Vintage Bike Display

As a continuation of my post from last week I am posting up the other pictures I took of Bob Lanphere's Vintage Motorcycle Collection.

He has them displayed throughout his motorcycle showroom on both the first and second floor. According to the website he has been collecting over 40 years and the collection includes 150 motorcycles. 

Some of the bikes were back lit by the sun so I didn't take pictures of them at all, but here are the few I did take.

(1987 Wood-Rotax Flat Tracker)

(1975 Yamaha Flat Tracker and a 1965 CZ 250)

(1980 Honda CR125 R Elsinore)

(1971 Griuph "Greeves Frame/500 cc Triumph" and a 1970 Greeves Griffon MX)

(Unknown Honda on the left and a 1995 Honda Cub on the right)

(1976 Yamaha IT 400)

(1958 BSA Spitfire Scrambler and a 1956 BSA Road Rocker A10)

The BSAs were on an elevated platform on the showroom floor so one could actually get a good look at them.  The others are all up quite high.  He also has a two old Honda cars, Civics perhaps. Bob Lanphere also owns a pretty large Honda automotive dealership in Beaverton.

(Look at all the little Hondas in front of the cars)

That is it.  We wandered around for the better part of an hour.  Sitting on this new bike and that new bike.  All in all it was a pretty good day out, if you don't count traffic and people.

Oh, and have I mentioned our daffodils and crocuses (croci) are blooming?  Even the trees have decided it is time to bloom.

(Daffodils in the front yard)

(And the crocuses are blooming too)

Spring is just around the corner.

- Au Revoir

" Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night." - Ranier Maria Rilke

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The One Motorcycle Show - 2015

Last Saturday Troubadour and I woke up early and managed to get out of the house prior to 9 am headed to Portland to attend The One Motorcycle Show.

The last time we attended the show was two years ago.  We were going to attend last year, but over half a foot of snow put a stop to that idea.

The day started out foggy, but soon the sun was shining high.  Finding the show was a little tricky as the interweb listed two different locations.  We tried the first.  Not it. Luckily the other location was just a few blocks southwest of the first try.

The show runs Friday evening, all day Saturday, and all day Sunday.  It opened at 11 am on Saturday and we hoped that by being there shortly after opening we might beat the crowd.  Not even close.

Luckily we drove the Fiat so parking wasn't too hard to find a few blocks away.  As we walked towards the warehouse we saw a line-up out the door and all the way down the block.  Doh! Bikes were lining the streets even as we approached. I cheated and took this photo after we left the show so it doesn't show the line up.

(Site of the 2015 One Motorcycle Show)

We thought about leaving and trying later, but chose to stay since we were there, already found parking, and figured it wouldn't be any less busy later.  We also thought we'd have to deal with the drunks later on as beer is served.

We lined up in the queue and made our way inside.  The show was in an old warehouse and the bikes lined the perimeter and were also displayed randomly in the center.  Moto-inspired artwork hung on the walls and were for sale.

(Cool Scooter artwork)

We tried to get close enough to the show bikes to 'ooh' and 'aah' and get a few pictures, but it wasn't easy.

Here are a few of the pictures I was able to take. Normally they have a listing of bikes on their websites so I could share a little info about each bike.  Not this year, and I wasn't able to get close enough to see any of the identifying tags.  Luckily the interweb is a good source of information. I didn't identify all of them so you'll need to use your imagination on a few.   

(Super Rat's 2004 Yamaha WR450F)

(Super Rat's 2007 "Jigsaw" 998)

(Aaron Egging's 1923 Triumph T140)

(Lossa Engineering's 1977 Honda CB550)

(Front view of the CB550)

(Kick Start Garage's 1974 Honda CL 350 with skateboard)

(Huge metal press still in the warehouse)

We made one loop around, getting frustrated more and more by the minute.  We went outside into a fenced area and looked at the booths set up.  That is where we saw this cool bike and also this humongous rig.  Don't they look like they'd be fun?

(The Mercedes-Benz Unimog)

We decided to go back inside and make another loop to see if the crowd has dispersed a bit.  It seemed pretty much the same.  But with a little elbowing we managed to take a few more pics.

(Lance Forney's 1976 Yamaha RD400 named "The Belmont")

(Honda CB160)

All in all the show didn't seem as cool as it was two years ago.  To me the show seemed more crowded and the bikes were mostly raked out choppers rather than the inventive Icon Tiger 800 named  Dromedarii, the Ducati 998 named Menta, and other creative bikes from 2013.  Visit my post on the 2013 show HERE.

They did have custom painted helmets again this year.  One stood out to me among the others.

(Timebomb Kustoms' "Intergalactic" Helmet) 

Not sure if we will return next year.  I'm thinking not.

Back outside we decided to wander down the street a bit and check out the bikes ridden to the show.  

A few stood out.

From the show we headed to Back to Eden Bakery, an all vegan/gluten-free eatery. We don't normally eat gluten-free on a regular basis, but they have good treats and actual vegan soft-serve ice cream.  We purchased a few treats to go and a small ice cream cone each to hold us over until lunch.

In heavy early afternoon traffic, we made our way to the west side of Portland to Bob Lanphere's Beaverton Motorcycles and to Sweet Lemon Vegan Bistro for lunch.  Beaverton motorcycles sells several different makes of new bikes as well as used.  The upper portion of the walls on both floors are lined with Bob Lanphere's personal collection of restored vintage bikes.  More fun than the show and the bikes were cooler too. Did I mention it was less crowded?  Here is a sample....

