VINTAGE BIKE OC NEWS

Huntington Beach, Calif. - A perfect February afternoon in HB today. At the official start of the meet, 2:00pm, we already had 38 bikes in the lot. By 4:00pm, the official count was 94 bikes. Four bikes were in hot competition for the Bike of the Month contest.

Motozania.com Helmet Prize
Tim Kuglin of www.Motozania.com, came to the meet today with his own Bike of the Month prize. Tim chose his favorite bike from the group, a custom 1969 BSA 650 Lightning was his bike of choice. Tim awarded the owner with a brand new full face helmet. Motozania is a social networking site for motorcyclists of all types with thousands of members. Tim has long been a supporter of Vintage Bike OC.

Bike of the Month Hot Contest
We had a great contest for Bike of the Month. More than 70% of the votes went to four bikes. We had one clear winner and a three-way tie for second place. This is a first for us.

First place went to Phil Tabor of Marina Del Rey for his 1980 Moto Martin CBX. This bike is likely to be the only one of it's kind in the country. Phil told me that Jay Leno would like to add this bike to his personal collection, and that he has recently communicated with Georges Martin the original builder from France. I have no doubt, this exotic superbike is truely rare. Phil was awarded a $20.00 gift certificate to Beach Burgers, compliments of Beach Burgers and The Scooter Solution of Fountain Valley.

Three-Way Second Place
We've never had a tie, let alone a three-way tie, but it happened today. All three of these bikes could have easily won Bike of the Month on any other day. Today they had stiff competition.

1969 Moto Guzzi Ambassador
Ryan O'Neil of Huntington Beach brought his military themed 1969 Moto Guzzi Ambassador to the meet today. Ryan restored the bike in 2008 and decided to go with military green. The 750 badged bike has a bored engine that's now 1000cc.

1972 Harley Davidson 125 Rapido
Tony Colombini brought his Aermacchi Italian built 1972 Harley Davidson 125 Rapido today. Tony built this bike with his son. A very unique custom job. Mostly original, except for a bobbed rear fender, taillight and seat.

1951 Velocette Mac 350cc Single
Mike Jongblood (Mr Velocette) of Huntington Beach doesn't even know he won. I didn't get a chance to talk to Mike today, but his recently finished 1951 Velocette Mac 350cc Single also tied for second place. This is at least the second time one of Mike's Velocettes has placed. Mike won February 2010 Bike of the Month with his 1963 Velocette Venom.

A special thanks again to Debbie and Tom Hopkins for helping with the voting ballots and Brian Tink Tinkler for shooting many fine photos. Thanks to everyone for showing up and making this another great event. I'll see you again on March 11, 2012.

Keep On Ridin',
Joe Kagerer