Bikers Rev Up for 16th ‘Love Ride’

OXNARD — There was no mistaking their arrival.

About 750 motorcycles roared into Oxnard’s industrial park Saturday with all the thunder of winter’s fiercest storm.

“I love that sound,” Oxnard motorcycle enthusiast David Burns shouted over several hundred racing engines. “Music, isn’t it?”

The bikes came to rest at the Vintage Museum of Transportation and Wildlife, marking the end of a ride that started in Glendale. The trek was a precursor celebration to today’s 16th annual Love Ride--a 50-mile caravan from Glendale to Castaic Lake expected to raise more than $1 million for the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. and for Reading By 9, a literacy program sponsored by The Times.

More than 3,000 people turned out to pay homage to the biking lifestyle. Most perused the museum’s collection of vintage cars, motorcycles and an eclectic array of stuffed wildlife--all the private collection of former Times Publisher Otis Chandler.

Crowds oohed and aahed over an array of flashy sports cars, including a silver 1991 convertible Corvette and a cobalt blue Porsche 911 trimmed in yellow and red pinstripes.

But, by far, the stars of Saturday’s event were the bikes--and the Harley-Davidsons in particular. They were everywhere, filling the museum and parking lots, and zooming up and down surface streets.

The proudest motorcycle owners entered their rides in a contest, in which large trophies were awarded in categories such as best antique bike and best custom design.

Al Hilberger of San Clemente beamed with pride as he talked about his 1926 army green Harley-Davidson--which more resembled an upscale scooter compared with today’s black-and-chrome monsters. The motorcycle was entered in the best antique bike category.

“I don’t show it for the trophy,” Hilberger said. “I show it so people can appreciate it, to see the look on their faces. . . . Needless to say, I love Harleys.”

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He loves them so much, he keeps the 1926 model in his kitchen, not the garage, for safe keeping. He hopes to buy two more, which he will park in the living room, he said.

“You have to have one for every room in the house,” Hilberger said.

David Hansen, owner of The Shop, a Ventura store specializing in American motorcycles, oversaw Saturday’s contest. Hansen admitted to owning 75 motorcycles himself, his favorite being a 1902 bike made by the now defunct Indian Motorcycle Corp.

“I was riding Indians when most everybody else was riding Harleys,” Hansen said with an air of rebellion.

But rebellion is part of what being a motorcycle buff is all about, he added.

“No matter what anyone says, it is great,” Hansen said. “You don’t even have to be rebellious. People just see you on a bike and they assume you are. They treat you differently.”

Hansen added that motorcycle riding is not as much about rebellion as it is about a sense of freedom that comes from feeling the rush of the wind while racing down the freeway.

“It’s got to harken back to the days of a horse ride in the Old West,” Hansen said. “When you are on your bike, there is just such a free feeling. . . . I tell you, it’s the closest thing to therapy. You have a bad day at work, just go home and ride your bike to the beach and back, and all of a sudden, everything’s OK.”

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And motorcycle riding is not just for bad boys anymore, added the event’s host. Many of those attending Saturday’s event were upper-middle class professionals who are equally at home in a suit and tie as a silver-studded leather jacket and helmet. There is even a term to describe this new sect of riders--RUBs, rich urban bikers.

“A lot of people here are doctors, lawyers,” Chandler said. “They can get on their bikes and be somebody they just can’t be during the work week.”

Motorcycle rider Chris Wakefield of San Jose said while he loved his bike and all the stereotypes that come with being a biker, for him, Love Ride is really about helping some children in need. Wakefield hit up enough friends and neighbors to sponsor him so he could contribute about $4,000 to the charity fund.

“I do love to ride,” Wakefield said. “So I thought, what could be better than to ride and help out some kids?”

At the conclusion of today’s event, all Love Ride participants who raised more than $200 will be eligible for a drawing. Grand prizes are a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and a new model truck designed by Ford and Harley-Davidson. The truck, which is not yet on the market, is estimated to be worth more than $30,000.