Hanford Show & Swap Meet

 The Hanford classic bike show and swap meet is an annual event in the California Central Valley and has been around for over 50 years. I first went in 1974 a year after I moved to California. I had a 1972 Honda CB750 at the time, and I left San Francisco very early on Saturday morning and rode down US 101 to Gilroy, then CA 25 to Hollister, and further south to CA 198 where I rode east to Visalia where the event was held in a closed off parking area of a shopping mall. At the time the event was put on by the Classic and Antique Motorcycle Association and it was a real eye-opener for a guy from Ohio whose only exposure to old bikes was the occasional Triumph or BSA. Here there were bikes I'd never heard of from England, Germany, Italy, France, and other parts of the world including many American manufacturers that were long out of business. The show moved from Visalia to nearby Tulare for a couple of years, spent one year farther south in Lancaster, and eventually settled in Hanford, first at the downtown central square, then at the Kings County Fairgrounds where it has been ever since. The ownership of the event changed a couple of times, and it is now run by Classic Cycle Events. 

(Friday, May 17, 2024)  My friend, John P., arrived at the house around 11 on his Moto Guzzi (which he purchased last year on our way home from Hanford) and we rode south on US 101 to Gilroy, where we went on CA 25 to Hollister where we stopped for lunch downtown at Johnny's Bar & Grill. Johnny's pays tribute to the Marlon Brando character in the 1953 movie The Wild One. Hollister had long been a destination Gypsy Tour event around the Fourth of July with motorcycle races, and a general gathering of motorcycle clubs. The event was suspended during World War II, but in 1947 it was resumed. Postwar many military veterans turned to motorcycles for a sense of the excitement and camaraderie they'd found in military service, and they joined together in clubs such as The Boozefighters. The event turned chaotic with 4000 attendees overwhelming the town of 4500, although there were only three serious injuries, all to motorcyclists. A picture (probably staged) of a drunken lout on a stationary motorcycle surrounded by dozens of beer bottles appeared in Life magazine, and a story, Cyclists' Raid, in Harper's magazine went further to sensationalize the "riot." The Hollister event resumed for several years, and the 50th anniversary was celebrated in 1997. Johnny's Bar & Grill turned out to be a dive bar with a decent kitchen and there were ten or so patrons on a Friday afternoon. 

One of the signs behind the bar advertises the services of a bail bondsman - good information to have.

Back on the road we continued on 25 past Pinnacles National Park and enjoyed the empty road, hills, and curves until CA 198 where we headed west on another twisty road over the San Benito hills and through Priest Valley, over more hills and into Coalinga, where we stopped for gas before proceeding to Hanford where we checked into the Rodeway Inn. We've been staying at this place for years; it used to be called the Downtown Motel, but a few years ago Rodeway Inn bought the property and it has been slightly upgraded and modernized. I made a quick trip to the Hanford Mall, and when I returned John and I walked to dinner at Fugazzi's, where we've eaten before. 

(Saturday, May 18)  The next morning I walked to a nearby Burger King where I had coffee and a breakfast sandwich, and when I returned to the room we packed the bikes and rode the short distance to the Kings County Fairgrounds. It was beginning to warm up, but still pleasant and we first looked at the bikes in the show area.

This nicely restored Vincent with sidecar drew many admiring glances.

A very old school extreme chopper is short on practicality.

A nice, understated custom.

An unrestored Cushman scooter.

This trike features a VW engine.

The next two pictures are of a custom BMW crafted by a retired metal worker who did all the work himself. Note the unusual front suspension, the monoshock rear suspension, and the reversed cylinder heads with the intake at the front and the exhaust at the rear.

This Royal Enfield Interceptor is as handsome as a bike gets.

We walked through the large swap meet area, but didn't find anything we had to have, although there were a few tempting bikes, such as this Indian.

Want a wicker motorcycle?

This van may have been a support vehicle for an entry in the biennial Cannonball coast to coast event. 

This Harley Knucklehead is pure classic Harley. 

In truth most of the stuff in the swap meet looked to be junk that was cleared out of a garage, but maybe it was treasure to someone. 

This 1950s BMW single has potential.

Nice custom paint on this Shovelhead chopper.

This Motobike with a 5 hp Tecumseh engine is typical of small volume manufacturers in the 1950s and early 1960s.

We saw everything twice and left the fairgrounds before noon. We followed CA 198 west to Coalinga where we stopped for lunch at the 101 Diner at the west end of town at the Coalinga Mall (a glorified L-shaped strip mall). Back on 198 we enjoyed the twisty road and the hills in the other direction all the way to CA 25, and then north to Hollister and Gilroy, where we stopped for gas before heading home. 

The Harley did fine on the smooth and mostly empty country roads. It is not a sport bike but I am not a sporty rider and I no longer need to scare myself on every turn to have fun. The Hanford show is a little smaller every year, but I'll probably keep going just because it is so much fun getting there.