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/128637
51 et: Del Mar C o n c o u rs d' E legance The 1970 Champion-framed Yamaha 750 Half -rn iler ridden by Eddie Law son du ri ng h is 1976 Junio r year was displayed next to a Honda 750 Dirt T rac k er . Betw een an In d i a n and a Sears sat a bea utifully restored Ace. A whole circle of vintage Husqvarnas, a pair of Vincent Bl a c k Shadows , 1952 and a sta ble of '50's era Ariels. No doubt fo r many, th e sight of a particu lar old motorcycle br o ught bac k memo ries of another ti me and p lace. In th e Vend o r m all area , many well -kn own nam es in th e moto rcycle indus t ry were rep resented (as well as a n um be r of lesser known vendors) . You co u ld ponder th e p urchase of an exo tic custom m ot o rc ycl e worth ha lf a yea r's salary or just go for a T-shi rt STORY AND P HOT OS BY D OUG K A RCHER DEL MAR, CA, OCT. 7 it u at ed on t he Pacific coastline some 20 miles n or th of San D ieg o , the grand and spacious Del M ar Fairg rou nd s was th e setting for th e 51 st runnin g of the Del Ma r Mile and C on c ou r s d' E l e g a n c e . Th e w ee k end fea tu re d a fant a sti c bike sho w , Vend or Mall a nd Sw ap Mee t along wi t h two d ays o f moto rc y cl e raci ng and ex hibi t ions. Saturd a y da w ne d w ith sl i g h tly o ve rcas t skies . A t th e C on c o u r s S d 'El eg an c e , v inta g e bi k es of eve ry im ag ina b le m ak e an d ye ar wer e o n d is play in th e cl ubhouse courtya rds . 34 NOV EMB ER 1 .2000 ' eye I e n e vv s at the $ 5 table . There were new Kawasakis that looked l ik e old Tri umphs . T h ere were n ew Triumphs that loo k ed like o ld T rium phs. There was the Feuling W3 wh ich looked like a Ducati with an extra cylinde r in the mi ddle (or a H a r l ey w ith an extra c y lind er in front, depending on your persuasion) . T h ere was a T r iu m p h Triple-powered Bo nnevill e Stream lin er alo ngside the 3 -w heeled, m otorcycle engine- powered Me rl in at th e Co rb in disp lay , and abundant V-Twin -p ow ered cruisers . Between lo o k in g at d isp la ys an d eating fro m the m any food offerings , there were Freestyle MX dem onstra tions and the "Ball of St eel" , an eightfoot dia meter sphe r ical steel cage wi th a trap doo r thro ugh which t wo young X R70 -mounted d a r e d e v il s wo uld e nte r one a t a ti me . O nc e inside they wo uld ride loop-de-loops in every d irecti on , eve n two up at one poi nt. Ki nd of ma k es you diz zy just watch in g th em . But soo ne r o r la ter, the sou nd of m ot orc ycles practi cing and qu alifying f or th e m il e a nd shor t t rac k wo u ld rem ind you wh y yo u were th ere, and yo u would make your way to a seat in th e spacious Main Grandstands, or to th e nearby show aren a, for th e Sk ip Van Leeuwen Short Track, where th e racing we nt on into the night. A relax ing way to spe nd a Saturd ay before Sunda y's m ain eve nt. eN