(1984 Yamaha RZ350 - Kenny Roberts replica)

(1968 Honda Z-50 Mini Trail Roadster - Big Bore Engine)

Stay tuned, the rest of the vintage collection pics to come in a follow-up post next week.

- Au Revoir

" Instead of complaining that the rosebush is full of thorns, be happy that the thorn bush has roses." - Proverb

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New Moto-Blogger Welcome

Everyone, please give a warm moto-blogger welcome to Don and Karla.  

They have started a new moto-blog titled Two Vegans on Two Wheels and reside in sunny Bend, Oregon (site of the IMBC 2010).

Please take a few minutes and stop by their blog and say hello.  Click ---> LINK to visit their blog. 

(Don and Karla - Two Vegans on Two Wheels)

- Au Revoir

"  Today, give a stranger one of your smiles.  It might be the only sunshine he sees all day." - quotes in PS I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

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Dirty Pictures.....

......of the two-wheeled variety.  Yes, actual motorcycle content.

Last Sunday, Polar Bear stopped by our house promptly at 7:30 am while the valley was slumbering under a blanket of thick fog.  It was a balmy 44˚F (6.66˚C), but it wasn't raining. We were off to Browns Camp Off Highway Vehicle Area.  For a trail map click ---> LINK.

We, and by we I mean Troubadour and Polar Bear, loaded up the bikes onto the trailer and we were on the road by 8 am. 

(Corvallis to Brown's Camp, 117 miles or 188 km)

Two hours later we arrived at Browns Camp to clear skies and a drop in temperature to 38˚F (3.33˚C).  The gate to the main staging area was closed so people were parking where they could. As Polar Bear was backing into a spot he started laughing almost maniacally.  Apparently he caught sight of my TW in his side view mirror.

Did I mention the roads were muddy once we left the highway?

This is my bike before I'd even had a chance to sling a leg over, just as it was when it rolled off the trailer.

(One muddy Yamaha)

As we all put our gear on and checked the trail maps we decided it would be best to stay on some gravel roads and a power line road for a while since I hadn't been on the TW since we were at Huckleberry Flats last year.  This was also my first ride with the new Fox mx boots.  Luckily Troubadour had adjusted the shifter so I could get my toe under it.

We tootled around on gravel roads, up this way and down that way.  Over a little loose gravel, packed mud, and rock strewn roads.  I was having fun, but was quite nervous on the steeper downhill rocky areas.  On the way up I could just roll on the throttle and the TW would climb up like a goat scenting blackberry bushes at the top.  But what goes up must come back down.

After about 2 hours we headed back towards the truck to take a break for lunch.  Polar Bear took off on one of the trails to give his Fantic trials bike a little work out.  We managed to beat him back to the truck and trailer by 10-15 minutes.  Note to self - don't get separated from the guy with the keys to the rig.

It was 1 pm and there was still a chill in the air.  There was never a time when we couldn't see our breath.  How does one dress for riding in those temps?  Well for someone who doesn't like to layer clothes I had a surprising amount of layers on.  For the bottom:  32˚Heat long underwear, yoga pants, knee high motocross socks, knee pads, mx pants, and mx boots.  For the top:  32˚Heat long sleeved thermal shirt, short sleeved active shirt, heavy cotton sweat shirt, RXR inflated chest/back protector, elbow pads, and my mx jersey.  I also had a buff around the neck and my winter riding gloves.  Luckily Troubadour has installed heated grips on the TW, but I only used them for the first 20 minutes or so.  I can't say I was ever cold until we stopped for lunch.

I felt bad that the guys hadn't really been out on any trails yet, but figured with all the mud they might be a little above my skill level.  I volunteered to stay back at the trailer and drink hot tea while the guys headed out to play.  Polar Bear's Fantic was giving him some electrical issued so he took off on the TW to really give it a work out.

About an hour later they returned with big smiles on their faces.  It was after 3 pm and time to think of loading the trailer once again.  I was stuffing gear into the gear bag in the truck when I looked out and saw Polar Bear contemplating how he wanted to load the bikes for the drive home. I couldn't resist one last picture. (Since I didn't have a pocket to take it with me on the actual ride)

(A contemplating Polar Bear - that is his Fantic hiding behind the tree)

We arrived home at 6:30 pm. Knackered but spirits were high.  

I haven't had a chance to take the bikes out into the sunshine this last week for pictures. Damn job gets in the way.  But, I did manage a few pictures in the garage this morning just to show how the bikes looked after riding in the mud.

(Right side of the TW200)

(Left side of the TW200 - got muddy on the way down the mountain too)

(Troubadour's XT250)

(Not as muddy since it was on the passenger side of the trailer)

(Finally got my new boots dirty - looks like I needed to hit more puddles though)

It has taken me a week to finally write-up this post.  Work has been super busy and the last thing I've wanted to do in the evening was stare at another computer.

Troubadour is teaching his first Team Oregon class of the year this weekend so I have a bit of time on my hands.  He had a dry day yesterday, but of course it is raining today.  

But then.... it is Oregon.

And before I forget, thank you for driving Andy!!

- Au Revoir

" There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud." - Carl Sandburg

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