Legend of the Motorcycle Show, Half Moon Bay, CA

[kbasa]

We've all been to bike shows. Some are pretty rudimentary, with a bunch of bikes parked in some basic groups in a parking lot. Some are a little fancier, with bikes maybe parked on a lawn somewhere in little groups by age or manufacturer or country of origin or something.

The car guys take things a little more seriously than we do, by the looks of it. They have some of the "cruise night" events, where you'll see a bunch of cars in a parking lot or maybe some on the lawn of a nice mansion or somesuch.

But the ne plus ultra of car shows is the Pebble Beach Concours, held in Carmel, California every year. Maybe the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England comes close, but Pebble Beach is the one. Tickets are $100 and folks get dressed up nicely for this one.

But on the motorcycle side, there's never been anything like that. Sure, there's the Larz Anderson Classic in Boston, but the bikes tend to be pretty, well, pedestrian. Sure, there's a pretty good collection of Vincents, BMWs, Ducatis and the like, but the really wild stuff never makes it to that show.

There's the Del Mar show, down in San Diego, which, at one point, was as good as it got. But over the years, I understand that it's turned into an American bike show.

So where is the nationality agnostic, multibrand, all kinds of bikes high end show? The one with a GP bike next to a 90 year old, barn fresh, ready to ride antique? Where are the super rare bikes, in quantity?

The answer is the Legend of the Motorcycle Show. Let's look at some bikes and help you make your travel plans for next May. You'll see this show on SpeedTV, in the magazines and everywhere else. Take a walk with me and we'll check out some very fine, very unusual and very historic bikes.

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[kbasa]

Like most good bike shows, there's as much interesting stuff in the parking lot as in the show itself.

Perhaps you've heard of the Hossack front suspension BMW is using in the K12 series? Did you know that Dr. Hossack lives in Folsom, CA? Did you know that he built this K100RS, adapted his suspension design to it and still rides it regularly?

If you were just wandering by, you might not have noticed this bike.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149820303-L.jpg

But, maybe you noticed the unusual front end girder and looked a little closer.

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Hey, look at that.

Motorcycling innovation. A quantum leap forward in suspension technology. Cooked up by an owner, built into a rideable proof of concept, patented and then, after the patent protection expired, co-opted by BMW and put into production.

[kbasa]

Last year, Crocker was the featured marque. For those of you that don't know, Crocker was the American equivalent to Britain's Brough. They only built bikes for a few years in their LA plant, but they had a profound effect on how American bikes looked and felt. Mr. Crocker is gone, but his daughter and wife survive. They were guests of the show this year, along with this example.

Look closely. This isn't a Harley in any way, shape or form.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149822326-L.jpg

[kbasa]

The event area was divided into roughly three sections; an upper display area, right outside the cigar and cognac lounge, a mid area, which contained examples of this year's featured marques: Henderson/Excelsior, and a lower section, which contained the main display bikes. From the first photo above, you can get a sense of how the flow of the show was.

The lower section was the green for the 18th hole of the golf course, I believe. The grass was cut like a carpet and was the perfect backdrop for a collection like this.

But, first, some interesting stuff at the first display area. How about a Confederate Wraith? These guys lost their shop in NO, LA when the flood came with Katrina, but they've since moved to Birmingham, AL and are continuing on with their work.

There's little in the way of visionary motorcycle design these day. Cruisers are the same old rehashing of a theme developed decades ago. Sportbikes continue to gradually evolve, but there hasn't been a big leap forward in years. Standard bikes didn't get that name by doing anything different.

Enter the Wraith. It's different in its form. It's different in its construction and just about anything else you can name.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149823313-L.jpg

[kbasa]

And, since we're looking at interesting Vtwin bikes, how about an Ecosse Heretic? It's got a big ol' lump of a motor in it, but has a chassis that is nothing but pure sports.

