Saturday–Sunday, 11–12 Nov 2006
Dan’s pictures
Carl’s pictures;
Jerry Grainger writes…
So whose crazy idea was it to get up way too early on a rainy Saturday and ride nearly 300 miles through a downpour, just to see some crusty old bikes?
Well whoever it was managed to cajole four others into doing so too, and so it was that there were four bikes parked in the rain at OD’s Kitchin in Gilroy by about 8:30, with five riders, including a certain instigator, Dan Bockmier, riding a Duck (appropriately), George and Satchi Shoblo two-up on an Aprilia, Carl Tyler on a big BMW (he denies that it required any tug boats to haul out of his garage), and yours truly on the trusty Honda ST 1100. Thank the motorcycle gods for good rain gear, including my Sharper Image glove rain covers (plastic bags, but hey - my gloves stayed dry).
The rain however did not dampen our spirits, no, not ours. Sticking with #101 the whole trip, we made better time than anticipated, arriving around 2 pm at the Vintage Motorcycle Museum in Solvang. This is a private collection, displayed in a store front in a shopping mall, all of which happens to be owned by Virgil Elings, lock, stock, bandstand and motorcycles. It’s a really cool museum. http://www.motosolvang.com/
Contents include over 75 rare bikes (not all on display at once), from AJS to Whizzer, 1904 to 1990, and represent more countries than I’ll bet you could name as bike makers. Many of these are race bikes, including those raced by Elings and his sons in AHRMA vintage motocross and road racing. The back story on this fellow is that he came to UC Santa Barbara from M.I.T. to teach physics, but made just a ton of money on the side with his company Digital Instruments, and has now demonstrated one of the best ways imaginable to spend some of it, on an amazing collection of splendid machines, which he’s willing to share with us. The whole thing is in one large, well-lit and handsomely hardwood-floored display room, chock-a-block with bikes, separated only by enough space to walk around. No ropes, partitions or barriers of any kind, but of course, please don’t touch. We stashed our gear by the door and feasted our eyes for a couple of hours.
The place is only open on weekends, or by appointment, and costs a mere $5. Nearly every bike has a small sign, telling us interesting things about this particular machine. Many of them are low mileage originals, or one-of-a-kind racers. It is apparent that Elings has his own well-considered opinions about his bikes, and he expresses them cleverly and amusingly, such as his admiration for the BSA Gold Star as probably the best all-around motorcycle ever made, with his reasons for saying so (great street and sport capabilities, plus enormous success in so many kinds of competition).
Dan and Carl took many pictures, which I’m sure we’ll enjoy sharing. Dinner was in Solvang, a surreal “Danish” town, which is another story in itself.
The next morning, the Sunday Morning Breakfast Club, traveling chapter,
met for breakfast at the Big Sky Cafe, in San Luis Obispo, joined by
Jerry’s sister Jeanne Lemke and her husband Mark, of nearby Atascadero
(riding a Yamaha Matrix and a Suzuki Boulevard, respectively) , and
Dan’s friend Todd, a local Ducati Dharma rider and moto-journalist.
This breakfast venue would be worth visiting again, with a varied and
attractive menu.
As dismal as the weather was on Saturday, it was splendid for a November ride up the coast on Sunday, with blue skies, bright sun and excellent vistas. The Lemkes rode as far as Highways #1 and #41, and the original group made scenic stops along the Big Sur coastline, with a light lunch at Nepenthe, and special thanks to Dan. No gift boxes appeared, but the views were stunning, as always. North of Monterey, the Highway Patrol had Highway #1 blocked off, with traffic shunted onto Highway #156, which instantly became a lane-splitting mess for many miles. Once again, we rode alone. Whether this becomes an annual ride event remains to be seen, but it was an excellent way to spend the weekend, even if traffic conditions went down the toilet on the last leg. We probably can’t even blame Dan for that. Instead, I nominate Dan as The Man, for conceiving and planning a thoroughly enjoyable motorcycle excursion, with a wonderfully entertaining destination, and one definitely warranting a return trip. Thanks, Dan.
Dan’s pictures
