http: DAVIDSON’S HARD TALESinnovations were evident in Tom Jones’s 1914 Theim with its two-speed...

2010Newsletter of the Viking ChapterAntique Motorcycle Club of America Inc

Published QuarterlyMarch, June, September, December

http:[email protected]

SEPTEMBER

DAVIDSON’S HARD TALES

1Schedule continued on next page

PRESIDENT: Paul Davidson952-941-4997/[email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT: Ron Spargo952-443-2020/[email protected]

DIRECTORS:

Deb Riggs612-229-7244/[email protected]

Jim Geisler952-933-3942/[email protected]

Roger Rimnac (E-TALKER)612-825-2550/[email protected]

Paul St. John763-533-6260/[email protected]

TREASURER: Dena Natins612-866-6069/[email protected]

SECRETARY: Tom Whittles651-636-5492/[email protected]

NEWSLETTER EDITOR: Ivar Natins612-866-6069/[email protected]

GRAPHICS & LAYOUT: Timothy O’Keeff e651-455-1893/okeeff [email protected]

CLUB HISTORIAN: Tom Jones763-533-9163

DEPUTY JUDGE: Jerry Richards651-482-0096/[email protected]

WEB MASTER: Sean O’Neil612-870-0766/[email protected]

Schedule of Events

by Paul DavidsonHello Fellow Viking Chapter Members,

Overall it was a great summer for riding however it was much too short as I am certain most of you would agree. My biggest decision during the season seemed to be which bike to ride each day since I placed my projects on hold mainly to take a break and enjoy the riding season. It soon will be time to get back at those projects so now I need to refresh my memory on where I left off.

During the summer I received more requests than ever asking for our members and their bikes to participate in shows around the metro area. We were able to participate in a few of these events and those of us that did had a great time. Unfortunately many events fell on confl icting dates with other scheduled events but it is nice to know that the Viking Chapter is receiving recognition and interest from so many businesses and com-munities. Hopefully we can participate in a few more next summer.

This years Sturgis ride was one of the best in years both in participants and weather. We did start out in the rain for the fi rst hour and lost one rider who apparently headed for drier territory. He will go nameless in this article but should expect to receive the wrath of those who stuck it out. The Indian riders received instant attention and admiration wherever we stopped with only one loss and a few hiccups along the way. It was great to see the camaraderie among the group with all of the assistance and support making certain the older bikes arrived at their destination.

We did experience one casualty this year; John Eiden’s Geo Metro bit the dust. Af-ter 200,000+ miles John learned that the brakes were stronger than the drive train. How fi tting that John’s car found its fi nal resting place out at Sturgis. It is amazing that such a car lasted so many miles. However, what I learned about the cars history is even more amazing. John purchased the car with 100,000 mile on it meaning that there is someone else besides John that is capable and willing to achieve that many miles in a Geo.

We would love to hear about the projects any of you are presently working on or recently completed. It is always great to hear about members experiences and love for their bikes. Just send your article along with a few photos to our newsletter editor. I am sure that he will fi nd space in an upcoming issue for you to show off your pride and joy.

We will be looking for members to present a Tech Talk at the upcoming General Meetings. If anyone has any technical information they would like to share with our members please inform me and I will put you on the schedule.

Hope to see you down the road.

NOTE: Board of Directors (B.O.D.) meetings are open to all members. When held at a chapter members home, please notify the host ahead of time.

Sept 8 (Wed) – B.O.D. Meeting 7:00 pm Tom & Judy Jones’ 6516 Ronald Place Brooklyn Center, MN 763-533-9163

Sept 11 (Sat) – Ride to Wings & WheelsLeaves from Kerry & Sue Rasmussen’s @8:00 am 9282 Stonebridge Trail N. Stillwater, MN 651-492-0735

Sept 12 (Sun) – Garage Get-TogetherJason Johnson’s Noon to 4 pm5333 1st Ave. So. Mpls MN 612-382-6910

Sept 15 (Wed) – General Meeting & Elec-tions at Fury Motors 7:00 pm.740 North Concord South St. Paul, MN

Sept 19 (Sun) – Viking Chapter Fall Swap Meet 7:00 am to 2:00 pm Minnesota State Fairgrounds North Parking Lot

Oct 2 (Sat) – Fall Mystery Ride Leaves from Rick & Nancy Wyatt’s @11:00 am 7515 Knollwood Dr Mounds View, MN 763-784-4086

Oct 13 (Wed) – B.O.D. Meeting Kiwi Indian Motorcycle Parts Co. 7:00 pm 5301 Edina Industrial Blvd #8 Edina, MN 952-657-5245

2

Editors NoteSummer is still in full swing. Lots of rides and events left before

we move the scoots into the barn and our butts in front of the TV for winter...

