope to see you there! Stay safe, stay healthy, and ride smart. Greg & Tracey
On Saturday September 5th, Kevin Martin hosted a Kimball's Jaffrey Lunch Ride. A great turnout of 10 bikes and 11 people who met at Dunkins in Chelmsford, MA before heading out on a beautiful sunny day, temps in the mid 70’s most of the day, and fun roads into and back from NH. The food at Kimball’s in Jaffrey did not disappoint either. Many of us dined on either the fried seafood or burgers with my choice being whole belly clams. Delicious! Check out the photos in this issue and Paul
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Concours Owners Group NORTHEAST AREA NEWS (Around the Northeast - Continued from page 3)
Atlantic Canada We'll sorry to say but summer 2020 is coming to a close, and it's been a weird one. Here in Atlantic Canada we've been living in a bubble. More specifically it's called the Atlantic Bubble, where Nova Scotia, New Claude Doucet #9011 Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland were allowed to visit each other with only minor restrictions. On the other hand, to visit outside of those provinces you would be required to self-isolate for 14 days when you returned to your home province. So any riding I did was restricted to the Atlantic Bubble. And if you didn't know the US/Canada border is still off limits for vacations, shopping, pleasure trips etc. On a positive note, the number of active COVID cases in the Atlantic Bubble is very small and we are very fortunate to have some quality of life, with restrictions of course. So where does it go from here? Will there be a Spring Fling or National for me in 2021? It's not looking good but I'm hopeful a vaccine is discovered or some
miracle happens. Hopefully, I'll be able to organize a ride before the end of the season because fall has some of the best riding. Claude
Eastern Ontario As I write this our house is currently under a self-imposed quarantine as my partner is having flu like symptoms (likely seasonal cold/ allergies) and is waiting for results of her Covid test. Until then we will stay Derek Pugh #11636 isolated to home and this means no riding! Covid has hit too close to home this past few weeks; I have had a close friend and his mother test positive. Luckily he has recovered but unfortunately his mother didn’t. This has been a year to remember, although many of us would like to forget all about it and skip to 2021 or even 2022!. This season has been mostly solo rides for me around eastern Ontario with stops only for fuel and lunch but eating at my bike… not inside and no overnighters as I had planned.
This time last year I was preparing to attend my first COG rally… had a great time. This year I had planned to attend more but with Covid and the borders closed that didn’t happen. Covid-19 forced the cancelation of our Eastern Ontario COG Social back in March. I had hoped to have a meet and ride in late August or early September but Ontario’s Covid numbers are going up and I’m not comfortable having getting a group together as many infections are growing because of gatherings. Sadly fall will soon be here which leads to our motorcycle hibernation season here in Eastern Ontario. So enjoy the fall days and get out and ride! I know I hope to… I’m only 900 km away from my C14 hitting 100,000km milestone and with it comes some scheduled maintenance that will keep me busy over the winter. For now everyone please stay safe and healthy and hope to see you out on the roads and maybe even meet in person next year. Derek Pugh Edit – After 72 hours we got Covid test results, NEGITIVE! It really was cold/ allergies but working in daycare you can’t be too careful!
Retirees and Hookey Ride
Triple State Gallop Ride
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2020- Issue # 4
Concours Owners Group NORTHEAST AREA NEWS
New Website Information and Instruction The club completed migration and launch of its new website, member services, and forum on August 30, The following information will help you navigate your transition.
First time log in to new web site and forum…. please follow these steps:
Go to www.concours.org
Click the gray Log In button located above the COG logo
Click on Forgot Password
Enter your email - it must be the same email you used on the previous site/forum (contact Steve Smith if you do not remember)
Type in the characters in the Code box and click Submit button
Check your email, there should be an email there with instructions on how to reset your password
Once reset, you will be able to log in to the member site www.concours.org and access your account by clicking on your name in the upper left side
To log into the forum, got to forum.concours.org and click Log In on the upper right side of screen
Cannot post on the forum after logging in… If you cannot post in the new forum after resetting your password and logging in for the first time as described above, follow these steps:
Sign out of both the membership site and the forum
Be sure your computer allows cookies
Go to forum and log in again. If you still can't, contact the COG IT guy at IT@Concours.org
Receiving automated and bulk emails from Concours Owners Group website COG sends occasional bulk informational emails, including membership renewal and expiration notices. Please be sure to allow email from any email address at concours.org.
Forum Names in the new COG Forum Your forum name in the new forum may not match your forum name in the old forum. The migration process did not allow the Name field from the old forum to be mapped to the username field in the new forum. This is easily changed upon request. This mismatch of names does not affect your ability to post and once it is changed the new name will show in all posts new and old. NOTE: The old forum allowed the same forum name to be used by multiple users. The new forum does NOT allow this. If the name you request is already in use by another forum member, you will be informed and given the opportunity choose another name. COG members have priority over Forum Subscribers when choosing a name.
To request a forum name change: Send an email to IT@concours.org and include in the email:
The email address you are using to login to the forum
The incorrectly displayed forum name
The correct forum name Your request will be processed as soon as possible.
2020 - Issue # 4
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Concours Owners Group NORTHEAST AREA NEWS
Event Reports Dog Days Weekend - Covid Style Dog Days 2020 is in the history books. We returned to West Virginia where it all began when Pat Sprague hosted a camping and motel event in the mountains to escape the dog days of summer. We're getting older so no camping this year and the Marlinton Motor Inn, in Marlinton, WV was our home for the weekend. The forecast was calling for some thunderstorms all weekend, which unfortunately keep attendance down a bit. We did have about 30 hearty riders in attendance. Thursday & Friday saw us getting in the most riding, but dodging afternoon thunderstorms. Friday morning some rode the Scenic Highway and saw thick fog and temperatures in the low 60's. The day warmed up and so did the storms giving us a downpour right before arriving in Lewsiburg, WV for lunch. We hit more storms later just a few miles from the motel. Saturday started out wet and stayed wet!! Some attendees never left the motel at all. A few riders did venture out and found some spots of dryer weather, but in all it was a pretty wet day. My group stopped in Staunton, VA to check on our favorite motel, the HO JO Express. We had heard there was flooding the week before. Sure enough, the little stream behind the motel overflowed and sent two feet of water into the recently renovated motel main floor and the pool! The staff had things cleaned up pretty well, but they have got a way to go. Other parts of town were also heavily damaged, with the Wharf District taking the brunt of it.
event. Many attendees agreed that we should return to Marlinton next August for Dog Days 2021. Hopefully Covid Free! Jason Kaplitz
COG - Join for the bike, stay for the Friends Like many, when the Covid 19 lock down started, I spent a little too much time on Facebook. I found an item in one of the groups I follow that I wanted to buy. Problem was that it was 150 miles away from me, the seller wanted it “GONE,” and it was too big and heavy to ship. And it was something I didn’t really need till Fall. So what am I to do? Who do I know near there? Hmmmm… I think Bobby Winters (COG #4311) lives near there in Gaithersburg, MD. Sure enough after a couple text messages, and phone calls Bobby has the sellers info and will pick up my purchase for me.
Fast forward several months and I see Bobby in Marlinton, WV at On Saturday evening we all gathered at a safe, social distance. It was Dog Days weekend. He mentions that he still has my item in the time to give away a box of prize SWAG that Steve Smith sent to the trunk of his car. Riding home that Sunday I come up with the plan to ask Bobby to drive west 40 minutes to Fredrick, MD. The next Saturday I would drive the 125 miles from my home and meet him and do the swap. Of course, I offered to buy lunch. Mission accomplished! Thanks Bobby! Jason Kaplitz
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2020 - Issue # 4