I am an ordinary guy who enjoys riding motorcycles. I love riding all makes and models. I love short rides, long rides, and multi-day road trips. I post reviews about motorcycle gear, motorcycles, roads, restaurants, sights, gadgets and more. The Motorcycle Facts,Trivia and History page has a lot of good info. Be safe and enjoy the ride, Oz.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

14th Annual Oklahoma Motorcycle Show and Swap Meet

I enjoy going to swap meets and/or motorcycle shows.  I don't buy much at the swap meets, but it is fun to look around.  A couple friends and I decided to combine fun and business with a weekend trip to Oklahoma City and the 14th Annual Oklahoma Motorcycle Show and Swap Meet.   The event was held at the Oklahoma Fairgrounds at 3001 General Pershing Blvd in OKC.

I was pleasantly surprised with the event.  The fairground is a typical array of building/barns with most buildings empty during the third weekend of February.  The builds are in good shape, but you can tell they were built many years ago.

The event was split between two building 50 yards apart.  There was plenty of parking space and bikes were allowed up on the "lawn" area near the buildings.  Both buildings had well over 100 10X10 booth spots.  Many vendors occupied multiple booth spots.
Papa's Leather Barn - a great place to get your leathers.
There were leather vendors (big stores and smaller individual shops), new and used parts, knives, t-shirts, flowers, candles, trailers, organizations, and more.   We had our Moto Oz booth open.  The Oklahoma City Roller Derby a.k.a. Tornado Alley Rollergirls made appearances both days and even had a few "matches" for the people to watch.  Not "my cup of tea," but others seemed to enjoy it.
The Modern Living Building was full of bikes, vendors, and people.
The highlight was the motorcycle show.  There were some very impressive vintage bikes and custom bikes.  I have been to several shows and I felt this one had some of the very best bikes I had ever seen.
There were several different classes of bikes in the show.
The show included vintage Harley-Davidsons, Indians, Honda, Triumph, Yamaha, Moto Guzzi, Ducati, Suzuki, Cushman, and a rare Matchless that I had never seen.  The quality of the vintage bikes was great.  The 1926 Triumph model "P" looked new.  The owner, Gerald Tims, had to be very proud of it.
1926 Triumph Model "P" used white gas from the fuel tank for the head light and tail light.
Rare 1966 Matchless MKII - reported to be one of only two in the United States
1940 Indian Model 440 - 1278 cc
1968 Triumph T120 Bonneville - 650cc
1961 Harley-Davidson Pan Head
Custom Bobber
Trike dedicated to our brave armed forces 
Harley-Davidson Road Glide customized
2006 Arlen Ness Custom dedicated to three soldiers KIA 2007
Another nice Indian
A customized cruiser.
The show and swap meet was top notch.  A great variety of vendors and bikes.  Of course roaming through the bikes parked outside was also interesting.  Saturday was a nice sunny day so there were at least 1,000 bikes parked outside.

This was a very good event.  If were in the market for some Harley parts this would be the place to shop.  If you like looking at custom and/or vintage bikes this would be the place to go.  The show may not have big names entered, but the quality was great.  If you are in the Oklahoma City area next year in the third week of  February make your way by the show.

4 comments:

  1. Wow, lots of nice bikes, thanks for the pictures, I would take the last one, the customized cruiser :-)

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  2. Ah man I loved seeing that picture of the 1966 Matchless! I joined the Rhodesian Police force, the BSAP, in 1968 and that was the very bike that I learned to ride on, I rode that bike and the BSA 650 twin through most of my service until they brought in the Yamaha 350. That Matchless was a lovely bike to ride, I would give my left you-know-what to own one today! Great Post!

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  3. rider, that is cool. I had never seen one before, that I could remember. Looked like it was a great bike.

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  4. Certainly some nice rides there.

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