The Vincent clan gathers at The Quail

Classic motorcycles shine at one of the best-known gatherings on the West Coast.

By Margie Siegal
Updated on July 20, 2023
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by Margie Siegal
Not all Vincents were black. The factory painted a small number red and a smaller number blue.

Fred Meyer’s Vincent single was still shiny and bright after participating in the ride that takes place the day before the Quail Motorcycle Gathering (“It ran perfectly”) but Fred was busy polishing regardless. He was displaying his 1951 Comet for the first time at the show, and wanted it to look good for the judges.

 The Quail Motorcycle Gathering, one of the best known classic motorcycle events on the West Coast, takes place the first weekend in May at the Quail Lodge and Golf Club in Carmel Valley, California, a few miles from Pebble Beach, the site of the well-known classic car concours d’elegance. The show takes place on the putting green, with vendors arrayed around the field in medievally-inspired white peaked tents. Show goers are treated to a chef-prepared buffet lunch on real plates, with waiters to collect them after the meal. This year, over 200 classic motorcycles were on display, viewed by more than 3,000 attendees. Many of these showgoers were ogling the Vincents.

 The appearance of a Vincent makes most motorcycle enthusiasts sit up and take notice. One of the most famous motorcycle photographs of all time is of Rollie Free, wearing nothing but bathing trunks and shoes, stretched out on a Vincent on his way to setting a speed record of over 150mph. The Vincent factory was best known for its fast 1,000cc twins, but it also built 500cc single cylinder machines, and a few, including Meyer’s Comet, made their way to America. The Vincent factory, located in Stevenage, England, produced less than 11,000 motorcycles from the end of World War II to the end of production in 1955, but a large proportion of its output has survived.

 Most Vincents in North America were imported in the years after World War II. The brand acquired a small but enthusiastic following, and the enthusiasm has not diminished in the last seventy-five years. One story has circulated of the Vincent owner who also had a small airplane and wanted to fly his Vincent to a rally. He took his bike apart (Vincents have a modular design), put it in the cargo hold with a toolbox and reassembled it on the runway after he landed.

 The Vincent Owners Club is based in England, but has local sections all over the U.S. and Canada. Some years ago, the club set up a parts factory, which makes just about every component for most Vincents, making it possible for owners to ride their bikes any time they want. There are Vincent owners who ride their bikes enough to turn the odometer over.

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