If you consider what makes a bike easy to ride quickly, this bike has it. I've got a VFR that I love, but getting it to really move requires paying lots of attention to the transmission. When peak torque is at 7K rpms and peak power is at 9K, you find yourself shifting a lot. Consider the HD or other Vtwin powerplant. Peak torque is low, usually just a couple K rpms. Peak horsepower is higher, but generally 3K higher or so. When you combine this will tall gearing, you have a motor that's happy to sit in one gear as you squirt from corner to corner. Put that powerplant in a chassis with some real brakes, some real clearance and significantly lower weight than it usually has to carry around and you've got an easy to ride, entertaining backroad partner.

And it's not bad to look at, either.

This, I think, is what the VRod should have been.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149823612-L.jpg

[kbasa]

Admission to this one isn't cheap. Tickets, if you ordered ahead of time, were $50, $65 the day of the show. I've been to other shows that were $5 at a rod and gun club. Entertainment was a beer stand and old Jethro Tull over the PA.

This one was a little different. First up, Hennessy was a sponsor. Care for some Hennessy XO? Of course, sir. Have one compliments of the house. Have a second, or, perhaps, a sidecar at the host station outside the door.

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Of course, a cognac really requires a fine cigar. On a windy, chilly day on the Pacific coast, you really need something strong to brace yourself and fend off windburn. Perhaps a fresh, handrolled Cohiba is to your liking? We'll fix you up with a cutter, some matches and perhaps a spare cigar or two for later?

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149826455-L.jpg

Between the cognac and the cigars, I easily recovered my admission money. The bikes, however, exceeded my wildest expectations.

[kbasa]

OK, enough with that. Let's get to the reason we're here - bikes. Lots of bikes. Old bikes, new bikes, unusual bikes.

First up, we've got an Excelsior custom. Sure, sure. You think you know custom bikes because you've watched American Chopper or Jesse James' show. Forget that. While those guys build some nice stuff (well, at least Jesse James does, I think OCC's bikes completely suck), this guy is rethinking the way bikes should look. I think the Japanese custom guys from Chabott Engineering or Zero Engineering represent a bold new departure from the more formulaic "customs" we're rapidly getting bored with. These bikes have a Jules Verne look to them. They don't subscribe to any other design theory beyond minimalism and a certain art deco sensibility.

I'm absolutely nuts about them. This one is built around an Excelsior motor from the 1920. It runs. We watched the builder, Shinya Kimura start this bike and run it around. I hear that it was ridden, with gusto, on a ride the exhibitors took on Sunday. I've always felt that motorcycles are dynamic sculpture. They should be viewed as an object that looks best with a rider, in motion.

That's Shinya on the left. www.chabottengineering.com, if you're interested. We'll have more of his stuff later.

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If I owned this bike, I'd display it on a little turntable out in the yard, so I could get this little shadow display every afternoon.

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[kbasa]

With Henderson/Excelsior as this year's featured marque, there were plenty of shiny garage queens like this one. They're beautiful and I could stare at them for hours. If you consider that this was a motorcycle built not long after the evolutionary split from bicycles (see HD Silent Gray Fellow or early Indian "motocycles" for reference), this motorcycle was a technological tour de force. The chassis had dropped most of its earlier bicycle induced engineering. The gas is now stored in a largish tank. The front of the bike has developed a girder suspension and there's a stand to hold the thing up when you park.

At it's release, this bike was as stunning as the MotoGP bikes we see today.

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[kbasa]

But, as beautiful as those bikes are, these are the kind of bikes I'm attracted to. Bikes tell the tales of their journeys when you look at them. The dent from the time it fell over on soft sand in that campground in Utah. The scratch from the time I carried those tires on the back. The faded emblem on the tank from spending a thousand days in the sun, traversing the country.

This bike tells a story. The way the paint was painted over by an owner that wanted something different. The wear on the seat of a couple thousand days of riding over the last 90 years. The patina of the metal as it tries to return to its native state.

These are motorcycles that have what we motorcycle people trade as our currency - stories. If you stand there, you can feel them around you like a murky gauze of knowledge.

