Quail Under Rain — Rust Magazine

Words + Photos: Mike Blanchard

The theme of the 2024 Quail Motorcycle Gathering was rain. Oh sure the official themes might have been the 30th anniversary of the Ducati 916, the 25th anniversary of the Suzuki Hayabusa, a celebration of 100 years of the American Motorcycle association and Vespa, but in the end Mother Nature chose the theme and it was rain and wind that dominated the event.

 Despite the weather, the show went off as planned, and it worked out fine. There were a lot fewer people through the gate, which I am sure the event organizers didn’t like, but for the people who attended it was kind of nice.

 These might be high-end world-class bikes but they were designed to get rained on and you have to be tough to be a motorcyclist. I’ve been to moto events in Portland where a lot of riders showed up riding their bikes in the pouring rain and no one thought much about it. After all, that’s why they put grooves in tires, so you can ride in the rain.

 Overheard in a mocking tone: “If this was the car show they would have called it off.” Yea no shit. The breed of guys that turn up at the Quail Auto Gathering or Pebble would have a litter of kittens if their car ever felt the least little bit of rain. There is a certain pride in being that much tougher than car drivers.

Knowing it was going to rain on Saturday I got out to Quail Lodge the afternoon before the show, to check out the scene, get some shots and talk to some people.  

A number of the exhibitors load their bikes in on Friday and there were a some very expensive bikes just sitting there, unattended, uncovered, and unencumbered by any kind of lock, out on the lawn looking sort of abandoned. People were coming and going, some catching up with old friends and some getting their bikes squared away..

Max Hazan explains how the supercharging works on the bike he built for Jason Mamoa. It uses a 1938 JAP JTOS engine. The bike won 2nd place in the Custom/Modified class

 Max Hazan was unloading his bikes; two delightfully crusty Brough Superiors and the custom supercharged JAP powered bike he just finished for the actor Jason Mamoa. His two little boys were running around as he explained the finer points of getting the supercharging to work correctly on the bike to a few guys gathered round. I think he pretty much made everything on the bike but the engine, trans, spokes and tires. Ok fine, the carbs and supercharger as well, but even so the bike is quite an achievement.

 I had a moment to speak with Hazan about the late Anthony Bourdain’s visit to his shop before he had to hustle off to get something out of his van.

 There was a lot of talk about getting over to the big box store for a portable awning. But apparently some owners didn’t really care. Conspicuous were a trio of Italian bikes, a square-case Ducati 900SS, a Laverda Jota and a Ducati Mike Hailwood Replica (the original model) sitting uncovered by themselves with no one around. They stayed uncovered for the whole event through the rain and wind.

 I was taking the opportunity to shoot some film which always draws a bit of attention. I have found that a film camera can be a bit of an ice breaker especially with people into vintage bikes but there is always some dude who has to make some kind of “Oh is that your little film camera” crack. I didn’t know we were being competitive about photography but apparently we are.

 Early the next morning, day of, exhibitors were rushing about getting their bikes loaded in and set up. People with no experience were carrying on like Laurel and Hardy trying to set up awnings. Thankfully the rain was holding off. Early morning is always a good time to get some shots before the customers show up.

 The show is set up with a row of vendor tents running down each side of a section fairway about 200 yards long on which the motorcycles are displayed. A couple of stages occupy the east end of the lawn in front of the golf club. One for the band and one with a ramp for the bikes that win awards to be pushed up on to so the owners can be interviewed in front of the crowd.

 The quail brings out some of the finest motorcycles on the west coast, as well as a significant number of champion racers. This year Gordon McCall, Director of Motorsports for the promotor Peninsula Signature Events, interviewed AMA Hall of Famer Ricky Johnson and three-time 500cc Grand Prix World Champion, and Moto America supremo Wayne Rainey.

 The music this year, Reggae music by the Monterey band The Rudians was surprisingly good. A nice change from the usual bland selections at this event.

 One of the main sponsors of the event is the online auction site Bring A Trailer. They had a display of motorcycles in front of their hospitality tent just outside the entrance of the event.

 The parking lot is usually almost as good a display of motorcycles as the show, but this year, given the rain, it was nowhere near as large and consisted primarily of “adventure” sleds.

Amazing 1960 KR Harley Davidson race bike. These were more or less hand made at the factory and very successful. One of the best looking Harleys ever

 As the day went on it began to drizzle and then to rain and then to really storm. Eventually the rain was going sideways which caused the organizers to hustle things along so they could get folks out of the rain.

 Off to the side of the display area was an empty tent with a sign in front saying The Leslie Stretch Private Collection. Inside were some couches and one man sitting looking at his phone. It was raining pretty hard and I needed to have a moment to get my gear squared away so I went in and sat down.

 I began a conversation with the man who turned out to be Leslie Stretch. And what an interesting conversation it turned out to be. Stretch, a Scotsman who has become a US citizen, is the ex-CEO of Medallia, a billion-dollar tech company that was/is a sponsor of the McLaren Formula 1 team.

