If You Had Asked, I Would Have Told You…

A new month means another edition of thoughts and opinions issued under the not-so-subtle heading of “If you had asked, I would have told you…”

– That work is progressing on the restoration of a 1948 Vincent “Series B” Rapide that Peter Kettle of Fitchburg, MA bought for a mere $43,000 at an auction in Rhode Island in October. Gordon Razee, owner of Razee Motorcycle Center, dangled the Vincent as the plum of the event and Kettle was victorious.

“Vincent coming along nicely, but not hurrying,” Kettle updated in a recent email. “Have secured all the parts to bring to correct spec for the year. Tank dent removed and currently being painted with correct position of transfers and lines.”

1948 Vincent “Series B” Rapide

Kettle added that he hopes to have the job done by March or April. Can’t wait to go to see how it turns out.

– That a $1 billion expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York where the Progressive International Motorcycle Show is held every December is in the works. The facility will grow by 3.3 million square feet and will include a 60,000-square-foot ballroom, the largest ballroom in the Northeast. When was the last time you attended a ball – with or without glass slippers?

Inside the Javits Center at the IMS

– That after I griped last month that the IMS had grown stale and expressed a hope that the upcoming version would be better, the edition held in December was better. There were loads of new models to examine for the first time. Yes, some manufacturer displays were smaller and the number of vendors seemed fewer, too, but the vibe was better.

Harley-Davidson display at the IMS

– That sometimes I can be absent-minded and/or uninformed. In an email Friday, Mark Bujak of Mark’s Motorsports in Enfield, CT reported that he expects to sign a “RENA dealer agreement” soon. As I recall, he mentioned something about this when we chatted at the IMS, but damned if I can recall what RENA is.

Mark and Jenn Bujak at the IMS

A Goggle search of “RENA” turns up towns in Spain and Norway named Rena, a cargo ship of Monrovian registration, a cartoon figure, and a brand of printers. Don’t think Mark has a connection to any of them. Maybe I’m brain dead and don’t know it.

– That there’s no word yet on a U.S. dealer lineup for made-in-India Royal Enfield, which took U.S. distribution of its motorcycles in-house as of Jan. 1.  The company had hoped to line up (or retain) 40 dealers by the start of the year, but Royal Enfield’s Bree Poland reported this week, “We are currently vetting our dealer lineup and plan to have a preliminary list around early February.”

– That Nova Scotia-based British Cycle Supply Company, which sells parts for vintage British motorcycles, has moved its U.S. warehouse from New Jersey to Maine. The new address is 50 Connecticut Road, Loring Commerce Centre, Limestone, ME 04750. Its building formerly housed the Maine Military Authority and was used to re-manufacture Humvees.

– That the above sign may have a prudent message, but aren’t we almost to the point where young drivers may ask, “What’s a phone booth?”