The annual Quail Motorcycle Gathering convenes this weekend
Eight years ago Gordon McCall started the Quail Motorcycle Gathering, an upscale biker event meant to mimic the automotive-themed Quail Motorsports Gathering that accompanies the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
That was 2008, when the economy tanked, the bottom fell out of the motorcycle market and total U.S. bike sales fell by almost half.
In the midst of the downturn, McCall gathered 70 rare and vintage motorcycles -- a certain percentage from his own collection -- and drew 900 visitors to the one-day event.
“It was not a great year, and we started off slow and sleepy,” the veteran rider and enthusiast recalled. “We had 900 people, and we were happy.”
Last year, though the motorcycle industry was still struggling to return to pre-2008 sales levels, McCall hosted 340 bikes and their owners and drew more than 2,500 visitors.
This weekend, when the event returns to Carmel, he’ll show about 400 motorcycles, and might attract more than 3,000 guests.
It’s Pebble Beach for motorcycles.
— David Christian, motorcycle collector
The Quail has become one of the West Coast’s premiere motorcycle events, and has become a must for American enthusiasts.
“It’s Pebble Beach for motorcycles,” said David Christian, an avid car and bike collector attending this year for the second time.
“It’s a really important event, and the best cross-section of motorcycling that you can see in one place -- certainly in California, and maybe in the country,” said Mark Hoyer, editor of Cycle World magazine.
Produced in partnership with the Peninsula hotel chain, the eighth annual gathering now looks profitable, McCall said. Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki are participating sponsors. So are the helmet company Shoei, the apparel makers Cortech and Tourmaster, Cycle World and the motorcycle tour company MotoQuest.
A single ticket to the day-long show costs $75, and comes with a catered barbecue lunch. For $295, more committed riders get entry to a cocktail reception on Friday, the Saturday show, catered lunch, dinner and the chance to join a 100-mile loop known as the Quail Ride.
That rally-style event, held the day before the Gathering, includes a lap around the famed Laguna Seca raceway and is limited to 100 participants. McCall said those slots were sold by last December.
This year, entrants will pay $150 per bike to compete for prizes in 15 categories that range from the obvious (British, Italian, BMW Classics) to the off-beat (Extraordinary Bicycles, Competition Off-Road) and the unusual (Scooter, Chopper).
Hoyer said that’s part of what makes the event special.
“Gordon embraces every facet -- early American bikes, restored bikes, choppers,” he said. “It’s really a world-class show.”
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