Quail Motorcycle Gathering

California, sunshine, motorcycles – no wonder Blue Miller couldn’t resist the lure of one of the West Coast’s fanciest shows.

In last month’s editorial I mentioned that I was in America (if you haven’t read it, off you go and find it – I’ll wait…) and decided to visit a very old friend. This wasn’t quite like popping down the road; my base in the USA is in northern Arizona and my friend lives near San Francisco, so it’s a road trip of around 550 miles. Well, it is if you go the direct and sensible (for which read ‘dull and boring’) way. The route I took was closer to 700 miles, but that’s another story…

Anyway, in making arrangements, said friend happened to mention that I would be arriving the weekend of the Quail Motorcycle Gathering. My friend is a gentleman called John Reed, Custom Chrome’s most successful ever parts designer and the first nonAmerican to win Oakland Roadster Show in 1982 with his Gold Yamaha. He’s British, grumpy and a former Quail judge himself so the ideal person with whom to tour the show.

Now, the Quail Motorcycle Gathering – which I shall, for the sake of brevity, refer to simply as ‘Quail’ – is a rather prestigious show. It’s held at the equally prestigious Quail Lodge and

Golf Club east of Carmel on the Monterey peninsula, one of the most expensive places to live in California (and, therefore, in America), where the average price of a house is currently $2 million. I have bought motorcycles for less than the cost of an entry ticket to Quail (admittedly not very good motorcycles). It would be, I thought, ‘an experience.’

With only a couple of days to go to the event I figured that applying for a media pass would be futile, particularly as the show might – whisper it low! – not have heard of a foreign magazine called Old Bike Mart, but I gave it a try anyway and sent an email off to the company handling such queries. I have found that some high end – and even low end – events can be immensely picky about who they let in as media, demanding vast amounts of evidence and your first-born to even consider your application. But here I must doff my hat to Kahn Media and to Emily Dawoodjee in particular. Despite there being just three days until the show, Emily sorted me a pass, all the information I needed, and did it with huge charm and efficiency. Even if I had disliked the Quail Motorcycle Gathering, I would have given it a good review just because of her wonderful helpfulness.

Fortunately, I didn’t dislike Quail at all. Okay, let’s be absolutely honest, just between you and me, beforehand I was rather on the back foot about the event. It’s a bit posh, it’s expensive and I expected it to be full of people with bottomless pockets. But it soon became very clear that, while there might have been one or two owners with a bob or two, this is first and foremost a motorcycle event. What’s more, it was actually considerably more diverse than I was expecting and far less judgmental than a number of classic motorcycle shows I have attended at home. You’ll see that when we come to the Best of Show winner…

One of our first stops was at the Corbin stand to see Mike Corbin, who each year brings his trailer from his Hollister, California, shop. The first thing you think of when you hear that name is, of course, seats, and thousands of motorcycle saddles are produced each year by the small team at the Corbin factory, while the company offers a service whereby you can ride in, spend some time in the onsite 1950s-style diner (as you might imagine, the upholstery in the booths is outstanding) and then ride home with a new custom-made seat. But Mike also has an impressive collection of classic motorcycles and is a keen enthusiast of the Wall of Death.

His stand was also providing somewhere to rest for Craig Vetter, designer of the Windjammer fairing and the Triumph X-75. I hadn’t seen Mr Vetter since I had lunch with him some years ago (notice how smoothly I name drop!), not long before he had a terrible accident on a motorcycle in which he hit a deer not far from where we were at that moment. He underwent several brain surgeries and the change since our last meeting was sadly noticeable.

Having ascertained that Mike didn’t have a coffee machine on his stand I moved on – he might be one of the world’s finest seat manufacturers, but I am nothing if not self-serving! We finally tracked down a coffee vendor although I really should have been warned when it was a stand built on to a bicycle. I know espresso has to be brewed, but surely it should take four people less than 10 minutes to produce two thimble-sized cups? When I asked the girl behind the counter for sugar I might just as well have removed all my clothes and sprawled naked on the bicycle given the look of horror on her face. They didn’t have sugar. They had low calorie agave syrup. Yes, I had forgotten where I was.