There were 3 Garage-Get-Togethers since the last Re-Cycle was published. One on May 26th at John and Louise Ulrich’s, one on June 24th at Paul Davidson’s, and one on July 7th at Gene and Marilyn Hostetler’s (not Hotsteler’s). I was fortunate enough to make each of these events, but the lack of space in this issue pre-vented me from covering each of them in detail. Still, I wanted to take the time and space to thank each of these members for hosting these wonderful events and ask the remainder of the membership to get off the stick and on the calendar. These are nothing fancy-ride something-bring something-sit around and gab about something gatherings that are easy to host and lots of fun for those that attend.

Yeah, OK, the Chicken BBQ was not held on Sunday August 19th like the little post card said. It was on Sunday August 29th. Sorry for the error. I hope nobody missed this annual food feast. Did ya get enough DESERT?

So, the theme for this issue of the Re-Cycle becomes...RIDE TO EAT - EAT TO RIDE!

Schedule of Events (continued)

Oct 20 (Wed) – General Meeting Leo’s South 7:00 pm. 6375 Kenrick Ave. Lakeville, MN

Nov 3 (Wed) Volunteer Appreciation Dinner 7:00 pm Old Country Buff et 2120 Ford Parkway, St. Paul - (651) 699-5631(check in by 6:30)

Nov 10 (Wed) – B.O.D. Meeting 7:00 pm Ducati Minneapolis2800 Lyndale Ave. So. Mpls, MN 612-746-5116

Nov 17 (Wed) – General Meeting 7:00 pm Bob’s Cycle Supply65 West Viking Drive St Paul, MN (651) 482-8181

Jan 15 (Sat) – Viking Chapter Holiday Party4:30-9:00 pm Roseville Community Center 2661 Civic Center Drive Roseville, MN

AMCA NATIONAL RECOGNITION

AWARDSViking Chapter National Meet June 13, 2010 St. Paul, MN

Jerry Richards, Deputy Judge AMCA Viking Chapter

NATIONAL AWARDS

PERIOD MODIFIED #3 - N/A

PERIOD MODIFIED #2 - N/A

PERIOD MODIFIED #1Kevin Griffi th, 1943 WLC 45 Harley-Davidson

LONGEST DISTANCE RIDDEN #3Mike Gavin, 1946 WL 45 Harley-Davidson – 8 Miles

LONGEST DISTANCE RIDDEN #2Dave Elzinga, 1966 Honda CA 160 – 11 Miles

LONGEST DISTANCE RIDDEN #1Jack Engdahl, 1973 Honda CL 350 – 40 Miles

MOST UNIQUETom Jones 1914 Thiem

OLDESTLes Gordon, II, 1910 MinneapoliS, Model K

SPECIAL – CENTURY AWARDLes Gordon, II, 1910 MinneapoliS, Model K

VIKING CHAPTER SPECIAL AWARDS

OLDEST RIDER RIDDEN TO MEETMike Gavin, 83 Years Old

YOUNGEST RIDER RIDDEN TO MEETJack Engdahl, 48 Years Old

PRE-WAR & OLDERLeo Gordon, II,1910 Minneapolis, Model K

POST WAR & NEWERTrudi Johnson-Richards, 1952 Harley-Davidson Tele-Glide

PEOPLE’S CHOICEHoward Wagner, 1911 Wagner Tourist

Special thanks to the following members for volunteering their time on Sunday morning to help judge the fabulous bikes listed above (and all the others we failed to mention):

Keith Braun

Dave Flory

Kevin Griffi th

Dave Lash

Bruce Linsday

Dave Monahan

Dave Moot

Kerry Rasmussen

Roger Rimnac

Doug Sheldon

Rollie Stoehr

Ken Stopar

Brenda Teel-Lash

Rich Thompson

John Ulrich

You Know - DESERT!

3

Our National Meet at the State Fairgrounds in June showcased the history of motorcycling in Minnesota. A huge collection of posters made from photos of dealerships and a collection of Min-nesota made bikes made a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the expanse of motorcycling history of our home state. The posters were a huge hit with the crowd with a mix of shots of familiar friends and new surprises. Dealership shots brought us back to places like Frontenac Cycle, Carl’s Cycle Supply, Eide’s Kawasaki, Leo’s South, WIW and Egeberg’s. We tracked down a wonderful collection of photos from the Egeberg family through the help of Don Egeberg and one made it to the front on the front of our “Made in Minnesota” t-shirt. That photo was taken in the front of their shop on 1821 Riverside Avenue and shows Roy next to three sheriff deputies astride their Indians. Stan Mewhorter and Tom Whittles brought in pictures of their dads from “back in the day” and Carl Eide brought in a t-shirt and business cards from his Kawasaki deal-erships. Other t-shirts on display were from Belmont’s, Egeberg’s, Martinson’s and Chatland’s. Perhaps the most unique display of vendor paraphernalia was the Egeberg key-fob collection brought in by George Edwards which held every single key fob ever made by the dealership except one!

