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Website Links:			Quick Updates: (Place pointer over text to stop scrolling) A Message from Bib... Update 4/25/12 Hope you have seen the 2 page color spread on our New Year's Eve Ride in the February issue of Classic Bike. And, more recently, a similar article and photo spread on our Hansen Dam Ride by Paul Garson in the current issue of Café Racer. Every bit of publicity helps us stay on the road. Thanks again to Scott Young and John Stein on the Classic Bike coverage. We had over 150 riders on our annual February ride to the Webster/Taggart collections in Ojai - perfect weather "in the warm California sun". But, for the first time ever (?), we cancelled a ride - the one to Idyllwild in March - due to a weather forecast! While it was clear in Pasadena and along the coast, it was in the low 30s and snowing in the mountains east of Hemet. And, in "a fit of good judgment", I made the decision to cancel the ride. Maybe next year? The ride from Mojave to Lake Isabella and Randsburg on April 15 also looked iffy but turned out to be spectacular. In the 40s in the early morning with snow along the highway going up to Tehachapi and more snow on the "high road" from CA 58 to Isabella with flowers poking through the snow! It was bright, sunny and in the 60s by noon and in the 70s/80s in Ridgecrest and Randsburg. Twenty-two bikes, no breakdowns or tickets and everyone stayed together for 200 miles. While the Harley guys ride in a pack for days, we're usually spread all over the countryside within a few miles of our starting point(s)… so it was a welcome change of pace. Hope to see you in Cambria in June for the 16th Annual Big Sur Ride- including a stop for lunch on the pier in Monterey (with reserved parking!). Get your motel reservations as soon as possible. And, please let me know if you are planning to make this ride. Next year, instead of Big Sur, we're going to do "the North Coast", from the Bay Area up through the Napa Valley, overnight in Mendocino or Fort Bragg and then back down the coast to San Francisco. Our upcoming Summer/Fall 2012 schedule is being posted on socalnorton.com. Details on our Route 66 Ride will be emailed to riders, volunteers and sponsors who have paid up and/or otherwise expressed an interest in this event. If you would like to be included in the Route 66 email postings let me know: Call or email Bib: 626 791-0259 or E-mail. Chris Hovland will be leading this year's High Sierras Ride, while I attempt to herd about 50 riders from St. Louis to Santa Monica! See you on the pier on the afternoon of September 16 for our return to California party? Postscript - Sorry to hear that two of Southern California's most respected British bike enthusiasts just passed away - Terry Pratt and Keith Moore. See you on the road! Bib Note: We have an inventory of new top quality long-sleeve black t-shirts showing the club logo and 2012 ride schedule and gray Run for the Roses shirts – sizes L/XL/XXL. We’re asking $25 per shirt including a 2011 Hansen Dam pin to keep your collection complete. Make it $30 and we’ll throw in a new or renewal membership. We also have a variety of other club shirts and even 10 of Dick Symonds Hansen Dam shirts for the years 2000-02 and 2004-06. $20 includes shipping. How about a little support? ROUTE 66 UPDATE Planning is proceeding on schedule for our greatest/longest adventure yet, from St. Louis to Santa Monica, on old Route 66, September 8-16, 2012. To date over 40 potential riders have expressed interest in participating; and, 21 have made their $200 “good faith” deposit (refundable through April 30) against anticipated costs of $300 per bike to ship from Pasadena to St. Louis. We have reached a tentative agreement with a major, reputable bike hauler to transport as many as 30 bikes to be picked up on or about August 28 in Pasadena and arrive in St. Louis no later than September 5. Club members will supervise loading/unloading at both locations. If we have more than 30 riders, which is a good possibility, we have a long-term club member who may be able to have 15 to 17 additional bikes (at the same $300 cost per bike) AND would accompany us as a chase truck on the return trip. Several folks are meeting us in St. Louis and others will be joining us along the way who will also provide chase services. Any other volunteers? I am arranging for “locals” to help us navigate old 66 in Missouri and Oklahoma. We will avoid the interstates whenever possible but some sections of the old highway are hard to find, too short to bother going out of our way, are dead ends, etc. The plan is to average about 250 miles – somewhat LESS than we usually do in a day on our current weekend rides. There will be several contingents of riders to accommodate varying types of bikes and riding styles – not everyone will be on a 75 mile an hour/all day Commando. We’ll allow for at least one full break day for rest/maintenance and we’re making arrangements for dealer/shop support in several cities along the way in addition to the parts/spares we plan to carry in the chase trucks. Details on likely overnight stops will be coming soon. We are talking with several motel chains – yes, I know – to guarantee a set price if possible along the entire