North Alabama Vintage Riders' Digest for January 20, 2018

[renchinrider]

Hi, Everyone!

We had two special treats at our Blue Plate breakfast this week:  Eric Mills invited us to crawl over and visit his garage after breakfast this morning!  It was a great time for all of us who were able to make the trip.  He has an eclectic collection of motorcycles, and a stunning '71 Chevy pickup complete with an LS-6 Corvette engine and 6-speed trans!  Thanks for your hospitality, Eric!

Eric's invitation received a hearty welcome from several of us, and we all look forward to others of you seizing your own impromptu opportunities and inviting us your way, if just to hang out and talk bikes n cars for a few hours!

We also had Jim Dowdy and his family back with us this morning.  As you recall, Jim had a massive heart attack back in October, and had surgery that included a quintuple bypass and repair of his aorta.  Jim's future was uncertain back then, but it's so uplifting to see him out with us again, gaining strength by the day.  Welcome back, Jim!

Here are our upcoming events:

Breakfast at the Blue Plate Cafe II every Saturday.  Come on out, and bring friends!  Let's keep packing the house every Saturday morning!  Ditto each of the weekly recurring gatherings--each is another great opportunity to share our love of motorcycles old and new with those around us.

Jan 27th:  There are three events to choose from:

- 12th Annual Dania Beach Vintage Motorcycle Show.  I, Raymond Cox and Erik Bahl are all attending this show, and will look out to meet Bob Brandner when we get there.  Bob lives in the area, and will be participating among those showing Japanese vintage machines.  If any others of you plan to attend, please shoot me a note and let me know--would love to see you there!  https://www.cyclefish.com/motorcycle_event/42175

- Easyriders Bike Show, Nashville.  This is a tour that travels across the nation, and will stop in Nashville over the weekend of Jan 27th.  https://www.cyclefish.com/motorcycle_event/37968

- Blue Knights of Alabama 16th Annual Polar Bear [benefit] Ride in Albertville. https://allevents.in/albertville/blue-knights-al-xvi-polar-bear-ride-2018/1543013145792857#

Looking into February:

Feb 3rd:  Jennifer Nelson of Barber Motorsports Museum comes to Huntsville (Blue Plate Cafe II) to discuss the benefits of volunteering to support events at Barber throughout the year.

Feb 10th:  South Florida's First Annual Vintage Two-Stroke Motorcycle Show at Sunsports Cycle and Watercraft, Ft Myers, FL.

Feb 17th:  We're going to Andrew Jennings' garage for our second Garage Crawl of this year!  Most of you have seen at least one of Andrew's amazing bikes--his Triumph was our banner feature on the Facebook page for a month, a few months back.  We'll depart from the Blue Plate, and follow Andrew to his garage.

Feb 23rd - 25th:  AHRMA vintage motorcycle racing, Bloomingdale, GA

Feb 24th:  Redstone Harley-Davidson is conducting their annual Chili Chilly Ride.  Kickstands up at 10:30 am, and all proceeds from the event go to the Huntsville "Forgiven Riders" Chapter of the CMA.  https://www.cyclefish.com/motorcycle_event/44090

Feb 25th:  32nd Annual Clarksville Swap Meet, Clarksville, TN Speedway.  http://www.facebook.com/groups/clarksville.swapmeet/

Fast Forward to Memorial Day Weekend:

Mike Long is canvassing to see how many of us would like to participate in a Super-Garage Crawl up into Tennessee to visit three remarkable bike builders.  The ride would put us up in the Sevierville area, and I think Mike's looking a a trip duration of ~3 days.  If you're interested, contact Michael Long on Facebook, or email him to let him know.  If it'll help, reply to me and I'll get you connected to Mike via email.

Please let me know of any events I have missed, and send me stories of the vintage motorcycle activities that interest you!