Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126638
....... ....... 'A quick tour around the display grounds at Hanford rewarded the astute cyclophile with a variety of sights and sounds-all good . You could see everything from better-than-showroom-clean Indians (top right) to early-model ;Excelsiors that had benefited from hours with the polishing rag (above far left). Some of the more-pleasing sounds em anat ed from Dick James' 1966 Matchless (above right) and Michael Green 's 1929 Sunbeam (above far right). By David Edwards HANFO RD, CA, AP R. 23-24 You say yo u're ti red of fancy q uartz LED rea do u ts that politely inform yo u what gear . yo u ,re In . Y o usa y yo u "reure d 0 'f Star W ars . h In stru m en t pane1stat 100 k I'1k e t h ey w o u ld ld be more at home in Nick's Video Arcade th a n o n the fro n t of a , . I mo torcyc. e. You say you re tired o f pl asti c-ch rome doo-dads, tired of acce nt decals instead of real. pai nt p ins tripes a nd tired of ex haust notes that are socially acceptable but have no so ul. You say sophistication is fine but you 're tired of shelling out 5100 for your new wonderbike's tuneupand why can't they build 'em like they used to? Is that you r problem , bunky? Wellthen;you should have been in the sleepy centra l Calfiornia town of Hanford a co u p le of weekends ago for the Classic an d Antiq ue Mo tor cycle Associa tion's 16th a n n ua l show a nd ra lly. T he re yo u co u ld h ave sippe d o n a beer and m u nc he d do wn a ho t dog as yo u stro lled casually among an audio and visual smorgasbord of so me of motorcycli ng's most important milesto nes . And yo u wou ldn 't have found a federall y mandated 85-mph speed . orneter in the bunch. Valance-fendered Indians.turn-ofthe-century Harleys, pristin e Club- man Gold Star s, a brigade of deepbla.ck Vin cents, c;obby Manx Nortons, Triumphs ranging fro m me ek Cubs to Bu ck Ro g ers-s tyled Tridents, torpedo-tan ked Brough Superiors, Excels iors, Flying Mer kels, T hors. They were all there, rest ing on th e grass of picturesque Courthouse Square, between the beautifull y reo stored 1924 Ha n ford Auditorium and the Bast ill e, at o ne time the ci ty's jail, now a pleasant sidewalk cafe. If yo u got tired of looking at the machinery on display, then you could have watched the judges as they scrutinized each of the en tries, trying to pick the winners in several different classes. Pokin g , prodd ing, h em m ing and haw in g , they made terse scribbles o n th eir clipboards before m ovin g do wn th e li ne to assess another of the 200. pl us ent ries. Wh en all the di scussions were over , th •e Best in Sh ow a wa rd went to Ste ve I ' Nicholas and h is immacul ate maroon a nd ch ro me 1954 Ariel Square Four. Bought for $ 1000 three years ago, th e Ari el's engine was a " d isas ter" a nd a lth o ugh th e bike was fairly co rn pl et.e, it still needed a lot of night and -- -- - -- - - ---~~ weekend work' to bring it to its current sh ow-win n ing co ndi tio n. ' 'I' m am azed," sa id a srn il in g Ni ch ola s aft er th e awa rd s cerem o n y. " I rea lly can' t believe it , there ar e so many n ice bik es here. I'm very happy. It took a lot of work a nd a lot of help from a whole bunch o f peo pl e, but it was wo rt h i t." Nicho las'wifeDeanne,whohelped out with th e Ari el' s restoration and h as h er own classic, a 1964 T riu m p h T-100, joked that the bik e's good sh ow in g wa s made possible by " th e ' 300 dinners I serv ed out in th e garage." O n a more serious note, she said, " Steve wo rked very ha rd on the bike. It's rea lly n ice to see people appreciate hi s work. He kept saying he didn 't h ave a cha nce to win , but I kn ew." Nich ol as, who became interes ted in restorations wh en h e fixed up his Father's 1940 Ar iel , was asked later if h e would ever sell ' the '54 model. After a th oughtful pause, he replied, " No I don't think so . And if I ever did, it would be to a special person and not just For th e bucks." • Results BEST CLA SSIC: St eve Nicho las . 1954 Ar ie l Square Four. Runner-up : Ralph Harmon. 1935 Rudge Special. BEST ANTIOUE: Don Herr el. 193 9 BSA M20. Runn er-up: Ralph Harmon . 193 5 Rudge Special. BEST MO DERN CLASS IC: Don Harrel. 1966 Matchless. Runn er-up: David New . 1969 Triumph Trident . er~:;T SIDECAR: Will iam Barhkam. 1929 Hend BEST ROAD RACE COM PETITION : Michael Gr~~STlgf:TSCO~;~1TI0N: .... _ . .... -. Matchless GB5CS. Dick James . 1966 31 '/ l .