The weather in Oregon has been in the mid 80's for most of July and August, but with the approach of the Tenino Washington meet, the forecast turned to cool, wet weather. The skies were overcast, with light drizzle as I loaded up and headed north. After reaching Tenino, the weather was cool, but only occasional light drizzle was present. Unfortunately, this usually hurts the turnout, but we were there to have fun, and swap some parts, and of course shoot the breeze and tell some stories.

The host for the event is the Evergreen chapter of AMCA, and they were represented by several members who manned the registration booth. Ian and Karen Davidson and Sandi Dahlen spent many hours working the  booth, and making sure everything went well. Many thanks to all the chapter members who took care of all the details, and I'm sorry I couldn't get everyone's names, but you know who you are. There were a little under 50 vendors on hand throughout the event, with American marques being the dominant group. 

Raceway brought a full contingent of Russian Urals, India Enfields, and some of the new Whizzer's. Jim also gave several rides in his black Ural hack unit, which was very popular with everyone. Jim specializes in Vertical Indian reproduction and original parts. They are located in Oregon, and you can reach them at (503)588-7227 for information.

Several VI members stopped by, and many more readers came by and
commented on the magazine. It's difficult to tell how many people actually read the VI without being a list member, but judging by the people I talked to, I would say that the list members are a very small percentage of the readership. Jim Hay (he's in the yellow shirt, and Roger Hensley is on the right) brought his red Chief by, and Rob and Pat Garrett brought their Scout bobber for all to see. Jim took my Chief for a ride, and seemed to like the KING clutch, but I couldn't pry his wallet open (yet). Having the bikes at the KING booth, really drew people in. Okay, the peanuts didn't hurt either (thanks for the idea, Ed). Man, they have some big, two legged squirrels in Washington!

Virtually every dealer stopped by at one time or another, to check out the KING clutch, and they all commented that they had heard about it. One even came by at 11 PM, and was trying to read a flyer by headlights! None of the dealers bought one, which didn't surprise me, but with their customers packing them off, they were starting to pay attention. Ian Davidson has a KING clutch in his 39 Chief, and he was very vocal about his enthusiasm for the KING! Ian also has a very small Toyota forklift alternator installed on his Chief, which he told me only cost around $150, brand new, and it's about two thirds the size of the Chevy Sprint (ND) unit I have.

As usual, my booth was next to Roger Hensley of Atlanta. Roger deals in high end literature, and original paper documents, as well as manufacturing several parts for leaf model horn mounts, military ignition spacers and siren parts. Poor Roger always spends more money than he takes in, and this year was no exception! It's always good to have Roger there, and hear some of his stories (and jokes). Roger also bought a KING clutch, so I expect to get some feedback from him as soon as he has time to try it out. See you next year Roger.

Frank Woslum came by, but I never got to talk to him, as he had his eye on one of the ugliest frames I have ever seen wrapped around a Chief motor, but he couldn't get the seller to split them up. It turns out, I bought the motor, and had to take the frame with it! When I found out someone had tried to buy the frame, and Frank had been there, we put two and two together, and found that I have his frame, so everyone wins. Now I have a new project motor, he has a frame, and I need one of his new frames when they're done..... I also scrounged up a set of Guzzi hard saddlebags, that I tried to convince Roger were a rare Chief accessory  bag, but he just gave me "the look". I'll show him, I'm gonna put 'em on  a Chief!

I ran across a booth that had a few Indian two strokes for sale, and I  couldn't resist a picture of the pink twin! It has a finish that is fuzzy like a peach, but in hot pink. I thought of Red Fred in San Francisco right away.... I bet he could find a home for that gem! Or maybe Steve Adams knows someone. Sorry Fred and Steve. I didn't talk  with the owner to get any details, but then again, I didn't really  want any.

Sunday at noon, there was a small bike show, and the Tenino Drill Team performed their stunts in the street in front of the park. They always please the crowd with their precision timing and close formations. Since I was working the booth, I didn't get to see the bike show, and missed most of the drill team performance, but I did get a couple pictures of them in action. 

Keep your eyes peeled for a KING booth at your local vintage meet, and stop in to say hi! Until next month, ride safe. Stan

Jim of Raceway with Ural hack. Raceway specializes in "Vertical" parts.

Roger Hensley, Jim Hay and Jim's Chief.

More KING clutch info on Stan's site here, and latest updates on this page on the VI.

The Garretts' Scout bobber.

Ian Davidson and '39 Chief.

Toyota forklift alternator.

New project...

Pink!

Tenino Drill Team.