Substance & Style
SUBSTANCE & STYLE
THE QUAIL MOTORCYCLE GATHERING TURNS EIGHT WITH RECORD ATTENDANCE, THE MOST BIKES EVER, AND A HUGELY COMPETITIVE SHOW FIELD
It’s perplexed me for years, the Quail Motorcycle Gathering has.
And it took until the eighth running of the event this past May to put my finger on why. The puzzle was, how can such an amazing range of motorcycle and personal arche-
types coalesce in such a friendly two-wheeled Kumbaya? Rockers and Mods used to fight. Ditto the Devil’s Dirtbags chopper club and the cops. But not here.
John L. Stein
THE QUAIL MOTORCYCLE GATHERING
The proof of this happy cohabitation fully permeated the Quail Golf Club show field in Carmel, California. Here sat a gleaming little Honda SL70 and a scruffy Harley minibike, while a short walk away perched a six-figure Vincent Black Shadow and Wayne Rainey’s AMA title-winning Kawasaki GPz Superbike. Another stroll revealed a custom Triumph bobber and a 101-year-old Militaire with wooden wheels. What the HeliCoil? To some people maybe, it’s all about the bikes. But to me the 2016 Quail was more like socio-moto field research in a grassy petri dish: Imagine a dance club where geriatrics are boogieing to Tommy Dorsey alongside tattooed millennials hip-hopping to god knows what, and potbellied boomers tripping out to Thin Lizzy. How can this be?
So here’s the answer. This diversity—some 400 motorcycles all sharing lawn space on the Quail’s golf course—means there’s a significant and meaningful desire for high-quality participatory bike events. Whereas car guys enjoy dozens of concours nationwide, motorcyclists’ intense passion is matched by few happenings this special. And thus, folks come to the Quail. This year, a record crowd of 2,700 attended and 237 motorcycles—nearly 60 percent of the total—entered the concours. This took a team of 49 judges, led by Chief Judge Somer Hooker, to handle the workload. “Enthusiasm is a powerful force,” promoter
Gordon McCall said. “The fact that we are giving enthusiasts a soft, welcoming place to land really helps explain our growth and popularity across all genres of motorcycling.”
This year, three rides formally associated with the Quail Motorcycle Gathering, including a multi-day “Why We Ride” tour beginning in Los Angeles; Friday’s io 9-mile Quail Motorcycle Tour for loo participants (sign up early for 2017—it sells out
quickly); and Saturday morning’s Cycle World Tour led by Editor-in-Chief Mark Hoyer, VP/Group Publisher Andy Leisner, and Marketing Director Tim Collins. The CW tour was the largest yet, as a record 85 riders enjoyed a 50-mile breakfast combo of Monterey coastal and county back roads. And a delicious seaside breakfast too. Among the bikes were a pair of cool vintage Indians, including the 1948 648 Big Base Scout of Matt Blake that would later win The Cycle World Tour Award, along with Jack Massarello’s rare 1988 Honda Africa Twin (never officially imported stateside) and its new 2016 counterpart. As usual, Friday evening brought a formal dinner (which also sells out early) at the Quail clubhouse.
Receiving special recognition this year was 1976,
’77, and ’78 AMA Superbike champion Reg Pridmore, who was honored as a “Legend of the Sport”; Joe Leonard, the only man to have won national championships both on motorcycles and in cars; and motorcycle designer Craig Vetter, who is still recovering from a 2015 collision with a deer in his teardrop-shaped high-fuel-economy bike. Daytona 200 winner and author Don Emde also presented his new book on tracing Cannon Ball Baker’s famous 1914 record-setting cross-country trip.
On Saturday, it was show time. Ever lined up at the Disneyland gate and sprinted to the first ride when the park opened? This might also serve you well at the Quail, with so much to see in just six hours. Groupings included British, Italian, German, Japanese, custom, competition, antique, private collections, and, especially for the 2016 event, 40th anniversary of Superbike, BMW classics and pre1916 motorcycles. “With 42 judged bikes this year,
the Japanese class is the biggest now,” Hooker noted.
But maybe the most invigorating were the customs. Their builders remind me of Andy Warhol. A
bit nerdish, awkward and out of step, and yet somehow brilliantly in command of a boundless, fertile artistic space. In the early 1960s, who would’ve regarded Elvis, silk-screened flowers, and Campbell’s soup cans as art? However, Warhol’s spirit won the last laugh, as Triple Elvis was sold in 2014 for $82 million. What does this portend for custom motorcycles of the nouveau hip at the Quail this year? Let’s check back in 50 years. Meanwhile, make it really big and your bikes will follow.
Among many custom standouts was the 624.cc 1967 Kawasaki Wi-based special of Michael LeFountain. Fully redesigned to recall the elegant black 1954 Matchless G45 racers, the bike wears many bespoke parts that LeFountain fabricated using components from 23 different Kawasaki models. The gas tank is a reshaped GPz unit; the megaphones are modified KZ1000 police-bike muffler shells; and the oil tank is formed from two 750 Mach IV side covers welded together. Genius.
K&N Powersports Sales Manager Nick O’Kane brought a wicked 1981 Honda CBX traclcbike wearing lightweight 17-inch wheels and Pirelli slicks, a shorty 6-into-i exhaust that has to sound amazing, and mesmerizing natural-finish carbon-fiber bodywork (see accompanying story, page 54). Irishman Paul Crozier turned a 1976 Honda CB550 Four into a MotoGP-inspired café racer. Honoring the LCR team, it features an inverted fork, handmade aluminum fenders, a vintage Benelli 360 tank—and of course rider Cal Crutchlow’s #35 on the tailsection. So when Crozier flew the bike to CoTA for the GP, the team freaked out when they spotted “CAL” in the corner of the license plate. “How did you do that?” they asked. Life in the Golden State has its rewards.
Once again, The Quail Motorcycle Gathering got it all done with substance and style, from the venue, food, and entertainment to the bikes, rides, people, concours, and awards. As such, the event is now connecting not only with its traditional base but with women and millennials—two important growth areas for the sport. So where is it going from here? Rumors of an associated auction and vintage races at nearby Laguna Seca surfaced this year. “We don’t have a crystal ball,” McCall replied coyly. “But we are good listeners.” ETU