Minnesota’s motorcycling history started early, with quite a few brands of bikes being built right here in the Twin Cities. The June meet was perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to see fi ve, extremely rare Minnesota made motorcycles sitting side by side along with the parts of four others. Having all these rare bikes next to each other made it possible for us to take in the rapid technologi-cal developments of that period as manufacturers raced to bring their latest ideas to market.

The Wagner motorcycle line was well represented with Howard Wagner’s 1911 and Mallard Teal’s 1912 Wagner. It was such a treat to have both bikes side-by-side and allowing us to see the jumps in innovation that were tearing through the industry at that time. Such innovations were evident in Tom Jones’s 1914 Theim with its two-speed rear hub. You could compare that bike to the 1911 American, brought in by Bob Chatland. This bike was sold under the “Ameri-

can” label by the AJ Musselman company of Chicago, although it was made by Theim right here in St Paul. With that bike side by side with Tom’s, you could spot the Theim components right away. Lester Gordon, an AMCA member from Indianapolis, brought his 1910 Minneapolis motorcycle. Les is the second owner of this amazing, unrestored motorcycle who’s original paint and compo-nents not only teach us about its time period, but let us fantasize about fi nding this rare gem ourselves in some dark corner of a barn. A second Minneapolis engine was present in the streamliner frame of Ky Michaelson’s latest creation. Ky’s father and uncles founded the Minneapolis motorcycle company and later went on to build Michaelson motorcycles and tri-cars. Although very few actual Mi-chaelson motorcycles still exist, having a Michaelson made motor from a 1912 Minneapolis mounted in Ky’s frame makes his stream-liner a Michaelson in my book!

Perhaps the most famous Minnesota made motorcycle is the Cyclone – the yellow devil on our club logo. That bike was a tech-nological marvel in its day with many inventions present in modern sport bikes, like bevel driven overhead cams. It was raced to 111 mph in 1914 when the current record was only 93 mph. Although very few of these machines exist, Bob Chatland brought in his Cyclone engine to let all of us take a close look at its inner work-ings. With the inspection covers removed, you could get a close up view of how the engine worked and really appreciate the genius of its design. Bob also brought a motorcycle engine with the words “Muller – made in Stillwater Minnesota” stamped on the case. Not much is known about this engine, but if you have any information, get a hold of Bob.

Although the rain cut into the majority of the outdoor events, the club still had a chance to kick back in the evenings and hang out in the camp ground with old friends. When the rain got too bad, we could head into the building and drool over the sweet bikes until the rain let up. The club started a new tradition this year by hosting a barbeque in the campground. The club chipped in with a pile of hotdogs and members brought a dish to pass. As we hung out and decompressed from yet another successful meet, the rain stopped and blue sky came out. Time for one last antique bike ride!!

Viking National Meet Recapby Sean O’Neal

4

Ride to National Eagle CenterOn June 26, Viking Chapter members rode to The National

Eagle Center in Wabasha, Minnesota. Over its 15 year history, EagleWatch evolved to become The National Eagle Center, a pub-lic/private partnership with EagleWatch, the City of Wabasha and the Wabasha Port Authority. These partners have constructed a 14,000 square foot Interpretive Center overlooking the Missis-sippi River. This is the only National Eagle Center in the Nation.

There are currently fi ve eagles living at the Center which were injured and cannot be released to the wild. Thousands of Bald Eagles live, winter or travel through this area. Viking members attended the hour long session in the Interpretive Center followed by photos with their motorcycles and Harriet, a Bald Eagle. Har-riet’s photo appears on the Minnesota State license plate. Lunch was at Slippery’s in Wabasha; ice cream at Nelson Cheese Fac-tory in Nelson, Wisconsin; fried cheese curds and refreshments in Stockholm, Wisconsin.

