NE2013 Issue5

COGnitions Random thoughts and ramblings from your Area Director

2013 was a personally difficult year. Not as much riding as I would like. A demanding schedule of grad courses and a changing role at work keeps me very occupied. In the late summer my mom’s health rapidly declined when the cancer spread, and we lost her in early October. She was the last of my nuclear family and I think of her, my dad and brother as my wife and children work a day each weekend to clean out my childhood home in New York to prepare it for sale. For me, COG has become one of the things I really enjoy and is a distraction from the typical day-to-day issues. In some way COG is like a second family, or a circle of good friends. Some long time members have known each other for many of the 25 years of the club’s existence. I suspect I am not the only one who has some really great fiends because of COG.

As you read in previous issues, this was an election year for the Northeast Area Director position. With all that was going on I was unsure about running again. With your support, encouragement, and nominations I decide to run again. I guess that was a good thing as there were no other candidates which allowed me to handily “win” the election. I will happily continue as your Area Director for another 2 years. We have the best members and an awesome leadership staff. I thank you all.

Our Northeast staff has gone through some changes this year. We gained several new AADs across the area... Rich Beaudoin and Dave Perkins came on board in the Greater Toronto Area; Brian & Andrea Felice for RI/CT; and Roger (& Susan) Mercer out on Long Island, NY. All have hit the ground running and doing a wonderful job. Sadly, Bob Barbanti has decided to step down as AAD Hudson Valley, NY region. He has done a lot for the members during his tenure from hosting his famous meet & greets to no-frills overnight trips. Thanks for your service.

2014 will be the first time in over 10 years (maybe longer) that we will not have a Spring Fling Rally on our schedule. With the COG National in mid-June the NE staff has decided to pass on planning a Spring Fling rally in May since the feeling was that most members would probably want to save their time and financial resources to attend the national. The Rally Committee is seeking volunteers to kelp at the national. If you want to get involved in even a small way, this is your opportunity. Contact me or one of the other rally committee members for info, or read about it in future Concourier magazines.

The NE staff is presently pulling the 2014 schedule together. If you have an idea for an activity please contact your AAD or myself and we will help you make your idea a reality on the COG schedule. It’s much easier to do than you may think.

Happy Holidays to all…

2013 - Issue #5 - Winter

photo courtesy Bob Barbanti #7134

Event Schedule

Page 9

Concours Owners Group NORTHEAST AREA NEWS

2 2013 - Issue #5 – Winter

Lyons, NY Robert Odit #11235

Meriden, CT John Raszcewski #11236

Salem, VA Garland Wood #11249

Attleboro, MA James Koepfler #11244

Pennington, NJ Daniel Casselberry #11247

North Providence, RI Paul Bowden #11260

Bethel, CT Paul Pavlakis #11261

Cambridge, MA Kevin Buckley #11272

Strathroy, ON John Skeaff #11273

Huntington, NY Scott Paladini #11276

Litchfield, NH Joseph Gionet #11278

Canastota, NY Ronald Linder #11281

Sharon, PA Tom McKinney #11283

Lancaster, PA Gerard Salmon #11285

Elverson, PA Rachel Robinson #9320A

York, PA Tracy Landis #10486A

York, PA Skylar Landis #10486AF

Saco, ME Tim Paquette #11290

Lindsay, ON Chris Westcott #11291

Williamsburg, ON Stan Tibben #11294

Germantown, MD Matthew Frey #11295

Woodbridge, VA Kevin J Houston #11309

Oak Ridge, NJ Harry Larsen #11311

Smyrna, DE Dennis Piper #11313

Milton, VT Jay Whitney #TBD

Fairless Hills, PA Michael Petrek #TBD

Editor’s Corner Tim Anderson #9470

Thanks for all the great input I received for this issue — I was able fill a couple extra pages!

The riding season is winding down, but many of us are still squeezing in a few more rides. And now the winter arm-chair planning begins for next season...

I’m happily making route plans for a multiday ride to the COG National in Johnson City, TN, our 25th anniversary. I plan take 3-4 days to get there on

some back roads I’ve never tried be-fore, and then hit some more on the way back. Maybe I’ll be able to join up with some you for parts of my route, let me know if you are looking for a part-ner. I know there will be lots of great riding to enjoy in the local rally area.

See the article on page 8 and the box on page 10 for more details on the Na-tional, and get those reservations made soon! If you have ideas for events or rides, contact your AAD for assistance in setting them up, and get them en-tered on the online calendar to help everyone plan their 2014 events!

NORTHEAST AREA NEWS

is published 5-6 times a year for Northeast Area members of the Concours Owners Group. Submissions are welcomed and members are encouraged to share their COG experiences. Email: [email protected] Snail Mail: Tim Anderson, 1040 Ocean Avenue, New London, CT 06320.

© 2013 Concours Owners Group

New Members First things first, a warm welcome to our newest NE area COG members!

AADs for MD & NY (Hudson Valley)

Like to meet new people, find new roads, and have lots of fun? Have some good ideas for

riding or social events in your area? Then we have the opportunity for you! The Assistant

Area Director (AAD) positions for MD and the Hudson Valley, NY region are open, so we

are looking for new faces for these important positions. Here’s your chance to make a difference in COG and create some good

times in your own neck of the woods. Contact Steve Smith at 203-720-7575 or [email protected] if you want to learn

more about serving as an AAD in MD or NY. Thanks!

Fueling up at the 11/23/13 PA Meet & Greet and getting ready for the Covered Bridges Ride. (l-r) Mellissa & Jose, Chris, Shawn, Dan, Steve, and Bill. Additional pictures on page 7.

mailto:[email protected]


2013 - Issue #5 – Winter 3

Around the NORTHEAST

News from your Assistant Area Directors (complete list of AADs on back page)

MA/ME/NH/VT Greg & Tracey Habel #7010/7010A Another riding season comes to a close all too soon. It’s true when they say “Time flies when you’re having fun”. Hard to believe that Greg & I have been AADs for 2 years now, what a great time we have been having! We are very fortu-nate to be running a great area with many members who help out to keep the calendar full of rides and events. Sher & Pat Mulloy, you guys are an in-tegral part of the Feabelloy (Habels, Mulloys & Felices) team and it would not be the same without you. You open your home to COG, Pat shares his tools and toys during the Spring Tech Session and you help out during other events. Brian and Andrea Felice – Brian handles the C14 tech side at the Tech Session - we couldn’t do it without your exper-tise, and Andrea of the famous COG-ettes, assists with meal prep. Kevin Martin has helped fill the calendar by leading several day rides and an over-night trip to Cooperstown, NY. Mark Williams for heading up the ERC course this Spring. Tom & Anne Kerrigan, for hosting this year’s camping outing, at their home. Mike Benham & Bob Dal-lon for their ride assistance at the Ray-mond, NH meet & greet. Tom O’Neil hosted a cookout for the club at his home. Thanks to the ladies who helped out at several events like the Tech Ses-sion - COG-ETTES ROCK!

We held our first rolling un-rally this year in September and it was well re-ceived with close to 20 people attend-ing. This was a weekend event that started in West Dover, VT Friday night; Saturday we rode up to N. Conway, NH to shop at Whitehorse gear and spend the night at The Yankee Clipper Inn.

The End-of-Season Social was held at

the Horseshoe Pub in Hudson, MA in November and we asked the attendees to complete a short survey to offer their suggestions. They let us know their favorite roads to ride (e.g. Mammoth Rd, NH); suggested a restaurant in their area for a meet & greet (The Holy Grail in Epping, NH) and had other great suggestions for next year (October Foli-age Ride). Thanks to all who completed the survey; it will be helpful to us while we work to plan out events for 2014. The annual Tech Session will be held on Saturday, April 26, 2014 and will be up on the calendar soon. We are hoping to offer a trip to Nova Scotia in early Sep-tember to be hosted by Mark Williams. Research is underway for a Fall Rally with Brian & Andrea Felice in South-west NH for mid to late September. Plans are also in the works for our an-nual camping weekend in May. The location will likely be in Northwestern MA close to the VT border. June will be busy and exciting with the 25th Anniver-sary National Rally in Johnson City, Tennessee. This is shaping up to be a great event that you won’t want to miss. Many great events are being worked on such as guest speakers, rafting, tech sessions, etc. and there is excellent rid-ing in the area.

Greg and I look forward to another year of rides and events with our COG friends both old and new.

If you have an idea for a ride or are in-terested in hosting an event, please con-tact us and we will be glad to help you put it all together! Tracey & Greg NY—Long Island Roger Mercer #8867 (For Roger’s first column, I’ve included his bio so you can meet him and Susan. – Ed.)

I started riding on a Honda Trail 50 at age 11. The motorcycle adventure bug bit me fast. I picked up my first street bike at age 16, a 1979 Honda 750 four with salvage title for $150 and got it running in short order. I owned several more 750 fours in the years that fol-lowed. Out of all my bikes, my 1966 Triumph chopper was the worst, not many enjoyable times riding in the year I had that bike as I was fixing it more

then riding it!! After that I moved up to a 1999 Yamaha Road Star, one of my favorites. The Road Star opened up the ‘long distance’ ability and I fell in love with motorcycle road trips. After a trip down to North Carolina and Tennessee over the Iron and Holston mountains, I felt the desire for more sport type riding and eventually sold the road star and purchased a 1996 Ninja 1100. WOW!!!! What a ride!!! My fairly new girlfriend, Susan, (now my lovely wife and partner in crime), agreed to ride pillion down to Kentucky to visit my brother. (Crazy idea on a pretty much stock Ninja.) On the way, we had some small mechanical issues arise and brought the bike to be serviced in Lexington. As the mechanic was looking at the Ninja, I was showing Susan my ‘dream bike’ that I had high hopes of purchasing in a year or two, a beautiful new 2009 Kawasaki Concours. Susan suggested we ask what the dealer would give us for the Ninja and buy the Concours together. Shortly there after, we were riding out of the showroom on our new Connie. Upon returning home, we joined COG but failed to take full advantage of the club. We returned to COG in the early spring of 2013 and the rest, as they say, is history. As much as I’ve always enjoyed riding, the best days in the saddle are the ones I share with Susan on the back. We love to ride together and have been having a blast with the members of COG these past few months. We hope to be able to pull the Long Island crowd together to share in the incredible fun. Hope to see you all on the road. ON—Eastern Richard Beaudoin #9318 Another year of riding. It sure did go by fast and I even managed to make it to two events. So now it’s getting caught up around the house and planning for next year’s riding. Where, when, how much. Tires, brakes and fluids stocked up and ready by spring as well as the regular winter servicing.

