The Quail Motorcycle Gathering 2012

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A Day at The Quail Motorcycle Gathering 2012

Gordon McCall and his team know how to put on a show, that much is clear. This was the first time we’d attended The Quail Motorcycle Gathering but it certainly won’t be the last. It was simply one of the best motor sport events we’ve attended, and we’ve attended quite a few. Gordon and his team have managed to strike the perfect balance between exclusivity and accessibility. From the staff that ushered us in and helped us get unloaded, to the staff at the restaurant where we enjoyed a shockingly reasonably priced and delicious breakfast prior to the event, we were extremely impressed with the service and attention we received. They all seemed quite happy to let us roll our motorcycles over their fairways and greens, and wear our leathers and boots in their restaurants.

The event, now in its fourth year takes place at The Quail Lodge Golf Club, in Carmel, CA. This year the theme was “The Evolution of Indian Motorcycles” and there were amazing examples of the early American brand, along with representation from Harley-Davidson, Excelsior Henderson, and the newly re-minted “Crocker”. The location is stunning and the staff of both the event and The Quail Lodge are friendly and welcoming. No one puts an event like this on without lots of help but the driving force and the obvious passion behind The Quail Motorcycle Gathering is Gordon McCall. Don’t let his polished and gentlemanly appearance fool you; he’s a real motorcycle guy with an impressive collection of his own, including this beautiful 1965 Norton Dunstall Dominator.

Gordon is a Monterey Peninsula native and a lifelong motorcyclist. In addition to co-founding The Quail Motorcycle Gathering he’s been active in the motorsports scene in Monterey for years, serves on the Laguna Seca Executive Board and was instrumental in bringing MotoGP back to Laguna Seca, something that all motorcyclists should applaud.

Motorcycle enthusiasts have always been a bit different from automotive buffs, for many reasons. Our opinion is that motorcycle owners tend to be a bit more knowledgable about their machines, handle their own maintenance and repairs, and perhaps use them more frequently. Motorcycles are now gaining the attention of collectors who previously focused on cars, and this is driving prices up, which is a good thing as well as bad. We’re not going to begrudge anyone spending $30K bevel drive Ducati 900SS but we surely hope that it doesn’t get relegated to a humidity controlled museum for the rest of its life. There were a lot of very rare, very valuable, and very desirable motorcycles at the show, but there was a complete lack of the kind of person whom Oscar Wilde said would know “the price of everything and the value of nothing”. There was a perfect blend of grit and gleam, patina and polish, daily rider and preserved museum piece. We love all kinds of motorcycles, especially those that get ridden, but the utility of a 1913 Excelsior Henderson on today’s roads is obviously questionable. Thankfully events like this one afford us all the opportunity to see one in the flesh, and if we’re lucky, even hear it run.

Entry to the event is $65 ($15 for children 12 and under) and includes a delicious, catered, gourmet lunch, bottles of ice cold water, and live music. Additional vendors offer beer, wine, coffee, tea and espresso. Ducati North America was in attendance, with its new 1199 Panigale on display. Other vendors included Cycle World (with Kevin Cameron signing copies of his compilation book of “Top Dead Center” articles. Crocker Motorcycles, Riders For Health, Breitling time pieces, and Corbin were just a few of the other vendors in attendance.

As is always the case though, it’s the people that make great events great, and there were lots of friendly and knowledgable people at the show. The owner of the lovely Excelsior Henderson pictured above has owned it for decades, and shared with us stories of his father, who owned an Excelsior Henderson dealership in Denver in the 20s. Peter Richardson was there with a number of rare Ducatis including this beautiful F1 Montjuich

and this extremely rare 175 Gran Sport, thought to be the only one in existence. Hearing all 175ccs of this little single bark were a real treat.

We met Southern California lady racer Wendy Newton who owns and races a number of rare and vintage motorcycles at Willow Springs, and who became the first woman to ever racer in the U.S. Catalina GP.  While sitting next to our Ducati Mach One Replica we met the talented fabricator and machinist Mike McGeachy who combines his talents using a CNC mill and lathe with his love of vintage motorcycles to create stunning Ducatis like this “66 Bitsa”. Mike is a Gearhead and real artist. He even laid up the beautiful carbon fiber tank on this jewel-like machine.

There were hundreds of motorcycles on display from every decade. Here are a few of our favorites.

500cc BSA DB34 Goldstar

MV Agusta 750S

Lambretta TV 200 ‘S’ with cool period accessories

Indian Four (year unknown)

MV Agusta with custom bodywork by Shinya Kimura of Chabott Engineering

Gorgeous bevel drive Ducati 900SS

The famed Yamaha TZ750 flat tracker built by Ray Abrams and similar to the machine Kenny Roberts rode and said after a come from behind victory in 1975, “they don’t pay me enough to ride that thing”.

In a show filled with “Holy Grails” this may be the holiest of them all. Fantastic Ducati 750SS with a beautiful patina.

A row of MV Augusta singles, part of the Gary Koh collection, which will be auctioned by Mecum this September in Monterey.

1959 Manx Norton

 Motogiro eligible 175cc Mondial Turismo Veloce 

Business end of the stunning new Ducati 1199 Panigale

In addition to the numerous cool motorcycles in the parking lot, the event included The Quail Marketplace, where a number of motorcycles were on offer by private parties. Here are a few of our favorites, along with contact information for the sellers.

