Ride CT & Ride New England Serving New England, NYC and The Hudson Valley!
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com
It has become a fall tradition to ride to The Vanilla Bean Cafe when Yankee Beemers, a club of BMW enthusiasts, holds its end of season ride-in at the Pomfret eatery. Yesterday was the day, so five of us made the chilly, 90-minute trek for breakfast. Three rode BMWs, one had a Moto Guzzi, while I took the Suzuki V-Strom.
How cold was it? Well, the thermometer read 38 degrees upon departure, but we dressed appropriately. Carl Foster, riding a BMW R1100RT, actually had a toasty time as he was thoroughly prepared with heated grips, heated seat and heated jacket.
What’s great about The Bean on a Sunday morning is the variety of bikes on display. The place is “non-denominational,” so besides the expected BMWs, there were also Harleys, Kawasakis, Triumphs and Hondas, including this good looking Honda CB 350 Four.
An enjoyable part of the morning was catching up with Kevin Nixon of Twisted Throttle. I got to know Kevin a few years ago when he worked for Vanson Leathers. We’ve kept in touch but haven’t seen each other in person in a long, long time. Twisted Throttle had a booth set up at The Bean knowing there would be a good turnout.
Two images from the day’s ride linger. One was the massive top case on an older Beemer in the parking lot. You’d think it would seriously affect the bike’s handling and, if loaded, would tend to lift the front rubber.
The other image was grimmer. On the ride home, we passed a scene with an unmoving body lying in the road and car with a smashed windshield pulled off to the side. A state trooper was on the scene and EMTs were responding. The situation didn’t look promising.
