There was a surprise at the third annual Quail Gathering in Carmel Valley last Saturday: Though the Best of Show was an exquisite 1939 Brough-Superior, a Vincent ended up stealing the show. Not an “ordinary” Vincent, but custom builder Ian Barry’s third creation, the Black Falcon.
The Brough was beautiful, but the Falcon was breathtaking. Think of those wristwatches, advertised in fashion magazines, whose case has a glass window so you can see the gorgeous mechanical works inside. The Black Falcon—a 1952 Vincent Black Shadow motor in a boardtrack-like frame, elegantly hand-crafted by Barry and his team at Falcon Motors—is like that watch: It’s beautiful, you admire the person who created it, and you want to own one.
The Quail has become the venue of choice for the introduction of new pieces of rolling art; the event’s surroundings (golf greens, a posh clubhouse, white picket fences, vendor tents with linen-covered tables) underscore the quality of what’s on display. The Quail is where classic, vintage and one-off motorcycles come together with backyard technical triumphs and quirky inventions in an ecumenical celebration of the two-wheeler.
The ride through the Carmel countryside on Friday was advertised as “limited to 50 riders,” but some 71 bikes, vintage and modern, made the 130-mile ride without mishap, much to the relief of Gordon McCall, leader of the ride and co-founder of the Gathering. Many of those motorcycles were displayed on the lawn on Saturday.
If the buzz last year was about electric bikes, this year it was for diesels. A collection of diesel motorcycles, one of which had been hand-constructed at home, was lined up with miles-per-gallon figures listed for each. The 2010 Hayes Diesel MD690R1 achieved 128 mpg and won the Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge. Another diesel, assembled by Treven Baker from the oddest-imaginable collection of Russian, German and American parts, won the Innovation Award. His 110 mpg sounds especially good when fuel tops $4 a gallon, though high mileage is important even at half that pump cost.
The Quail’s traditional awards (Design and Style, Innovation, Cycle World and others) were supplemented this year with a concours in which the time-honored elements of historical accuracy, technical merit and style were evaluated by a team of judges. Chief judge Somer Hooker (splendid in blue blazer and straw hat) and his co-judges traversed the rows of bikes in search of the best in class. Motorcycle historian Michael Lynch and vintage blogger Paul d’Orleans also did a walkaround, explaining to a following crowd what was so fascinating about particular motorcycles.
Best of Show, Gene Brown’s 1939 Brough-Superior. Gordon McCall (left) and Paul d’Orleans look on in total approval.
Prominently positioned in front of the podium was the John Edgar Lightning, better known as the Bathing Suit Bike from the famous photo of Rollie Free riding prone in swim trunks at Bonneville. William Edgar, son of John Edgar, recounted the colorful history of this legendary Vincent, which at one point was sold in a basket for $25. Shortly after Edgar’s tale, McCall and d’Orleans began awarding the trophies, engraved silver plates from Tiffany. With the prize-winning motorcycle on the podium, d’Orleans would elicit stories from owner about how the bike was found, acquired, restored or built—oral history in the finest tradition.
During pauses in the awards ceremony, the unmistakable voice of Bonhams and Butterfields’ auctioneer, Malcolm Barber, rang from the clubhouse, where local and telephone bidders were opening their wallets to buy their own pieces of motorcycle history. Top dollar, a whopping $144,500, went for Steve McQueen’s 1971 Husqvarna 400 Cross. An original-condition 1925 BMW R32, the forerunner of all BMW motorcycles, brought $139,000.
Earlier in the day, as I was holding my plate of barbecue, corn, salad and red-napkin-wrapped silverware and walking around looking for a place to sit down and eat, I saw a table with one person and asked if I might join him. A conversation began about the Black Falcon, and before long, I was hearing about the Vincent motor that formed the basis of the bike, and about Ian Barry and his creative gifts. Quite by chance, as it turned out, I was sitting with Steve Pate of Restoration Werks, who had spent the last year working full time building the Black Falcon’s Vincent motor. He told how he polished and balanced the moving parts to a tenth of a gram, and about the sourcing of replacement parts, some of which came from the famous Vincent, Gunga Din. “I really went overboard on the motor,” Pate admitted. There’s no glass window in the motor’s case to show what’s inside, but listening to Pate describe it, I feel its beauty even if I can’t see it.
My experience at the Quail that day was not unusual. I had only to look around to see guests in animated conversation with the owners of bikes, with luminaries like Mert Lawwill, Craig Vetter and Wayne Rainey, and above all with each other, to understand why the Quail Gathering enjoys such stature among motorcyclists.