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[kbasa]

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[kbasa]

On display for you, the parts of our past we no longer contend with beyond a once in a while view when we service our airheads. In this case, the pocket valve motor with it's exposed, total loss oiling system for the intake and exhaust. I'm sure that when this stuff moved under a cover, there were cries of how such complexity would surely leave us stranded. How the lack of access to direct observation would sure lead to exploded motors, nights walking home in the rain and lack of opportunity for the home mechanic to repair it.

Some things never change, do they? Is it a function of the motorcyclists' brain to try and be as self supporting as possible?

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149831192-L.jpg

[kbasa]

Pierre Terblanche has had a tough time of it at Ducati. Massimo Tamburini pretty much set the bar for motorcycle design when he was there; first with the Ducati Supermono and then with a street interpretation of that design, the Ducati 916. Terblanche had the unenviable position of trying to follow up the 916 family of design with the 999. To say it didn't go well would be an understatement. How does one follow up one of the most beautiful designs of all time?

When he got an opportunity to do something profoundly different and new, he took full advantage. Breaking out of Tamburini's shadow, Terblanche penned the Hypermotard. It's a take on the super motard, but complete with a big Ducati twin down in the engine room. It has that Italian stance and style that nobody can emulate.

I'm nuts about it, as were most of the folks that saw it.

In case you're wondering, those wheels look a lot like the ones on the G650X Moto.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149832061-L.jpg

[knary]

:lurk

[kbasa]

:lurk

Thank God. I thought I was just talking to myself here.

[kbasa]

Back when I started riding, Japanese bikes were widely dismissed as disposable bikes. The notion that we might see a Honda on the field at a Concours was laughable. Everybody knew that these were toy bikes, right? I mean, Honda probably built a few million CL360s, so how could they possible be regarded as something of interest?

Well, when you have a bike like this one, that launched the riding career of a million people, it becomes a notable machine, no matter how pedestrian it might have been considered at the time. Same with the Kawasakis next to it. When was the last time you saw a clean example of any of these bikes? I think we're seeing, in these three bikes, the next generation of Bonnevile, Commando and Gold Star. While those bikes were notable during the 60s as the pinnacle of two wheeled performance, these bikes were the vangaurd of the next generation of riders, myself included.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149833785-L.jpg

[knary]

Thank God. I thought I was just talking to myself here.

We're speachless.
And envious.

Do you have any desire to adopt a mid-thirties couple? I can take care of that garden. :D

[kbasa]

Consider 1962. Honda was a fledgling company, having entered racing a few years before at the Isle of Man. From their start in 1949 selling rings, Honda-san knew that the way to be taken seriously as a company was by going racing. While their bigger bikes get the press, particularly their 4, 5 and 6 cylinder machines, the CR110, with its 50cc motor was where they made progress ahead.

From any perspective, this motorcycle is a jewel. The precision and elegance of the design was light years ahead of the rest of the world and truly set Honda's reputation as builders of fine machinery. Note how the engine is a stressed member in the frame. Without much vibration, the engine can add strength to the frame, getting one part to do double duty. By making the bike lighter overall, each individual part can be made as light as possible. Soichiro understood that the way to make a fast bike was to make a good bike and add lightness.

I'd love to have one of these on a plank on the wall so I could look at it non stop.

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[kbasa]

We're speachless.
And envious.

Do you have any desire to adopt a mid-thirties couple? I can take care of that garden. :D

"Will paint for money." :ha

[kbasa]

A couple of early 60s warriors get the day off.

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[kbasa]

For me, there's a certain nobility in old race bikes. They frequently bear the scars and marks of ideas. The crucible of racing removes the inconsequential and invokes the element of refinement, even though those refinements look crude. In this case, the primary cover has gone away. The airbox is gone. We can save a few grams by cutting the end of the brake pedal. Let's vent the crankcase to the atmosphere and save some weight and complexity.

Let's make it go faster.

