Your Turn: Readers Write

Saturday, June 23, marked the Time Warp Vintage Motorcycle Club’s “Vintage on the Square” event in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee. The TWVMC arranged a display of classic machines on historic Market Square, with the gracious help of the Market Square District Association and the organizers of the square’s Saturday farmers market. The 150-year-old pedestrian-only square was a perfect shady venue on a hot day.

Sixty-eight pre-1983 motorcycles showed up, brought by club members, other Knoxville riders and enthusiasts from out of town, attracted by the Honda Hoot and a chance to spend a day with fellow old-bike junkies. The old bikes shared the square with a petting zoo, the farmers market, preparations for that evening’s Saturday Night on the Square (SNOTS) festivities and an Elvis impersonator who chose the King’s later years on which to base his persona. An interesting assortment of machines, from a 1953 Bianchi 125 to a 1951 Indian parallel-Twin to a 1982 Laverda Jota caught the eye and fancy of a long string of show-goers. The bikes received a lot more attention than the camel, ponies and goats in the petting zoo, and even the King!

Though the Cycle World Rolling Concours was on hiatus for 2007, several winning bikes came back for the show, including Will Limehouse's Indian Chief sidecar outfit (Will and family arrived four-up) and Kent Trimble's 1973 Suzuki GT750 Water Buffalo. The club met some new enthusiasts, including CW forum member Uncle Ernie and his crew from North Carolina, one of whom rode a barn-fresh Honda (flat) Black Bomber 450 from Asheville, and a couple who came from Maryville, Tennessee, on a chrome-dipped, 100,000-mile Moto Guzzi Eldorado.

We didn’t judge the bikes—lacking judges impartial enough to avoid the home-turf stigma—so instead we kicked tires, swapped lies and enjoyed alfresco dining offered by many of the Market Square cafes. A few folks had difficulty leaving, due to road closures in preparation for SNOTS, but a little curb-hopping was all that was needed for graceful exits. The Market Square District Association liked the event so much they invited the TWVMC back in the fall.They didn’t even mind the oil drops.