VINTAGE BIKE OC NEWS

Huntington Beach, Calif. - Wow, what a meet! We had a rocky start on a hot August afternoon with a several cars in the lot taking up prime real estate. By 2:10 all the cars were gone but one and we had 23 bikes in their place. It was a mix of motorized bicycles, real motorcycles and some electrified replicas. A fantastic mix of interesting rides. The official count was 41, but people were dropping quick so we ended a little early.

BAM: Breakdown and Legal Assistance for Motorcyclists
Vanessa, our So Cal Marketing Representatives for Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys were available today to promote their BAM program. Learn more about it at: www.RussBrown.com

Vanessa also helped save the day with her Russ Brown pop-up, giving us a bit of a respite from the hot August sun.

As I mentioned above, we had quite the variety of two wheeled vehicles on display today. If you didn't like this one, don't bother coming back... Just kidding, please come back, but it was a fantastic meet.

Motorcycles, Not Bicycles!
Sean Ewing showed up early on a Yamaha bicycle. I believe it was a proto-type from the early 1990's of a unique shaft-drive system. Baird Bergenthal who is usually on something small rolled in on a Phillips English Racer with a two-stroke bolted to the bottom bracket. Shortly after Chuck Popsik and Geoff Web came in on two Whizzer's.

Eastern Germany Represents
An East German brand that I've never seen, and we've never had at the meet was here today. Ludger Hilvert of Laguna Niguel brought his 1996 MZ Skorpion Sport. The Skorpion was built in what was East Germany, but is powered by a Yamaha 660cc Single 4-stroke.

The Blaty Brothers
The Blaty Brothers of Huntington Beach were out in force today. There were four of them, but three of them brought bikes worthy of a mention. Kevin placed with his Honda and Tom and Bill both drew a crowd with their Electric Board Track Replicas. Bill has had his 1913 Indian here before, but Tom just finished his 1915 Cyclone.

I'm not sure what John rode today, but he won Bike of the Month back in December 2009 with his 1969 Sears SR124

Bike of the Month - Bob Primmer

Chet and Bob Primmer of Corona Del Mar with their 1948 Triumph Grand Prix

Congratulations to Bob Primmer of Corona Del Mar for winning Bike of the Month with his 1948 Triumph Grand Prix.

Chet and Bob always bring something nice from their family collection. Bob is proud to be the "care taker" of these vintage masterpieces.

This is the fifth time they have won Bike of the Month:
March 2025 1936 Velocette KSS 500cc Custom
January 2025 1954 Simplex Servi-Cycle
September 2024 1938 Zundapp K800
August 2024 1941 BMW R12

Read all about his 1948 Triumph Grand Prix on our Bike of the Month page.

Second Place - Kevin Blaty

Kevin Blaty of Huntington Beach with his 1965 Honda Super 90.

Congratulations to Kevin Blaty of Huntington Beach for winning Second Place with his 1965 Honda Super 90.

I forgot to find out how long Kevin has owned the Super 90, but I'm sure he did the full restoration.

Third Place - Chuck Popsick

Chuck Popsick of Costa Mesa with his 1952 Schwinn Whizzer.

Congratulations to Chuck Popsick of Costa Mesa for winning Third Place with his 1952 Schwinn Whizzer.

This may have been Chuck's first time at the meet. His Whizzer was built by Geoff Webb who was also at the meet. Painted like Captain America and named the Harley David-Schwinn. It has an Koehnke overhead cam Whizzer engine.

Honorable Mention - Tom Blaty

Tom Blaty of Huntington Beach with is 1915 Cyclone Board Track Replica.

Honorable Mention goes out to Tom Blaty of Huntington Beach who built this 1915 Cyclone Board Track Replica.

This build took Tom a year and he just finished it in April, 2026. The bike started with a Worksman Frame and the replica engine is all hand fabricated in aluminum.

The tank is a carbon fiber shell that houses the batteries.

Honorable Mention - Bill Blaty

Bill Blaty of Huntington Beach with his 1913 Indian Board Track Replica.

Honorable Mention goes out to Bill Blaty of Huntington Beach who built this 1913 Indian Board Track Replica.

A similar build to Tom's, Bill completed the Indian more than a year ago. The tank is a steel reproduction, and the builder cut it in half so that the batteries could be clam-shelled inside.

Both of these replica's share several off the shelf parts, such as the front forks, but projects like these take months of research finding period correct parts.

Bill also won Bike of the Month back in January 2010 with his 1968 Hodaka H100

Thanks to everyone for showing up and making this another great event. Thanks to John Zindler for helping with the voting this month.

Next month's meet is, September 13, 2026. I'll see you all there.

Keep On Ridin',
Joe Kagerer