Welcome to the newest addition to the roguehawg.com web site called the Hawg Report. Here in the Hawg Report I will post a few pictures and cover some of the events which involve antique motorcycles such as swap meets and road rallies I get to attend during the year. Keep checking back because the swap meet season is always just around the corner. If you see me at a swap make sure you say hi and if you know of a swap meet that is not mentioned let me know. Just remember this ebay is great but the real back bone of our passion is the human contact and interaction found at a real swap meet.
The 40th annual Hanford Show and Swap Meet was once again put on by Bator International. We arrived on Friday around 6 pm, the evening before and most all of the vendors were already set up and there was a lot of business going on already. Tony and I quickly found our vendor space and got to work looking for antique motorcycle parts for sale. We put off setting up because, as is usual, a lot of the best deals are the night before or very early in the morning the day of the swap. We got to see a lot of old friends and meet new ones who have the same passion. The weather was perfect and the shopping and conversation went late in to the night. Most all of the vendors camp right at their spaces because the swap meet starts real early as in 6 am early. That is right the general public is coming through the gate at 6 am. I have to admit I was still in bed and had not even fired up the camp stove for coffee before making the first sale of the day. The traffic was fast and furious all morning and into the early hours of the afternoon. The vendor area covers, in my estimation, about 5 acres and there were at least 200 vendors there that day selling motorcycle parts of all vintages and manufacture. There was also a Motorcycle show going on during the day with some excellent examples of antique iron. This year's date for the Hanford Show and Swap is May 17, so mark your calendars and come on out to a real swap meet. See you there.
This is the premiere event of swap meet season which is sponsored by the AMCA with over 35 acres of vendor spaces and hundreds of purveyors of antique motorcycle parts this is definitely swap meet heaven. This is a great atmosphere, vintage movies are shown at night, vintage flat track racing on Friday night ,AMCA dinner is on Saturday night, workshops on different aspects of restoration of motorcycles, AMCA Motorcycle show, on site camping with showers available. I had so much fun there I almost forgot to set up my own booth. I did find a correct rear fender and gas tanks for my 1955 FLE there. I am definitely going to make this an annual trip. On Sunday a bunch of us loaded up and headed on over to Springfield Illinois for the Springfield Mile. I was in Motorcycle heaven. The dates for this year are August 29, 30 and 31, 2008. Stop by my booth and say hi.
If you get to go to the Davenport Swap meet you are only a little over an hour away from this fantastic museum which has over 200 motorcycles on display, and is home to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame and the last known, authentic Captain America Bike. For the meager price of $7.00 I spent the whole day from opening at 9 am to almost closing time, 5 pm completely overwhelmed with the numerous displays. The only time I left was to go get another memory stick for my camera because I had filled the first one up. The museum is right on Main Street in Anamosa so like they say, you can't miss it.
The year 2008 was the 40th year that fans of vintage motorcycles of all makes made the trek to the Central Valley community of Hanford, California to buy, sell and trade vintage motorcycles and those precious bits and pieces that are needed to keep their beloved antique motorcycles running and to breath life into many more projects waiting in barns, garages and shops. We arrived at the King County Fairgrounds on Friday May 16 around 2 pm to 106 degree temperatures, plenty of sunshine and fewer vendors then I had ever seen at a Hanford Swap Meet. The temperatures were devastating but what had really been devastating was the ever escalating gas prices at the pumps and it had seemed to have an effect on the number of vendors present. We saw a lot of the old, familiar die hard friends we had met over the years of doing the swap meet circuit. After setting up our vendor spot set up we took turns watching the booth, going on the hunt for precious parts needed for my two new knucklehead projects, swapping stories, information and good old fashioned, face to face, human interaction. This is something that you can not get on ebay. At a swap meet you can pick up the part, turn it over, feel it, ask the vendor about fitment, learn from his past experience and to get that elusive lead on a part that you have been searching for.
The swapping and fellowship went well past the lights out curfew and late into the night on Friday, but we all knew we would pay for it early Saturday morning. The gates open to the general public at 6 am at Hanford. So we rolled out of our sleeping bags, put the coffee pot on to cook and were pleasantly surprised to find that a lot of vendors had shown up after dark the night before or real early in the morning. There were now around 150 purveyors of antique motorcycles and parts for vintage iron. The motorcycle corral was filling up and entries for the motorcycle show were being polished, primped and photographed. One of these jewels was a 1927 Harley-Davidson Board Track Racer recently brought back to the USA from Australia by Glen Bator and reportedly valued at over $255,000.00 and possibly on it's way to the new Harley-Davidson Museum. Any price with that many zeros is definitely out of my league but it was a highlight of the day to see Glen Bator fire it up, go for a ride, run out of gas, fill it up with gas, fire it up again and ride around the fair grounds and out on to 10th Avenue. There was a original paint 1936 EL owned by Walt, which is reportedly the 8th oldest registered vin numbered knucklehead for sale for $95,000.00. Still too many zeros for me but it is cool to be able to see these pieces of rolling art up close and to hear them run. You can not get that at ebay. So get out to the next Vintage Swap Meet, join the AMCA to do your part to preserve our history, get your motorcycle out of the garage and ride it, don't hide it.
