The 5^th annual Michigan Moto Guzzi Rally was a record setting event. First, at 88 registered attendees, it was our smallest group so far. Secondly, at a recorded temperature of 38.7 degrees (yes - Fahrenheit) it was the coolest Michigan rally so far. Some relationship between these two events perhaps? After enduring the heat of the National Rally a few weeks earlier, I’m not sure if a bit of cool was all that bad. Snuggling with my bride of 30 years in a double sleeping bag did make the situation bearable.

On the other hand, the food was good and plentiful, there were plenty of Cannolis to go around, (thank you GT Motors) and we were treated to demo rides that included the 1100 Breva and the new Griso (thank you Detroit Eurocycles).  As always, good people and fine motorcycles made the rally another enjoyable Moto Guzzi event.

We left for Interlochen on Thursday morning at 5:00 AM.  Wife Pat, daughter-in-law Angie and granddaughter Avery (pumped up for her 2^nd Guzzi rally in her first year of life!) were in the van with the rally gear, son Brian & I rode point on our bikes. A blanket of fog accompanied us for many miles making the journey a bit tenuous. We arrived at Cycle Moore about five hours later to find that Tom Canute, with help from Floyd and Sally Kantz, had already moved picnic tables under the pavilion and had a good start on getting the grills ready for action. Nothing left to do but to crack open a soda pop!  Pat and the “kids” left for town to get grub for the rally. This is always one of the tuff parts. How much food to get? How many people will make it this year? How many will succumb to the weather prognosticators fear tactics? It’s always a crap shoot. Gerry Mees imported some fine homemade Kentucky “mets”. These treats served as the main entrée for the early arrivals Thursday evening. Side dishes included potato salad, noodle salad and chips. A group campfire provided a fitting nightcap. The Thursday crowd continues to grow every year. And no, we’re not gonna make it a four day event! 

Friday was a mixed bag of meteorological treats. The temperature stayed pleasantly in the low 70’s all day. It was overcast and rainy one minute, sunny the next, sunny and rainy after that, complete with an impressive rainbow! It never rained longer than about five minutes with the majority of the day being nice and sunny. Dinner Friday night consisted of Italian/Polish sausage, hot dogs, chili, and a variety of potato chips.  We tried to come up with a menu that would feed late arrivals as well as the early crowd. We had, or so we thought we had, enough chili for 120 people. Unfortunately, we did run out of chili. Figured we only had around 70 people at that time. Some people got seconds and thirds, the late arrivals didn’t fair so well. Guess that means the chili was good. As I said earlier, food is one of the tuff parts to figure out. I don’t think anybody went to bed hungry none-the-less. Late that night, it started to rain. It rained fairly hard all night long. Karl Werth made a good call earlier in the day by purchasing a new tent to replace his well traveled accommodations.  Larry Klein - GT Motors – brought along his new traveling shop, providing shelter for his literary treasures. By early morning, the rain had stopped. Andy and Kathy Sirvio did another fine job designing the color coordinated coffee mugs and t-shirts for this years rally. Very tasteful looking – thanks much. Believe we still have some shirts and mugs for sale. Please contact Tom Canute or myself for details if you are interested. Floyd and Sally Kantz donated neat looking key rings that were also included in the registration packet.

The breakfast crew, supervised by Brian Kurylo, started their chores around 4:30 Saturday morning. By 8:00, scrambled eggs, sausage patties, hash browns, biscuits-n-gravy, coffee, tea, and orange juice were served to the gathering masses. There was plenty of food to go around. Tom Canute led a group ride that encompassed about 100 miles of the finest roads in Michigan. Included was a lunch stop-over at The Cove located in picturesque Leeland. For those not participating in the group ride, another treat was in store. Jeff Bottrell and the gang at Detroit Eurocycles brought over a varied selection of bikes for demo rides. Topping the list (if only in my eyes) was a hot looking red Griso. Included in the stable were an impressive 1100 Breva, a KTM 950 dual purpose machine, and a Piaggio scooter on steroids. Jeff was gracious enough to start the rides on Friday to accommodate those wanting to go on the group ride but still needing a demo ride fix. I generally don’t get an opportunity to go on the group ride, but I did make time to take both the Griso and the 1100 Breva for a ride. My impressions would warrant another article all onto itself. Suffice to say, I was very impressed. Perhaps divesting my collection of two late model Guzzi’s for one 1100 Breva or Norge could carry us nicely into our retirement years. (Honey, are you listening?) Unfortunately the Griso would not handle the two-up requirements need to keep Momma happy. And you know what they say about keeping Momma happy! Perhaps investing heavily in Lotto tickets? For those wanting to stay close to the campground for the demo rides, Brian cooked up some hot dogs and kielbasas. Our intentions were to include left over chili, but we know what happened there. We had a donation can for this meal and would like to thank everyone for their kindness. Speaking of generosity, Bruce Anson dropped off dozens of fine pastries earlier in the morning. As in years past, Bruce stayed up thru the night baking these fantastic delicacies at a local bakery. You’re a good man Bruce!

