For 11 years running, The Quail Motorcycle Gathering has been one of the premier motorcycles concours on the West Coast. Held on the manicured greens of The Quail Lodge & Golf Club in tony Carmel Valley, the 2019 Quail Motorcycle Gathering featured over 350 entries, from motorcycles to scooters to a handful of rare bicycles, ranging from turn-of-the-century relics in their original state to ultra-modern electrics. This year’s featured classes celebrated the Honda CB750, Brough Superior, scrambler motorcycles and off-road bikes of the 1990’s. It also honored off-road ironman and icon of the SoCal desert racing scene Malcolm Smith as the 2019 Legend of the Sport. Smith, a tireless promoter of the industry, is best known for his enduro and scrambler racing skills which have been immortalized in the moto-cult classic “On Any Sunday.”
California’s Sam Roberts was the big winner of the weekend after taking home the coveted “Best of Show” title for his 1969 Honda CB750 Sandcast. The rare collectible with sand-cast engine cases also won top honors in the “50 Years of the Honda CB750” class. Niki Smart also won big at the 2019 Quail Motorcycle Gathering with his custom 1981 Honda XL500, earning first place in the Custom/Modified class as well as the Design and Style Award from Arch Motorcycle Co. Smart is better known for his exploits in the automotive world as the lead designer on the Ariel Atom project and for designing Cadillac hybrid electric prototypes for General Motors. Turns out Smart has an eye for two-wheeled design as well.
The 2019 Quail Motorcycle Gathering also saw the world debut of the latest electric superbike from LITO Motorcycles. The LITO SORA Generation 2 features an upgraded battery system said to be good for approximately 180 miles and is claimed to go from zero to 60 miles-per-hour in three seconds.
(Photos courtesy of The Quail Motorcycle Gathering/Kahn Media)
2019 The Quail Motorcycle Gathering Winners
Best of Show
1969 Honda CB750 Sandcast
Sam Roberts – California
50 Years of the Honda CB750
Spirit of The Quail Award
Chad Castle Family Private Collection – California
Private Collection
The Quail Ride Award
1986 Bimota DB1R
Adam Cecchini – California
50 Years of the Honda CB750 Award
1969 Honda CB750 Sandcast
Sam Roberts – California
Off Road Wonders Through the 90’s Award
1969 Cheney/Triumph 750cc Scrambler/MX
Scott Dunlavey – California
100th Anniversary of the Brough Superior Award
1925 Brough Superior SS100
Larry Bowman – California
Spirit of the Scrambler Award Presented by Ducati
2016 Scrambler by Ducati
Tom Zipprian – California
Industry Award
2019 BMW Prototype BMW Boxer
Revival Cycles – Texas
Custom/Modified
Innovation Award
1989 Norton F1 Pre-Production Prototype
Stephen Haddad – California
British 1936-1979
Significance in Racing Award
1967 Honda 450 Daytona Racer
Ron Mousouris – California
Competition On Road
Design and Style Award
1981 Honda XL500
Niki Smart – California
Custom/Modified
Why We Ride Award
1962 Mustang Stallion
Jim Taylor – California
American 1936-1979
HVA Preservation Award
1929 Brough Superior 680 OHV
Bryan L. Bossier, Sr. – Louisiana
100th Anniversary of the Brough Superior
AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Heritage Award
1970 JAWA 652
Chris Carter – California
Off Road Wonders Through the 90’s
Antique 1st Place
1928 Douglas 4 ¼
Bill Wheeler – California
Antique 2nd Place
1918 BSA Model H
Budd Schwab – California
American 1st Place
1953 Indian Chief
Matt Blake – Illinois
American 2nd Place
1970 Indian Little Indian
Clive Belvoir – California
British 1st Place
1964 BSA Lightning Rocket
Robert Ives – California
British 2nd Place
1952 Triumph T6 Thunderbird
TSW Collection – California
Italian 1st Place
1972 Ducati 750 GT
Stewart & Renee Garrison – Texas
Italian 2nd Place
1961 Ducati Bronco 125
Kenneth Davis – California
Japanese 1st Place
1974 Kawasaki H1E
Owen Bishop – California
Japanese 2nd Place
1978 Kawasaki Z1R
Trace St. Germain – California
Other European 1st Place
1976 BMW R90/S
Mark Francois – California
Other European 2nd Place
1968 BMW R60/2
Kenneth Morris – California
Competition On Road 1st Place
1979 Kawasaki AMSA Superbike
Kevin McKee – California
Custom/Modified 1st Place
1981 Honda XL500
Niki Smart – California
Custom/Modified 2nd Place
1966 Honda S-90
Dustin Kott – California
Extraordinary Bicycles/Scooter Award
1957 Lambretta LD150 MK3
Eric Lussier – Arizona
Fast Facts
• More than 3,000 attendants
• More than 350 bikes on display
• Four featured classes
o 50th Anniversary of the Honda CB750
o Off Road Wonders Through the 90’s
o 100th Anniversary of the Brough Superior
o Spirit of the Scrambler Presented by Ducati
• Traditional classes
o Antique (1916-1935)
o American (1936-1979)
o British (1936-1979)
o Competition On-Road
o Custom/Modified
o Italian (1936-1979)
o Japanese (1936-1979)
o Other European (1936-1979)
o Extraordinary Bicycles/Scooters
