As I sit here wondering what to write about this month I got to reminiscing about the old days. More to the point, about my first motorcycle. Well, it wasn’t much – it was a ridged frame minibike, 5hp Briggs and Scrap iron mo-tor, pull start, a thin foam-covered piece of plywood dis-

guised as a seat, no suspension, no front brakes, the rear brake was a square piece of steel about 2” square to stomp on connected to a piece of bent rod which on the other end was another square piece of steel that would rub against the tread of the rear tire to slow and stop you. The rear sprocket was damn near as big the rear wheel. My first helmet was a Bell, ¾, red metal flake with a large clear bubble face shield. My broth-er had the same bike (the old man bought a pair). His first helmet was an old fiber-glass or plastic of some sort (don’t really remember) football helmet!! LOL We would tear ass around the back yard and thru the woods behind the house like we were Steve McQueen in the Great Escape!! Those were the days! I would eventually graduate to a Honda super 90, a pair of Dream Hondas (all went under the knife to become ‘dirt bikes’) then on to a 1973 250cc Bultaco Matador (which I still own today) but those are stories for another time. Till then… SADDLE UP!! LET’S RIDE!! Brion

Executive Road Captain-Justen Elliott

Greetings

As I'm writing this article my hope is, that eve-ryone has been able to rack up some miles on your bikes. Since last month the Chap-ter has had some fun rides: lunch ride to the 'Cow Palace Restaurant', 'Overnight ride to Canada' with Go-Kart racing what a blast!!! Upcoming rides Saturday June 24th Cajun's Snack Shack, July 8th our Co-Chapter ride with Champlain Valley Hog has been postponed, Camp Ta-Kum-Ta has announced that day for their annual ride. Since many members from both Chapters participate we decided to postpone our ride. July 11th will be our next Chapter meeting, Please note no Chapter ride for July 4th weekend have a safe Holiday. Please check out the event calendar we share with our sponsor dealer Wilkins Harley Davidson.

Saddle Up!!! Let's Ride!!!

Director Update-Brion Muzzy

Z I R M E D I N C

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Vee-Twin Rumblings Newsletter of the Central Vermont H.O.G. Chapter

I NS I D E T HI S

I S S UE:

2017 Rides

schedule

Pg.

3

Officer Updates Pg.

1

SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST

On The Horizon *Coming up In June—Page 2

Ride Schedule —Page 3

A bit of H-D history—page 4

Upcoming

events

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2

A bit of H-D

History

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4

Images from

the June Social

Photos of June

chapter rides

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Our sponsors Pg.

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Central Vermont H.O.G. Chapter #5218

Vee Twin Rumblings

On the Horizon

Wilkins July Events

July 1 Creative Ice Cream Day at Wilkins HD! Noon to 1:30 July 13 Bike Night:Ride to Rosa Flamingos in Bethlehem, NH July 29 Mike Zemanek Ride (Lake Champlain Ferry ride)

Check the Wilkins website under ‘Dealer Info’ and select ‘Event Calendar’ for de-tails on what is scheduled. http://www.wilkinsharley.com/default.asp?page=xcalendar

Our July HOG Chapter Social will be on

Tuesday, July 11th, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Wilkins

Family Owned and Operated Since 1947

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 3 0 , I S S U E 6

Central Vermont H.O.G. Chapter #5218

Vee Twin Rumblings

Central Vermont HOG 2017 Chapter Ride Schedule Date Name of Ride starting location/ Time RD. Capt. July 8th Camp Ta-Kum-Ta benefit ride Details coming soon July 15th Tracy RD, NY Wilkins 9:15 AM (Ben) July 16th Northeast Kingdom Ride Wilkins 8:45 AM (Don) July 22nd Top Of The Hill Grill Brattleboro, VT Wilkins 9:15 AM (Steve) July 29th Lake Champlain (ferry ride) Richmond Mobil 9:15 AM (Joel) August 5th Mt Washington NH Wilkins 9:00 AM (Dennis) August 6th Water Falls Ride T.B.D. (Sue) August 13th Lake Champlain Islands T.B.D. (Joe Lonardo) August 19th Details coming T.B.D. (Trina) August 26th Bike & Train Ride Details coming (Justen) August 27th Palmer Lane Maple Ice Cream Wilkins 12:45 PM (Ramsey) Sept.9th King Arthur Flour Wilkins 10:15 AM (Ben) Sept.17th Details coming soon. T.B.D. (Rick & Marie) Sept.24th Poker Run Tozier’s Restaurant Wilkins 9:00 AM (Brion,Mark,Ben,Justen) Oct. 1st Mt Equinox Wilkins 7:45 AM (Dennis) Oct 8th Apple Pie Festival & BBQ Co-Chapter Ride with Champlain Valley HOG We will ride to Dummerston ,VT for the towns annual Apple Pie Festival then head ten minutes North for lunch at Curtis All American BBQ. This is our last planned Chapter ride of the year. Executive Road Captain, Justen Elliott

In case you are interested in getting Central Vermont HOG patches or CV HOG t-shirts— there are some patches available for sale at Wilkins. Ask one of the motorclothes-department people to get them from the backroom for you to peruse and purchase. An order of HOG Chapter t-shirts will be made in the coming months. Let an officer know if you are interest-ed in getting one (or more). There are women’s and men’s styles available in a variety of sizes. Color options will be determined soon.

