Rare Bikes At Brit Jam

HADDAM NECK, CT – Peter Thiel of the British Iron Association of Connecticut was marveling Sunday afternoon over the many pristine and unique vintage bikes on the show ground of the annual Brit Jam rally at the Haddam Neck Fairgrounds.

“Maybe people aren’t riding them as much. They’re restoring them. They get them to a high level of restoration and maintain them,” said Thiel, his reasoning as good as any as to why there were so many high-quality bikes at Brit Jam this year.

The variety of motorcycles – both British and from everywhere else (as Brit Jam welcomes all riders) – may have been the best in rally’s three-decade history, and included ancient and recent models.

I uttered my first “wow” immediately upon arrival when I noticed an owner attempting to turn over a pedal-start 1914 Excelsior. The owner, who asked that he only be identified as Frank, has had the Excelsior for 40 years. “I’m not into publicity and I don’t run a museum,” he said, explaining his reasons for secrecy.

Frank bought the Excelsior (above and below) at a car show in Florida. “The engine was stuck when I got it. It laid (idle) for 40 years,” he said. Frank finally got the bike running last year after having the magneto rebuilt and after taking the 61-cubic-inch engine and transmission apart. “I ride it around the driveway a little bit,” he reported.

Two standout motorcycles in the view of RIDE-CT & RIDE-NewEngland were a 1924 Douglas and a 1949 Panther, which is saying something considering that Rick Price of Chester, CT brought his unrestored 1952 Vincent Black Shadow.

Mark Turkington of Bolton, CT owns the Douglas, while Pete Stevenson of Guilford, CT has the Panther. Turkington was kind enough to fire it up so I could shoot a video, so the story behind his Douglas will be reserved for a separate post.

What made Stevenson’s Panther so accessible, in addition to its color scheme, was the fact the name is unfamiliar to many riders. “The British guys don’t know it, either,” he said. “There’s just not many in the U.S. There’s not many in Europe.”

Stevenson said that he bought the Panther off a porch in Providence, RI when he was 20. “I think it stands out because it’s stylish,” he said, a comment that’s hard to dispute.

Also getting a lot of attention was bright yellow, custom/kit three-wheeler with an 850cc Moto Guzzi engine mounted up front. Owner Bill Young of Essex, CT said it’s regarded as a 1975 model. “It took two years to build it and I’ve had it on the road for four,” he said.

While final attendance figures weren’t announced by the time I departed, British Iron Association of Connecticut president Tom Reitsma projected that it would top the more than 1,300 riders who attended Brit Jam in 2014.

“Everyone who attends is so appreciative of the unusual, the unique, the rarity (of the bikes displayed). You’re not going to see them at the gas station every day,” he said.

Certainly the hot, sunny weather brought in riders, but it also brought in what appeared to be a record number of vendors.

Showing a more traditional model was Carl Stram of Wallingford, CT, who rode in and out on his 1978 Bonneville 750 (T140D). “I bought it in ’78. It sat in my garage for 20 years after I got married and had a daughter,” Stram said.

Eventually, his wife and daughter took pity on him – buying him new tires and tubes as a present, a clear signal it was time to bring the Triumph out of mothballs. The engine got rebuilt and it got a new paint job.

“Everything else is all original,” he said. It now has 45,199 miles on the odometer – or did before Stram generously took me a fun ride from Middletown to Northford and back to Wallingford.

Part of the fun of Brit Jam, in addition to strolling the lanes of vendors, is taking time to walk the parking lot where it’s possible to see many interesting bikes as well. Here’s a sample: