AMCA Southern National Meet
By: Wally W Click on images to enlarge 
On May 14th through the 16th, the AMCA (Antique Motorcycle Club of America) held its first annual Southern National Meet at the Denton FarmPark in Denton, NC. I had been looking forward to this event since I met Louie of the AMCA at the Cycle World Show in February. I also had been telling all my friends about it because Louie said that it would be bigger than anything before in this area. He was right. I left the house at about 9:30AM on Saturday May 15th heading east on Rt 74. I continued onto I85 and followed I85 until Rt 49 peeled off to the right. Once on Rt 49, I encountered heavy traffic as the UNCC (University of North Carolina – Charlotte) graduation was going to be held later in the morning. Once passed the college, traveling was pretty smooth. Rt 49 is a mainly straight two-lane with a few rolling hills. Once I saw the sign for the Denton FarmPark, I turned in but the gate was closed with a sign saying to go to the next gate. It was a little confusing but I found the other gate OK and went in. The parking lots were crowded - on the car side and especially the motorcycle side with a steady stream of motorcycles coming in. It appeared that if you rode a motorcycle, this was the place to be. I paid my $10.00 entry fee and went in. As soon as walked in, I was surrounded by tents and trailers filled with old bikes. I started to walk around in a pattern so that I wouldn’t miss anything. It is a very large place and it was full. Looking at some of the license plates on the trailers and such, I noticed that it was truly a Southern National event with plates from North and South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia and Ohio to name a few. I had never been to an AMCA meet so I didn’t really know what to expect other than a lot of old bikes. I wasn’t disappointed. Everywhere I looked there were old bikes – some restored and others as rusty hulks of metal. Many were for sale too. The majority of the bikes were American made from the early 1900s to the 1970’s. There were many Harley Davidson (Flatheads, Knuckleheads, Panheads and Shovelheads), Indians (V-twins and 4-cylinders), Hendersons, Sunbeams and others. The best part of the meet was to hear them run and even see some being ridden around prior to being sold. The old Harleys brought back many good memories. I owned two Panheads and a Shovelhead and also worked on quite a few Knuckleheads. For those who think I’m speaking another language with all the types of “heads”, Harley evolved from the Flathead (the valves were not in the head but on the side of the cylinder) to the overhead valve engines. They were more powerful. These too evolved. First was the Knucklehead – called that because one side of the head looked like the knuckles of a hand. They were around from 1936 when it replaced the flathead until 1947. In 1948, the Harley engine evolved into the Panhead – the valve cover resembled a cake pan. During the lifespan of the Panhead, the engine evolved further with hydraulic lifters (FLH designation). This made the engine much quieter and to me the FLH Panhead is the best engine Harley ever made. It has an exhaust note that is very mellow and with a quiet engine, made for a very pleasant ride. The Panhead lasted until the ultimate Panhead – the 1965 Electra-Glide. The only year that the Panhead had an electric starter. The 1965 Panhead was the most desired Harley when I was young. It had the best of both – the Panhead engine and electric start. In 1966, the Harley engine evolved into the Shovelhead with a valve cover that resembled an inverted shovel. These were very noisy engines. I had one of the later Shovelhead engines and it was noisy from the beginning but ran great. The Shovelhead was replaced by the Evolution engine in 1984. That was a brief history of the Harley-Davidson V-Twin engine. They all were good in their day – some better than others. The Indian Motorcycle never went to overhead valves and stayed with the flathead until it went under in 1953. They were very unique motorcycles with an avid following today – especially since the reintroduction of the new Indian motorcycle a couple years ago. Along with the well known marques, there were a few lesser known ones. One was the French made 1933 Styl’Son RD 250. It was a single cylinder 250cc with twin exhaust pipes. I had never heard of it before. The owner was a nice older gentleman who could not stop talking about it. He said that it was a pleasure to ride but not on the interstates. It just wasn’t built for the roads in the USA. That’s why the previous owner sold it to him. Along with all these great bikes, there were tons of old bike parts. It was a great place to look for that elusive part to complete your 1940 Simplex, 1946 Harley or 1963 Matchless. Many of the older bikes were a learning ground for the restorer. They looked very closely to see the way the bikes were assembled so they could get their project done right. I could have spent the entire day there talking to people about their bikes but I left at noon. I backtracked the way I came and again ran into the UNCC graduation traffic. It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning and next year I will definitely go again. More Info:
Published: Jun 1, 2010 Leave Comments |
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