A bit of H-D

history...

Vee Twin Rumblings P A G E 4

Central Vermont H.O.G. Chapter #5218

V O L U M E 3 0 , I S S U E 6

August 15, 1939 The first National Gypsy Tour was held in 1917, as shown in the photo to the left—taken in 1917. Tours were large rallies organized by local motorcycle clubs. In 1939, the tours kicked off on August 15th. The events usually included a motorcycle tour that ended at a park where games and competitions were held. Participants were awarded watch fobs and trophies were handed out for various categories at a national level. These categories included best dressed, highest percentage of military participation, most riders, and fastest times for racing events. Gypsy Tours were open to all and were social events that attract-ed thousands of participants. They were billed as a way to show the public he fun times that could be had on a motorcycle. Alt-hough the American Motorcycle Association set the official date for when Gypsy Tours would take place, individual motorcycle clubs were free to hold them anytime during the summer. Gypsy Tours attracted large crowds, but their popularity began to fade in the late 1950’s. The tradition of events like the Gypsy Tours were never lost, though, as motorcycle clubs around the country still hold annual rallies and tours.

Originally, a Gypsy Tour was an overnight event with orga-nized road rides and other activities of interest to motorcycle enthusiasts, where groups of riders would converge on a sin-gle destination. Gypsy Tours were staged in different parts of the country and typically occurred on the same weekend eve-ry year. The “National” Gypsy Tour referred to the whole se-ries of these events. Many of the most well-known rallies held in the U.S. today are descendants of the original Gypsy Tours. Per the AMA’s website, “[Rallies and] events that most closely mirror the traditional Gypsy Tour format are each invited to participate in the AMA’s Premier Touring Series as a National Gypsy Tour.” One such event is Laconia Motorcycle Week, an AMA Gypsy Tour Heritage Event that dates to 1916 and is the long-est-running AMA Gypsy Tour. The original Laconia event was a social gathering of about 150 riders organized by the Bay State Motorcycle Club riders and New Hampshire Motor-cyclists at Weir Beach on Lake Winnipesaukee, near Laconia, New Hampshire. Over the years, the event grew to attract as many as 430,000 motorcyclists.

Remaining events of the 2017 AMA Gypsy Tour series:

July 7-9: AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days, New Lexing-ton, Ohio AMA National Gypsy Tour /AMA National Road Rally

July 12-16: Roar on the Shore, Erie, Pa.

Aug. 2-6: National Biker’s Roundup, Kansas City, Kan.

Aug. 23-27: Rally in the Gorge, Hood River, Ore.

Sept. 13-17: Golden Aspen Motorcycle Rally, Mescalero, N.M. AMA National Road Rally

Sept. 22-24: Ray Price Capital City Bikefest, Raleigh, N.C.

Oct. 5-8: Las Vegas Bikefest, Las Vegas, Nev.

Oct. 25-29: Thunder Beach Fall Rally, Panama City, Fla. Nov. 3-6: Lone Star Rally, Galveston, Texas

Vee Twin Rumblings Central Vermont H.O.G.

V O L U M E 3 0 , I S S U E 6

#5218

P A G E 5

The June 13th Social Beginning at 6 p.m., we grilled hotdogs in the parking area at Wilkins, and got set up for biker games! Direc-tor Brion Muzzy kicked things off by thanking all veterans and First Responders among us, and we pledged allegiance to the flag.

A glimpse of what happened:

June 3rd ride to Cow Palace Restaurant

June 10th ride On the way to Canada for an overnight

Fun in a phone booth

At the border

Go-karts

June 24th ride to Cajun’s Snack Bar

Relaxing in Canada after a long day Ice cream on the way

home —of course

1st time Road

Captain Trina DeLary

At Lake Willoughby

P A G E 7 V O L U M E 3 0 , I S S U E 6

Central Vermont H.O.G. #5218

Vee Twin Rumblings

Precision Electrical & Con-tracting, LLC

Mark Fournier ~ (802) 279-4731

Master Licensed Electrician / In-sured

Residential, Commercial, Troubleshooting, Generators,

...please do business with our

sponsors!

Harley Owners Group Central Vermont Chapter Joe Lonardo, Treasurer 663 S. Barre Rd. Barre, VT 05641

Central Vermont Harley Owners Group, Inc.

Sponsoring Dealership: Wilkins Harley-Davidson, Inc. 663 South Barre Road Barre, VT 05641 802-476-6104 http://www.wilkinsharley.com E-mail: Info@wilkinsharley.com

Chapter Meetings: Second Tuesday of Each Month At Wilkins Harley Davidson, Inc.

Next Monthly Social is slated for July 11, 2017 at Wilkins at 6:30 p.m. Ice cream might be featured...

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