1956 MV Agusta 175 CSTL

Martin Moto hosts the The Modern Classics Ride-In in Boyertown, PA

I rode down to Pennsylvania for Labor Day weekend, and stopped by Martin Moto in Boyertown for their annual Modern Classics Ride-In

MVs and Guzzis

I showed up at around 11:30am on Saturday, and the parking lot was filled with predominantly European, classic motorcycles, like this 70's era MV Agusta 750S.

This 1956 MV Agusta 175 CSTL was probably my favorite bike exhibited, though it was on display rather than ridden in.

My brother in-law sped in on the predecessor to this bike, an 83 Moto Guzzi 850 Le Mans III.

One of the coolest bikes was this 1978 Moto Morini 3 1/2. This little race scooter was beautifully maintained by the original owner, and had a custom exhaust recently built, and I believe it won the Exhibitor's Choice award for best in show.

This '99 Aprilia RSV Mille superbike doesn't really fit with any of the classics above, but it was the progenitor of my buddy's Aprilia Tuono and will include it with the other Italians.

British Beauts

If you rode the Black Shadow at top speed for any length of time, you would almost certainly die."

Another Norton Commando 750.

Norton Commando 850 Roadster.

A B.S.A. Gold Star I think...





These Moto Guzzi V750 Ambassadors were introduced in the late 1960's and only produced for a few years. This model had a custom paint job and slick, whitewall tires.This Ducati was sitting pretty, with it's classic 900SS Darmah black and gold paint scheme.Quite a few people had classic British bikes. I had never see an actual Vincent Black Shadow before, but you cannot mistake all the enameled black paint and accents. This bike is really rare and was legendarily fast in 1949 when it was released, and even Hunter S. Thompson (in a Ducati review for Cycle World), said, "The most common British motorcycle people brought up to Martins was the Commando, produced only from about 1966-72.This beautifully restored Norton Commando sported a race fairing and custom-welded rear sets.This earlier Norton (perhaps a Jubilee?) looked like it was straight out of the early 50's.© 2014 Tigh Loughhead