#QuailMotorcycleGathering

Upcoming Motorcycle Events: April 24 – May 22

Upcoming Motorcycle Events: April 17 – May 15

Upcoming Motorcycle Events: April 10 – May 8

The Quail Motorcycle Gathering, now in its ninth year, has become famous around the world for its incredible display of historic motorcycles. Held on the lush lawn of the Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Carmel, California, the event included more than 350 lust-inducing vintage and custom motorcycles.

The 9th Quail Motorcycle Gathering took place last weekend, and I was finally lucky enough to attend for the first time. Despite the cold weather, the event more than lived up to my hopes, even if I only had two hours to wade through 350 motorcycles. Our stringer, Geoff Drake, covered the event and the winners that were chosen by people who are experts about historic motorcycles, so you should definitely check that out. This article includes my subjective favorites from the Quail, purely the result of my quirky mechanical tastes. So, let’s see what tickled my fancy.

The Quail Motorcycle Gathering on May 6 included more than 350 drool-worthy vintage and custom motorcycles, from Italian tiddlers to full-on race bikes, arrayed on the green grasses of the Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Carmel, California. All this eye candy was fawned over by around 3,000 people – record attendance for the nine-year-old event. It was enough to warm the heart of any gearhead.

The Quail has announced details of its 2017 event, which you can read in its press release below. It reminded us of the time the MO crew was able to attend in 2012, and we were blown away by the incredible machinery spanning a century of Motorcycle evolution. We produced several videos that year, and you can see them in the link above. Since then, we’ve had great contributors provide us full reports of the 2014, 2015, and 2016 events. If you’re on the fence about going in 2017, we doubt you will be after checking out the past reports and the video below. Here’s the official press release: 

In the pantheon of vintage motorcycle shows, the Quail Motorcycle Gathering is a little like your neighborhood block party. Part Concours d’Elegance, part custom show and part biker bash, it’s a place where a hardtail chopper with springer forks sits happily alongside an impeccable Manx Norton. Vincents, Velocettes, and boutique customs share the grassy expanse with a newly introduced Yamaha XSR900 in retro Kenny Roberts livery.

The seventh-annual Quail Motorcycle Gathering is in the books, with another record turnout. Although the Carmel Valley temps were cool and skies overcast, a couple thousand of the faithful eyeballed more than 350 machines on the golf course. The featured marques this year were Military Vehicles, Formula 750 roadracers and a variety of Choppers, believe it or don’t.

Now in it’s sixth year, the Quail Motorcycle Gathering just gets bigger and better. But not too much bigger. More than 250 machines were assembled on the green grass carpet at the Lodge, and between participants and spectators, there were some 2500 attendees. While not quite at capacity, there was still sufficient space to move about, and just enough time to fully enjoy the panorama of motorcycles and people. And both in such variety! Think Renaissance Faire for motorheads.