Always faster. The iterative nature of motorcycle racing and development is personified in bikes like these. Sometimes, those changes make their way back to us.

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[kbasa]

Fast forward 45 years. Grand Prix racing has changed. Two strokes have come and gone. The English, Germans and Americans have vacated Grand Prix racing, leaving just the Japanese and Italians to the fight. In some way, they fight together, with one of the greats of all time, Valentino Rossi, waging war with his peers on a Japanese bike, the Yamaha M1.

Grass doesn't hang on to tires unless there's some kind of base stickiness around.

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Everywhere you look, airflow management is taking place. Would sir care for a bit of a windbreak for his feet as he approaches 200mph? Perhaps we should channel the airflow out from under the bike, so we can eeek another mile an hour out of the motor? Yes, yes, carbon fiber would be wonderful. I'll send the development folks the CAD design I worked up yesterday.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149873729-L.jpg

[kbasa]

Racing has a way of compressing time. What might be today's Sure Fire Way to Win is tomorrow's discarded, wrinkled sheet of paper. 7 years ago, GP racing was 500cc two strokes. Kenny Roberts, Jr. won in 2000 on this Suzuki Gamma. It's a four cylinder two stroke, making some ridiculous amount of power. It's still a supremely fast and dangerous machine, with performance potential that few can reach out and touch.

But rules change and this machine is now hopelessly off the pace. Additionally, with a change in rules to 1000cc four strokes and now, as of this year, 800cc four strokes, this machine is no longer able to race. It's an orphan as racing moves on, eating its young.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149836227-L.jpg

The Roberts family is the First Family of American racing families. We'll see more Roberts related items here today. The Roberts family has ample company. The Unsers, the Andrettis, the Bostroms and the Haydens. What is it about racing that gets in the blood of a family and keeps them in, often times poor, but always enjoying doing what they like?

[kbasa]

In 1975, Kenny Roberts had a couple years of Grand National Championships behind him. In those days, the GN included things like the Peoria TT, the Sacramento Mile and a whole slew of dirt track events. Harley pretty well owned the series, as they do now, courtesy of the XR750. Roberts had been racing a Yamaha powerplant, I believe the old XS750 four stroke, but HD was making a serious run at the championship. The HDs had been tuned well and were making competitive power. Roberts was in danger of losing his number one plate and Yamaha was getting alarmed.

Kel Carruthers, a racer in his own right, figured the thing to do would be to give King Kenny power. Plenty of power. He found a TZ1 motor, four cylinders of 750cc two stroke power, and set about building a chassis for it. Only Kenny Roberts could tame this beast. Nobody on the planet had the skills to get this 100+ hp machine around a dirt track like he could.

Long rumored to have been crushed, this bike made a reappearance in 1994 after being discovered in an Amsterdam bike shop.

This bike is the bike of legends, but, like other racing machines, has outlived its narrowly focused usefulness. In the meantime, we can study it and admire the man that could ride it.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149888500-L.jpg

[knary]

In 1975, Kenny Roberts had a couple years of Grand National Championships behind him. In those days, the GN included things like the Peoria TT, the Sacramento Mile and a whole slew of dirt track events. Harley pretty well owned the series, as they do now, courtesy of the XR750. Roberts had been racing a Yamaha powerplant, I believe the old XS750 four stroke, but HD was making a serious run at the championship. The HDs had been tuned well and were making competitive power. Roberts was in danger of losing his number one plate and Yamaha was getting alarmed.

Kel Carruthers, a racer in his own right, figured the thing to do would be to give King Kenny power. Plenty of power. He found a TZ1 motor, four cylinders of 750cc two stroke power, and set about building a chassis for it. Only Kenny Roberts could tame this beast. Nobody on the planet had the skills to get this 100+ hp machine around a dirt track like he could.

Long rumored to have been crushed, this bike made a reappearance in 1994 after being discovered in an Amsterdam bike shop.

This bike is the bike of legends, but, like other racing machines, has outlived its narrowly focused usefulness. In the meantime, we can study it and admire the man that could ride it.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149888500-L.jpg

Jeebus. Those are some skinny forks.

[kbasa]

Along with entire bikes, race teams get spare engines. They've usually got a couple hanging around, just in case Something Bad happens during practice.

The Kenny Roberts Proton team developed their own motor a few years ago, attempting to get an advantage over their competition. They didn't get any wins and wound up sourcing motors from Honda, KR's old nemesis.

So what happens to old motors? In this case, they get wrapped up in a nifty chassis and turned into something as unusual as the motor. Roland Sands built this bike using a Proton motor. They started it and we got to hear a GP motor waking up and snarling a little.

Amazing.

That's the builder, with his hand on the throttle, and those are his fans, who have been called by the bark of the Proton. He twisted the throttle pretty nicely a couple times, which resulted in everybody nearby quickly inserting their forefingers into their ears. It was the kind of motor sound that you feel on your chest. The explosions coming so strong, so frequently and so loudly that you feel a pressure on your heart and a worry that the force is so strong it will steal your heart's ability to keep a beat.

When we were pulling in, this bike was riding down to the show from the trailer compound at the entrance. On the street, it was easy to dismiss it as yet another overwrought chopper, ala OCC. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is, to every degree, a handbuilt motorcycle, incorporating the things we hold dear, power and soul.

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[kbasa]

Vincents figured large in this year's program. They had, I believe, the largest number of Black Lightnings ever assembled, which is saying something. I've seen a fair number of Vincents before. There are a couple guys in my county that have them and ride them regularly. I've seen a bunch of them back in Massachusetts at the Larz Anderson show.

But, in all that time, I've never seen the quantity and quality of the bikes that were at this show. I learned that there are different variations of the Black Shadow. My friend John was showing this Type C Black Shadow. I won't pretend to understand the differences, but suffice to say there were plenty of beautiful Vincents to look at.

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Even the parking lot had some amazing examples.

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[kbasa]

One Black Prince reflects on another. There were only a couple hundred of these built. In fact, the last bike to leave the Vincent production line was a Black Prince. Clearly, these bikes were ahead of their time.

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[kbasa]

Vincent was known by his contemporaries as something of a maverick. The frames of his bikes eschewed plunger frames, hardtails and the like and used a swinging rear suspension operating a pair of shocks mounted up high, under the seat. Much like our oilheads, the frames for the front and rear suspension attached to the motor.

Egli decided that a better way to go would be to build a downtube cradle frame and mount the shocks more conventionally. Black Shadows had the distinction of being fast, but dangerous bikes, with more motor than chassis. Egli sought to solve that and built a series production bike in the form of the Egli Vincent. I've seen exactly one in my life, which would be this example. It was in the Art of the Motorcycle Show. At this show, there were 5 examples, parked cheek by jowl. There were a series of other, specially framed Vincents, but the Eglis are the ones that really take my breath away.

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[kbasa]

There was a time when BMW was a world leader in motorcycle racing. After a long period of dormancy, we're seeing a return to racing at the world class by our beloved manufacturer. But, back in the old days, BMW realized that the way to sell bikes was to race. Honda did the same thing with the Isle of Man. BMW worked on setting world speed records (Das Schnellste Motorrad!), endurance races and flat out GP racing.

If you pay attention, you'll get to watch them re-enter racing and performance motorcycling over the next few years.

A helmet. A man. A bike. It's still the same formula as it's always been. The gear has changed, but the men are still of the same spirit and the bikes are built to the same desire - to be the fastest.

Das Schnellste!

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[kbasa]

This old RS gets the once over from the judges.

Another race bike taking the day off.

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[kbasa]

Note the tower drive for valve actuation. The pad for the racer to lay on during the runs up the straight. They started it when I was there and as big puffs of exhaust were coming out of the exhaust, the intakes were forming a litttle shock wave of condensed mist in the velocity stacks. You could almost hear the bike say, "OK, let's make some racket and show these folks how a race bike is supposed to sound." Boxer motors are boxer motors and this one sound more like an R11S with a Laser pipe on it than you might imagine. The flatulent bark of a boxer is as timeless as the lumpy idle of an HD.

This was what BMW was before their image was co-opted as one of touring bikes. They were the original Motor Company. Bavarian MOTOR Works.

I'd say they've found their way again over the last few years. The R12S bike that raced at LeMans a week ago is the direct spiritual heir to this bike.

Bring it, BMW.

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[kbasa]

I am boxer. Hear me roar.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149842719-L.jpg

[kbasa]

Benlys, perhaps the rarest of old Japanese bikes, were there in abundance. These bikes are all 50+ years old.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149856112-L.jpg

[kbasa]

How about a pre-war Japanese bike? Our perception is that there weren't any prewar bikes in Japan. How wrong we can be. Consider a 1935 HD. Or Triumph. Or, for that matter, a BMW. How does this bike stack up against those? It retains an air of simplicity and properness missing from many of its contemporaries. It looks much like bikes of the 50s and 60s.

But it's from 1937.

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[kbasa]

Intermission.

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We'll be back in a minute.

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[knary]

I just got off the phone with an east coast friend. We have a new destination for next spring's ride.

[kbasa]

I just got off the phone with an east coast friend. We have a new destination for next spring's ride.


Next year's featured marques will be Norton and MV Agusta. It should be a banner year. I can almost hear the Norton Manxs running now.

[kreinke]

Very cool report. Thanks for sharing.:bikes

[kbasa]

Very cool report. Thanks for sharing.:bikes

My pleasure. I've still got a bunch more photos, so grab a seat while I sort through them and figure out what to post next. :ha

[redrider]

Some of the motorcycles in your report set the old heart rate up a notch or two.Would luv to ride that "Duc".:heart
Thanks for sharing.

[kbasa]

Oh, those wacky, madcap Austrians.

"Hey Hans, how about we paint our bikes orange and drive everybody nuts?"

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149875026-L.jpg

And, the predecessor to the KTM brand here in the states, Penton. Jack Penton raced them, liked them and decided to put his name on them when they came to America. That lasted until about 1976, when KTM put him out of business and imported the bikes directly.

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[kbasa]

I've been scouring the bike ads for one of these. No, not the GP bike, but the Honda Dream 50 on the left. It's Honda's homage to the CR110, produced for just a couple years in the 90s. I'd love to have one to stare at.

We have an atrium in our house, which just cries out for a bike to sit as sculpture. I can't think of a better candidate than one of these. Get it out a couple times a year, ride it around and then, just stare at its minimalist perfection the rest of the year.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149874250-L.jpg

[BubbaZanetti]

i was suprised at the size of the duc supermoto the first time i saw it

but then again, being a ducati, i think it would be a shame (an ugly shame) if it were the same size as a GS

thanks for the tour dave. i always appreciate someone who has a true love for all motorcycles and knows a little something about them all. last week i went out for a ride on my friend's newly restored 71' Titan 500. not too often you hear a bike like that cruising the paved roads. that is, to me what motorcycling is all about, keeping it interesting:bikes

[BradfordBenn]

Sweeeeet! I think I know what I might be doing next May. Got a link?

[kbasa]

Sweeeeet! I think I know what I might be doing next May. Got a link?

www.legendofthemotorcycle.com

[kbasa]

I don't know if I can add much, so I'm just going to post up some photos.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149875897-L.jpg

[robsryder]

Well, that was a nicely done little ride report! :) :)

[kbasa]

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[kbasa]

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[kbasa]

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[kbasa]

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[kbasa]

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[kbasa]

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[SNC1923]

GREAT photos, Dave. What an incredible day. I'm envious, too. Numbers 50 & 51 should be posted to a wider audience in the ON or Pic of the Week or something. Thanks for such an entertaining, well-illustrated report, dude.

