Concours Owners Group

Concours Owners Group - COG

Concours Owners Group (COG)
The sport touring group for Kawasaki Concours motorcycle riders worldwide.
History
Officially founded in the spring of 1989, the beginnings of the Concours Owners Group can be traced back to a rally hosted by Rider Magazine in Cody, Wyoming during the Summer of 1988. Fifteen or so Kawasaki Concours ZG1000 owners began "hanging out" in the afternoons after riding. Mark Tuttle of Rider Magazine suggested forming a club and Rob Stevens, one of the owners took out a magazine advertisement and in December 1988 he mailed letters to those that responded. In the letter Rob stated he needed 50 people to sign up and mail in a $20 dues on or before before March 1, 1989. If he could not meet this number he would return the checks and drop the idea.
The Concours Owners Group chartered with the American Motorcyclist Association as a recreational Riding club in 1992. In March 1993 the club became a 501(c)(7) Non Profit corporation.
Presently the club has over 1,700 active members and associates (as of Oct 2009). While most of the active members and associates reside primarily in the United States and Canada, there are members residing in other parts of the world. The club welcomes riders of ANY brand or model of motorcycle as members, and at any event.
Logo and Slogan
The Club’s official logo is a “C” encircling a cogwheel encircling a “G” was designed by a member and was first used in the Group in the 1990s.
The Club’s official slogan is “Sport Touring at its Finest.”
Structure
COG is a Non Profit (fraternal) organization registered in Massachusetts.
The Executive Board consists of an Executive Director and six Area Directors. The Area Directors shall represent the members in six geographical regions of North America. These regions are known as the North Central (NC), Northeast (NE), Northwest (NW), South Central (SC), Southeast (SE), and Southwest (SW) Areas. In addition other Club officers are Editor, Industry Liaison, Insurance Communications Officer, Membership Secretary, Merchandise Coordinator, Safety Officer, Secretary/Historian, Technical Editor, Treasurer, Marketing Manager, and Information Technology Officer.
The current Executive Director is Ken Ford.
Each Area Director may have several assistants. These shall be known as Assistant Area Directors (AAD's). The duties of the Assistant Area Directors shall be to assist the Area Directors in all of their duties and will receive guidance and direction from their AD.
Membership fees cover the cost of the quarterly magazine, area newsletter, and sponsored events.
COG is an affiliate member of ROK (Riders Of Kawasaki)
Events
Area events (ride to eats, rallies, wrench sessions etc.) are co-ordinated and run by each area, with a National Rally hosted each year by one Area.
Publications
COG publishes a quarterly club magazine "The Concourier" to its members. In addition, each area publishes a newsletter.
Website
COG runs a group websiteCOGMOS (Concours Owners Group Members Online System) that manages their membership, forum, online store and technical library of information.
Kawasaki Concours
The Concours C10/ZG1000, or GTR1000 in Europe remained virtually unchanged from is launch in 1986 until its retirement in 2006. It's relatively modest price, high availability of accessories and new and used parts made it very popular in the sport touring community.
The replacement of the Concours, the Concours 14, came out as an early 2008 release model in July 2007 to much critical acclaim.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu