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PUT THE KICKSTAND DOWN AND STAY AWHILE |
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The 2008 40th Annual Hanford Vintage Swap Meet Hanford, California |
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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. |