I measure this year’s riding a success by several factors. One, I missed the deer that ran in front of me! Two, I got to

spend a lot of it with the Mrs. on my six



Around the NORTHEAST (continued from page 3)

in Bedford and Lake George. Thirdly, I met some wonderful people out on the roads while riding. I’m always amazed how the bike attracts a conversation, where are you from, going to etc., fol-lowed by a “have a safe ride.” It rein-forces in me the need to keep setting a good example out there so others can enjoy the same.

It’s going to be a long winter without riding so I hope the tractor fills the void. Hey wait, maybe a few meet and greets with some fellow COGers or some po-tential ones. If you’re in Eastern On-tario, throw an email out to me and we’ll get something set up. Bring a friend and have some dinner and talk biking. Happy Holidays to all and have a safe winter. Keep working those budgets and plans for the National. PA (Western) Joe Cyprych #4665 Hello fellow COGgers, well by now most of us are looking out our win-dows at the dreaded white stuff that keeps the bikes in the barn, but its time to reflect on the past season and look forward to the next riding season. First off I would like to thank all the folks who made the effort to get out and at-tend the rides and events that were planned this past season. There were plenty to chose from, kudos to all that planned something. I am already in the planning stages for a few rides next year with a Camp & Ride in July at Cook Forest (exact date coming). Jason and I will be turning our annual COG in Canaan event into a Fall Rally which will likely be held the last weekend in September (exact date & details com-ing). I’m sure there will be a lot of events to choose from in the upcoming season. Remember this is an all volun-teer club so try and make an effort to get out and support all those that put the time in for our club. Happy Holi-days to all and I hope everyone has a great New Year. - Joe & Michele

NY (Hudson Valley) Bob Barbanti—#7134 As 2013 comes to a close, I want to reflect upon an-other good year for the COG NE Area. I have been able to hold some events and monthly Meet & Greets, even though we had some rain issues and snow storms forced cancela-tion of two of the Meet & Greets. Par-ticipation has always been decent and hopefully folks enjoyed themselves. I was fortunate enough to attend the Spring Fling, Fall Rally, and Russell and Martha Fleming's annual North & South 16 Get Together.

We repeated another popular event in July with the Independence Ride, what we called the three prong attack for BBQ. Terry Faherty, Steve Smith and I held independent rides from three dif-ferent locations that converged on Big W's BBQ in Wingdale, NY, and other folks met us at Big W. It is impressive that folks keep showing up since it al-ways seems to be in the mid to high 90's and humid. But the food must be that good – LOL.

I opted not to have a Newburgh, NY Meet & Greet in September because of the NE Fall Rally at Lake George, NY, as well as another M&G in close prox-imity on the usual day of the Newburgh M&G. I did not want our newest AAD's first event to have to compete with another close event.

We again had an October a ride for Color in the Catskills which was a ride up to Hunter, NY for a BMW sponsored rally at the Hunter Mountain Ski center. We had a nice ride up to Hunter, as well as meeting up with other COG folks at the event itself. The damp roads and wet leaves did keep us on our toes in the morning. But I really do enjoy this ride with the cooler weather and beauti-ful fall views.

December 14th was the final scheduled Newburgh Meet & Greet for 2013. It is also the same weekend of the NY Inter-national Motorcycle Show, which I at-tended the day before. I decided to have the M&G anyway for folks who chose not to go the show. So the year closes out with some decent choices for

activities rather than just sitting home or Christmas shopping.

Finally, the time has come for me to step down as a NE AAD. Stepping down at the end of the year hopefully allows time for the NE AD to find a re-placement before the 2014 riding season revs up. I would like to thank all of the folks who have participated in the events I have been involved with. It's you folks participating who have made them a success. It is for you folks why we do this. And I thank you all for your support and friendship over the years. - Bob Barbanti ON (Greater Toronto Area) Dave Perkins #5932 It’s been a great year here in the GTA with new riders out to join us at our monthly Meet & Greets. I discovered a small group of COGgers who live east of Toronto who found the drive to our meeting west of the city a bit of a trial through the ever-worsening rush hour traffic, so we found a mutually convenient venue in Oshawa and established a monthly meeting. This was added to the NE Area calendar. We hope to attract more riders from the GTA East in the New Year.

