Rice – O – Rama 2010.

By Kano

Smack dab in the middle of the twisty-turney scenic countryside of central Massachusetts on Sunday SEPT. 12th was Rice – O – Rama,

What started as a little get together has quickly grown into can't-miss motorcycle event.

Not just a swap meet, there's a real bike show, now with 20 classes,

all for vintage and custom Japanese motorcycles.

 

There is a "Best Foreign" class for vintage non-Japanese bikes too,

This was their 4th YR and apart from the fact the sun didn’t shine it went pretty well.

The meet was of modest size with plenty to look at, bike’s and part’s galore,

and there were some amazing bikes on show.

There was no trouble, no rowdy behavior but what did you expect from a bunch of aging

classic Japanese motorcycle fanatics.

I had decided to make this event no matter what, for several reasons.

First joce had driven 7 hr round trip to drop off a engine and numerous other parts for the

z1000r2 I am restoring to steph (Peter Frampton)in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Steph was then driving down from Canada to central mass to hook up with jay to hang out

and possibly off load a few unwanted parts they had both gathered over the yrs,

This was the perfect opportunity for me to not only get the parts I needed but to meet for

the first time some kz1000r.com members and their bikes.

.

With THE KIND PERMISSION of the warden I got day release from Alcatraz (Martha’s vineyard)

and was determined to get there, with a slow puncture on my truck we boarded the ferry

and headed off island towards the event,

After disembarking and a brief stop for coffee and croissant,

we filled the truck with gas and headed north to central mass.

I opted to relinquish the responsibility of driver and let Julie drive,

as she knew the area from her college days.

it was going to take 2 1/2 hr’s to get there but with Julie at the wheel we were going to

get there quicker,

not that she is a fast driver just that when she drives I always get the feeling it’s the last lap

at Daytona, dale Earnhardt Jr is behind us and he is trying to pass and she wants to win the race.

“and its Julie gales folks leading the last lap at Daytona international speedway,

dale Earnhardt Jr is on her bumper will he be able to pass this rookie or is she gonna win folks!”

So with my eyes firmly fixed on the road grasping both side’s of the seat firmly with my hands

I consoled myself that we would get there the same day and not get lost with her at the wheel

and hopefully in one piece.

In no time at all we were in central mass, and pulling into Rice – O – Rama, (she won the race!)

With probably a thousand ppl in attendance

it was a good gathering with loads of stall of used parts looking for new owners.

We parked up; I gave my wallet to my wife so as not to be tempted to purchase anything,

Heading from the parking area we moved towards the show area to my surprise I could see

3 green beauties parked there,

steph’s bike was one of them but the other 2 bikes were unfamiliar to me

a Lawson (KZ1000R1 #0013.) and a gpz clone in great condition,

the 3 bikes were parked in a line with only a immaculate kz1000j

(That is the bike that won first place 1981 KZ1000J that belongs to the same owner as the r1).

and a z1-r separating them,

after a quick inspection of the bikes we pushed on to find the boys.

Heading towards the back of the field looking in the distance for steph’s and jay’s stall,

out of nowhere was steph, with a beaming smile’s of someone happy to see a old friends for

the first time over our face’s we shook hands,

hugged and I made the introductions to Julie and Kayleigh,

then we headed towards jay’s stall.

Once there more introductions were made beer was handed out and the socializing began.

Steph, jay, Darrel (svrida) and I chatted for a while,

met a couple of other fans of the site and hopefully recruited a couple of new members,

the owner of the Lawson and clone was located and we chatted for a while and so where

2 other owner’s,

one had a r1 and a r2 the other was restoring a r2 both were encouraged to join the site.

At one point on our rounds leaving Julie to watch the stalls while we walked around the field.

Steph was confronted by a fan of peter Frampton,

who was convinced steph was him, which amused jay and I no end.

Jay got the guys details and we promised to send back stage tickets for the next gig,

Apart from that it was a nice peaceful event which should have been a 2 day event with

camping and a band which would have made it perfect.

When we returned to where jay had set up Julie handed jay a handful of cash she had

managed to collect from sales of a few items jay had brought to sell,

for one minute I thought she was going to say something like

“oh and a guy will be by to pick up your Lawson in half a hr” but it didn’t happen.

We chilled out had a beer and enjoyed the cool fall afternoon which went by all too quickly,

With a total of 6 owners of various kz1000r models and 7th clone it’s the best gathering

we have seen in North America.

After packing up everything that didn’t sell,

loading all the parts steph brought down from joce into my truck we headed out to a diner

for a bite to eat, once there chatted some more, ate and had a beer.

While my daughter finished her meal I checked my puncture it was worse,

so i decided to swap it out with the spare for the race home.

The group came out shortly after and jay and steph went to their cars to get their cameras

and snapped a few shots of me changing it lol, funny guys.

With the help of the boys wheel was changed and we said our goodbyes and headed out our

separate ways,

Julie, Kayleigh and Myself heading south to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA.

Steph north to Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Jay North East to Lee, New Hampshire USA.

The journey back was uneventful we made good time with my wife driving so fast

that I thought she was trying to travel back in time to the beginning of the day so

we could do it all over again.

Short 45 min boat ride and we were back on island and the day was over and just a

memory left to cherish.

The meeting of 3 friends from 3 different countries,
Who all spoke different languages,
But all with the same passion for the Eddie Lawson Replica’s..

I would like to thank joce for the parts,
steph for bringing them down,
and jay for inspiring us to arrange the gathering to make the exchange possible.

Kano.