12th Annual AMCA Southern National Meet

36 The Carolinas’ Full Throttle Magazine12th Annual AMCA Southern National Meet

Story by alan dockery photoS – alan dockery and roger grInold

hat a pretty Weekend it Was for bikers at

Denton Farm Park, NC, for the Antique Motorcycle Club of America’s 12th Annual Southern National Meet in the middle of May. Not as hot nor muggy as some years, perfect weather for enjoying motorcycles. Not only were there lots of cool old machines to check out, but there were plenty of bikes and parts for sale too. I think that a running Knucklehead Chopper sold for a little more than $3,000.

For twelve years the three sponsoring AMCA chapters; Blue Ridge, Dixie and Catawba Valley; picked the perfect place since Denton Farm Park enhances the antique experience with several old buildings featuring historical equipment and machinery, plus antique train rides. Other groups use the Farm Park for events featuring tractors, farm equipment, military vehicles and more.

The Southern National Meet ain’t the same as most biker weekends. It’s mainly a Friday and Saturday event. Lots of us are shopping and digging through boxes Friday.

Got some things on my shopping list. Still can’t find that seat I need. Only close one was sold. “Oh that is sold. Or, I sold one an hour ago.” Heard that. And yes I got things for folks who couldn’t make it to Denton but said, “If you find a Lefthanded Widget Gizmo buy it for me.” “Do you want the really nice $40 one or the OK $10 Gizmo?”

For y’all who want to check out the meet and activities you can ride in Saturday morning and enjoy it in one day.

A day at Denton goes by too fast. The Road Ride leaves a 9 am. Soon they start judging the really nice machines. I gotta get back to shopping. Hey, the Motor Maids are gonna be here soon. Then the History in Motion Parade and Field Games and Bike Show ….. Oh Man, I’m tired and my feet and legs hurt and folks are packin’ up. I think I’ll take the four lane home. Sorry to my friends who I didn’t get time to hang and talk with. At least we got a good wave or handshake.

The AMCA meet at Denton ain’t a snobby gathering of guys with high-dollar antiques. It is for y’all with clean old machines you found in a shed or the project bike you’d rather ride than restore. Motorcycles 35 years old are considered antiques. Each year has a theme. For this meet it was Scooters and Minibikes – Honoring where we all started.

As folks see what goes on at Denton,, there are more who Continued On Page 38

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Continued Fom Page 36 come for the whole weekend. That gives them more time for checking out the vendors, bikes and hanging with friends. Camping at Denton Farm Park is nice with acres of cool, shady woods. I know you can buy everything online these days, but a real swap meet still has its advantages. Online you hope the part is what they claim and what you need. Buying in person at Denton you can examine the part, haggle with the seller and sometimes get an interesting story too.

Bob Aton, Meet Chairman, has done a great job for a dozen years building an event praised by bikers from all over the country. They often compliment Bob and the staff on hosting such a cool meet. Between the historical site and the Southern hospitality, the meet brings people back year after year. This year there must have been nearly 200 vendors.

Yes, there are lots of Harleys, Indians, Triumphs, Nortons and the bikes we are used to seeing at antique meets. But the Japanese bikes and parts vendors are increasing too.

With so much to see and do at Denton I’m going to break it down into sensory and physical aspects. Yes, every AMCA meet is a day of sensual experiences. I’ve been to all twelve meets and even at the rainy ones, it’s sensory overload. I missed more awesome photos and conversations at The AMCA Southern National Meet at Denton Farm Park, NC, than I got. There are so many cool machines to checkout. And thousands of cool parts. Look for features on some of the machines I photographed at Denton. The Trash Pile Indian. A Harley Topper. Chris’s almost perfect XR-1000. A Tenth Anniversary Honda CB750, that I may still have to buy. Thanks to Christine for Supper before I left. I think she just made sure I hung out with them for a while. I wish I could have spent more time with everyone. Y’all know it’s gonna be 16 months until the next Southern National Meet. The 2022 Meet is planned for October 2022.

Denton -- Sights, Sounds and Smells

From the moment your turn into the Farm Park, you begin to see why this is such a cool place for the antique motorcycle meet. The property has a few modern buildings and lots of old machines and tractors and such on display. An old train runs around the park.

Soon your senses are immersed in the meet, motorcycles and parts as far as you can see. Knuckles and Pans and Shovels Oh My! There were lots of old motorcycles there for sale at very reasonable prices too. The Bikes – The reason we gathered at Denton was for antique motorcycles. There are so many bikes that I miss checking out and photographing way more than ones I do. So many that I see go riding by and hope I can talk about later. You can see and talk to the owners of all kinds of bikes in various conditions. Running and Riding – Not all bikes at Denton are sitting for display. Most are running and riding around the Farm Park. Saturday’s activities started with the Antique Bike Road Run through the beautiful Carolina countryside. Yes, folks get out and ride the curvy, hilly country roads on antique motorcycles.