The big event for us over the winter is the Motorcycle Super Show, on the first weekend of January at the International Centre, just to the west on Toronto. Primarily for clubs and dealers but there is more manufacturer presence each year. The show draws riders from all over Ontario and upstate New York. COG GTA has had a booth in the show for over 10 years. We have literature to handout, a contact sheet for follow-up in an attempt to bring folks into the COG fold and group members supply bikes for folks to sit on. Again for this year Canada Kawasaki will supply a new C14 for display. Each year we dis-cover Connie owners unaware of COG. We also get to chat with riders about their bikes and riding interests. See the Event page for more info. I extend my wishes for very Happy Holiday season to all. Whatever you celebrate get home safe and sober. - Dave Perkins



Around the NORTHEAST (continued from page 4)

NY/NJ Metro Area Terry Faherty #792 Greetings from the NYC metro area! Hope you all are enjoying the holi-day season as much as I am. It's December 15th as I write this, the last possible day before Tim starts to get irate and send you shame e-mails! Just kidding! I held off so I could report on the annual Javits IMS Show get together. Thanks to the im-pending arrival of the Super Bowl monolith the show was scheduled quite early this year. We got our usual early start here at the sprawling Faherty compound and got to the city (translation: Manhattan … its what we call it in the outer boroughs. LOL) by 8 AM and enjoyed a hearty breakfast before arriving at Javits for the 9 AM opening. The snow had started and turnout was pretty light so we had the run of the joint until almost 11 when the crowds started to get a bit larger, but still nowhere near as thick as usual. We had a great time looking at all the shiny new bikes. I fell in serious lust with the updated Ninja 1000.(Yeah! Yeah! I know its not a Connie but I've gotten used to smaller rides since I bought the FZ-1 and the wife can't ride like she used to!) We had a serious WTF moment checking out the new Honda CTX 1300, a larger version of their CTX 700 mongrel bike. Why, Honda? Why? They left the VFR 1200 back at the warehouse to feature this abomination?!? The electric bikes were in evidence too. The future of motorcy-cling? I'm not sure just yet but they certainly have come a long way. Over-all, I’d say it was a tad light both ven-dor and turnout wise, but we still had a good day. We gathered at the C14 at about 2:30 PM and then headed out into the snowy Manhattan streets for a short walk to Penn Station and Tir Na Nog, an Irish themed pub right across from the station itself. We were lucky

to score a table as it appeared that mul-tiple parties were booked, probably due to the holiday season. We waited to order our food until two stragglers ar-rived, since they had decided to leave the show and stop at Nat Sherman's cigar store before heading to the pub. They then proceeded to get served be-fore us … life ain't fair! The food was quite good, and the Guinness was even better! We were just finishing up when we were suddenly accosted by a rather inebriated Christmas tree, who had got it into her head that one of our group, Roger was trying to take her picture, when he was actually taking one of the festively decorated deer head mounted to the column next to her. She then insisted that they take a picture with her. They complied to make the thing go away. Roger tells me the look of abject horror on my face, and deer in the headlights look on my son Con-nor's, as she teetered unsteadily be-tween us, her face mere inches away, was priceless! Unfortunately he was momentarily incapacitated as he tried to hold back laughter and was unable to catch the moment for poster-ity. Having disposed of the arboreal interloper, we said our farewells and stepped back out into the tempest to make our way home. It was the perfect ending to a great gathering. I had a blast as always. Once again I wish you all a happy and healthy holiday sea-son! See you all out there after the thaw! - Terry

Attention Newsletter

‘Hard Copy’ Mail Subscribers!

The Postal Service recently announced a proposed rate increase to take ef-fect January 26. We still have 140 NE members signed up to receive mailed hard copies, with 20 of those in Canada. This increase really hits our interna-tional mailings hard, as it will now cost twice as much to mail to our Canadian members as those in the U.S.

If you can receive and view your News-letter online instead of by mail, please sign up for electronic delivery and help save our budgets for ride events instead of high postage rates! You can still eas-ily print the Ride Events page for refer-ence. Its easy to sign up! Here’s how:

To sign up for electronic delivery:

1. Go to www.cog-online.org

2. Select the ‘Member Area’ tab

3. Log in with your username and password

4. Select the ‘My Info’ tab

5. In the top section, ‘General Infor-mation’, next to ‘Area Newsletter By:’ uncheck the ‘Hard Copy’ box and check the ‘Email’ box.

6. You’re done! Thanks for helping!

Enjoying lunch at an Irish pub in the city after taking in the International Motorcycle Show.

http://www.cog-online.org



CT Meet & Greet at Mystic Pizza! 19 October 2013 Brian & Andrea Felice - #9125 We had 16 in all which was comprised of 5 couples (31% female attendees!!) and a couple of members who were ‘new to COG functions’ folks, so it was a great mix.

We could not have asked for better weather at this time of year. The sun was shinning brightly, temperatures were mild so downtown Mystic was hopping! With the constant picture taking of the Mystic Pizza sign its al-ways a memora-ble visit there. The wait staff ush-ered up-stairs into a private room which held our group perfectly and made it quite cozy. Many in the group tried out the Meatsa Pizza (or heart attack on a plate), with every-one enjoying their meals thoroughly. Service was awesome too, so we all left quite happy and of course full!

