21st Annual Clubman’s All-British Motorcycle Show & Swap

In spite of the heavy cloud cover I pulled on a helmet and set off down hwy 101 to check out the annual gathering of folks infatuated with old English motorcycles at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds in San Jose, California. Fortunately the clouds did no more than threaten. The purists claimed the weather added to the authenticity of the event, but with global warming, maybe the famous “British Mists” are a thing of the past.

Some years after Japanese technology convincingly blew the Brit bikes out of the American market, the BSA Owners’ Club of Northern California organized what has become one of the most comprehensive British bike shows in North America. Along side the collection of well over 100 show machines are the piles of parts laid out for inspection and purchase. Just about everything to build or fix your ‘60s Triumph, Norton, BSA, Greeves, Velocette or HRD is either spread out on the floor or somebody here knows where to get it.

(Click on the thumbnails below to take a look at some images from the show or on the jump to read on.)

As a long time owner of British machinery I have come to enjoy the vagaries of 1930’s manufacturing technology, even as practiced into the 1960s and beyond. Though modern sealers can compensate for the shortcomings of a typical British vertically split main case, in the good ol’ days there was evidence that the wags observation “The British start with an oil leak and design around it.” was based upon fact. In keeping with this cheerful acceptance of liquids not staying where they will do the most good, a gentleman at the show was offering genuine English made Norton logo coffee cups with the solemn promise that they do indeed leak. Today though, none of the motorcycles on the floor have so much as a drop of Castrol between the wheels.

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