Concourse D’Ordinaire – This is a bike show for the common bike. Any bike could enter as long as it was old and ran. This is a cool little show with awards for things like Least Chrome to Most Cobbled. The show is one more chance to display bikes we have admired all day, from the perfect restorations to rusty relicts.

Museum Pieces – Some folks expect to see lots of beautiful museum quality motorcycles cruising the Farm Park. There are some – perfect original, fresh restored, made from old parts bikes there. They stand out like jewels because those bikes are actually the minority. Oh yes, we love them and crowds gather to photograph and ask about the shiny old machines. You can imagine the work and love that went into those bikes.

Ratty Old Bikes – Most of the bikes at the AMCA meet were less than museum quality. Lots of motorcycles that have obviously been ridden for a long lifetime. They range from fairly well maintained to rusty rat bikes. Faded paint, rust and grease are cool now. Even has a fancy name, patina. Imagine rebuilding an engine and trying not to get it too clean. And those old Shovelheads, Pans, Knucks, Indians, Brit Bikes or whatever start with a kick and run fine.

Japanese Bikes – Yep those bikes so many folks learned on and had when young are now antiques. Every year more imports show up for sale and more vendors with parts for them. I made the leap to Harleys young after only a few small imports. Dissed Jap bikes for years. Now I own several of the fun bikes from when I was young. There are lots of low miles, excellent condition import bikes coming out of garages these days. When a cherry KZ 900, CB 750, GT 550, CT 110, Super Cub, or some model of Japanese motorcycle that you’ve never seen rides by, yours and other heads turn.

Choppers – Who would expect to see so many choppers at the antique meet? I would. Us old guys built choppers a Continued On Page 40

Continued Fom Page 38 long time ago so those bikes are antiques. Guys still build choppers from antique motorcycles. Some were original, old Pan and Knucklehead bikes built many years ago. The paint and molding may be cracked but they are still very cool bikes. One of the young guys there with a newly built Shovelhead chopper impressed me as I looked over his bike. He told me where the old parts came from and how he machined and modified them.

And how about David who has a few times built choppers from parts he bought at Denton. Yeah, he buys a frame and front end and motor and more from vendors there. The next year, that man is riding what he built from those parts.

Really Cherry Bikes – Some bikes there are low-miles preserved time machines. You will see rare, old Harleys that still have some Milwaukee air in the tires. And quick imported machines that scared the first buyer and wound up sitting for decades. The warning stickers still fresh and readable on the bike. Perfectly restored machines are at Denton to show off and later be judged.

Really Rare Bikes – At the AMCA Southern National Meet you will see motorcycles that you may have only read about. From really old to that beautiful restored 1976 Harley Dresser. Motorcycles that only a few examples are known to survive. And they might start and run. There are odd foreign bikes that weren’t sold in America. There were lots of bikes that made folks say, “I’ve never seen one of those. Are you sure that is factory original?” Who has ever seen a Sopwith? Yeah, made by the same folks who made Snoopy’s World War One fighter plane.

The Coolest Bike – Wow, there were so many awesome machines at Denton. My buddy Mickie sold Harleys for years and has a nice collection, but the 1973 Honda SL 350 he rode to Denton is a fantasy dream machine to me. Chris’s Triumph Daytona was as perfect as could be. Michelle had her Dad’s Bronco Bronze Panhead there. And that Simplex Mini was way too cool. I reckon I could make a list of “the coolest bikes at Denton.”

History In Motion – If you can only spend an hour at Denton, be there for the History in Motion narrated parade of antique motorcycles. Riders line up and wait their turn to pull up to a spot, surrounded by folks, while each bike is described. History In Motion gives owners a chance to show and tell about their bike. Bikes you saw riding by and wondered about.

Bike games on old bikes – Since y’all are there, stay another hour and enjoy the bike games. Yeah, bike games on old bikes. You think it’s tough doing games on your new cruiser. Imagine doing them with hand shift and foot clutch. Some of the games might actually be easier on old bikes. The AMCA games are not only a good show, but they provide good seats, narration and commentary. Ramsey and Richard are hard to beat, but you can take them. This year they even had some of the kids take the field for games. Gotta teach them younguns to ride and enjoy motorcycles. I was impressed how well some of those kids could ride and get into the games.

Theme Bikes – Each year there is a theme at Denton. This year it was Scooters and Minibikes – Honoring where we all started. There are always lots of antique minibikes cruising around Denton. This year folks brought out the really old and rare little machines. And the antique scooters were way too cool.

Fender ornaments and seat rails – And other doo dads. One of these days I’m going to concentrate on photographing the things mounted on fenders and all over motorcycles. Lots of old pot metal airplanes are in the wind on front fenders. Come to Denton and see all kinds of cool or odd motorcycle accessories and attachments. The custom made seat rails with hometown, club, bikes’ name, whatever artwork could take a while to shoot.

I look at some old motorcycles, personalized and ridden many miles, and wish I could talk to the man, or woman, who loved that machine. It’s a shame that bike can’t tell all the stories it was part of. Souvenirs bolted on long ago are just the headlines to campfire stories.