Wayne & Maryann opted out of the ride and chose to partake in Ice Cream instead, but really can you blame them? So we set out with 14 folks—8 bikes behind us. We planned to take a ride through the back roads of CT coming within a whisker of hitting RI. But within the first 2 minutes we lost 2 bikes…oops! We circled around to look for them without success. So this seemed to be the order of the day, the beginning of the quite haphazard COG riding day. With riders losing us, leav-ing one in the restroom, then finding us again as the day wore on. Sorry Chris, thanks for taking that so well! At the midway stop several of the MA folks dropped off and headed north to home. So there were 5 bikes behind us, or so we thought. All the while we were con-stantly counting bikes and paying CLOSE attention to who was with us, it truly felt like an episode of the Twilight Zone.

The fall foliage, in all its colors made just a glorious backdrop for the ride. The scenery of the stereotypical New England autumn was just spectacular! With this beauty of course comes leaves, which on any ride is a concern, thankfully everything was dry and there was very little wind, so all those leaves stayed put along the sides of the road and caused no problems. A cou-ple more peeled off to head home. So then there were 6 of us, just 4 bikes, the last of us going back into Downtown Mystic for Ice Cream, yummy!

We had fun watching the famous Mys-tic Draw Bridge go up not once, but twice while sitting and relaxing, shar-ing some story telling and making plans to see each other at the next COG event.

Though we really don’t know how all the shenanigans on this ride really hap-pened, we did have a bunch of laughs and were happy that it all ended well. With everyone having a great meal, great ride and a bunch of laughs, was-n’t that our original purpose?

See you all the next time!

‘No frills’ Fall Foliage Ride 25-27 October 2013, Luray, VA Pat and Sharry Sprague #1887 After a six-year hiatus of hosting COG events at our home, Sharry and I were very glad to once again welcome our friends, old and new, to our One Wheel Only motorcycle campground near Luray, Virginia. Fifteen COGgers trav-elled to ride and camp with their friends. Snow prevented our Canadian friends, Brian Jordan and John De Vos, from making the journey, and icy roads delayed Andy Martin on Friday after-noon, but he caught us later in Franklin on Saturday. It was cold, with a low of

21 F on Saturday morning.

Tony Borum was first to arrive and pitch a tent, followed soon by John Lippy, Clyde Watson, Tom Hofsiss, and Jason Kaplitz. Chris and Kendra Weaver were next to set up camp and Dusty Schilling followed the campfire beacon to arrive after dark on Friday; it was barely still Friday when Jay and Kristin Shaffer came in towing the Ti-ger. Sometimes, “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do”, i.e., keep the pillion partner happy! It was a special ride and camping event for Jay and Kristin but more about that later.

Clark Melille rode in for campfire ca-maraderie before returning to his hard-roof lodging at the local KOA. Hearty souls Glenn Harriman and Tim Steele left their warm homes in the dark Sat-urday morning to meet with Clark at Uncle Buck’s Restaurant in Luray at 7 AM. It was a 75 mile ride for Tim—that C14 fairing must be pretty good.

We launched about 9 AM Saturday for points west, some riding the street route, some the dual sport route, some did both! The warm sun on our backs offered a hope of higher temps as the day wore on.

Shortening an ambitious dual sport route, we had a very good lunch at the Fireside Restaurant in Franklin, WV, where three C14s were parked and Andy joined us, leaving Friday’s icy roads to the West. Meanwhile, just west of us on Route 33, Jason Kaplitz, Chris and Kendra Weaver, and Jay and Kristin Shaffer stopped at the Germany Valley overlook for a “second engage-ment”.

Event Reports

The sign of good eating ahead!

Brian, Susan & Roger, and Karen & Tim arriving for lunch.

Hard to see in the picture, but hard frost covered the ground on Saturday morning — at 21 degrees F!



It was exactly 10 years ago on this same weekend, at a fall foliage event at OWO that Jay proposed to Kristin at the Ger-many Valley overlook. Ten years and two children (and a few bikes) later Jay was once again on bended knee, prof-fering his Love, with some beautiful earrings to sweeten the pot!

On returning to OWO it was very nice to see Russell and Martha Fleming who had stopped by to see everyone before heading back to Front Royal for the night. Jason fired up the grill for brats, which he shared. Delicious! Others ate at local restaurants or brought food to OWO to enjoy as the campfire warmed up. Sharry had a huge carrot cake and made a couple pecan pies. Yum!

As this was a ‘no frills’ event, no dona-tions were expected for the hosts, but Coggers donated $233, to which Sharry

and I will add, all to go to the OTP fund for the next Yank heading Over The Pond. Sunday morning’s temps were kinder and, too soon, the campfire was left to die down as our friends packed up and pointed their headlights to home.

It was wonderful to spend the weekend and share our home with our COG friends. Thanks to all who came!

Pat and Sharry Sprague

C14 Riders & Friends Ride Russell W. Fleming Retired AAD for MD On October 13 the weather was iffy for the C14 ride out of Union Bridge, MD, but there was a great turnout for break-fast, as 30 people came to support the local community. The ride was self guided which means you were given a route sheet or you could bring your GPS and have the route downloaded into your unit, which more and more people are liking. There were some C14s, C10s, Hondas, FJRs, BMWs and two Harleys. People came from 5 miles away to over 100 miles away for the ride. They broke up into small groups and took off, but by half way through the riders had merged into two groups. Some of the roads that were enjoyed were Sunday Lane, Opossumtown Pike, Hamburg Road, Wolfsville Road, Old Forge Road, Route 233 North, Whiskey Spring Road, Old Cabin Hol-

low Road and Biesecker Road, for a total of 150 miles that ended in Hano-ver, PA at the Dutch Country Restau-rant. There were 16 people who made the ride to the end, through cloudy skies, light rain and some bright sun.

Here is how the ride was summed up by Dale Snead, who hailed from Media, PA:

About 30 COGers and friends met for a scenic 150-mile back roads swing around Gettysburg. After a nice big breakfast at the Union Bridge Fire Hall, some camaraderie and checking in with Russell, we got route sheets and GPS files to head out in small groups on the slightly damp roads. A bit of light rain ended early and we dodged a few wet leaves here and there but 60 degree temps and light traffic made for a great opportunity to spin our wheels on a quiet Sunday! Thanks to Russell for a fun scoot over the twisty hills and dales! Most of us gathered at the Dutch Country Restaurant in Hanover for an early-afternoon meal before splitting up to return home. This was the last ride for 2013, but watch the COG event cal-endar for 2014 rides.

Event Reports (continued from page 6)

Jay proposes to Kristin again, a decade later.

Clyde, Pat, John & Chris staying warm around the fire.

Kendra & Chris Weaver enjoying the day!

Covered Bridges Tour — Great riding and great photo opportunities at every bridge!



Long Island Meet & Greet Roger Mercer #8867

We had a terrific turn out for our first “official” Long Island meet & greet. A total of 10 people came out. I was impressed given the time of year, very busy for most folks & not so conducive for riding. We had a total of four bikes too, although mine was one and I only had to ride ¼ mile. Our long distance traveler, Brian Felice, came all the way from Rhode Island - Thanks Brian! We are looking forward to a busy riding schedule for 2014. Our meeting place had to be moved a few days prior to Saturday due to the fact our first location suffered a fire Thursday morning. I’m told this may be a COG first!! Us COGgers are a resilient bunch so this small hiccup was no big deal at the end of the day. There was no ride following lunch, but we did hang out together for 2 ½ hours. Never seems to be enough time to chat with everyone. I asked the group to fill out a short questionnaire, (14 questions), which everyone was nice enough to take the time to do. With the information gathered, I believe I will be better able to set up activities for our Long Island membership. One of my questions was, “would you be willing to meet up early in the morning and ride to another area’s meet & greet?” To my pleasant surprise, all answered, “YES”. So,

North East area, plan on meeting fellow COG members from Long Island in 2014!! We had a great season this year and 2014 will be even better now that our group is off and running. Susan and I can’t wait for our next opportunity to meet up with more of our brethren here on the Island, as well as get to know our new friends even better. Thanks again for coming out everyone!! Best regards, Roger & Susan Mercer 2014 COG National Rally June 16-20, 2014 – Johnson City, TN COG will host the 2014 “Silverdammit” National Rally the week of June 16-20, 2014 in Johnson City, Tennessee. The rally marks the celebration of the group’s 25th anniversary, and will include many social activities, information seminars, guest speakers, technical sessions, and a banquet dinner. This will be a joint venture of the NE and SE COG regions, so plan on being there to make this the best National ever! The Holiday Inn of Johnson City, at 101 W. Springbrook Drive, will serve as the rally headquarters. There will also be nearby tent and RV camping available to rally attendees. The rally area offers many nearby tourist attractions for attendees to enjoy. Room reservations are being taken now and the hotel is almost full To get the discounted rate, room reservations must be made by calling the hotel directly: 423.282.4611

Early registration is now open on COG online, thru 2/28/14, after that it goes up $10, so register NOW! Rally pricing will follow the 2013 format. Member

discount pricing for spouse/significant other and family only if member has Member + associate membership.

Johnson City is a perfect venue to celebrate COG’s big event. Conveniently located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Johnson City is a very motorcycle friendly community, and the surrounding region offers some great riding. The twisty, scenic mountain roads surrounding Johnson City is sure to please sport-touring and other riding enthusiasts. Johnson City Convention & Visitors Bureau maintains the “Southern Dozen” web site that promotes a “series of 12 of the South’s greatest motorcycle rides that start and end in Johnson City, taking riders to historic sites, unique caverns, famous music venues, wolf habitats and more.” Additional self-guided rides will be planned, including a dual sport ride.

The rally team has been working on this event since summer 2011. Bob Dombrowe, the rally committee chairperson, says “we are working diligently to make this the biggest and best COG National Rally ever.”