There were a number of Guzzi / motorcycle items available for purchase at the rally. GT Motors, Detroit Eurocycles, Paul Szostak, and Joe Kenny (machinist extraordinaire) all had a variety of items for sale. Sandy Morrison and pal Ken Soerries surprised everyone when they arrived with two of Sandy’s immaculately restored Guzzi’s in tow. Last year Sandy was involved in a horrendous motorcycle accident only to make a miraculous recovery proving once again the power of a strong will and God’s grace. I did get a nice picture of Sandy and Bob Loomis together. Bob won last year’s 50/50 raffle and donated all his winnings to a fund we set up to help defray some of the medical expenses Sandy incurred. You’re a good man too Bob Loomis!    

Everyone arrived from the group ride in plenty of time for the evening’s festivities. First on tap was dinner. The menu included Italian (aka Swedish) meatballs with mushrooms and noodles. Side dishes included corn, salad, and rolls. Once again, Larry Klein / GT Motors graciously provided cannolis for desert. Larry has brought cannolis to the rally every year. These delicacies are handmade by a fine Italian bakery in the Lansing area. We really look forward to these tasty (and healthy) gems! The 50/50 raffle pot of around $170 was won by Kevin Lentz. Long Distance Male was won by Joe Kenny at 850 miles. Pat Galbraith won Long Distance Female at 844 miles. Sam Heath and Beth Hagaman combined to win the Long Distance Two Up. Oldest Guzzi rider was a tie between Ken Murphy and Ron Patton at 71 years. A quick check showed Ron was the winner by a few months. At 501,000 miles, Karl Werth’s 1976 model 850T-3 was a clear winner of the High Mileage award.  Karl has substantiated the rumor that a new Guzzi Vintage will soon be added to his stable. We did have a couple of hiccups during the award ceremony. To this point, we will make sure that each person fills out a registration form. Hard to award a prize to someone if you don’t even know they are there. We will also highlight that, as a Moto Guzzi rally, you must be riding a Moto Guzzi to be eligible for one of Tom Canute’s finely hand crafted award plaque. This is typical of most – if not all – Moto Guzzi Rallies. Everybody is eligible for a door prize, and we have been fortunate enough to have an exceptional number, and quality, of door prizes every year.

Sunday morning I over-slept. Could blame it on a number of things, frigid weather included, but truth be known, I think I forgot to set the alarm. When I finally did crawl out of the rack, I found Tom Canute, leaving footprints in the frost covered tarmac, already had a good start on preparing coffee, tea and donuts. Tom and I did put some extra fire to the coffee just to help thaw the bones. The temperature at 6:30 am was 38 degrees! Slowly, the gathered masses arose from a deep sleep/freeze to begin their journey home. As we were packing up, Bob Loomis brought over his brand spanking new Triumph Scrambler for me to take a personal test ride. Always did admire the looks of the early British twins, lovingly recreated with this model. After much arm twisting, sorta, I took her for a spin. And I liked it. I liked it a lot. Many thanks Bob. I really gotta quit taking test rides.

Following is a list of the kind people / companies that graciously provided door prizes for the rally. Aerostich, Bruce Anson, Associated Spring, Greg & Ki Buys, Cycle-Moore Inc., Detroit Eurocycles, Pat Galbraith, GO JO Industries, Grand Rapids Guzzi, GT Motors, Harpers Moto Guzzi, Floyd & Sally Kantz, Joe Kenny, Kentucky Rally Crew, Randy Kepner, Mothers, Precision Imprints, Jay & Ronda Salisbury, Andy & Kathy Sirvio, Jim Somers, Paul & Alice Szostak, Vintage Motor Cycle Works, and Whitehorse Press. First, a most heart felt thank you to all of them, second a big apology. During the door prize segment of the festivities, I zealously pursued everyone winning a door prize to sign our Thank You Flyer. Copies of the signed flyers were to be mailed to everybody donating a door prize to our rally. Inexplicably, I lost it, along with my list of those who graciously donated door prizes. I am reasonably certain that I did not miss mentioning anybody earlier. If I did, please accept my apologies. As with other hiccups, steps have been taken to prevent a reoccurrence. Guess we are still learning, and hopefully improving, even though it’s been five years since our first rally.    

This brought to an end another Michigan Moto Guzzi Rally. Through the time, patience and generosity of Randy Kepner, the rally can be re-lived pictorially on our web site, www.MiGuzziRally.com. Our thanks once again to all those who braved the weather and helped make this a record setting event. See you all again next year on the 2^nd weekend in September (Sept. 14, 15, 16, 2007).