[kbasa]

Thanks for coming.

http://kbasa.smugmug.com/photos/149889541-L.jpg

[kbasa]

GREAT photos, Dave. What an incredible day. I'm envious, too. Numbers 50 & 51 should be posted to a wider audience in the ON or Pic of the Week or something. Thanks for such an entertaining, well-illustrated report, dude.

Thanks, Tom. You've absolutely gotta go next year.

I think the one in 50 could use a bit of cropping to get rid of the people way down the coast.

[rinty]

Superb report, Dave. You're so lucky to have that event in your neighbourhood. And then get a perfect weather day. The Dr. Hossack bit was fascinating. Makes you wonder if BMW also co - opted telelever from Nicol, and paralever from the Swiss guy. :laugh

Now you can get back to landscaping, eh?

Rinty

[Mika]

:thumb :thumb Thank you.

[alien_hitchhiker]

Wow!

Thanks Dave - you've given us a bit of first rate moto-journalism. Superb pics and well written!!!

I love Northern California and I love vintage bikes. Someday...someday...

[EXR911]

Kbasa,

Many thanks for posting all the pictures.
Did you happen to attend the auction later in the day or the road run for the old bikes on the Sunday?

PT9766

[kbasa]

Kbasa,

Many thanks for posting all the pictures.
Did you happen to attend the auction later in the day or the road run for the old bikes on the Sunday?

PT9766

Thanks, PT. No, I didn't manage to do either of those things. I'm bummed I missed the auction. By the time the day was over, we were pretty exhausted.

Half Moon Bay is a good hour or so away, so we didn't make it back on Sunday.

Next year, I think we might have to snag a room for Saturday night and stay over.

[EXR911]

Thanks, PT. No, I didn't manage to do either of those things. I'm bummed I missed the auction. By the time the day was over, we were pretty exhausted.

Half Moon Bay is a good hour or so away, so we didn't make it back on Sunday.

Next year, I think we might have to snag a room for Saturday night and stay over.

Thanks again.
I had been particularly wondering about the auction of the Brough Superior name which was to be a feature but in searching around the Web have found that the item was withdrawn before it went up on the block. And from the description it appears that what was being offered was the rights to "Brough Superior Engineering Ltd.", a company formed after George Brough's death in 1970 and which ceased to operate as an engineering works in 1983. It never made motorcycles.

The Brough Superior motorcycles were made between 1919 and 1940 by George Brough whose company later was called "George Brough Ltd." although solely owned by him.

I gather that there were no Broughs at Half Moon Bay this year.

PT9766

[DarrylRi]

The name wasn't aucitoned off, in the end. The lot was withdrawn.

I took some photos of a few of the bikes to be auctioned, which are with the rest of my Legend of the Motorcycle photos (http://darryl.crafty-fox.com/mcpics/2007/legendotmc).

Also, there was a Brough, I believe I got a shot of it in there. I'm not sure if it was the SS80 or SS100, but maybe you can tell me.

[SIBUD]

Thanks Dave. What a treat for us in the Midwest to be able to see many of the bikes in your photos.

[EXR911]

The name wasn't aucitoned off, in the end. The lot was withdrawn.

I took some photos of a few of the bikes to be auctioned, which are with the rest of my Legend of the Motorcycle photos (http://darryl.crafty-fox.com/mcpics/2007/legendotmc).

Also, there was a Brough, I believe I got a shot of it in there. I'm not sure if it was the SS80 or SS100, but maybe you can tell me.

The Brough in your picture is a 1931 "SS100 Alpine Grand Sports" originally registered as SN5256 in Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It has an 8/50 JAP touring engine with 80 mm bore and 99 mm stroke, Sturmey Archer gearbox, Castle (leading link) forks, original type of Lucas H52 headlight and the tank-top switch. It should be frame #1025 and engine # JTO/H 13700/S.

