The Quail Motorcycle Gathering just gets better and better. It also gets bigger – this year there were almost 400 vehicles for 3,000 people to enjoy. A few OEMs joined the party as well to show off their current lineups (Italian company Energica even debuted a streetfighter here after riding it up PCH from Los Angeles), but the main thing to take away was that there truly was something for everyone.
I didn’t take nearly as many photos as last year because I tried to go with some videos instead – hopefully you’ve seen some of these (and I promise there’s more coming):
Still, I’ve got a few stills and quick videos here of bikes that stood out to me at the show, so enjoy! Photos and videos by Aaron Schasse.
1962 Demm Sport 50:
One of the craziest uses I’ve seen of a Guzzi V11 engine:
Mike Patrick’s Norton P11:
1949 Indian Arrow – this won 1st Place in the American category:
Turbo 1980 BMW R100 by Boxer Metal – won 2nd place in Custom/Modified.
ARCH KRGT-1 – ARCH brought a few of their bikes, and they received a tremendous amount of attention – definitely one of the more popular bikes at the show. I’ve gotta say, the KRGT-1 always seems to look better in person than in photos.
1972 Honda CL350 K4 Flying Dragon from Vintage Motorcycle Rescue – won 1st place in Japanese. For a little more information, check out this previously featured Flying Dragon from a Bike-urious reader.
1915 Militaire Model 2 – if my eyes don’t deceive me, this was up on the block in March 2015 as part of the EJ Cole Collection, where it sold for $150,000 (auction results only available if you have an account with Mecum).
Robert Talbott’s 1925 BMW R37 – just listen to this thing idle! It won the BMW Classics award and Best of Show.
Gorgeous Henderson Four – apparently only six of these are known to exist, and I (mistakenly) assumed it was the same one that sold at the Mecum auction in Vegas this year for $165,000. Once I got home and was able to compare photos, though, it’s clear that these are different bikes:
1910 Detroit Single:
The “Vincati” – a replica Vincent engine in a ’73 Ducati frame – won the Innovation Award:
Speaking of Vincents, this owner fires his up for the judges:
I got to meet the Van Tichelts! You may be familiar with them through the Van Tech motorcycle company Bill founded:
A man that needs no introduction – Paul D’Orleans brought his beautiful Velocette KTT Mk8 out, except he barely had time to show it off because he was too busy being the emcee!
1969 Bultaco El Montadero – in the process of winning 1st place in Other European:
Virgil Elings (the man behind the Solvang Motorcycle Museum) wins the Spirit of the Quail Award with this 1964 MV Agusta which is definitely worth listening to:
Finally, Rob Talbott’s BMW R37 wins Best of Show:
For the full album of shots, head on over here.
There were a lot of great motorcycles, but a personal highlight was meeting readers that came up to me, said hi, and shared their stories! It was an honor meeting so many of you and I actually remembered to get a few photos this time:
Next year’s Quail is scheduled for May 13, 2017. Hope to see you there! For now, stay tuned for more ‘motorcycles from the Quail’ videos…
Again, special thanks to Aaron Schasse for the photography.