Martin Moto Hosts “Modern Classics” Show

BOYERTOWN, PA – Taking a 240-mile round-trip drive to attend a motorcycle show might seem a little bit strange, but it’s worth it when the show features the diversity and quality of bikes found at the fifth annual Modern Classics show at Martin Moto on Saturday.

With a temperature of 21 degrees, driving a car seemed the wise approach even though the roads were reasonably dry. So, I got up early and headed off from the Long Island in hopes of making it to the show when the doors opened at 9 a.m.

Martin Moto can be described as a “destination dealership.” It’s off of the main highway and sells Kawasaki, Suzuki, Triumph, Yamaha/Star and Motus motorcycles. Its indoor Modern Classics show primarily features bikes from the 1970s and 1980s, with a few from the 1960s and late 1950s.

To accomplish this, new models are removed from the 10,000-square-foot showroom and more than 100 show bikes get brought in. The bikes on display aren’t museum bikes, rather common and uncommon models belonging to private owners, with possibly a third of them significantly customized.

What’s interesting about the showroom is the very, very high ceiling. There’s a very spacious, open feel to it. It has a mezzanine with a riders’ lounge, and the mezzanine provides a good vantage point for picture taking. The full building has 20,000 square feet and owner Dennis Martin told me Martin Moto has been there for nine years, having started in 1996.

While the show featured vintage Triumphs and Nortons, it also had a section devoted to Japanese bikes as well as European bikes and Harley-Davidsons, what struck me most, as previously noted, was the diversity and overall quality of the bikes.

An added attraction at the show was artist Makoto Endo, who spent the morning working on a painting of a vintage Indian, using chopsticks to apply the paint. His work is spectacular – unique and beautiful. He does commission work, and will do a four-foot by three-foot painting of a bike for $1,500. The guy is a genius.

For more than 150 pictures from The Modern Classics show, visit my SmugMug gallery.