For the record, both the coffee and the agave syrup were truly undrinkable. I guess I’m just not made out for the Californian lifestyle.

Someone who was cut out for California was Steve McQueen and as he owned several hundred motorcycles in his lifetime, many of his past machines turn up regularly at shows and in auctions. The two ex-McQueen bikes at Quail represented either ends of the motorcycling spectrum, and none the worse for that. Housed in a plexiglass case was the ExcelsiorHenderson Super X factory racing hillclimber that was once owned by Bud Ekins who then gave it to Steve McQueen (so a double whammy on legendary owners!).

McQueen is known to have ridden this machine around his Santa Paula ranch and no doubt his neighbours for miles all knew when he did. Curiously, both the show card and event results reported the Super X as a 1929 model, but I am pretty sure that when this bike was sold (complete with the display case) at auction two years ago it was listed as built in 1926. The Excelsior does still run and it was a little poignant to see it in a case, a little like seeing a lion cooped up in a cage.

The other machine with McQueen connections was about as far removed as you can get from the alcohol-burning Excelsior. In 1969, McQueen starred in a film called

The Reivers and among the cast was a child actor called Mitch Vogel who had previously been in the TV series Bonanza. Vogel spent time riding minibikes with McQueen’s son Chad and so McQueen ordered a Honda Z50 Mini Trail from a dealer as a surprise gift for Vogel. Not only that, he had his friend and hot rod artist Von Dutch customise the little Honda with custom paint, pinstriping and hand engraved badges. Vogel kept the Z50 until 2020 when it was sold in the same auction in Las Vegas as the aforementioned Excelsior.

With a field full of fabulous bikes that varied from Bultacos to BSA, original race bikes to almost forgotten marques (I’m pretty sure I’d never seen a Yale before), there was one machine that literally stopped me dead in my tracks. Now, I come from a custom motorcycle background and have been following a Californian builder called Max Hazan since his first builds, but the name may not be as familiar to many of you. The gentleman builds motorcycles that can be described simply as ‘exquisite.’ As soon as I saw his latest creation, based around a

1951 Vincent Rapide, I knew exactly who had built it without knowing a thing about it or looking at the show card. Like Hazan’s other creations, it is awe-inspiring in its looks, its engineering and its craftsmanship – he even made his own carburettors. (If you type ‘Max Haxan customises the holy grail’ into YouTube you will come across a very interesting video by Revival Cycles about the build process of the Vincent.)

Even so, this is a Concours d’Elegance and I really didn’t expect a custom motorcycle to win, so I was delighted when the little Vincent was awarded the coveted Best of Show title. How often does a custom motorcycle win a Concours d’Elegance at this level? Not very often! I discovered later from Paul d’Orleans, motorcycle historian and the man behind The Vintagent, that it had been an interesting discussion among the Quail judges.

Heading up that illustrious body was chief judge, noted motorcycle restorer and collector Somer Hooker, a man who knows pretty much all there is to know about Vincents and who might be expected to frown upon such a departure from what the Stevenage factory had intended. In the end, the decision on the Best of Show went down to the wire with other judges (all, it must be said, the older demographic of the judging panel) preferring Phil Lane’s Paul Dunstall Norton Commando which he has owned from new. When those judges cried: “We can’t give Best in Show to a custom” it was gently pointed out that what was the Dunstall Commando but a custom motorcycle? Finally, it was down to Somer Hooker to cast the vote that would decide the winner. And the gentleman who is a Vincent aficionado came down in favour of Max Hazan.

Perhaps, of anything about the

Quail Motorcycle Gathering, the thing that impressed me the most was that this is an event which not only celebrates the glorious past of motorcycling but is also ready to embrace the future.

I will, however, be taking my own coffee next time.

Now incarcerated behind glass, the Excelsior racer that once belonged to Steve McQueen.

Mike Madden’s 61cui 1939 ‘Small Tank’ Crocker, one of less than 100 Crockers made. The fastest American motorcycle of its time, it produced 50% more horsepower than contemporary Harleys or Indians and was faster than most cars of that era.

