Note: Board of Directors (B.O.D) meetings are open to all members. When held at a chapter member’s home, please notify the host ahead of time.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Tuesday Jan 30, 7:30pm National Meet Planning Committee Mtg. John’s Pizza, 616 Como Ave, St Paul, MN 55103 651-488-1922
Wednesday Feb 14, 7pm B. O. D. Meeting Gary Kloss’s Home 11932 Jefferson St NE, Blaine MN 55434 763-757-1712
Wednesday Feb 21, 7pm February General Meeting Leo’s South 16375 Kenrick Ave, Lakeville MN 952-435-5371
Tuesday Feb 27, 7:30pm National Meet Planning Committee Mtg. John’s Pizza, 616 Como Ave, St Paul, MN 55103 651-488-1922
Wednesday March 14, 7pm B. O. D. Meeting Roy & Kathy Williams Home 700 Douglas Ave, Apt # 1006, Minneapolis, MN 55403 612-201-4905
Wednesday March 21, 7pm March General Meeting Jack Crane Museum 1301 East Cliif Road, Burnsville, MN 55337 952-927-8126
Tuesday Mar 27, 7:30pm National Meet Planning Committee Mtg. John’s Pizza, 616 Como Ave, St Paul, MN 55103 651-488-1922
Saturday March 24 & Sunday March 25 DennisKirk/Donnie Smith Show River Center Kellogg Blvd & 7th Street, St Paul, MN 55102 651-265-4800
Wednesday December 13, 7pm B. O. D. Meeting Tim & Robin Gadban’s Home 1375 Almond Ave, St Paul, MN 55108 651-235-5898
Saturday Jan 13, 5-9pm
Viking Chapter Holiday Party!! Mounds View Community Event Center 5394 Edgewood Drive, Mounds View, MN 55112 763-717-4040 !! IT’S A POTLUCK !! $$ SILENT AUCTION $$
## GENERAL MEETING ## ** ANNUAL AWARDS **
++ MEET THE 2018 BOARD ++ - - 50/50 RAFFLE - -
POTLUCK ASSIGNMENTS
A - D …. deserts & cookies Berquist …… deviled eggs E - J …… side dishes, salads, beans, fruit K ………. rolls & butter, bread, relishes L - Z …… entrees, main dishes
For the Silent Auction bring a desirable item in good condition - artwork, books, posters, jewelry, clothing, etc. (no swapmeet stuff - it doesn’t have to be a motorcycle related item). This auction benefits our club and also supplements our Charity Fund. So donate that old knick-knack to a good cause! Bring your stuff to the party to be bagged and tagged.
Wednesday April 11, 7pm B. O. D. Meeting Diamonds Coffee House 1618 Central Ave NE, Minneapolis MN 55413 612-789-5282
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NOTES FROM GARY’S GARAGE
EDITOR’S NOTE
This is my final note as editor of the Viking Chapter Re-Cycle newsletter …. at least for the time being. I have been doing this for five years and at present have some other projects in the works and need time to concen-trate on them. My successor, Caleb Spooner, is a very talented man (and a personal friend) who will take our newsletter forward with panache and elan. Of this I have no doubt! I have had a good run, mostly concentrating on club activities …. part work, part deciding what to include, part taking photos and part fun. My favorite part is finding obscure stories and photos from riders … whether touring or racing, because they inevitably contain experiences and emo-tions that all riders can relate to and inspire us to carry on and be hungry for that next road trip … or even that next trip to the store or a club meet-ing! Personally, my age and the height/weight of a couple of my bikes have weighed in on my decision to sell them (see Want Ads on Page 16) and buy a lighter machine with a max saddle height of 31 inches and a max wet weight of 450 lbs. Bike manufacturers should be looking at this be-cause I am not alone as a bike buying baby boomer. Maybe it’s an SR400, Moto Guzzi V7 or maybe it’s a scooter. I may be slowing down but I will not stop riding! As a final note here is one of my favorite quotes, by Geoff Hill, writer and long distance motorcyclist. So …. I bid you Sayonara and step aside with Bob Hope, singing “Thanks for the Memories.”
