Rice-O-Rama Draws Crowd

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com

It takes water to make rice, but rain would have put a damper on the 4th annual Rice-O-Rama, the vintage and custom Japanese motorcycle show and swap meet held Sunday in North Brookfield Mass. Fortunately, the precipitation held off . As many as 2,000 motorcycle enthusiasts turned out under threatening skies to gawk at dozens of well-preserved and not-so-well-preserved bikes from the Land of the Rising Sun.  

What stands out at Rice-O-Rama are the variety of Japanese bikes, “stuff you don’t ordinary see at a bike show,” said Mike Hayes, who founded the event with brother Dan and friend Mike Murphy.

His wasn’t kidding. Not only did it showcase bikes of a variety of sizes, vintages and styles, Rice-O-Rama also featured dozen of vendors offering countless parts.

Need a gas tank for your old rice burner, Rice-O-Rama had them as well as exhaust pipes, seats, original manuals and complete bikes in runninng and non-running condition. 

“You can find a Japanese motorcycle for under $1,000 that’s going to run for 20 years,” said Murphy, adding that one benefit of owning an old Japanese bike is that “there are cheap parts readily available.”

Unlike other vintage shows, which primarily attract aging baby boomers, Rice-O-Rama drew riders of all ages. “There’s a lot of young people here. Why? That’s what they can afford,” said Murphy.

Larry Tashjian, a 36-year-old vintage Japanese lover from Torrington rode the 80 miles or so from his home on a 1981 Honda CX500.   “I’ve always loved these bikes. They’re different,” he said. “They get a lot of attention for some reason.”

 Besides owning the the 1981 CX500 for the past year, he also has a 1978 CX500 that he’s owned for 13 years. 

Tashjian hadn’t attended Rice-O-Rama before and was impressed by the event. “It’s excellent. There are so many different things,” he said.

Alfred Collelo of Moosup brought the white and red 1975 Yamaha RD 250 R that he bought for $1,049. “I bought it brand new,” he reported. He even had the bill of sale from Mickey’s Sport Center in Center Village to prove it, which revealed that he received $500 on the trade-in of a 1972 Honda. The odometer now shows 5,044 miles. “I don’t ride it that much,” he said.  That’s an understatement.

A more complete report on Rice-O-Rama, including more from Murphy and Tashjian,  will appear this Saturday in RIDE-CT, which appears in “The Republican-American” newspaper.