Details & registration online at:

www.concours.org/national/nationalrally2014

The inaugural Long Island Meet & Greet! Chris Smith, Kevin Remsen, Ron Levin, Brian Felice,

Roger Mercer, Ari Weissfelner, Richard Wackett, David Shore. (Susan Mercer taking photo)

Rider Central for the ‘Silverdammit’ National

Event Reports (continued from page 7)

http://concours.org/national/nationalrally2014






RIDE & EVENT SCHEDULE Time listed is START time. Visit www.cog-online.org for updates.

(ON) Fri-Sun 3-5 January 10 AM (Toronto) International Motorcycle Show Join us at the annual motorcycle show for some manufacturers but primarily for dealers, accessory suppliers, clubs, etc. Located at the International Centre, 6900 Airport Road, Mississauga, ON. www.motorcyclesupershow.ca, DAVE PERKINS, 416.691.2191H, [email protected]

(DC) Fri-Sun, 10-12 January International Motorcycle Show The Washington DC show is held at the Washington Convention Center at 801 Mount Vernon Place, Washington, DC. Use the code COG2013 to receive $3 off the admission price. Info on the show here: www.motorcycleshows.com

(NY) Sat 11 January 11 AM Newburgh Meet & Greet - ON HOLD This event is on hold until a new sponsor is found. If you would like it to continue, please contact Steve Smith and we’ll get it back on the calendar. Join us for lunch at our monthly meet and greet at the Neptune Diner, 82 Rte. 17K, Newburgh, NY. Meet some of the COG family and have a great time. Chance of a short ride afterwards. All are welcome to attend.

(ON) Tue 14 January 6:30 PM South Central Ontario Meet & Greet 2nd Tuesday each month at Mohawk Inn, 9230 Guelph Lane, Campbellville, ON, just North of 401. All welcome, friends, wives, girl/boy friends. Many hungry people arrive earlier to get their dinner - road house food, salad, wings, burgers, fish & chips, etc. A mainly social function to meet other riders, shoot the breeze, plan rides. DAVE CLANCY 905.389.7681H [email protected]

(VA) Sun 19 January 9 AM VA Sleeping Beaver Ride We will gather for breakfast at 9 AM at Horne's Restaurant, 25532 A.P. Hill Blvd., Port Royal, VA. Weather permitting, Jim Sparkman has a nice local ride planned for us afterwards. Think sunny and 50 degrees! Horne's is at the corner of Routes 301 and 17. PATRICK SPRAGUE, 540.743.4874H, 540.743.5132W, [email protected]

(ON) Mon 20 January 6:30 PM GTA East - Meet & Greet 3rd Monday EVERY MONTH at Tartan Tavern, 555 Rossland Road East. All welcome,

members or not - friends, wives, girl/boy friends. Arrive early to kick tires and tell lies in the parking lot (weather permitting) - Menu is good pub grub. A social function to meet other riders, discuss tech issues, shoot the breeze, and plan rides. DAVE PERKINS, 416.691.2191H, [email protected] (ON) Tue 11 February 6:30 PM South Central Ont. Meet (see 14 Jan. info)

(VA) Sun 16 February 9 AM Breakfast and Ride We'll meet for breakfast at the Inwood Restaurant in Gordonsville, VA, on Route 15, just north of the roundabout in Gordonsville. Ride will follow. PATRICK SPRAGUE, 540.743.4874H, 540.743.5132W, [email protected]

(ON) Mon 17 February 6:30 PM GTA East - Meet & Greet (see 20 Jan. info)

(ON) Tue 11 March 6:30 PM South Central Ont. Meet (see 14 Jan. info)

(ON) Mon 17 March 6:30 PM GTA East - Meet & Greet (see 20 Jan. info)

(VA) Fri 28 March 6 PM Meet & Greet, Lynchburg, VA We'll meet at Delicia's restaurant, 7106 Tilmerlake Rd. at 6 PM. They specialize in Caribbean, Salvadorian, Spanish, and South American cusine. PATRICK SPRAGUE, 540.743.4874H, 540.743.5132W, [email protected] (ON) Tue 8 April 6:30 PM South Central Ont. Meet (see 14 Jan. info)

(VA) Sun 13 April 9 AM Breakfast and Ride, Upperville, VA We'll gather for breakfast at the Upperville, VFD at 9167 John S. Mosby Highway, (540-592-3371) at 9 AM and ride afterwards. PATRICK SPRAGUE, 540.743.4874H, 540.743.5132W, [email protected]

(ON) Mon 21 April 6:30 PM GTA East - Meet & Greet (see 20 Jan. info)

(VA) Tue 22 April 6 PM Meet & Eat, Culpeper, VA We'll meet at Shawn's Smokehouse BBQ Co., at 602 Sperryville Pike. Tuesday is all you can eat night, come get your money's worth! Contact Tim Steele, 540.649.7007H, [email protected] for any further details! (ON) Tue 13 May 6:30 PM South Central Ont. Meet (see 14 Jan. info)

(VA) Sun 18 May 8 AM Breakfast and Ride, Waynesboro, VA We'll meet at Weasie's Restaurant at 130 East Broad Street in Waynesboro at 8 AM for breakfast and a ride afterwards. Weasie’s is on Route 340 in town. PATRICK SPRAGUE,

