Quail Motorcycle Gathering

We participated in the Quail Motorcycle Gathering over the weekend in Monterey, California. I feel fortunate to live just a short drive away from Monterey, which hosts some of the best vintage car and motorcycle events in the world. I get many opportunities to view the rarest and coolest machines on the planet.

My personal favorite was the Triumph twin engine Gyronaut streamliner. This machine was at one time back in the 60's the worlds fastest motorcycle. The current owner aquired the machine from his uncle who was the designer, builder, and driver (to my understanding) of this beautiful machine.

Gyronaut by Pat Dolan, on Flickr

This beautiful and original patina Indian board track racer was on display and just a wealth of information. I enjoy climbing around these machines first hand figuring out every detail, every linkage. I was very surprised at the size of the tires and the fact this bike even had a clutch on it. A rare option on a vintage boardie.

Quail Motorcycle Gathering by Pat Dolan, on Flickr

Quail Motorcycle Gathering by Pat Dolan, on Flickr

Now were talking really old. This Indian racer is probably around 1908 vintage, although I am not entirely sure.

Quail Motorcycle Gathering by Pat Dolan, on Flickr

1917 Harley Davidson. By this time in motorcycle development the bikes looked pretty reliable and robust.

Quail Motorcycle Gathering by Pat Dolan, on Flickr

This is a beautiful Pope cruiser model. If you look closely you can see the large leather drive belt and huge rear pulley.

Quail Motorcycle Gathering by Pat Dolan, on Flickr

This little machine was a scale build Indian boardie. I am told it is fully functional.

Quail Motorcycle Gathering by Pat Dolan, on Flickr

This picture shows the true size of the machine using my hand as reference.

Quail Motorcycle Gathering by Pat Dolan, on Flickr

Lots of newer machines as well. This is a Yamaha TZ750. These bikes dominated road racing for years. Two stroke power at it's finest!

Quail Motorcycle Gathering by Pat Dolan, on Flickr

Quail Motorcycle Gathering by Pat Dolan, on Flickr

Velodrome said:

Fantastic Pat! I'm really feeling the love for that Pope! Course, Im prejudice'd... So much cool stuff there. Is this open to the public or is it one of the semi snooty invite only parties?

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Hey, Velo,
It is open to the public. It's a small venue so it appears they control the crowds by the price of admission. $75 to get in but it includes a very nice catered lunch, and dessert. They also had a nice ice cream stand later in the day that was free. We had two bikes there. After the show I realized I should have parked one of my bike next to the Indian for scale purposes. You actually have to apply to show a bike and send them pictures. If your "accepted" to show a bike they keep all your money.

Velodrome said:

Thanks Pat! Actually thats not bad for such an outragous show being lunch dessert and ice cream provided. While I'm here EVERYBODY should check out Pats Flickr page and see the WAY COOL Ford bike hauler. I'm in love, and it matches my Pope! Wanna tell us bout it Pat?

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Well thanks for asking! I stumbled on my new bike hauler at a friends shop up north. I hadn't visited him for awhile and found he was messing around with a 1949 Ford F1. I traded a bike and cash for it. It has a Dodge Volare front car suspension and a 302 Ford V8. He also included a Ford 9" rear axle. Just giving it a once over before putting into service. It looks best when driving by at 30 mph, so far from perfect, but it has plenty of character. I plan to haul bikes around with it.

Here it is with new tires and wheels.

1949 Ford by Pat Dolan, on Flickr

These are the engine upgrades I will be putting on in another week or so. Plan is to pop the hood and be looking at what appears to be a Shelby GT350 engine. Got a whole BS story about how it used to be a shop truck for running errands at the Shelby Factory in the 1960's, so they stuffed a Cobra engine in it that came from a wrecked race car. If you believe that story I have plenty more! Still trying to find a COBRA lettered intake manifold without breaking an already abused bank account.

1949 Ford Truck by Pat Dolan, on Flickr