Bikes & Bombers at the Lyon

Bikes took center stage at the stunning Lyon Air Museum

Saturday, August 18th –
So much happened in the motorcycling world on this day. There were events from Canada to Chile, and from California to Estonia. The two-wheeled community was certainly busy trying to get peoples’ attention. And it did!
While Chris Wiggins was up in Glendale for the Sportster Stomp, I found myself on a particularly occupied piece of tarmac – literally.
I was attending the seventh annual Bikes and Bombers show at the Lyon Air Museum.
The Lyon sits on the west side of the John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, CA. (I’m not that great with direction. I looked that up.) It’s basically a gigantic hangar whose doors open up straight to the runway of a working international travel hub.
Despite having an awesome display of war craft (mostly winged) I was there for the two-wheeled variety. Luckily it was chockablock with both.

As I walked around I was stunned by the variety of motorcycles on hand.
I was not at a chopper show or a vintage & classic concours d’ elegance. I was attending a legitimately fun and inclusive gathering of gear-headed moto enthusiasts!
It was great. I still got to see both types of bikes, mind you, but I didn’t have to drink any of the ‘Kool-Aide’ that goes along with exclusive events. I didn’t drink the beer either, as there was none. 
Instead, I let my senses drink in the sights and sounds of decades past (like the decade when it was totally boss to slam a V8 behind a Fat Boy front end).

The atmosphere was friendly, considering the diversity of the riders that had shown up. There were some club patches floating around as well as media people, Orange County Harley-Davidson was present, and of course there were a ton of 100+ year old geezers who had raced or ridden just about every thing under the sun. Then they got bored of the “old things” and modded them up. Some just created whole new vehicles outright. A gentleman named Frank had taken several trail bikes and quads, and had fabricated an off-road tadpole-style trike! Maybe even two of them!! Another gentleman and his wife arrived in true custom style via a Goldwing sidecar rig, complete with A/C unit in the trunk!!

About an hour in to the event, bikes were lined up and judged in a “peoples’ choice” fashion. The entrants were just as surprising as the winner.
Competitors included a Megola, a Hyabusa with a Nightmare Before Christmas custom paint scheme, a Whizzer and several BMWs in various configurations, just to name a few.

The winner was Eugene Garcin’s 1923 BMW R63. The founder of the event, Dana Welch, told me that Eugene has shown up with several show stoppers at past events. Sounds like Mr. Garcin has quite the collection at home. I also overheard Garcin saying that his grandfather was the tail-gunner during WWII, referencing the huge B-17 that sits quietly in the museum. 
First prize was a flight in a T6 Texan, a trainer aircraft that pilots learned to fly before sliding into a P-51 or P-47

After Eugene took flight in the T6, most of the crowd dispersed. The majority of the folks headed over to Orange County Harley-Davidson for music, games and free lunch. Free Lunch?! 
Photographer Bradley Petruchik (from episode 99) was also there with an assortment of his art work on hand.
Before I left for OC Harley-Davidson, I thought I’d talk to a few more attendees. When you start talking to older gents who love motorbikes, a weird phenomenon occurs… suddenly you have no idea what time or day it is. I believe I actually started hallucinating and speaking Welsh at one point.
Needless to say, I didn’t finish up in time to make it to the dealership for the festivities. That’s ok. OC H-D have these Block Party events every Saturday, and one of these weekends I’ll make it down there.

Listen to our podcast on Friday August 24th to hear more. With help from Jen (OC Harley), I met and interviewed several people and learned about some great organizations in the Santa Ana area. You can hear all about how Bikes and Bombers got it’s start, other vintage bike meets, and much more.

Big thanks to: 
Dana Welch, organizer of Bikes and Bombers
The Lyon Air Museum – www.lyonairmuseum.org, 
John Calicchio from TriClassic- www.triumphclassicmotorcycles.com
Bear from IWAR – http://injuredwarriorride.com/  
Jen H. from Orange County H-D www.ocharley.com/
Joe Kagerer from Vintage Bike OC vintagebikeoc.com/
And Frank Colver, owner of several crazy bikes.