Stan Mewhorter recorded points for the Viking Chapter 2010 scheduled rides (4 points for 35 years or older motor-cycle—0000-1975; 3 points, 1976-1990 and 2 points, 1991-2010). Members who rode: Glenn Robeck—1965 Sears; Paul and Doris St. John—1990 Harley; Dena Natins-2001 Harley; Ralph Knauss—2001 Harley Sportster; John and Louise Ulrich—2003 Honda Gold Wing; Stan Mewhorter—2004 Harley Sportster; Paul Davidson—2004 Harley; Jerry Richards and Trudi Johnson-Richards—2009 Harley. Members who drove: Matt, Michele and Jeremy Harbert and Shadow.

2010 President’s Ride “Up Nort”This years President’s Ride lead only three club members to the

Great White North in mid July. Snaking along the route less trav-eled through Minnesota and Wisconsin to Pattison State Park near Superior WI. This years 2 day event featured a visit to a local dirt track for some Sprint Car racing under the lights on Saturday night.

July General Meeting and Ice

Cream Social at Mpls VAI’ll bet this was our biggest turnout for this event to date. Lots

of bikes, Lots of club members, and lots of appreciative Veterans. Thanks Paul Meisel for bringing out the Ice Cream rig fi lled to the brim with cold treat for a warm summers eve.

5

New Breakfast TraditionBy Paul Meisel

Again this year Viking club members enjoyed breakfast at Trinity Church in Lead. The church members go out of their way to serve a great breakfast fast and with exceptionally friendly service. And on real glass plates with real silver-ware!

About 50 church members of all ages work the breakfast each day. One little girl who was exceptionally outgoing and friendly came by and asked us how our breakfast was. She said her name was Zoe and that she was 9 years old.

Later on Pat and I were checking our Black Hills map trying to decide where to ride that day when another church member, a biker, came up and asked us if he could answer any questions. He was extremely helpful and we followed his recommendation to the letter, stopping at Crazy Horse and Jewel Cave along the way.

The church breakfast has become a tradition for the club.

We Did It!The motion passed at the July general meeting for the club

to match donations to the Viking Chapter Cannonball team up to $500. This was a great chance for you to double the impact of your donation team by having it met, dollar-for-dollar by the club. The team needs our help to BEAT THE COMPETI-TION and prove that the Midwest is the home of the best An-tique Motorcycle club in America! Everyone knows that the Viking Chapter is the largest AMCA club; now we’ve shown them that we support the pre-1916 cannonball race and that our team will win!

The team has put thousands of hours of their time into build-ing the Sears bike and now they’ve got our help. The Viking Chapter donated a total of $1235 and enough Viking Baseball Caps to cover the entire team. The money will go towards gas for their support vehicles, tires for the bikes and lodging along the way (to name just a few of their expenses). Thank You Everyone for your support. Learn more about the event and follow their progress on the web:Matt Olsen’s blog:http://pre1916scramble.blogspot.comThe Cannonball’s main site:http://www.motorcyclecannonball.com

On the Way to Sturgis:

“A Small Town Restaurant Review”By Kathy Rimnac

On our way to Sturgis this year we stopped in Wessington Springs, SD just off of Highway 34. We went to eat at the Springs Inn Café & Lounge and discovered the “Best Broasted Chicken” west of the Mississippi! And I mean the best!!! This is a full ser-vice fi ne family dining restaurant that offers breakfast, lunch and dinner. Hand-pattied burgers (never frozen), hand cut steaks, salad and soup bar and that chicken... They also have mixed drinks and cold beer! Next time you are in South Dakota, stop by and say Hi, to hosts Jon and Carla Niemeyer and enjoy a wonderful meal.

“New”

Century Riders RecognizedDean Hanson, Glen Konz, Craig Kotval, Paul St. John, and

Steve Solnitzky endured the 500 mile club ride requirement atop motorcycles whose age (when combined with their own age) ex-ceed 100. All fi ve achieved this feet on the trip to or from Sturgis SD. Congratulations All!

Don’t forget to pack lots snacks...

6

Some of you may remember that the Minne-sota State Patrol brought some concerns about vertical license plates to the Minnesota Legis-lature during the 2008 session. The state patrol, like many other police agencies, use license plate scanners in their patrol cars that can read up to 1,000 plates per minute, the problem was they couldn’t read the vertical plates on motor-cycles or cars. It didn’t take too much to sneak

this law through and after the 2008 session vertical plates were illegal, but not for long.

Our State Coordinator got together with A.B.A.T.E. of Min-nesota’s lobbying team and they started to work the problem. That is when our good friends State Senators Amy Koch and Ray Vandeveer stepped forward to carry our bill.