It seems winter is nearly here and most of us have put our motorcycles away for the winter. The riding season was just too short for me this year, but unless I move to another part of the country I’m stuck with it. I guess I’m stuck with it for the foreseeable future too. Are all your winter project’s ready to go? Mine are, but then they are the same ones I had last year. I don’t know how or what exactly happened but not much progress was made last winter. It’s going to be different this year, I promise, just like last year. The Holidays are swiftly approaching and I’m hoping Santa has been listening to my requests, as I could use a few more tools and some parts for a few bikes. Sadly I’ll probably have to buy them myself, he never seems to think I’ve been good enough to get what I ask for. Maybe something will turn up at the Holiday party silent auction that I really want/need? Now’s the time to start looking for those treasures you no longer want but someone else might have a use for. The silent auction is the perfect place for them. I hope to see you all at the Holliday party this year, it’s always a good time. So come on out and catch up with old friends, maybe meet some new ones, and catch up on the latest club news. This is the meeting we close out the old year and start out the new club year with some new board members and officers. This is also a good time to bring up any questions you may have and to volunteer for any activities next year. If you ever thought of helping with any of our ac-tivities but never have, now’s the time. We will have people at the party to explain what to expect when helping at any of our functions so you can choose what you want to sign up for. To close I wish everyone “Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!” I hope to see you all on Jan 13.
By Gary Kloss
By Tim Gadban
You see, when I was a boy, every morning was an adventure and a new beginning, but when we grow older, a little of us dies every night: killed by what ifs and if onlys, by mortgages and bills, dry rot and rising damp. And buried under the weight of all the pos-sessions we gather around us, thinking that they define what we are. When we travel though, we are children again. And when we travel by motorcycle we have nothing to think of when we wake but throwing a few belongings into our pan-niers and riding off down the road, unencum-bered by regrets and concerns. On a motor-cycle, every day is still an adventure and a new beginning. On a motorcycle I am still a boy on a bike.
- Geoff Hill
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2018 is almost here and that means it’s time to renew your Local Viking Chapter Dues. We no longer mail out renewal notices so consider this our request for you to submit $15.00 for your 2018 membership
Chapter dues renew each January for all members while the National dues renew in the month you signed up. Please take a few minutes and renew your Viking Chapter dues for 2018 today. Simply go the our chapter website www.vikingmc.org and click on “join the Club” then either download the renewal form and mail it in with your check for $15.00 made out to the Viking Chapter or click on “Buy Now” to go to the PayPal site. The PayPal site does charge an additional dollar but you save a stamp and the hassle of getting it in the mail. At our Viking Chapter Christmas Party on January 13th, we will have a chapter dues renewal table set up for your convenience. If you have any questions or concerns about your membership status, please contact me by email at [email protected] or by phone at 612-616-5025.
A copy of the Dues renewal form is included below.
This year I missed the main club ride (led by Tom Jones) and wound up riding a day later with Cal Spooner and Tom Day (who writes the “Geezer with a Grudge” column for the MMM paper.) This is the first time I have ever been to Daven-port under clear, relatively cool skies. We en-countered no rain and the temps were downright benign. Among our stops on the way down we pulled in at the Pike’s Peak Iowa overlook ….. named after Zebulon Pike, the same army lieutenant who lent his name to Pike’s Island in our own Fort Snelling park and also the Pike’s Peak in Colorado. Zeb covered a lot of ground in the early eighteen hundreds! Once we arrived at the fairgrounds we set up camp with the rest of the Viking Chapter in that familiar rocky field. I always swear that I’ll never camp again but there I am! We took in the flat track races in the evening. Last year you got a ticket AND a t-shirt for $20. This year the ticket was $20 and the t-shirt another $20. They told us they were under new management but I smelled a little greed there and did without the t-shirt. The races were exciting of course but shorter in duration. Given the lack of rain the swap meet was crowded and busy.
Davenport Run – Sept 1, 2017 from the Editor
Tom, Tim & Cal at Pike’s Peak Iowa
Dave & Rick Selling
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CLUB NEWS
DAVENPORT RUN (more photos)
Rides & Riders: Cal Spooner, 1973 BMW R60/5; Mark Jilk, 1981 Honda CB750; Tim Colestock , 1983 Harley Shovel Head; Jim Petsch, 2002 Suzuki SV650; Tom Jones, 2003 Harley Sportster; Tim Gadban, 2008 Triumph Bonneville T100; Tom Day, 2009 Suzuki 650 V-Strom; Paul St. John, 2014 CanAm Spyder
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CLUB NEWS
Ride to Wings and Wheels, Sept 9, 2017
Ernie Owens wins again with his 1940 Indian Four
Everyone met at Kerry & Sue Rasmussen’s place near Stillwater. Lots of old Indians this year and the weather was fine. After a fine ride through the Wisconsin countryside the gang pulled into the Osceola airport parking lot, which was packed with a variety of two and four wheeled wonders. Following the customary pancake and ham brunch in one of the airport hangars everyone dispersed to enjoy the show of aircraft, motorcycles and custom/vintage cars … wonderful eye candy for the Viking Chapter vintage delinquents!! Several other club members had ridden or driven in on their own.
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CLUB NEWS
Ride to Wings and Wheels (cont.)
Rides & Riders: Ernie Owens, 1940 Indian Four; Ian Wenll, 1946 Indian Chief; Ken Wenll, 1947 Indian Chief; ; Mike Crane, 1947 Indian Chief; Steven Solnitzky, 1947 Indian Chief; Craig Kotval, 1948 Indian Chief; Randy Smoyer, 1965 Honda; Gary Kloss, 1970 Moto Guzzi; Mark Jilk, 1981 Honda CB750
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CLUB NEWS
For the last 3 or 4 years, Mother Nature has been smiling on our Fall Swap. 2 weeks after our event, the Antique Automobile Club and the local Model-A club in town holds their Fall Swap. It rained (as in torrential). 2 weeks later, the Roadsters hold the final Swap of the year (Fairgrounds event), which also was a rain out. Sunday Sept 17: after breakfast at Perkins - arrive at Fairgrounds at 6am. I had set the tent up the evening before. You would have been comfortable in a t-shirt. Its always a good sign to see a crowd of vendors at the gate. Bob Hopf dealt with that first wave of ven-dors (Bob also brought 12 dozen pastries, which were eventually sold with 7 pots of coffee). About 9:00 the skies to the west got dark and a big front moved through - I thought “Here we go…” By 10am the sun was out – considerably cooler - and continued to be a nice day. I think we had loaded up the tent by 2:30 and waved good-bye to the Fair-grounds ‘till next year. This is really a good event for us. Most of the vendors from our June event show up and a good crowd of guys that I’ve never seen
before (as they heard about it from a friend). At the same time, the crowd was noticeably down. After the event ended and the re-ceipts were counted, our treasurer Dena Natins sent out an email noting the Fall Swap financial history. 2015 was our largest crowd.
This year’s event was attended by approximately 200 fewer people. We made money this year - next year we’ll hit our advertising a little harder.
Fall Swap Meet, Sept 17, 2017 by Tom Whittles
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CLUB NEWS
Fall Mystery Ride, Oct 21, 2017
Unfortunately this day was windy, raining and cold. Two intrepid club members (Craig Kotval and Bob Hopf) ventured out on bikes, after the worst rain had cleared. Most members went by car. Our ride destination was the warehouse collection of Mike Ellis, which (as you can see) is almost the eighth wonder of the world!
The Intrepid Craig Kotval
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CLUB NEWS Fall Mystery Ride (cont.)
Mike Ellis - Thankyou Mike - what a wonderful collection!
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CLUB NEWS
Probably our best attended meeting after the Fall BBQ picnic.
We officially welcomed our new Treasurer, Jeff Ricker, and touched on several other points of business. Leo’s was generous
enough to offer their facility for our February General Meeting … much appreciated!
We had a very humorous moment when Dave Moot handed out his “special prizes” to club members, based on their knowledge of
quotes from famous movies.
General Meeting at Leo’s South, Nov 15, 2017
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CLUB NEWS
February 23-24 Omaha Chapter National Meet Fremont, NE (402) 660-5151 www.omahachapteramca.org
March 5-7 Sunshine Chapter National Road Run New Smyrna Beach, FL www.sunshineamca.org March 9-10 Sunshine Chapter National Meet New Smyrna Beach, FL www.sunshineamca.org
April 27-28 Perkiomen Chapter National Meet Oley, PA (610) 948-4553 Perkiomen Facebook Page May 18-20 Southern National Meet Denton, NC (417) 838-4777 www.amcasouthernnationalmeet.com May 25-26 European Chapter Meet Raalte, Netherlands +44.1303.256266 www.amca-europe.eu June 10-11 Hudson Valley Nat’l Road Run Round Top, New York www.amca-hudsonvalleychapter.org
June 15-16 Viking Chapter National Meet St. Paul, MN (952) 443-2020 www.vikingmc.org June 15-16 Fort Sutter Chapter National Meet Dixon, CA (916) 485-1721 www.amcafortsutter.org
AMCA 2018 National Meets & Road Runs
July 20-22 Wauseon National Meet Wauseon, OH (419) 929-0291 www.wauseonnationalmeet.org July 26-28 Oregon Trail Chapter National Road Run Cottage Grove, Oregon (503) 620-5647 www.antiquemotorcyleoregon.com August 3-4 Yankee Chapter National Meet Terryville, CT (203) 272-6605 www.yankeechapter.org August 24-26 AMCA Australia Chapter Meet BULLI Show Grounds New South Wales (near Sydney) 011-61-419-229-605 www.amcaaustralia.org September 4-6 Driftless Chapter National Road Run Onalaska, Wisconsin (262) 331-3866 www.facebook.com/driftlessamca/ September 12-14 Black Hills Chapter National Road Run Deadwood, South Dakota (606) 225-5702 [email protected] September 28-29 Chesapeake Chapter National Meet Jefferson, PA (410) 360-4211 www.ccamca.org
