BMW Riders Meet at Vanilla Bean

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com

BMW riders from southern New England gathered at the Vanilla Bean in Pomfret on Sunday to symbolically mark the end of the riding season. As many as 80 motorcycles, including some Harleys and Ducatis as well as British and Japanese brands, filled the parking lot at one point, according to event organizer Carl Saccoccio. A member of the Ocean State BMW Riders, Saccoccio left his 1972 BMW R60/5 at home and rode in on a 2009 Kawasaki KLR 650 instead. 

Scotty Opperman of Storrs, left, on his 1966 BMW R60/2 and Wayne Bidwell of Farmington on his 1965 BMW R69/2.

Many of the attendees were members of Yankee Beemers, which draws it membership from the Boston area but has many members in Connecticut. More on the gathering on Saturday in RIDE-CT in “The Republican-American.”