Classic Bike Show, Spencer, NC (May 2, 2009)

Rode out to Spencer,NC this morning with my friend Phil. I did not think we were going as I woke this morning to a 50% rain chance, some sprinkles, and a black sky. In fact I had called a few off; and a few said they were getting ready to tell me they were not going due to the weather. I did not have Phil's number though, and also Randy was going to ride to the meeting point at Ride Now from SC, so I rode there. Randy did not show up, but Phil did. As he said, "if it rains we will turn back". I had rain gear, really wanted to go, so said what the hell, and off we went. Started the ride from RideNow in Concord, NC heading down to Old Concord/ Salisbury Road. One of my favorite roads with a lot of twists and turns, past farms and fields.Got to the show about 11, and was pleased to see a lot of motorcycles there. The Indian seen at top was started for us. The BMW in the middle was (I was told) ridden to Myrtle Beach a few times "back in the day"and struggled to make 70mph, and the old Triumph below was one of many classics of British engineering. There were a lot of Triumphs, also many BMWs, some BSA's, Nortons, and some Italian Moto Guzzis there.
As for Japanese bikes, many classic Hondas were on hand, and I also enjoyed the two cycles. I saw a Yamaha RD-250, and a Kawasaki 500 triple. Many of the classic four cycles were also there, among them a factory Suzuki rotary engined bike. Too many great bikes to name, but will be posting more photos of those bikes on my Flickr Page in the next few days (a link to that is in my links page).
Enjoyed the tour of the museum. The show was held on the grounds of the NC Transportation Museum which was a working rail yard, and has a great collection of aircraft, trucks, cars, more motorcycles, and especially trains. Most of the trains are in running condition, and they have train rides available each day the museum is open.
Anyhow, we left about 12:30. By that time the skies were clearing, and as I write this at 5pm, it is still beautiful outside. It turned out to be a really remarkable day.
I also while at Ride Now saw some interesting new bikes, including the new Suzuki Gladius which is the replacement for the legendary SV-650. I will be posting those photos to Flickr also over the next few days, and those bikes will be the theme of another post soon!