VINTAGE BIKE OC NEWS

Huntington Beach, Calif. - I think the threat of rain scared some people off today, but as usual the second Sunday was near perfect weather. It started off a little slow, and we had a bunch of cages in the lot that refused to move, but when all was said and done 69 people brought their bikes out today. In contrast to last month when we had 70 bikes at 2:00pm.

June Lee says hi to all!
Most of you know June Lee of Beach Burger who hosted our meet for five years. Al Haskell (Bike of the Month winner June 2009) has been in touch with June and today had a great update. June is working part-time in her business, taking art classes and active in her church. She is enjoying good health and her more relaxed lifestyle. Thanks Al for the update, I know many of you want to know.

Bike of the Month
We had three clear winners for Bike of the Month today. All three something in common. Today was the first time each bike was at the meet and they have only been in their owner's possesion for a short time. But that's where the similarities end. Like last month we had a lot of great bikes today and the battle for Bike of the Month was close for the top two spots. Most of the votes went to these two bikes.

First Place
Luan Nguyen of Huntington Beach won Bike of the Month with his 1972 Custom TR6 Triumph "Atom Bomb". Luan won a Mr. Pete's Grill gift certificate. This wild custom is Luan's first road bike. He told me that he grew up riding dirt bikes as a kid, and found this bike back in November he just had to have it. Built by Clay Rathburn of Atom Bomb Motorcycles in Richmond Virginia, Luan bought this bike as is. Read all about the "Atom Bomb" on our Bike of the Month page.

Second Place
John Mozley of Newport Beach came in Second place with his nearly 100% original 1975 Yamaha RD250. John has only owned this bike for about a month. He bought it off EBay from Reno Nevada. It was stored for 32 years dry in the desert and is nearly perfect. He did confide in me that the side cover decals were yellowed so he replaced those to make it perfect. John has been coming to our meet for years, in the past he rode a 1975 Honda CB450F Supersport, and took another second place back in April 2014 with his 1972 Yamaha CS5200E two stroke. This bike has replaced them both.

Third Place
Tony Barrett of Costa Mesa took Third place with his beautifully restored 1975 Yamaha MX400B. Tony should get extra points for being the only one who restored his bike. A great "before" photo is in the gallery showing the condition he bought it in back in October. Tony has been coming to our meet for years and usually rides his custom 1998 Honda XR650L. I always get a shot of his Honda — another of my favorite bikes.

Thanks to everyone for showing up and making this another great event and a special thanks to my team, Tom & Debbie Hopkins, Hobo John and Brian "Tink" Tinkler. I'll see you next month on May 8, 2016.

Keep On Ridin',
Joe Kagerer