WeSTOC 23 (8/27-30/2018) Baker City, OR

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WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
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WeSTOC was Originally formed by owners of the Honda ST1100. This event being the western edition of the ST Owners Club or WeSTOC. As Honda has discontinued the ST series, we've redefined the meaning of ST to generically mean "Sport Touring". Many bikes can be considered sport touring bikes, mostly depending on how they are used. ST can even stand for Super Tenere, in fact I often refer to my Tenere as an ST1200. The WeSTOC disorganization committee would like the officially extend the invitation fot attend WeSTOC to all who are interested. Dan Mulkiewicz (dmulk) is this year's disorganizer and rides a Tenere himself. Please see Dan's announcement below:

WeSTOC 23
Baker City, Oregon
Best Western Sunridge Inn
August 27 – 30, 2018​


I've ridden nearly all of my life.

It started with my dad's love of travel. Some of my earliest memories are of him looking at maps or an atlas while planning trips he didn't have the means or the money to afford.

I have numerous memories of me sitting in between him and the tank while we rode (I was a child of the 70's and 80's and this was ok back then... )...

For my 8th birthday he had a welder build a frame and mount a Briggs and Stratton 3HP motor inside it. It was all over...I was hooked!

Over the years I rode just about every type and style of bike from dirt bikes to crotch rockets. Sometime in 2005 I began looking for something a bit more comfortable to ride longer distances. I wanted to get out of the local canyons and out to see more of the country.

At the time, the sport touring class of bike attracted my attention as I wasn't quite ready to give up my high speed "invincible 20's" just yet. I began researching the, then, current options. During my research I came across Joe Norris's forum and stumbled into the STOC. The rich online community that surrounded the ST1100 and ST1300 sucked me in! (Honestly, pretty much every online motorcycle community I've discovered since has one thing in common: Good people that enjoy riding something).

I signed up for a STOC number and joined the sport touring community (including, st-owners, Don's ST-Riders.net, ADVrider and a few others) 6 months before I owned an ST.

Many of you know that I used to be quite a bit more active in these online communities. Life's rythm changes and over recent years I found it a bit hard to keep pace. Something had to give in my life and unfortunately my participation in the STOC community (and my enjoyment of the people and riding in general) was part of a bigger choice to cut back certain things.

Over the years I've attended quite a few STOC events and even ran a few of them myself. I also haven't missed a WeSTOC since my first in 2007.

Some of you attended the get together I used to run called CreSTOC. I ran this little event out of a cabin I used to own in Crestline, CA. Some people would stay in the local motels and others would camp. Everyone would group up and ride the local area during the day and then hang out at my place in the evenings before turning in for the night.

It was a simple and very personal event focused on riding, enjoying each other's company and good meals.

Something I noted during the WeSTOC in Reno was a message that was sent by an attendee. The attendee complained that, as a solo rider, he found it hard to connect with other riders during the event and that it felt "impersonal".

Comparing to some of the previous events I took this comment to heart and while the sentiment didn't represent everyone in attendance I felt some simple tweaks could be made to make it a bit easier to connect with others.

My father passed away a little over a year ago after a long end of life process that I participated heavily in. I very much wanted to bring an event to him in his home state of Oregon in the hopes that he could see what he helped inspire in me. You all are a significant reason I have continued to ride two wheels and remain "connected" and I had hoped he could see what a great community we have.

It's unfortunate that life didn't work out like that but that's just how life is sometimes.

So...that said...I'm excited to step up and do my best to run a successful WeSTOC! As mentioned, I have always wanted to hold one in Oregon. It's a fantastic state with a lot to offer as far as riding. Both on road and off road.

One of the simple tweaks I'm thinking of doing is a modified version of the BBQ I used to do during my event. I spoke to the hotel and it sounds like they have a BBQ available that we can use during one of the days. I was thinking we could locate this out in the parking lot where the bikes are and have an open grill for people to cook up whatever they want. More details to follow and feel free to make a comment with other ideas if you have them.

There's something else I want to bring up...something that has been evolving for some time now. While the STOC has been connected with the Honda ST platforms for nearly two decades now many of us have since moved on to ride other bikes. In fact, I rode with a group of seven during the Reno event and only one of those seven bikes was an ST!

We all know that ST stands for Sport Touring but I believe that while this is a type of bike it's more about a type of adventure. Honestly, I find my Super Tenere, a bike that is widely considered an ADV platform, to be a wonderful sport touring bike. But I digress.

The point I'm trying to make is that while many of us have moved to other bikes one thing has remained consistent: the good people that make up the STOC.

So this year I'm going to try and post on other bike forums (and I'd encourage you to do the same). Invite anyone you feel would enjoy riding and hanging with us.

Anyway, I hope you'll consider heading out to Baker City, Oregon this summer and joining me for a ride, some good food, great conversations and some fun times with good people!

One last request if you do decide to attend...I'll try to explain as simply as possible...as many of you may not realize that the volunteers that step up each year to run a WeSTOC personally guarantee the hotel room block reservations. What this means is that if people don't reserve a room through the WeSTOC group rate the individual is on the hook for the rooms. So...if you will be joining the fun this summer, I'd only ask that you register through the WeSTOC website and then head over to the hotel and let them know that you're registering under the WESTOC group discounted rate directly with the hotel. This is the only way to have the room count as part of our room block and not stick me with a huge bill.

Hopefully see you in a few months for some riding in the PNW! =)

Dan Mulkiewicz (dmulk)

PS: I’ll keep the top of this post updated with any noteworthy changes. Please feel free to post to this thread if you have questions, etc.
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Dan Mulkiewicz - STOC #6451
Chula Vista, Ca.
Motorcycle Adventure Blog: https://dmulk.blogspot.com
 
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