540.743.4874H, 540.743.5132W, [email protected]

(ON) Mon 19 May 6:30 PM GTA East - Meet & Greet (see 20 Jan. info)

(VA) Fri 23 May 6 PM Meet & Eat, Harrisonburg, VA Meet at Clementine Café, 14 S. Main St., just south of town square. This place was great last year. Come join your COG friends this Friday night. PATRICK SPRAGUE, 540.743.4874H, 540.743.5132W, [email protected]

(VA) Fr 13 June 6 PM Meet & Eat, Marion, VA Folks travelling to the Silverdammit Rally can get together this Friday evening at Macado's Restaurant, 142 E. Main Street. Great foods and great roads, all we need is YOU! Contact Tim Steele, 540.649.7007H, [email protected] for further details! .

16-20 June 2014 COG 25th Anniversary National Rally The Concours Owners Group will host the 2014 ‘Silverdammit’ National Rally in Johnson City, TN. The rally marks the celebration of the group’s 25th anniversary, and will include many social activities, information seminars, guest speakers, technical sessions, and a banquet dinner. More info on Page 8 and 10 and online at: www.concours.org/national/nationalrally2014

(VA) Sun 20 July 8 AM Breakfast and Ride, Front Royal, VA We'll gather for breakfast at L Dee's at 8 AM and ride some pretty roads afterwards. www.ldeespancakehouse.com, PATRICK SPRAGUE, 540.743.4874H, 540.743.5132W, [email protected]

(WV) Thurs-Sun 16-19 October 3 PM COG in Coal Country at Mullens, WV We return to Coal Country for excellent lodging, camping, food, and riding. Twin Falls State Park, POB 667. Thurs/Sun are travel days to/from this remote but beautiful state park. Excellent riding in all directions. Rooms are $87 at the recently remodeled Internet Lodge Room. This is high season for fall colors so make reservations NOW as it will fill up. Camping at $20-23, will fill up too. See COG website for details. PATRICK SPRAGUE, 540.743.4874H, 540.743.5132W, [email protected]

http://www.cog-online.org

http://www.motorcyclesupershow.ca/


http://www.motorcycleshows.com












http://www.ldeespancakehouse.com



photo courtesy Kevin Martin #145

NE AREA STAFFNE AREA STAFF

Area Director (AD) Steve Smith #3184 203-720-7575 [email protected]

Web Editor Wayne Geiser #4627 978-851-2710 [email protected] Newsletter Editor Tim Anderson #9470 860-444-7544 [email protected]

Assistant Area Directors: (AADs)

VT, NH, ME, MA Greg & Tracey Habel #7010 508-444-2235 [email protected]

CT, RI Brian & Andrea Felice #9125, 401-828-3354 [email protected]

Metro NY/NJ Terry Faherty #792 718-227-2099 [email protected]

NY (Long Island) #8867 Roger Mercer 631-226-2853 [email protected]

NY (Hudson Valley NW) Position Open—Inquire!

NY (Central) Rob Romano #10584 607-227-3899 [email protected]

PA (Western) Joe Cyprych #4665 724-796-1401 [email protected]

PA (North Central) Duane Shaffer #9189 570-726-4676 [email protected]

PA (South East) & NJ South Jim Ansbro #8443 215-805-0909 [email protected]

New Jersey Chris Franceschini #9283 856-366-9430 [email protected]

DE, East MD Bob Chappell #1283 302-791-0582 [email protected]

Maryland Position Open—Inquire!

VA/WV Pat Sprague #1887 540-743-5132 [email protected]

ON (Greater Toronto Area) Dave Perkins #5932 416-691-2191 [email protected]

ON (Eastern) Ken Fader #8534 613-865-7995 [email protected] Richard Beaudoin #9318 613-657-3294 [email protected]

QC (Montréal) Christian Dupuis #10098 450-427-0182 [email protected]

2014 ‘Silverdammit’ National Rally Early registration is now open on COG online, thru 2/28/14, after that it goes up $10, so register NOW! www.concours.org/national/nationalrally2014/registration The Rally Headquarters hotel is the Holiday Inn of Johnson City, at 101 W. Springbrook Drive. To get the discounted rate, reservations must be made by calling the hotel directly at 423.282.4611. The Holiday Inn is almost full and COG has run of house, but they are managing overflow into adjacent hotels and maintaining a wait list if rooms open up at rally HQ. There will also be camping & RV facilities available at the Appalachian Fairgrounds, Lakeview Street, Gray, TN. $20/night RV hook up; includes water, sewer, and electric; $15/night/tent. In-cludes shower usage. Campsite reservations must be made by contacting: Jennifer Green-well, Director of Sales, Johnson City Convention & Visitors Bureau, 603 E. Market St., Johnson City, TN 37601, Phone: 423-461-8007; Fax: 423-461-8047, [email protected]



















http://www.concours.org/national/nationalrally2014/registration


NE2013 Issue5

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Transcript of NE2013 Issue5