 A few years ago he sold the company and being a life-long motorcyclist, he began sponsoring motorcycle racing. One of his Ducatis won the Daytona 200 this year with Josh Herrin riding. He also sponsors ex MotoGP rider Danillo Petrucci who recently suffered a bad crash training and looks to be out for the season. Stretch’s three race Ducatis, including the Daytona winner, were on display under the main tent and they drew a fairly continuous stream of people.

Leslie Stretch’s War Horse HSBK Ducati won the Datona 200 this year with Josh Herrin riding. An amazing pice of kit.

 I found Stretch to be down to earth and curious and a very interesting person. We talked about magazines and motorcycles and F1 and round-the-world sailboat racing. Like most of the folks at the event he is very into vintage motorcycles. His first vehicle was a Vespa moped and for many years his only transportation was two wheeled.

 There were a bunch of really nice Vespas (the VW Bug of the motorcycling world), a few Lambretti, and at least one Messerschmitt outside the show proper.

Josh Rodgers’ very rare 1947 V98 Vespa won the award for the best scooter. The early Vespas did not come with kick stands. One just leans them over

 Josh Rodgers’ beautiful 1947 V98 was a real standout. It quite deservedly won the top prize in the scooter class, the absurdly named Decades Of Scooter Fun award. Early Vespas have become hugely expensive with very active clubs to serve their owners. It pleases me to see that there is a strong trend towards preservation in the early scooter scene, rather like in the VW scene. It’s only original once.

 There were other scooters that caught the eye. Two ladies had a wonderful European cafe tableau displaying their scooter with a table and umbrella, food, wine and flowers. It was quite imaginative and I regret not getting their names to share with you all.

 This is the type of thing you might see at the Goodwood Revival or Retromobile and something that I think would be interesting to see more of at this event. There is sometimes a rather sales floor mentality to this show with little thought given to displaying the bikes past making sure they are cleaned up. Sometimes there will be a placard talking about the bikes history but that is usually about as far as it goes.

The Rod Guy Parilla Gran Sport race bike was the second of the factory 250 prototypes. The bike won the HVA award, whatever that might might be

 I stumbled on to a conversation between two guys standing around a rare 1960 250 Parilla Gran Sport race bike. Turned out one of them was the owner Jon Jacobson. The original owner was a fellow named Rod Guy who was the person who invented the Zip Tie. The bike was the second factory 250 race prototype and was handbuilt at the Parilla factory. It was modified by Guy, Joe Rottigni of Cosmopolitan Motors and Tony Woodman and raced by Guy. When the bike came to Jacobson it had Zip Ties all over it which is usually a bad sign on a vintage bike but given the history of its original owner it was decided to leave them in place. The Parilla, which was in preserved original condition, sat uncovered in the rain the whole day, its leather seat soaked through.

 I had a nice talk with Scott Thibeault who has a shop specializing in BMW. He brought a beautiful Airhead that featured bodywork by metal master Evan Wilcox. The tank was amazing. Wilcox had done a lot of work to get that tank to look like a /5 toaster, but the bike was an homage to the factory RS54 race bikes.

I so regret not getting each and every one of these people’s names. I feel like I could be friends with with each of them. Such great humor in the face of adversity.

 As the day went on the judges went about their business and the rain and wind got heavier until eventually it was blasting. And still people were coming in the gate. I saw one fellow wearing no more than a sweat shirt and jeans with no hat or coat who walked in to the show about 3:00 in the afternoon in the pouring rain looking damned excited to be there. That’s the kind of passion these bikes can create. ( Ed. I swore I would never use the word passion in this article, or any other for that matter. It is the most over used, cliche word in motorsports journalism, but I could not think of another so please excuse me. It won’t happen again, probably.)

At some point I decided that I had had enough.

Soaked through and though, I walked outside the event to check out the bikes in the parking lot and a couple of guys on Suzuki Stingers went buzzing by in the rain. I tip my hat to you lads. I ended up in the Bring A Trailer tent where there were samovars full of hot coffee inexplicably being ignored by pretty much everyone. I had a pleasant time drinking coffee and talking small-bore Hondas with a couple of guys from the Bay-Area.

 Out of the rain with a warm coffee in my hands I took a moment to pay attention to the surroundings; the beauty of the Carmel valley and the chaparral covered hills looking down on the show, the fog flowing up the valley and the trees dripping with rain. I have always loved the Valley and especially in the rain. There is something magical and mysterious about it. You feel the march of history and time.

 I had breakfast at a local cafe earlier that morning and talked with the owner about the beautiful tattoo on his forearm. It turned out to be a portrait of the Mexican outlaw Tiburcio Vásquez who at one time used the Carmel valley to hide out. The Vásquez family had once owned all the land between Monterey and San Jose but with the coming of the gringos the family was dispossessed and turned out. Turned out, a fine euphemism for swindled out of their property by the Yankees.

 Under a tent out of the rain, looking up at the hills, I wonder what Vasquez, sitting under the trees watching the valley below, would have thought of these folks and their motorcycles braving the rain. Maybe he would have recognized some fellow iconoclasts, maybe not.

 It might have been somewhat of a letdown for some but the conditions did not dampen the enthusiasm and determination to have a good time for the people who brought their bikes to share and those who attended this year. And that is what made the 2024 Quail Moto event special.

 The Best of Show went to Vic World’s 1968 Honda CB750 factory prototype.