During the Spring of 1978 a larger group consisting of me and Jack from Milpitas, Jim of Oakland, Kent and Steve out of Santa Cruz plus SOs met at the Casa de Fruta coffee shop after work that Friday.
The trip to Visalia for the West Coast Vintage Cycle Rally was a 400-mile loop from/to Milpitas. It was eventually relocated east to Hanford, and became the Hanford Vintage Motorcycle Rally.
My clutch cable snapped off before we reached Casa de Fruta, but just kept banging the FLH tranny until we arrived at the Marco Polo motel in Visalia that night. On the way over, Kent got a speeding ticket in Los Banos. We had supper at a truck stop cafe in Madera.
Kent went out to the local Harley-Davidson dealer in the morning, and got a clutch cable for me while I slept-in. ;^)
Grumbler, with new clutch cable, barreling down Hwy 198 from the motel to the JC Penny parking lot where the show was held. Was still working on my '75 FLH1200 which was purchased 6-months ago.
Jack was the new owner of my previous ride, a pristine 1968 Triumph 650 Trophy. He's had just ridden onto the JC Penny lot from motel.
We arrived early that morning, and had to wait awhile until the show opened.
Grumbler chilling out on his Shovelhead while waiting for the show to start.
Kent, Jim, and Jack walking over to the show which had just opened. We had an enjoyable day at the West Coast Vintage Cycle Rally. Had a bit too much to drink at the restaurant next door to the motel before calling it a night.
Was a cold and windy ride back home. We pulled over at a rest area on US-99 for a smoke break.
Just about ready to hit the road. We jammed north on US-99 to westbound 152. Weather was fairly craptastic so we wanted to get home ASAP by taking the exact same route back.
We pulled over at the Chevron gas station in Casa de Fruta, and filled our tanks before saying our goodbyes. This photo, from left to right, shows Jim, Grumbler, Kent, and Steve.
Jim on left, Kent in background, Grumbler being amused by Kent's SO who was snapping photos, and Steve filling his tank that Sunday. We never went back to the West Coast Vintage Cycle Rally. Not sure why, but we still have some good memories from that weekend.
Photos by Kent Mohler. These are photocopies of the originals.
