Yesterday (Sunday, August 9th) my wife and I rode the Triumph eastward over to see the Norton Show. About a 1.5 hour ride through some nice country roads, so not bad at all.
Hot, hot, hot... 98 degrees here yesterday, extremely muggy and humid. Great riding, just don't stop!
Arrived at 11:00. Show was 9:00 am to 2:00 PM.
Fantastic. There were a dozen or so old Nortons, one 1953 Vincent (I think this is the same one you always see at the Cycle World Show in February). Triumphs, BSA's (Bsa Victor 441!), a few stray Yamaha's from the 70's (Classic? Hmmm.), etc. A beautiful "53 Triumph Thunderbird in Light Blue.
Also... two fantastic old 1950's BMW's with the coolest OEM sidecars you could imagine. Bright red paint, sort of an 'Art Deco" look, and 100% immaculate.
One Swedish bike, and a very odd '50's Harley Motor Scooter with sidecar. Very Unique. Lot's of real and also some replica Cafe racers style bikes, and about three Triumph 70's style choppers (ugh!)
Sadly, it was EXTREMELY hot, so we kind of rushed through the show, then sought shelter inside the Air Conditioned Harley Dealership (Zylstra's, St. Charles Illinois). Oddly, they were open Sunday. In Illinois, we have what's called a "Blue Law", that prohibits selling motor vehicles on a Sunday. Sort of a religious / puritanical thing I think. Not 100% sure.
Anyway, maybe you can be open, but you just can't sell any vehicles until Monday? We looked around, and WOW. There is not one single bike in the showroom for under $18,000. Most are $21,000 and up. Granted, these are all gussied up chrome queen, accessory laden bikes, but wow. One was $33,499... for a bike!
Back to reality, we noticed - and I mentioned this in a previous post - that the dealership was absolutely packed to the rafters, hundreds of people, and all the women (and... many men!) had shopping bags full of HD clothing, accessories, etc. These dealers are very savvy. Good on 'em for having the sense to allow shows - British Bike shows at that! - to "bring 'em in", and sell a couple a Thou worth of trinkets on a Sunday. Smart.
Bad news? No pics. We actually had the camera in my tank bag, but it was so bloody hot and uncomfortable, we kind of rushed through the ogling of the bikes part. My wife is not a real fan of the vintage bikes, maybe a 25% interest factor? So 'note to self', next time I'll go with my son's, or solo.
There were about 6 or 7 new Hinckley Triumph's in the parking area, which is actually the first time I've actually seen a Hinckley Triumph Bonneville in public 'round here since March of 2007 when I bought this one. I can see plenty up in Southern Wisconsin by my dealers and on various runs, but never here in illinois. This is "Harley Country" for sure. Must be something in the water.
Worth mention: There were also about a dozen newer Harleys lined up in the show for some reason. Now, I love bikes, love gawkin' at 'em, but...
Seems like Harley competition is all about "who has the most accessories"? I mean - what creativity does it take to purchase and have installed various hardbag guards, trunk lid luggage racks, aditional lighting kits, etc. Also - to me - at what point do you just chuck it all and buy a small convertible top car? Most of these big dressers have more comfort accessories and doo-dads than my Miata!! I can easily see the Automatic Transmission coming very soon.
Great show, beautiful old vintage bikes. Boring Harleys. Good people. Over-priced expensive gaudy, silly new Harleys to muse over.
A Grand Day Out.
Ride Safe!
Harley Davidson Business IQ