This wasn’t an easy slam dunk, the state patrol didn’t want to give up its ability to read motorcycle plates and Mack didn’t want the custom bike folks to lose the right to trick out their rides. It took a lot of creative thinking to come up with a solu-tion, but in the end that’s what happened. The new law hit the Governor’s desk and he signed it into law. We should also send out a special word of thanks to Senator Steve Murphy for help-ing move this bill through his Transportation Committee.

Here is how it works. The DVS will start to offer vertical reading license plates. You will be able to mount these plates in vertical license plate brackets and law enforcement’s scan-ners will still be able to read them. If you have something to hide from the law it doesn’t matter what kind of plate you are running and I can’t help you. Riders can start placing orders with the DVS in July and the new law will take effect August 1st. The plates can be ordered just like vanity plates, veteran plates, etc. You will have to pay an extra fee for the plate but if you run vertical plates these new vertical reading plates should keep you out of trouble and if you sell the bike you can keep the plate for your next custom ride.

There are a couple of lessons to be learned from this whole experience. The fi rst is pretty simple; it pays to have friends down at the State Capitol. Those letters, emails, and person-nel contacts have really paid off and having 1,000 boots on the ground for Bikeday helped make a difference as well.

The second lesson, guard well your freedom, once gone its hell to get back. The bottom line is we need to keep a full time presence at the Capitol so pesky little laws like this one don’t fl y under our radar. You can change a law back but you always seem to lose a little bit of freedom when you do.

Please feel free to contact me at 952-239-0929 with any ques-tions or comments and thank you for supporting freedom of the road.

A Victory for Cycle Riders and

Builders in MNby Todd Riba A.B.A.T.E. of MN Legislative Director

Mystery Biker

High School Annual photo of this new member. Any ideas?

The Minnesota Mile Flat Track Races

Saturday September 11 at Canterbury Downs in Shakopee Gates open at 11:00 am practice from 1:30-3:00 pm racing starts at 6:00 pm tickets $20-$35 kids under 5 free

24th Annual Mid-America Fall

Antique Car & Bike Auction

Saturday September 25th in the Grandstand at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds St. Paul, MN

Cycles and Coff ee

Saturday September 19 & Saturday October 16 8:00-11:00 am at the Auto MotorPlex in Chanhassen, MN.

Saturday Mornings at Diamonds

Some of the club members meet most every Saturday morn-ing for coffee at Diamond’s Coffee Shop 1618 Central Ave. N. Mpls.

Bits and Pieces

Nowhere SD - Real Men only work on wiring in the rain...

7

MOTORCYCLE SWAP MEET

September 19, 2010 - 7 am to 4 pm

GIANTGIANTSponsored by the Viking Chapter of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America Inc.

North Parking Lot of the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, St. Paul, MN

All Brands, All Years! Vendor Spaces are FREE! Only $5 Admission!

for additional information visit www.vikingmc.org

Ulrich’s Garage-Get-Together last May (can you tell we had an early Summer - Oh yes, there was food involved)

Natl. Meet Ride to Porkey’s (more food...)

New Club (theme) PosterYou Guessed it... She was selling food

Chris GlodowskiSales

Roger L. GlodowskiProprietor

James SolbergMotorhead

Replacement CRANKCASE For INDIAN CHIEF MOTORS

Roger: (262) 331-4300 James: (513) 420-8817Chris: (262) 894-8711 Email: [email protected]

Viking Chapter AMCA, Inc.

Antique Motorcycle Club of America, Inc

7314 Chicago Avenue South, Richfi eld, MN 55423

RealClassic MagazineImported from England and all about buying, selling, running and riding Real Classic motorcycles

$58 /yr (12 issues)

Available exclusively from

MOTORSPORT PUBLICATIONS7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921

www.ClassicBikeBooks.com

715-572-4595 [email protected]

Subscribe to...

Or test drive a copy for $7 (postage included)

www.billbune.com

763-427-6738763-576-9924

2016 7th Ave.Anoka, MN 55303

4571 Valley Industrial Blvd. So.Suite 300Shakopee, MN 55379

952-233-3233

Motorcycling Magazines & BooksClassic Reading for all Tastes

For Sale:FOUR 1970-1973 HD Aermacchi Sprint motorcycles. These are parts bikes that are 50 to 75% complete. $3000.00 or B/O. Selling as one lot! Photos available. Roger 612-823-3369 or [email protected]

1973 HD Aermacchi Sprint 350 Good condition. Needs battery! $2000.00 or B/O. Photo available. Roger 612-823-3369 or [email protected]

SEPTEMBER 2010

mystery biker = Steve Solnitzky

http: DAVIDSON’S HARD TALESinnovations were evident in Tom Jones’s 1914 Theim with its two-speed...

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