June 19 Dixon California was the destination of a whole lot of antique motorcycles and the enthusiast owners all bound for the Antique Motorcycle Club of America, Fort Sutter Chapter's National Show and Swap Meet which is held at the beautiful Dixon Fairgrounds located just 25 miles west of Sacramento just to the south of Interstate 80.The vendors started arriving late Thursday afternoon in temperatures approaching the 100 degree mark but despite the heat they began to set up their booths and display their antique motorcycle treasures that they were offering for sale or better yet trade. At an official AMCA Swap Meet vendors must be AMCA members and only sell antique motorcycles, parts and related items 35 years and older. This official policy is strictly enforced and helps to keep these events what I like to call a real swap meet not just another event that is clogged up with t shirts, sunglasses and the same old crap you see at every other motorcycle event. Since the vendor spaces are reserved for AMCA members only this swap meet has that homecoming feel to it where everybody knows everybody else no matter how far you have traveled. It seemed like we all had all just arrived, set up and started to do some shopping and swapping vintage parts when the announcement over the PA system came that the members of the Fort Sutter Chapter had a free BBQ going on for all of the vendors in one of the large convention buildings adjacent to the swap meet field. All of the vendors were treated to hamburgers, hot dogs, salads of many varieties, fresh cherries, cookies and all the rest of the ingredients that make up a good old fashioned family BBQ.
Friday morning dawned with clear blue skies and the promise of more high temperatures but this was the first official swap meet day and most booths were ready to go at 8 am. The vendor's booths were not the only thing to do here at the Dixon Swap meet. Throughout the day there were various technical seminars being conducted for show attendees on how to repair antique generators, vintage speedometers, gas tanks etc. At a AMCA swap meet you do not have to attend a technical seminar to gain some knowledge about your hobby. You will find that most of the vendors are happy to give you some much needed advice on what part fits what and what is correct for your application. Friday wrapped up with a very tasty tri tip BBQ Banquet for all AMCA members who wanted to attend for a mere $18.00.
Saturday morning brought more clear skies, warm temperatures, and more of a crowd coming through the gates to do a little shopping and swapping. There were even more technical seminars going on this morning in addition to a good old fashioned field meet going on in the south field with no motorcycle younger than 35 years old allowed. The winners of the field meet were D'Nell Krafton coming in at first and a tie between Mark and Vickie Milton for 2nd and 3rd. Also all of the riders were registering for the Longest Distance Ridden on a motorcycle 35 years or older. As luck would have it 3 friends from Washington State living within a few miles of each other took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Taking first place was Paul Anderson riding his 1950 Panhead 1,163 , Mike Boehike took second after riding his 1948 Panhead 1,142 miles and in 3rd was Bob Gage who had ridden 1,140 miles on his 1941 Knucklehead. That is what is great about these AMCA swap meets and show; you get to see the coolest old motorcycles out in the wind and the sunshine doing what they were built to do, being ridden.
By noon it was hot but the competition for the National Judging was even hotter. Entries in the show being judged for National Points have been meticulously restored, preserved or modified according to what was popular during their particular period of production with accessories available during that time. The owners of these motorcycles and the judges who do the scoring take this competition very, very seriously. But this kind of attention to the details keeps the standards quite high and you can take it to the bank if a motorcycle has been judged 100 points at a National AMCA Meet, it is as close as you can get without building a time machine and traveling back to the time that it was new and had just rolled off the production line. The winners of the Motorcycle Show were People's Choice Pat Taylor and his 1948 HD Bobber with Vickie Milton as the runner up with her 1949 Indian Arrow. Judged as the most unique in 1st place were Richard Morris and his 1912 Henderson and Paul Thomas coming in second with his 1917 HD Single. The Period Modified Class saw Leonard Miller coming in 1st place with his 1947 Knucklehead, 2nd place went to James Inman with his 1947 Knucklehead and 3rd place went to Pat Taylor with his 1948 Panhead. The oldest motorcycle in the show was a 1907 Curtis owned by Wes Allen, the Best Rat prize went to Oluf Olufson and his 1925 HD JD model and the Best Accessorized Award was taken by Mike Kane and his 1935 Indian Chief.
By late afternoon the shoppers had gone home to the air conditioning, the vendors were packing up for the journey home, and the Fort Sutter Chapter volunteers were busy cleaning up the fairgrounds. If you already love the sound of an antique motorcycle, have a vintage motorcycle or if you are curious about the history of the motorcycle then you should check out the AMCA web site at www.antiquemotorcycle.org where there is a complete schedule of their events for the entire year. But be sure you make plans to attend this great event next June. You do not want to miss this swap meet. Ride if you got 'em..