Golf and motorcycling don’t have much in common. One is slow-paced, the other fast. But they’ve come together on the greens at Pebble Beach, the Ritz-Carlton at Half-Moon Bay and, this last weekend, at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley, California. Bikes look good on grass. And the best grass in the world grows on golf courses. It’s a marriage made in heaven.
White tents and picket fences surrounded the putting greens, where 150 motorcycles of all origins, ages and sizes awaited their admirers at the 2010 Quail Motorcycle Gathering. Most were there for show only, but blended artfully among them were motorcycles selected from the Bonhams & Butterfields auction to be held later that afternoon.
The Quail Gathering is more than a vintage-bike show and auction—it’s an experience enveloping motorcycles of all types; more than show and tell, it’s ride and show. On Friday, 40 motorcycles toured the surrounding countryside before regrouping for laps at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Early Saturday morning, members of local vintage-marque clubs rode in, some in period dress, and parked their showpieces in designated areas. “I think it sends a message to the motorcycle community that the truest enthusiasm comes from people who ride their bikes,” said Gordon McCall, leader of the Quail Motorsports Council, as he viewed the field from the balcony of Quail Lodge.
Enthusiasm was all over the place. Custom artists Shinya Kimura, Ian Barry and Jeff Decker were including spectators in their animated conversations as they admired each other’s creations and dug into the details of fabrication.
A few steps farther along was a different world of innovation—that of Craig Vetter. Vetter’s first fairings—the Windjammers that made motorcycling an attractive option for travel in the 1970s and ’80s—and his newest ideas stood side by side. The thread connecting all that hardware was “streamlining,” and the current examples are nothing if not innovative and eye-catching. Resembling a pregnant banana, his bright yellow scooter-engine-powered Streamliner achieves Vetter’s goal of “traveling comfortably at 70 mph into a 30-mph headwind with four bags of groceries and getting 84 miles per gallon.” Asked if he’d used a wind tunnel to develop this high-mileage vehicle, Vetter replied, “Nope. I ride it. I fill the tank. I measure it. I tell the truth,” and then added, “even when it hurts.
“Next to the Streamliner were two bikes with bulbous fairings labeled “Al Can.” The lower part of the fairing is fixed, the upper part rotates with the handlebars and the two sections meet seamlessly in a circular slip joint. The name refers not to an aluminum can (though there is a faint resemblance) but to the Al-Can highway, which Vetter and his wife will ride this summer.
The mix on the field was eclectic. Ducati had a big tent to display itsnew Multistrada 1200. A pre-production bike resembling a giant air scoop on top of two unbelievably fat tires built by Motomorphic, a start-up company in Northern California, was situated close by a diminutive, immaculately restored 1961 BMW R50, itself not very far from a turbine-powered superbike. Contrasts were everywhere, making it difficult to understand, let alone unify, this expansive buffet. Fortunately, help came in the guises of motorcycle historian Michael Lynch and connoisseur Paul d’Orleans (“The Vintagent”) who, with microphones in hand, strolled the field together, describing for all of us what was interesting, remarkable, beautiful or important about the bikes they encountered. These gentlemen put into words, as would a sommelier recommending a fine wine, just how the particular features of each motorcycle stimulate the senses.
Like the Quail Gathering’s relaxed atmosphere, the selection of award winners was a collegial consensus among the event’s organizers in consultation with other experts at the Gathering. For many of the awards, a well-recognized individual (like Mert Lawwill, Craig Vetter or Michael Lynch) made the choice. Some of this year’s winners: Innovation—theZero electric motorcycle; Cycle World Trophy for Elegance in Action—a 1961 Norton Manx ridden by John Stein on Friday’s tour; Competition Sport Award—Ray Abrams’ Yamaha TZ750 flat-tracker of Kenny Roberts “they don’t pay me enough to ride that thing” fame. Design and Style award—Guy Webster’s 1960 Honda CB92; Best Custom Motorcycle—the Kestrel, built by Ian Barry of Falcon Motorcycles.
Best of Show went to Tim Stafford’s 1961 BMW R50. Just one look at this motorcycle revealed why it was selected. Elegant, clean, uncluttered lines, tasteful restoration and an absolutely gorgeous blue paint job led a majority of the judges to select this bike on the first pass. Stafford, who restores motorcycles for a living, is no stranger to the Quail podium. Last year, he won the Elegance in Action Award with a 1961 BMW R60/2. Nevertheless, Stafford was surprised enough to say afterward, “I didn’t fully realize it until I looked at the trophy—I was stoked just to be there.” Like last year, his trophy bike was passed along at the end of the day to a new owner. Win-win, you might say.
The Bonhams auction was another winner. First, it increased the number of motorcycles to be seen. Then there was the fun of seeing how high the bidding would go for the big ticket items ($82,000 for a 1967 Münch Mammoth and $90,000 for the 1957 Mondial 125cc Grand Prix “Dustbin”) and how low it could sink for the real bargains ($900 for a 1975 Harley-Davidson SX175). The four pre-production concept Vincents, featured in the Bonham’s catalog, hammered down in the mid-$20K to low-$30K range.
The number of riders on Friday’s tour and the attendance on Saturday were about double those of the previous, inaugural year. With certainty of venue and positive trends in all indicators, expect an even larger Gathering in 2011. Gordon McCall and the Motorsports Council are talking about adding several classes for a judged concours to the Quail’s already proven just-for-display, just-for-fun format.
