Harmony Meet

[joe]

I HAVE A QUESTION WERE ARE ALL OF THE PEOPLE AT THE HARMONY MEET?FRIDAY IT WAS A PERFECT DAY NOT MUCH WAS THEIR SATURDAY IT WAS A TOTAL WASH OUT.IT SEEMS EVERY YEAR THE CROWD GETS SMALLER AND SMALLER

[PAM]

Joe

You sure are right about this one, I bet people are tired of being taken advantage of by certin vendors, not to mention judges. OOPS should let it go. Hope thouse at the meet enjoyed.

Pete

[Pete Gagan]

Hi Joe:
Shrinking crowds at a few meets is a phenominum we've seen lately. Too many events too close together? Vendors shutting down too early? Also, this is the fourth straight year that Harmony has been rained out on Saturday, which is traditionally the big day.
Starting in 2006, the plan is to combine the Colonial, Empire, and Yankee meets into one big one, possibly at Rienbeck NY. Any imput you or any forum members may have is appreciated.
Cheers,
Pete Gagan, President AMCA.

[joe]

HI PETE THAT WOULD BE GREAT TO SEE A FEW SMALLER MEETS COME TOGETHER AND MAKE A NEW AND LARGER MEET

[inrustwetrust]

It might be nice to pick a spot in Conneticut instead, as there are no helmet laws there. Also, the Hebron meet seems to attract a lot of people.

[lesliewhit]

I think they need to combine some of those meets and move them to Georgia BECAUSE WE HAVE A LONGER RIDING SEASON?

[LouieMCman]

Good Idea, Les....but be carefull what you wish for.........

Louie

[flathead1957]

combined Meet

Seems to me we should have a combined meet in Michigan, to get some more old iron owners involved from this great state !!! Nothing to do with it being close to my home or anything.

[Lonnie]

Re the harmony meet...

I have attended the last several, including last year in the Great Rain. Accordingly, I (and others I am sure) looked at the Accuweather or other weather website where they predicted nothing but rain, not only there but for the entire East Coast, for the entire weekend. Since this is quite a long distance for anyone not in PA, NJ, NY, etc., I can understand folks not wanting to spend a weekend under such circumstances. I am not the only one, apparently, that stayed at home with my parts and bike.

It is a beautiful area, though.

So, let's blame the weatherman.

Lonnie

[Paps]

I suggest combining them with the Wauseon Ohio meet and moving the date forward or back by two weeks to miss the the Mid Ohio AMA meet. Mid Ohio takes to much of the public away from the AMCA meet at that time. No Helmets in Ohio either and right next door to the Old Iron stomping grounds. Pa

[Kojack]

I'm hearing that the Wauseon meet will be held one weekend later next year. Any definate dates yet?

[Hrdly-Dangrs]

BIG MEETS.....BETTER??

As far as I'm concerned the Harmony Meet is and always has been a great AMCA Meet...Period! I've been going to Harmony since the early eighties and have never been dissappointed!! Even the rain never stopped me from going. Now maybe I'm a little biased cause I live in New Jersey, but so be it!!
Lets not forget that this is about us EAST COAST Chapters making a large change and should be left up to us and not the National as to 'IF' we are going to choose to combine and in so doing give up our own local meets....A BIG STEP I think!! I do like the concept of a 'Big East' Meet, but personally, I am not for giving up the smaller Chapter Meets completely to make that happen...(although I will vote that way...IF those Members of the Colonial Chapter that have done the brunt of the work it takes to put on Harmony all these years and whom I have great respect for....vote overwelmingly to do so.).....(1.) Eliminating the individual smaller venues only makes for less shows during the year that us East Coast Members can attend. I can't get out much to the bigger mid west shows that often, but I can always get to the Yankee Chapter and Empire Chapter, not to mention the Colonial Chapter's meets. Add these meets with Oley and and the new Jefferson, Pa annual meets and my plate is full. They're all close enough to drive in a few hours, even if I just want to go for one day. (2.) More Events equal more local NON-Member motorcycle people attending and purchasing our stuff...(I think we will lose a lot of the locals if we go to single Big Meet).... more Road Runs......more native scenery to check out....more friends to run into, more Field Events/Games and more stuff to see....MORE CHOICES IS GOOD......BIGGER ISN'T ALWAYS BETTER. The Larger meet although it may...MAY be easier on the closest Hosting Chapter to the Big Meets location....NEW YORK?....I don't see that for the farther distance Chapters like CONN & NJ. Time and Distance might limit the number of inter-chapter volunteers resulting in the closet chapter (New York?) picking up the slack....?? Will this make for some future riffs when they start splitting the proceeds?? (3.) WHAT THE HELL WILL YOU DO IF RAINS AT THE BIG MEET!! (4.) I feel we'd be better off correcting our local Chapters short-comings (PERCEIVED shortcomings??) and improve on them to make the shows better for our members and visitors alike. We can all start by making an effort to attend these shows more frequently and whenever possible "VEND' them!! HELL, THE SHOWS ARE GETTING SMALLER BECAUSE SOME OF US ARE JUST NOT GOING!!......Because our Meets can only be Vended by 'Members' we're already limited to our own Membership numbers. 4.) The 35 Year Rule is self limiting....I think it contirbutes to the ever downsizing of our Meets because there simply isn't that many OEM parts out there as there used to be say 10 years ago.....add to that our increaseing Membership (including International Memberships)....E'BAY being what it is....Our SINGLE Yearly eligibility rule which also limits the amount of available parts/bikes coming onto the Swap meet field.....combine them all and how can our local chapter meets help but become smaller!! (YES...I still feel going to a 25 Year Rule now would make available a large reserve of parts and motorcycles, increase attendance and buying power and still keep us well within an 'Antique' status).....(5.) Vendor gripes...Let's remember that all the vendors at the AMCA Meets are fellow Members. That's not to say they're all above reproach, but still if you've a gripe about some particular vendor, then just don't buy/trade with them. Yeah, that can be hard especially if he's got the only part around that you need for your restoration project.....but hell you don't have to marry them..just do business. Its a personal decision. If you have a bad experience and you can't resolve it between the two parties....you can always make your feelings known to the hosting Chapter or National. Perhaps they can help to smooth things over??
Well, again, I'm rambling and this is getting long...so Later... ...Hrdly-Dangrs

[Pete Gagan]

Hi Kojack:
Wauseon will indeed be a week later next year, and will continue to have that date indefinitely. This frees up the previous weekend for members wishing to attend either Indian Days, or the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days.
Hi Hrdly:
Thanks for your colorful input. Its always fun to read your writings.
A larger meet would hopefully have some indoor facilities, which would minimise the spectre of rain. Thats been a big discouragement to the Harmony organisors. Whether any of this takes place or not is up to the chapters involved, with input from members like your good self. We, the National Board, will be quite happy to endorse it, or the smaller meets, whichever is decided upon.
As to having to drive further to get there, its difficult for me to sympathise. The closest AMCA National meet to me is Dixon, which is about 1200 miles from where I live. I'm driving to Davenport next, and thats over 2000 one way.
All the best,
Pete Gagan

[Kojack]

I pretty much agree with H-D on this subject. How can anyone complain about having too many events to attend? I attend both Oley and Jefferson and think the small meets are great. The vendors may be dropping in numbers some but a few of them were carrying around a lot of overpriced junk anyway. If they can sell it on EBAY, so be it. Reproduction parts have hurt the used parts vendor some too but it's become easier for the restorer. Besides, I STILL see some new faces every year. Maybe the local chapters could come up with some other activities to increase attendence. I still don't agree with changing the 35 year rule. It's a rolling 35 year rule and we're getting into an era when motorcycle production and ownership was increasing rapidly. We don't need to take a chance on suddenly burying ourselves in modern parts. It would be impossible to police the cut off date. Read my comments on AMA's vintage days. If you don't believe me, go for yourself.