1967 Dresda Trident Triton offered by Jerry Liggett at 1.530.558.9681

1968 Velcette Venom Thruxton. One owner bike. $26K. Contact Jamie Karrick on 1.415.816.4186

1941 Indian Four with sidecar. $65K. Contact Jamie Karrick on 1.415.816.4186

Barn find 1965 BMW R69S. Contact Richard Wangoe on 1.831.601.7974

Our day at the The Quail Motorcycle Gathering was fantastic. We saw tons of cool motorcycles owned by friendly and knowledgable people. The weather was perfect, the food excellent and the setting sublime. We ran in to old friends, and made some new ones. Gordon and his team have done a great job with this show, and it’s one that we has earned a permanent spot on our “must attend” events on our motorsports calendar.

Stay on the throttle!

-tj

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What’s eating Valentino Rossi?

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Let’s talk about Ducati. The brand was dominant in superbike racing in the 90s and for most of the 2000s. Their success began with a machine which enjoyed a displacement and weight advantage, but even after the rules changed negating them, they still beat their competition fairly handily. And even after they pulled their factory support for World Superbike, Carlos Checa has managed to win titles and races against factory supported competitors.

Ducati pulled out of World Superbike ostensibly to put all their resources in to MotoGP. Their “dream team” of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden had a horrible 2010 season, which no one expected, and they certainly don’t have much to show for it, other than the black eye of having the most successful racer in motorcycle racing history, Valentino Rossi, publicly criticize the Desmosedici GP 12 as having only 2 things wrong with it; the engine and the chassis.

Before 2011 Valentino Rossi’s status as the greatest riders to ever race in motorcycle’s premier series was rarely questioned. Sure, Giacomo Agostini has 122 victories (compared to Rossi’s 105), but the manner in which Valentino has amassed those victories, and the fact that he’s done it on three different manufacturers is often used to support the argument that he, not Agostini is the greatest ever. Certainly Vale’s star power, immensely engaging personality, and the commercial nature of modern motorcycle racing help. Even today in the midst of the greatest slump of his career, his fans adore him. Larges swaths of Rossi yellow still punctuate the grandstands on race day. On TV he’s still all smiles and style, offering his trademark Rossi camera waves and kisses, and his pre-race ritual of “talking” to his motorcycle before throwing a leg over and exiting pit lane.

Behind the scenes though, dark clouds of discontent are constantly brewing. Rumors of him leaving Ducati before the season is finished swirl. Comments like those above seem impossible for a rider who once comported himself with so much poise and orchestrated self-deprecation. The think about Valentino was that in addition to his showmanship, he always made it fun. Even when he didn’t win, he was congratulatory, deferential, and even giddy, despite the fact that deep down he was probably seething with animosity that someone dared stand higher on the podium than him.

For us, like most MotoGP fans, the fact that the Rossi/Ducati formula could be so drastically wrong is perplexing to say the least. Like a batter that won’t produce an edible pancake (really, how hard can it be?) the combination of the Desmosedici and Rossi produce uninspired, flat, yucky results. Many point to Valentino’s teammate Nicky Hayden as proof that the bike isn’t that bad, but that point is not 100% valid. Riding style aside, Nicky’s results are not that much more impressive, and when he has out-qualified Rossi, he’s usually done so on soft tires that enable him to turn a few quick laps, but which quickly detonate under race conditions. And so you see him challenge for the lead for the first 5 laps like he did at Jerez before fading quickly, ultimately finishing in 8th place, just ahead of Rossi. We happen to be huge Nicky Hayden fans, and admire not only his dedication to his craft, but also his impeccable PR skills. We’re sure he’s no happier than Valentino with the motorcycle, but Earl Hayden raised his boys to be polite, and most importantly not to ever publicly pillory his team for producing an “unrideable” racebike.

All of this drama plays very well in to Valentino’s rivals Jorge Lorenzo and current MotoGP champion Casey Stoner, both of whom have been on the same machine as Valentino, and who have turned in better results on each. Stoner’s 2007 victory aboard the Ducati remains an outstanding endorsement of his skills for remains the only rider to ever consistently put the red bike from Bologna on the podium, a machine surely as cantankerous as the one currently sitting in the Rossi and Hayden garages. Stoner’s return to championship form following a fairly public off track battle of words with Rossi are further fodder for Stoner’s current gloating over the fact that Rossi is routinely 3 or more seconds slower than he and his Honda. As for Lorenzo, he was beating Rossi when they were teammates at Yamaha, back when most Rossi apologists were blaming his injured shoulder for his lack of victories.

Motorcycle racing is a brutal sport, perhaps the most brutal. Careers are short, the factors which determine success numerous, and the risks immense. Champions rarely go out at the top. Looking back at the last two decades of racing we remember Wayne Rainey’s tragic career ending injury at Misano, Kevin Schwant’s mid-season retirement less than 2 years later, and Mick Doohan’s massive crash which put an end to his run of 5 consecutive championships. At some point the human body simply cannot take the abuse of multiple crashes and surgeries and the physical and mental effort required to ride a 250+ horsepower machine at race pace become overwhelming. Valentino Rossi is certainly one of the greatest ever, but he is mortal, and at 33 he’s old compared to Lorenzo and Stoner. There is also the sad situation involving the fatal crash of his friend Marco Simoncelli, a crash in which Rossi was innocently involved, which may be contributing to his lack of success.

For Valentino Rossi and Ducati, and for all of Italy, the situation is not life and death, it’s far more important than that. Past the issue of pride, the Italians view success in motorcycle racing as their birthright, with Ducati and Rossi as national treasures. Regardless of whether you love or hate Rossi and Ducati, their return to competitiveness would mean more exciting racing, and that’s something that everyone wants.  For Valentino Rossi, a man loved by millions, it would be shame to see his glorious career tarnished by two seasons of dismal failure. We hope that someway, somehow, he and his Ducati find a way to get along so that our memories of him involve black and white checkers, and not 10th place finishes.

Stay on the throttle!

-tj

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