Thursday, January 22, 2015
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Articles
More feature articles will arrive in the spring/summer. Sorry for our lack of posts, college takes up a lot of important time.
Uncovered Iron; Alton
Monday, November 10, 2014
Saturday, September 6, 2014
A Brief History of the Ohio Valley BSA Owners Club- Uncovered Iron feature article
The Ohio Valley BSA Owners Club was
formed in September of 1982. It all happened on an evening when Clark Francy
and Paul Atkinson were enjoying a Saturday afternoon of college football and
cold beer, at the Grid Iron Bar in Toronto, Ohio. Clark and Paul were both
owners of BSA motorcycles at the time, but they had an idea to hold an all
British Motorcycle Rally. Some flyers
were printed, and passed around eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia, and
western Pennsylvania (locally known as the Ohio Valley).
In October of
1982, their first unofficial rally occurred. At the rally there ended up being
35 total riders. There was also an impromptu bike show. The first “best of show
bike”, of the Ohio Valley BSA Owners Club, was a Royal Enfield Interceptor
owned by a fellow named Steve Kali from the Youngstown, Ohio area. A short
article detailing their first British meet-up was written by Clark Francy and
submitted to Cycle News. Cycle news was a nationally circulated, weekly
motorcycle paper located in California at the time. The article mentioned that
the British bike meet-up was held by the Ohio Valley BSA Owners Club of
Toronto, Ohio.
Their 2nd
Annual British Rally drew about 150 riders from the area. It wasn’t until their
third annual rally in 1984, that they adopted their name officially as the “Ohio
Valley BSA Owners Club” (OVBSAOC). The third annual rally was also their first
two-day event. About 350 people came to that 1984 meet-up. Many stayed to camp
for the weekend. They had field events, road rides, map runs, and a show. At
this point, the club’s rallies were turning into a big project.
The club was growing steadily, and held their
first swap meet in the spring of 1985, bringing in a good beginning base of
club operating funds. Up until this point the Club was not taking on members,
and regarded themselves as a loosely knit group with no constitution. Later
that year the Ohio Valley BSA owners club performed one of their first club
activities. The club organized a 325 mile one way ride out to a BSA Gold Star
owners club meet in York Pennsylvania. The club riders on this trip included;
Kevin Anderson – Triumph Bonneville
Paul Atkinson – Rocket III
Tom Maffett, Jr. – Rocket III
Ken Swearingen – A65 Oil Frame
Pete Wagner – Lightning
Steve Pinkston – Honda
Tom Maffett, Sr. – Chevy Pickup (to
carry the Honda, of course)
Steve Pinkston actually rode from southern Indiana just to
join the little known OVBSAOC at the time.
By the OVBSAOC’s
fourth rally, there were 400 people in attendance from 10 states, and Canada. Their
mailing list continued to grow. By their 5th Annual British Rally,
the OVBSAOC decided to “go public” by chartering as an AMA Club, electing
officers, adopting a constitution, and by-laws. The first officers were:
President –
Clark Francy
Vice
President – Terry Kester
Secretary –
Kevin Anderson
Treasurer –
Fay Younkin
Membership
- Paul Atkinson
Road
Captain - Pete Wagner
Referee -
John Griesinger
Other “Executive Board” members were; Brian Griffith, Bernie
Kester, Tom Maffett Jr., Tom Maffett Sr., Keith Pearce, Dee Swearingen, Ken
Swearingen, & A.J. Wagner.
I
personally came across the club at a National Triumph motorcycle rally in Oley
Pennsylvania. The club was selling tickets for their annual BSA motorcycle raffle.
The raffle is open to anyone, and you do not have to be a member of the OVBSAOC
to purchase tickets. A fully restored 1964 BSA 500 cyclone was raffled off for
2014. The OVBSAOC is an amazing club that is all for keeping classic British
motorcycles on the road. They currently have over 800 active members in 40
states, and are still going strong after 32 years.
-I would like to thank Clark Francy for the previous
historical information on the OVBSAOC. While this write up is just a brief
history of the club, you can go to http://www.ohiovalleybsaownersclub.com/.
to see what the OVBSAOC is currently up to. Even though Clark Francy and Paul
Atkinson were major players in starting the OVBSAOC, there were many others who
helped contribute to the early success of the club.
Uncovered Iron; Alton
-Here are the names of the first 100 members of the OVBSAOC.
1.
|
2. Paul Atkinson
|
3. Pete Wagner
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4. Ken Swearingen
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5. Kevin Anderson
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6. Keith Pearce
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7. Terry Kester
|
8. Tom Maffett Jr
|
9. Tom Maffett Sr.
|
10. Fay Younkin
|
11.
|
12. Jim Cable
|
13. John Griesinger
|
14. Bill Smith
|
15. AJ Wagner
|
16. Brian Griffith
|
17. Dean Gray
|
18. Bernie Kester
|
19. Bob Viall
|
20. Gerri Smith
|
21. Stewart Wallace
|
22. John Chmelik
|
23. Dennis Purvis
|
24. Ray Roberts
|
25. Ray Lomas
|
26. Bud Kubena
|
27. Joe Durko
|
28. John Linn
|
29. Scott Finley
|
30. Dick Harris
|
31. Jim Fiore
|
32.
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33. Bruce Williams
|
34. Jim Zonner
|
35. Bob Bancroft
|
36. Kevin Hillyard
|
37. Bob Kent
|
38. Pat Dillehay
|
39. John Jackson
|
40. Tom Goodfellow
|
41. Phillip Smith
|
42. Ginger Roub
|
43. Pat McCann
|
44. Chuck Weese
|
45. Don Kautz
|
46. Albert Dascoli
|
47. Amzi Melton
|
48. Mike Schiller
|
49. Tom Agner
|
50. Keith Tillman
|
51. Tom Weese
|
52. Charles Weese
|
53. Cye Weese
|
54. George Scott
|
55. Den McClelland
|
56. John Corvi
|
57. Gary Rask
|
58. Bert Weisz
|
59. Don Fielders
|
60. Nick Vinka
|
61. Ken Featheringhill
|
62. Richard DeMay
|
63. Andy Tarnik
|
64. Keven Gehring
|
65. Bert Latran Jr.
|
66. Tony Babiak
|
67. Bill Rankin Jr.
|
68. Rick Burris
|
69. Russell Blake Jr.
|
70. Ben Gradler
|
71. Dave Stidd
|
72. Steve Pinkston
|
73. Wm. Dickerson
|
74. Jeff Ault
|
75. Dick Dickinson
|
76. Glen King
|
77. Jim Holt
|
78. George Rudisill
|
79. Mike Chaney
|
80. Steve Collins
|
81. Tim Michler
|
82. Jim Plavcan
|
83. Mac Haserot
|
84. Gary White
|
85. Jerry Genton
|
86. Stev Szewczyk
|
87. Phillip Cook
|
88. James Lomas
|
89. Gregg Wills
|
90. John Justice
|
91. Fred Tarr
|
92. Al Hickling
|
93. Jeff Staser
|
94. Mike Williams
|
95. Earl Abele
|
96. Lynn Hankins
|
97. Chuck Robinette
|
98. Dave Lindley
|
99. Ken Munz
|
100. Rich Adams
|
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Out and About #1
Our "Out and About" posts are pictures of classics we spy when on the go. Here is the first of many...
.JPG) |
| Triumph Tiger 650 ( not sure of the year, but has the eyebrow badge) Photo Credit; Alton Uncovered Iron |
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Harley's Italian Connection
 |
| Harley Sprint Photo Credit; http://s.hswstatic.com/gif/1966-harley-davidson-sprint-4.jpg |
I always have an eye out for motorcycles when I am on the road,
especially those that are for sale. I recently came across a 1967 Harley sprint
250 SS. The sprint is an unusual Harley. The model was first put onto Harley’s product
line in 1961. The Sprint shows Harley's Italian connection with a company called
Aermacchi. Aermacchi was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. It wasn’t until after
World War II, that Aermacchi started making motorcycles. Harley took specific
note of Aermacchi’s 250cc Goldwing model, which showed some small bike racing
success. Harley actually bought out part
of the Aermacchi Company, and later released their 250 cc motorcycle model, the
“sprint”. The sprint essentially has the same engine layout as the Aermacchi
Goldwing. The Harley sprint features a
horizontally opposed, single cylinder, four stroke engine. A 350 cc model
was later produced from 1969 until 1974, when the sprint model was discontinued.
I fell in love with the bike after seeing it. It’s
is said to have good small bike competitive racing history. There is a strong European feel given off by this classic. The sprint had the
same headlight mount as my ‘67 Triumph, and a sweet early 70’s paint job...
Enjoy the pic of Harleys Italian beauty!
.JPG) |
| 1967 Harley Sprint Custom Photo Credit; Alton- Uncovered Iron |
-Uncovered Iron; Alton
Keep updated for more "Uncovered Iron" Posts
Information Credited
http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/classic-italian-motorcycles/aermacchi-harley-davidson-350-sprint.aspx#axzz3AgD8WTHy
Friday, August 15, 2014
A Rally, and a Bonneville
.JPG) |
| 1959 T-120 Bonneville Photo Credit; Alton-Uncovered Iron |
-Uncovered Iron; Alton
Keep updated for more "Uncovered Iron" Posts
Here is the Triumph national rally flyer for 2014
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Triumph Rally Flyer
|
Information Credited;
http://www.classic-british-motorcycles.com/1959-triumph-bonneville.html
http://motorcrave.com/fastest-motorcycles-the-10-fastest-motorcycles-in-history/
http://triumphnationalrally.com/
http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=113
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