Legend of the Motorcycle Concours

[Steve Carlton]

The 2nd annual concours will be Saturday, May 5, 2007. This year's featured marques will be Excelsior, Henderson, and Vincent. An amazing event, designed to be on a par with the Pebble Beach concours for cars.

http://www.legendofthemotorcycle.com./

[Wild Will]

I'm planning to attend.

[Steve Carlton]

Hopefully, I'll see you there. Did you go last year? Awesome show!

[DarthRider]

Man...wish I could go! Maybe next year.

[Wild Will]

Hopefully, I'll see you there. Did you go last year? Awesome show!

I would have loved to see all the beautiful Crocker machines, and the builder's son in attendance. To a motorcyclist, there is nothing more beautiful than the perfect machinery of yore, except a woman...

[Ed K]

Hey Steve and Will...

I'll be going too... looking forward to seeing you guys there.

[Steve Carlton]

I think I posted this before, but here's a photo album from last year's show:

http://stevecarlton.onfinite.com/album/881187/

(let me know if you think this site runs slow, at least slower than SmugMug. I think it does, especially accessing the full-size images. Probably will set up a SmugMug account.)

[jamming]

Steve, I saw it on TV, it was beyond belief on TV. Cannot imangne what it was like in person.

[Steve Carlton]

I'm going to try and make this. I'm farther away now, and I have to make arrangements for the dogs. Tickets are $50 before May 2nd, $65 at the event...

[Wild Will]

I'll just be re entering California, and won't make it this year. I'll look forward to the photos, guys.

[Steve Carlton]

Album (http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/gallery/2813653#150337025) in progress, if you want to take a peek. Some highlights:

The scene as you enter the Concours:

http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150336605-O.jpg




Excelsior-Henderson and Vincent were the featured marques. Nice E-H with sidecar as you entered their area:

http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150337018-O.jpg

http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150336995-O.jpg




Another cool one:

http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150336564-O.jpg




The Rollie Free Black Lightning:

http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150332619-O.jpg




Never seen so many pristine Vincents...

http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150332677-O.jpg

http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150332281-O.jpg

http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150332653-O.jpg

http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150332589-O.jpg

http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150332562-O.jpg

http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150332365-O.jpg

[Deans BMW]

Wow, Steve, great pics.

Thanks.

[Steve Carlton]

Check back. I'll be editing some more tonight...

http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150424664-O.jpg

[DarthRider]

Great stuff Steve! I've got to see that show one of these years.
The Rollie Free Black Lightning Vincent (Bathing Suit Bike) belongs to a friend of mine in Austin. He actually has a Vincent company and can restore one for you, or even sell you a *brand new* one, built from a huge stash of NOS parts he has accumulated. Or would you prefer a Brough Superior or DBD34 Gold Star? He can fix you up!
He said the biggest challenges in restoring "The Bathing Suit Bike" were:
1)Deciding what to do with it, restoration-wise. It was scruffy when he got it. He decided the best thing would be to put it back to exactly the condition it was the day "the photo" was taken and Rollie got the speed record.
2)The 2nd thing...actually doing it! He took a couple of years just researching the bike, finding old pictures, talking to people who were there, including previous owners and guys who had worked on it. He said it's (relatively) easy to put one back to "showroom" or even "museum quality" condition, but it's very difficult to recreate a hand-built, one-off race bike that has gone through so many iterations.
98% of the parts he used were on the bike the day it ran. Some of the originals no longer exist so he carefully recreated them.
Notice the friction tape (tar tape) on the forks? Rollie put that on as streamlining when he was "just that close" to the record. Probably just before he changed to his swim trunks, sneakers, and blue rubber swim cap and set the new record!:eusa_clap:
God, I would love to have been there that day.
The owner has 8X10 glossies of that photo for give-aways...he inscribes them with "Flat Out!"
Indeed.

[Steve Carlton]

Yes, you could tell it was restored to "as raced," which is really cool. A couple more of it, including the owner's information on the plaque...

http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150447564-O.jpg

http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150447497-O.jpg

[DarthRider]

Yeah, that original/old paint checking is actually desirable in this type of restoration.
Herb Harris is a great guy...despite being a lawyer!
He let me ride his *perfect* Vincent Black Shadow one glorious afternoon.
Shortly after he sold it to Peter Egan.
Herb talks with Leno regularly...I think they are in a contest to see who can track the most Vincents & Brough Superiors in the world!

[Wild Will]

Well done Steve. Wish I could have been there, but your nicely composed, perfectly illumined photos are the very next best thing. Thank you for a fine effort to share this with us.

[Steve Carlton]

Okey-dokey... photo album now fully stocked and open for business, except for captions. Some greatest hits:


http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150674363-O.jpg


http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150675082-O.jpg


http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150675364-O.jpg


http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150675288-O.jpg


http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150671386-O.jpg


http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150671835-O.jpg


http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150672837-O.jpg


http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150674518-O.jpg


http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150674649-O.jpg


http://gromitspapa.smugmug.com/photos/150672312-O.jpg

[DarthRider]

Outstanding!

[vintagemxr]

Found this link on Ed Youngblood's MotoHistory (http://www.motohistory.net) site:

Legend of the Motorcycle Concours d'Elegance 2007 (http://moonman.smugmug.com/gallery/2806381#P-1-15) Photos by Kirk Moon

[JCsman]

Be still my beating heart!

Has RChop seen the Vincent chopper yet? His boxer chopper is a kissin' cousin.... tastefully done in both cases. (Flamin' skull paint would simply slide off in shame).

[Deans BMW]

With out a doubt, Vincent has the best looking head pipes in all of motorcycling, always had and prolly always will.

[Sir Limpsalot]

Thanks Steve. Talking of photo's and Vincents and Rollie Free..
Anyone know who took THAT photo? The whole event captured in just a single frame and fifty years on people still look at it in awe and wonder. Must be the most famous motorcycle photo ever I should think. I'd love to take a photo like that.

Si.