In my past life, before van life, I went to a weekly bike night in Milford, New Hampshire for years. It wasn’t far from my house in Massachusetts, or my apartment in New Hampshire. What I enjoyed most about it was that you’ll see any kind of bike you can imagine, and absolutely everyone is welcome, no matter what they ride. The loose group running this used to call themselves the Northeast Vintage Moto Society but changed it to simply the Northeast Moto Society to include newer bikes as well. Their Facebook page describes them as “New England’s most welcoming motorcycle enthusiast community,” and they’re not kidding.
While some people continued to go during the pandemic, I chose not to, so it’s been three years since I’ve been to this bike night. There was no question in my mind that while I was in the area, I was going to drop in and check it out again. Last night, Ally hopped on the V-Strom with me, and we went to check it out.
Previously, this meet happened on the sidewalk and street parking in front of Union Coffee. It regularly overflowed into the surrounding area, and now takes place at Station 101, a craft beer joint across the traffic circle from there. They have some amazing brews, but since I was riding with a passenger, I did not indulge this time. Even this parking lot was crammed with wall-to-wall bikes. As before, there’s a little bit of everything, from antiques to brand new, from Harleys to Hondas, from two-strokes to Triumphs, from custom choppers to bone stock rides. It’s all good. Everyone’s welcome.
Everyone is welcoming, as well. The bikes are cool, but it was the friendly people who attend regularly that kept me coming back most weeks. I was surprised how many remembered me, and even follow my adventures as I travel. My buddy Kate surprised me by coming out just to see me. We go way back in both motorcycles and writing about bikes. We were so excited to see each other that we completely forgot to take a picture.
I had an absolutely amazing burger from the Sammich food truck, an excellent addition because Station 101 only does drinks. I had a wonderful time checking out all the bikes and chatting with people. While my V-Strom didn’t exactly stick out in this crowd, it did have one thing that no other bike there had: an Arizona license plate.
Any Wednesday I’m in Jaffrey and the weather is reasonably decent, I’ll be going back. It’s just like I remember from The Before Times, only better. Of all the motorcycle meetups I’ve been to in my travels around the country, this one is still my favorite, by far.
Smokey Da Van 