[dvnr] Report of DVNR March 15 Membership Meeting

[Daniel Sellers]

The March DVNR meeting was hosted by David Behnken at his home in
Bloomsburry NJ. Starting at 11 AM. The weather was a relatively mild day
light breezes and a clear sky. Three members rode to the meeting on non
marque two wheel machines. 24 club members showed up to make some decisions
regarding the activities for the Spring season.



When we arrived Dave had food and drink for the meeting stored away and
ready to set out. Most of the club gathered in the workshop to see what was
new in Dave’s inventory and to see which bikes were occupying the lifts.
Jack Lyons trailered his non running 1969 (Norton) Mercury for a club look
see. The Mercury was a very interesting bike as it was never imported into
the USA and were made from left over Atlas frames and fitted with the pre
Atlas 650 Manxman engine. Single carburetor for the Mercury and dual carb
for the SS. Jack aquired the Mercury from a friend in England who stopped
riding several years ago. What a lucky find. Jack had sent the carburetor
to me to check out. Seeing that the mounting flange was bent and the bore
was out of round I asked Don Kuterbach for his help in restoring the
carburetor to usable condition. Don performed his magic and the throttle
slide fit perfectly and the flange was restored to a dead flat condition. I
was busy with club business and Ryan and Tom Weisel along with Frank Mohr
installed the carburetor and proceeded to get the bike running. After a few
attempts Ryan discovered that the right plug wasn’t firing. Off with the
points cover and a little cleaning and before you knew it the bike was
running smoothly, well as smoothly as a solidly mounted parallel twin
Norton could run. Nice work guys. Jack was very happy. Now we need to work
on him to get paid up on his dues.



Halfway through the Mercury repair we held our membership meeting.



President George opened the meeting with a discussion on the upcoming
“Gathering” scheduled for Sunday April 26. We have T shirts on order for
the event and at this time it seems uncertain if the “Gathering” will be
held with the statewide restriction on public gatherings.



Ryan Weisel reported that he heard on the way to the meeting that the PA
State Park Service had shut down all Parks until further notice. The topic
was debated for some time. We finally concluded that when the park is shut
down the entrances are barricaded and entrance is forbidden.



George reported that if the Park Office is closed it is unlikely we will
get a contract to hold the event in any case.



Treasurer Dan reported that he purchased the event insurance early last
week in anticipation of getting the Use Contract. Cost was $225 this year
for the coverage required by the State Park Service. We should be able to
cancel the contract with maybe just a processing fee. We’ll wait and see.



Bob Katz reported that he contacted the food vendor we have used for the
last two years. He is willing to provide the food service again this year
but must know for sure so he can order the food at least a week before the
event.



At this time it is a tossup if the rules against holding gatherings in
excess of 50 people will be lifted in time to schedule and hold our
“Gathering”.



*Post meeting note: Following the meeting it has become evident that the
quarantine rules and restrictions on large gatherings will last more than 4
weeks. The event looks more unlikely today than it did Sunday.*



The discussion turned to holding the event at an alternate site in a large
parking lot. While that might be an option it is unlikely that any property
owner would want 1,000 or more motorcycles in their parking lot on a
Sunday. Not exactly a win - win for a property owner.



Another option discussed was the possibility of going for a vintage ride
and ending up at a restaurant where we could have lunch. Not likely to work
if the take out only rule remains for restaurants.



Perhaps we could work something out to hold some form of our “Gathering” at
the Triumph National” rally in Oley in late June.



A vote was taken to keep the Tshirt order in. If we can get the “Gathering”
in at Washington Crossing Park we will do so. If we are not permitted we
will consider options. We don’t have another meeting location scheduled and
can’t plan to do so until the group meeting restrictions are lifted and the
Coronavirus 19 health threat to us and the public are over.



It was noted that the Classic Motorcycle Day in Mt Airy Maryland is
scheduled for May 17 and it may be in jeopardy of being canceled. The INOA
Rip Van Norton Rally is scheduled for July 13 to 17. If the quarantine
continues that too might be in jeopardy. Tari Norum noted that the Rally
Banquet will be held on Thursday night and there is only one activity
scheduled, we think a track day, for Friday. Attendees may want to plan to
leave Fri morning.



George asked if the members wanted to plan for some kind of club event
during the summer months. A short discussion followed. Treasure Dan
suggested that we had talked about and overnight ride to Bills Bike Barn in
past years. That would be an easy ride for a vintage bike and the overnight
stay would keep hours on the road to an easy ride.  Bob Norum stated that
he would look into a group ride of some kind to offer to our group. We will
follow up on this.



After the formal meeting, the gang poured into the kitchen to chow down on
the great lunch Dave had planned for us. Pres George and Secretary Kenneth
Kopec signed our AMA renewal form for 2020. Then it was back down to Dave’s
shop to work on the disabled Mercury.



A note from your Treasurer/Membership Secretary.

As of today we have 34 of our 62 regular members with paid dues for 2020.
With the Gathering in question, I am thinking about mailing renewal
membership forms to the 32 unpaid members, many of who pay and renew at the
Gathering. Any thoughts pro or con are welcome on our mail server. From
your DVNR registered email address send your thoughts to dvnr at casano.com.



Respectfully Submitted

Dan Sellers

DVNR Treasurer/Membership Secretary


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