Down here at the John Zink Ranch enjoying another Reunion Ride. The Tulsa Trail Riders are putting on another great weekend. Although there may be one or two rocks on the trail (!) the course is fast and open and the folks on Mint 400s, Husky 390/430s, etc have plenty of opportunity to loosen the reins and let their big steeds gallop. Attendance is very good...I heard close to 150.
Two POG injuries, though...Rosemary Landers took a tumble and dislocated a finger. She made it to the banquet, trooper that she is, sporting a splint and a smile. Bob Bean, riding like the wind as usual, went down at speed in a special test and fractured bones in his left hand and wrist. He's out for Day Two.
Guy Cooper and his brother Chuck showed up on identical Mint 400s and everyone is anxiously awaiting this afternoon's final motocross. Guy smoked 'em last year on a modern bike, so we're waiting to see him do a repeat on the Mint!
Additional reports to follow, and I'm sure plenty of trail cam and still photos. Mama Kirby is here which generally means plenty of photos to look at...and maybe just a few of Brian!
Jeff DeBell
thanks for the update jeff. i sure wish that i could have been there. cooper's riding a chi jer motored mint so i'm sure that he's doing it proud again.:D sorry to hear about rosemary and bob :(
chi jer
guy cooper just called me to give me an update. he said it was a great event and that he won the overall on a vintage bike even against some of the other isde vets on modern bikes! pretty proud of my involvement to try to bring guy into the vintage fold. ahrma stalwart zahn lewis and his wife tamara had to leave the event early, sat night, for the east coast. they are both tied into fema emergenicies. i'll be sure to keep them in my prayers. hope to hear some more from jeff debell.... chi jer
ChiJer,
I can confirm that Coop was hauling the freight on his ChiJer tuned 400, and he had some stiff competition including local hotshoe Steve Travis, Jack Penton, Carl Cranke, J. D. Hammock, Fred Cameron and others, all on modern scoots. I watched him fly over technical stuff enough to give modern bikes fits..and he made it look so easy. His brother Chuck is no slouch of a rider, either, and handily won his moto as well.
To top it off, they are both super nice guys and were gracious hosts Friday at the "Cooperland" shop and museum, and took several of us to their Dad's old motorcycle and bicycle shop...which was a time warp back to the 60s. How about a BSA piston, new in the box, priced at $13.25? Tons of bicycles dating back to the late 1800s, many with artfully designed wooden rims! How about Chuck's old mechanics stall with Hi-Point oils and lubes just where he left them years ago! A real treat for anyone who has an afternoon to spend in Stillwater.
Got to hit the rack for the salt mine in the morning, but I'll post more tomorrow and hope the many other POG folks there will share their weekend smiles as well.
Missed you there, Jerry...by the way, John Penton has something for you!
Jeff DeBell
hey jeff, thanks for the update again. in the spring of 2011, ahrma had an isdt warm-up ride in stillwater ok. guy opened up his museum and cooperland to us then too. that was the first time that i had really met him. i told him that since diamond don's is relatively close to him in texas, that he should come join the party. he said then that since his parents used to have a penton dealership, if he was going to ride a vintage bike that he would like it to be a penton 400. i told him to "be careful what you ask for". fast forward to later that year at the 2011 RR and i mentioned it again and i told him that we could have a 400 done in time for diamonds. we started to make some arrangemnets and the rest is history, the vintage hook firmly planted with mr cooper. its been very fun to be a part of it.
(now if i can just get those bultaco guys to leave my ringer alone);)
i should see john at the pog meeting this thursday.
chi jer
Yes, Guy Cooper was amazing to watch in the moto. By my count, he had about a 20 second lead on second place by midway through lap four. Although it was really dusty, he had that Mint 400 digging down and throwing dark plumes of moist dirt.
Jim
74 HS 250
77 MC5 175
77 GS6 250
Other stuff for trials, trail riding and DS.