Nice pictures of the AJS Vee-4 replica recently built in British Columbia and the 1928 BMW R57 which, I gather, went for $31,000 plus premium and tax in the auction.

Great pictures of the site and the people. Certainly a beautiful location for a concours event. Sadly, too far away to see in person.

PT9766

[DarrylRi]

The Brough in your picture is a 1931 "SS100 Alpine Grand Sports" originally registered as SN5256 in Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It has an 8/50 JAP touring engine with 80 mm bore and 99 mm stroke, Sturmey Archer gearbox, Castle (leading link) forks, original type of Lucas H52 headlight and the tank-top switch. It should be frame #1025 and engine # JTO/H 13700/S.

!!!

I guess you can tell me which it is.

Nice pictures of the AJS Vee-4 replica recently built in British Columbia and the 1928 BMW R57 which, I gather, went for $31,000 plus premium and tax in the auction.Yes, it did go for $31k. I guess I'm going to have to be satisfied with my sidevalve R52 for a while longer yet. ;-)

Great pictures of the site and the people. Certainly a beautiful location for a concours event. Sadly, too far away to see in person.It was simply wonderful. It's really worth trying to find an excuse to come out for it.

[rinty]

You'd have to go all the way to the Barber Museum to be able to see a collection like that.


Rinty

[cwsenn]

Totally awesome photographs, thanks for sharing. I may have to plan on going in the near future.

Chuck

[EXR911]

!!!

I guess you can tell me which it is.

Yes, it did go for $31k. I guess I'm going to have to be satisfied with my sidevalve R52 for a while longer yet. ;-)

It was simply wonderful. It's really worth trying to find an excuse to come out for it.

38 year of Brough ownership does give some access to information. Mine are sidevalve models but long years ago I did have the opportunity to ride a '31 SS100. Quite the bike and it was in good running condition and very fast. When next I saw it it had been "restored" and the owner would not even start it up, let alone use it on the road. A great waste.

Your BMW R52 would be the longstroke sidevalve model would it not? I expect it has smooth power and might well be nicer than the R57 to ride. Don't see much in early BMWs here in eastern Canada.

PT9766

[DarrylRi]

38 year of Brough ownership does give some access to information. Mine are sidevalve models but long years ago I did have the opportunity to ride a '31 SS100. Quite the bike and it was in good running condition and very fast. "A bike with a bit of blood in it" I think is Lawrence's quote, right? Sounds exciting!

When next I saw it it had been "restored" and the owner would not even start it up, let alone use it on the road. A great waste.I'm in agreement with you about that. I've been lucky enough to ride some older bikes and I have really enjoyed it a lot. There's a lot more variety than the differences between new bikes today, and they all require a lot more rider participation. Last year I got to put 100 miles on a 1913 Douglas 2 3/4 (2 speeds, no clutch!), which was great fun, except that I was obliged to return the bike cleaned up, and it has a total loss oiling system...

Your BMW R52 would be the longstroke sidevalve model would it not? I expect it has smooth power and might well be nicer than the R57 to ride. Don't see much in early BMWs here in eastern Canada. Yes, it has the long stroke motor. I've also got an R62 drivetrain and am looking to find a real frame (not repop) for it. That motor is square, and I believe shares the same crank with the R52. It is smooth running, but noisy, and as you'd expect from a sidevalve, runs out of breath fairly early (3400 rpm redline, the OHV models are rated for 4000). Still, it will make 55 mph, fast enough to make you worry about the suspension (undamped leaf spring in front) and the brakes (excellent... for the period; awful for today's traffic).

[RTRandy]

:jawdrop :jawdrop :jawdrop :jawdrop That was incredible. I am so there next May thanks to you. Not only a great show, but Half Moon Bay won't be so hard to take either. That's like a Motorcycle show located in heaven. Thanks for taking all that time to put that together.

[Mar]

I've got an uncle who lives in Half Moon Bay. Hmmmmmmm.....

[r1dinman]

Hey Mar! Merlin would fit right in!;)

Jay