The smells – Antique motorcycles have so many wonderful smells. As you walk Denton Farm Park you will smell the trees and those real tasty fried bologna sandwiches. But the smells of fuel, oil, grease are kinda tasty too. Stale fuel and burning oil are usually bad smells, but at Denton they can make you smile. Oh, the bike is running rich, or with the choke on to make it run. You’ll smell an old bike you’re looking at and remember the smell of Papa’s shop and the bike he had like that. A two stroke will ride by trailing the scent of castor oil and you’ll have a flashback to your dirt biking or road racing days. Take a minute and smell the bikes around the Farm Park.

Tastes – Sometimes the scent of old motorcycles is so thick you can taste it. I suggest you wash that down with the peach ice cream by the main gate. To stay with the antique theme, Continued On Page 42

Continued Fom Page 40 they make the ice cream on site with a running hit and miss motor. The Farm Park food vendor has lots of great stuff. Order the fried bologna sandwich with lots of fixins and a Cheerwine to drink. If a local biker camped near you offers livermush for breakfast you better take two pieces since it will all be gone when you want more. And do not get involved in a “which-brandof-livermush-is-best” fight.

Vendors – Sure you can buy parts online. But nothing compares to examining parts in your hand and talking to the person selling. Most of the vendors at Denton have moved into the wooded, shaded area. Great. I will still checkout the guys in the field. That area works fine and I’m riding all over the farm park anyway. But I’m camped in the shade and it’s nice to shop in the shade. I don’t know how many other meets have that kind of layout, but most I’ve seen at fairgrounds you are baking in the sun. Denton is simply Southern Cool. And feel free to use your motorcycle, minibike, little red wagon or whatever to cruise the grounds and vendors. Events with lots of restrictions are tough for us old guys to get around and carry stuff we buy.

Looks like the number of vendors continues to increase each year too. This year it seemed to me there were more project to complete motorcycles for sale. Denton was the place to be for y’all who brought cash and a trailer. There was everything from lots of Japanese dirt bikes and little street bikes to plenty of Pans and Shovels and European machines and rare, really old bikes … For Sale.

Guys and Gals from different kinds of motorcycling – Soon as I arrived at the first Southern National Meet at Denton twelve years ago I started seeing friends from all kinds of motorcycling and related activities. I found out that some Harley drag racing buddies are big into antique bikes. Bikers I know from other kinds of racing, safety training, motorcyclists’ rights, off-roading were there.

It’s good to see those friends that you only see once or twice a year. And I was glad to see local buddies who ain’t been to Denton in a while and have old bikes.

Kinda famous folks – And some really famous ones too. I’m talking more famous than Ramsey who seems to be all over the farm park. And there are the Motor Maids looking sharp as they ride in. Some of those people at Denton are celebrities in our world and others. That guy you are talking to might be a famous restorer, racer, museum director or someone else significant to motorcycling. The lady telling you about her bike might be a famous writer, actress or rock star. Those folks love old motorcycles too.

Being in NASCAR country, it’s common to see drivers and crew members at events. Those, “Guys back in the shop.” who built racecars and engines are old motorheads and enjoy Denton. Those are the guys telling stories to a group of us at any time or place during the meet. Young folks – I’m so glad to see young people at Denton. We need to cultivate the love of antique motorcycles to ensure the AMCA survives and grows. From the 12-year-old girl riding Dad’s old Honda, to the young teen going through the boxes that will someday be his first bike, the 20-something guy loading the Panhead he just bought, to the Chopper Guys, I try to tell them how welcome they are at The Southern National Meet.

I know many of y’all see yourselves in the young folks who are seriously shopping the Denton vendors. Now, we laugh about those broke young guys since we have for years dealt with bikers who have money and lots of bikes. But remember when we were the broke young guys trying to build our dream machines? Or trying to build something we could sell to buy a better bike. So, please welcome them, appreciate whatever machine they ride and help them enjoy it.

Warping Time – I say my fast Jap Bike warps time and space when it scares me, but the AMCA Southern National Meet at Denton Farm Park really affects your perception of time.

Motorcycling has changed styles and fads all my life. But there has been a certain constant in the antique world. We ride bikes that our grandfathers rode. We ride bikes that were new when we were young. I even leave the stock air box and pipes on them now. I don’t know if it’s that we are stuck in the past or old motorcycles are great therapy. But I saw lots of smiles at Denton as people enjoy an afternoon a few decades back in time.

Stories around the camp – You could wear out a tape recorder on all the great stories told at Denton. The guys who still have their old Harley or Indian they bought decades ago. How long it took to restore this cool bike. Stories of old races and rides. And they go on and on. The history of American motorcycling was relived many times under the Farm Park’s shade trees.

The AMCA Southern National meet is the Carolinas’ event you must attend if you are into the history of motorcycles. Bikers can check out historic machines and spend hours talking to the guys who saved and restored them. You will see some of the oldest motorcycles running and rideable. You can buy bikes and parts to start your own project.

I wonder what cool stories you can tell about Denton next year.