route. I don’t want to deal with a different local desk clerk in every city along the way and our group may be too large for the typical mom and pop motels. Details to follow including where we will be staying as a group, in St. Louis on September 6 and 7. Lots to see and do there and we’ll be leaving early on September 8th! In the meantime, contact me if you have any questions. For those of you who have sent a deposit for yourself and “others”, I need to know who they are and how to contact them directly. What type of pre-1982 British bikes they will be riding etc.? There is still time to sign up for this adventure … but, all future details will be sent only to likely participants. A Route 66 riders meeting will be scheduled in February or early March to assist in our and your planning. Get your $200 deposits in ASAP. Make checks to SCNOC and send to Southern California Norton Owners Club, P.O. Box 91132, Pasadena, CA 91116-7132. Call or email Bib: 626 791-0259 or E-mail 2011 Best Bike Awards (Awarded at the New Year’s Eve Ride due to the Hansen Dam rain out) Best Other – P11/Ranger, Tobias Glas Best Norton – Custom Commando, Jeff Koskie Best Triumph – Flat-Tracker, Art Madrid Best BSA – A65 Lightning, Dale Naber Best Custom – 650 Café Triumph, Mile LaFountain Best of Show – 66 TR6 Triumph, Warren Stirling NOTE OUR WEATHER POLICY! The Norton club has never cancelled a ride due to a weather FORECAST. If, however, at the scheduled time of departure the folks who do show up for breakfast decide not to ride due to rain, snow or…, then the ride may be re-scheduled, most likely for the following week. Check the website or our Facebook page for the new date, call Bib at 626 791-0259 or E-mail. 2012 Norton Club Ride Schedule: January 15 – Rock Store Rendezvous February 12 – Ojai Pilgrimage March 18 – Lake Elsinore/Idyllwild April 15 – Mojave/Lake Isabella/Randsburg May 6 – Mt. Baldy/Glendora Ridge June 1-3 – Cambria/Big Sur Weekend July 1 – Wrightwood over the Crest August 12 – Prince of Darkness Ride September 7-9 – High Sierras Weekend September 8-16 – Route 66 Ride, St. Louis to Santa Monica October 11-14 – San Luis Obispo/Central Coast Weekend November 4 – 33rd Annual Hansen Dam All-Brit December 2 – Temecula/Palomar/Julian December 31 – 27th New Year’s Eve Run for the Roses CLICK HERE FOR CALENDAR OF EVENTS AND RIDE DETAILS. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NORTON OWNERS CLUB Founded in 1979, the Southern California Norton Owners Club is one of the largest and most active classic motorcycle-riding clubs in the country with over 700 members on its current roster. Cumulative annual attendance at club rides/events since 2006 has exceeded 2000 participants per year. Ride routes typically exceed 2000 miles each year over Southern and Central California’s best back country roads, canyons and passes with occasional forays into Nevada and Arizona. While we prefer Nortons and other classic British bikes, whatever you ride is fine with us – although we don’t have a lot of patience with cruisers (whatever their country of origin) or so-called “trailer queens”. No club rules, officers, politics or causes – just rides and bikes! We have a ride every month and 3 to 4 weekend events each year, always including Cambria and Big Sur and the High Sierras and Yosemite. The club has sponsored California’s Hansen Dam All British Ride, “…the best ride by a dam site” since 1990 – one of the country’s largest gatherings of British bikes according to Cycle World. And, in September 2012 we are doing Route 66 from St. Louis to Santa Monica. Join us! SCNOC Membership You can join us anytime by making a donation of $10/year, payable to SCNOC, P.O. Box 61132, Pasadena, CA 91116-7132. If you ride with us at Hansen Dam or throughout the year, use the website to keep abreast of the British scene or occasionally need tech support/advice, we would most appreciate your help in keeping the club on the road. We are deliberately not organized enough to bill anyone. Members receive updates throughout the year via email only, so make sure you include a legible email address when you join. We do not share members email addresses with anyone. Club Meetings: Beginning with March 14, 2012, club meetings are returning to Burger Continental, 535 S. Lake, Pasadena.   Click Here to view map!!!   We’ll keep with the second Wednesday of each month at Burger C through the end of Daylight Savings Time in November. We meet informally from about 6 pm through 8:30. No “business”, just bikes, good food, and good cheer. Our monthly so-called Café Racer meetings will be held, typically, on designated Sunday afternoons when we do not have a ride scheduled at 2 pm at varying bike friendly locations throughout LA. However, on Saturday, February 25 we will meet at 1 pm at Fisherman’s Outlet, 529 S. Central Ave (between 5th and 6th) in downtown LA about ½ mile south of Little Tokyo. They are not open Sundays and close at 3:30. Any suggestions for a Sunday afternoon meeting local in your part of the city? All we’re looking for is no chain restaurants, secure/visible bike parking and good food at reasonable prices. Contact Bib at 626 791-0259 or E-mail Not a club member? Join us anyway!
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