An Imposter in Veloland

By Mark Lapriore

The first annual East Coast Velocette Owners Club rally: An Imposter’s Take

I thought it would be fitting, as a first time participant in any motorcycle rally, to write about my experience bringing a mid-1950s BMW motorcycle to a Velocette rally in Massachusetts. Or, how to make friends by bringing a mid-50s BMW with a camera strapped to the side to a British bike ride.  Either way, the cold and rainy weekend in Sturbridge Mass is not one I’ll soon forget. A short introduction: my name is Mark Lapriore. I was involved in high-end aircooled German vehicle restoration work for 30+ years, mostly out on the West coast. Now I’m in Rhode Island.

I have a bunch of old BMW motorcycles: don’t hate me for it, it was the logical choice, as I understand them mechanically – a boxer engine is just something I ‘get’. But I digress…I had been keeping tabs on Paul’s Instagram posts, ever since he announced 6 months ago about a Velocette rally in Vermont. Ohhhhhhhh, I wanna ride old motorcycles in Vermont!! What’s a Velocette? Finally, I saw an official announcement 2 days before the rally was set to begin – plenty enough time to prepare for a rally. I mean, I ride this particular 1956 BMW R50 just about every day….and how fast are these riders actually gonna go? Pfffftttt…I’ve got this.

Jump ahead to Saturday morning. A lovely wet, drizzly New England Fall morning if there ever was one. Did I bring rain gear? Rain gear…who needs rain gear? I doubt we’ll ride if it’s raining. I’m sure we’ll just hang around the lounge in the hotel and tell halftruths and woulda coulda shouldas. Oh wait…everyone is in the lot..bikes are started..it’s raining…aaaaaaand we’re off! Hey, there’s a huge group of folks just hanging back riding leisurely….but Paul just shot off behind that frenetic Peter Voorhees on his 1948 rigid MAC and some white-haired man on what looks like a rusty pile of parts from behind the shed. That’s who?! Dave Roper? The only American to win the Isle of Man TT? Does he think we’re on the race course in England?! Whoop, no time to think, we’re off.

And that my friends, is how Saturday went. A three-man, flat-out, rain-soaked, leaf-covered TT through the hills and backroads of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. There were a couple of stops: minor fixes, breakdowns, and lunch eventually. But the day was mostly me looking at the back of Paul d’Orleans looking at the back of Dave Roper, racing through the wet New England back roads…and it was absolute bliss.

That is, until the rain really started. It rained on and off throughout the morning. Nothing crazy, until about mid-afternoon. Then the rain hit, hard. And we got lost. Wait…are we in Rhode Island? Boy; boots, jeans, and a leather jacket aren’t doing the best job of keeping me dry, how far am I from home? I’m pretty sure I’m closer to home than I am to wherever we’re trying to go, so maaaaybe I’ll just peel off here. Nope. I stayed with ‘em. It was a day. An amazing day. Nobody went down. We probably did 200 miles, rain or shine. No shine though. Just rain.

Arriving back at the hotel that night, with my clothing laid out around the heater on the wall, that was one of, if not the best showers I’ve ever experienced. I was cold to my core, but after 20 minutes of blasting full hot water, I felt human again. Then dinner with the crew…and goodnight. By this point, I’d made friends with the 20 or so folks that showed up. I wasn’t sure how I would be received, I didn’t know any of these folks. I’d really only met Paul once (in Las Vegas, briefly), but we had spoken online.

I wasn’t even showing up with a Velocette! I’m an imposter bringing a BMW to a Velocette rally! The folks couldn’t have been more inviting, curious, and happy to talk about their bikes, or yours. I was having a blast. Rain or not, what I realized was, that we’re all just a bunch of outsiders on weird old motorcycles [or weird old outsiders – ed.]. No judgment was passed. But Sunday, unlike the wet cold day prior, was glorious. It was what makes New England an amazing place to ride. Beautiful sunrays arcing through the tree canopy as we chased Dave Roper through leaf-covered backroads. Paul at one point remarked how wonderful it was watching Dave cut through the hills with leaves flying about. It was truly, truly beautiful.

Then…my beemer shat the bed. A bike I ride pretty much every day, died. Oof. Here we go. Here comes the harassment. Here comes the ‘that’s what you get for bringing a BMW to a Velocette rally.’ But there was none of that [confession; I did mention ‘it’s always BMWs that crap out on vintage rides’ – ed.] The decision was made to push the bike into the driveway of a local house (thank you again to whoever you folks were) and I rode 2-up with Paul to grab my truck. Wow. I haven’t been on the back of a bike since I was like, oh, maybe 10 years old. Paul made it seem normal though. I climbed on, one hand holding the camera rig I had brought for the weekend, one hand grasping a bracket at the side of his Horex’s fender. A reassuring pat on the leg from Paul before we took off…one that I took to mean “Don’t worry about it…we got this”.

Nope. What that was, was Paul saying, “Hold on…because we still need to try to keep up with the only American to win the Isle of Man TT.” And off we went. Pegs scraping in the corners, and Dave Roper not far ahead. We made it back ok. First a stop at a local lunch spot, where everyone else was already enjoying a bite to eat. This, I wasn’t expecting…but fully deserved. “Hey! Mr. BMW! What happened?! That’s what you get for not riding a Velocette!” My first rally is one I’ll never forget. Thank you to Paul and the crew in Sturbridge for making me feel welcome amongst a bunch of strangers. See you next year…maybe out West…?

Interested in joining the next East Coast or West Coast Velocette rally?  The best fun you can have with your clothes on! Check for info with the Velocette Owners Club, and ride along!