The 2018 Motorado Show

The Motorado vintage motorcycle show is held once a year on the eastern outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico. It’s a cozy show with a few hundred entries and the parking lot contains a few dozen more worthwhile bikes. I could go into one of my patented off-topic rambles only to bring you back to the show 500 words from now but I’ll spare you the agony. Here are a few of the motorcycles I found notable.

This year’s Motorado was Italian themed and the round-case 750’s came out in force. These are beautiful bikes but the non-desmo, spring-valve GT850 with its bizarre, Jetsons styling is the one for me.

Adjustable rear dampers on the mono-shockish Moto Guzzi Falcone. Also known as the Baloney Slicer for the large outside flywheel. The Falcone sports a 500cc lay down engine and were used extensively by the Italian army and Police force.

Italian-themed doesn’t mean Italian only. Motorado hosts all brands and style motorcycle. This Series C Vincent was blinding in the clear blue skies of New Mexico. Spotlessly restored and British, no one puts this baby in a corner.

In all ways unfortunate, this ’73 Norton High Rider was one of the first-ever factory chopper style motorcycles. Someone at Norton spent a lot of time screwing up a great motorcycle. I can’t imagine how they decided enough was enough but it looks like they just stopped styling on the bike and called it good.

Pre-unit vs. Unit Triumphs: Me being me, I prefer the pre-unit engines for their added complexity and abundant opportunities to leak. The long primary cover looks better too. Unit Triumph lovers are soulless automatons who should never be invited to parties.

The rare Bridgestone GTR350. Disc-valved, two cylinders, this bike was a screamer. Motorado had an unrestored example on display. The owner says he has about 100 motorcycles in his collection! The aluminum crossover intake ducting has only a screen to keep debris out of the engine so I’m guessing these things wore out fairly fast.

A couple of Ravens utilizing Moto Guzzi engines as they were never intended. The twin-cylinder model is shocking enough but the single with its rear cylinder blanked off takes the prize.

My internet buddy Wes dropped by on his H2 with bits and pieces from many years and even some 650 Kawasaki wheels. The whole of the parts exceeds the sum of the parts in this case. It’s a sweet bike and I should have killed him and stolen the thing.

I have about a million more shots from the show but you get the idea. Keep the date open for Motorado 2019 and I’ll see you there, maybe on an old Z1 if I can get the beast going in time.

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