1951 Vincent Rapide, hand built by Max Hazan at Hazan Motorworks.

This chap is clearly entranced by this 1920 Clyno, still with GB registration. His girlfriend, less so.

Custom bike builder and former motorcycle racer Roland Sands was the guest of honour.

Revival Cycles’ Ducati ‘Fuse’ took more than 1000 hours to build. The exhaust may have accounted for quite a few of those hours!

Dan Stern’s elegant ‘Rumble’ combination. Much to his surprise, Dan sold it during the afternoon at Quail to someone who had brought along cash! Quite a lot of cash…

Before Crockers, the Henderson inline fours were the biggest and fastest motorcycles on the road (hence they were very popular with police forces), but what a treat to see two together. Note that the one at the back has had its tank lengthened by around six inches.

John Hakanson (left) shows off his survivor Champion Triumph Bonneville street tracker with original Cycle Craft glass fibre fuel tank and mudguard.

Yale is a nearly forgotten name now but it was once an important player in American motorcycling. In 1903, a gentleman called George Wyman left San Francisco on a California Moto Bicycle and, 50 days later, his hands in bandages, arrived in New York, the first man to cross the USA on a motorcycle. The California Motor Company was then bought by Consolidated Manufacturing who moved the machinery to Toledo, Ohio, and there built motorcycles under the Yale name until 1915. This beautiful and rare 1914 example is owned by Allan Christie.

One of Marc Crocetti’s collection on display, this is a 1973 Yamaha XS650 he rebuilt during Covid as a ’70s race bike.

This 1939 Indian Four was a ground-up restoration by Chuck Sherman. It took him 20 years and was started for the first time just a few weeks before Quail. This was a one-year-only paint scheme to celebrate the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

David Baker’s pristine 1975 Bultaco Sherpa T.

LEFT: This chap brought his own wheels.

The Honda Z50 which Steve McQueen bought and had customised for Mitch Vogel in 1969.

On August 11, 1972 a young man in San Diego called Phil Lane ordered a Paul Dunstall Norton Commando, all the way from 156 Well Hall Road, London SE9. It cost him $2223 (and this was when you got two and a half dollars to the pound!) and arrived two months later. He’s owned it ever since.

Cal Rayborn’s dual carb Harley KR750 which was basically obsolete when it was built in the late 1960s. That didn’t stop Cal winning the Daytona 200 in 1968, lapping everyone including Phil Read. He did it again in 1969 on the same bike, proving why his death in 1974 robbed the USA of probably its finest ever road racer.

A ‘Vindian’, this seemed to be rather overlooked by spectators.

Sammy ‘Mr Indian’ Pierce was the man who coined the rhyme ‘You can’t wear out an Indian Scout/Or its brother the Indian Chief./They’re built like rocks to stand hard knocks/It’s the Harleys that cause the grief.’ At one time the world’s largest Indian dealer, not to mention Burt Munro’s sponsor, Sammy’s last job was curating Steve McQueen’s motorcycle collection. ‘The Harley Eater’ 101 Scout was built by Sammy and raced at Bonneville; it’s now proudly owned by his family.

The 1973 Münch 4 TTS 1200 could never be described as pretty, but when owner Eugene Garcin fired it up it sounded fantastic.

It’s said that legendary designer Brook Stevens was responsible for the design of the Globester scooter (he designed just about everything else you can imagine, from the first Harley-Davidson Hydra-Glide tank badges to flying boats and the first wide mouth peanut butter jar (thank you Mr Stevens!). But very little history on the Globester survives and this is the only one I’ve ever seen.

Car and bike builder and TV star Bryan Fuller’s latest build, ‘The Black Flash’. It was quite something to see two completely different Vincentbased customs at the same event.

This little dog had weak eyes apparently. I think he just liked looking cool.

Richard Mitchell’s modified BSA B34 with a carbon fibre tank and what looks very much like a set of Jake Robbins’ girder forks.

John Reed (left) with Zach Ness, grandson of the late Arlen Ness.