Fort Conde Four was a bit different from previous shows

"Fort Condé Four" was a bit different from previous shows. The fort had fallen into disrepair in recent years. The roof leaked, the toilets no longer worked, the grass in quadrangle had been replaced with weeds, and several mishaps with seniors stumbling on the rough cobblestones were increasingly alarming the city’s lawyers to the possibility that an expensive personal injury suit was just around the corner. Because the fort is one of the city’s main tourist attractions, there was a high priority to effect repairs this year. Those were essentially finished about a month before the show. Part of the renovation included replacing the cobblestones with a flat bricks like the sidewalks outside the fort. The new bricks were set in sand (not mortar) and made an attractive pavement. However, the masons advised that nothing heavy be placed on the bricks until they have settled for a few months and that of course included our motorcycles.

The museum of Mobile personnel were anxious to accommodate us in some way so we spent a morning several weeks before the show date considering options. We settled on using the section of Church Street that runs between Water and Royal alongside the Museum. They cleared the street on Saturday night so we could set up Sunday morning. It worked out fine as we had plenty of room. Most of the bikes could be parked on hard pavement rather than soft grass which was a definite plus. And, of course, beautiful Fort Conde was right across the street and open for viewing. To sweeten the deal the Museum was open free to all show participants. The Shed set up their Bar B Q trailer in front of the fort and provide food and drinks for all. Finally, the weather gods again smiled on us with warm sunny skies which is not a given during November.

We had 67 bikes entered in 12 classes. Eight MBVMC club members volunteered to do the judging. Framed certificates were awarded to the first 3 places in each class and a best of show trophy was awarded to Kent Stocker for his beautiful WWII Harley WLA sidecar rig. The winners are listed below. You can see pictures of most of the bikes in the gallery. Unfortunately the memory card filled up on our photographer's camera so some of the pictures did not come out. If you happen to have pictures of an entry that is not represented in the gallery (like Beatrice Long's Simplex) please send it to Jim Downey jasdowney@gmail.com and he will add it.

Class	First	Second	Third
Vintage American over 350cc	Gordon Bass 1947 Indian Chief	Kent Stocker 1942 HD WLA	Mike Porter Indian Chief
Vintage American 350cc & under	Beatrice Long 1948 Simplex	David Paryzek 1964 Sprint	Michael McGoogan 1968 Montgomery Ward Mojave
Vintage Japanese 1976-1992	Michael McGoogan 1989 Honda GB500	Jack Strunk 1985 Yamaha RZ350	Carlos Forte 1979 Honda CX500
Vintage Japanese 1975 and older	David Paryzek 1972 Suzuki Titan 500	Gordon Bass 1974 Yamaha DT175 Enduro	Rick Gomez 1967 Honda 305 Scrambler
Vintage Japanese under 300cc	Jim Arrington 1969 Honda SL90	David Paryzek 1970 Suzuki Stinger 125	Carlos Forte 1967 Bridgestone 175
Vintage British	Jim Downey 1957 Triumph Thunderbird	Michael McGoogan 1973 Triumph T140 Bonneville	Jim Downey 1966 Triumph T120 Bonneville
Vintage European 1976-1992	Richard Dorgan 1993 BMW with Sidecar	Robert Hangen 1984 BMW R80RT
Vintage European 1975 and older	Mike Porter 1950 Moto Guzzi 250cc Aerione	David Paryzek 1967 HD Sprint	Mike Thomason 1965 Jawa 350
Vintage Motor scooter	Bill Patterson 1957 Cushman Eagle	Carlos Forte 1911 Forte Model S (replica)
Unrestored original	Mike Porter 1938 BMW R35	Eleanor Robinson 1965 Triumph Tiger Cub	Richard Hunter 1974 Ducati 850
Cafe Racer & Competition	Leland Tieszen 2011 Aprilla RSV4 Road Racer	Carlos Forte 1976 BMW Cafe Racer	Jim Witt 1976 Triumph Cafe Racer
Custom	Danny Weemes 1969 Honda (BSA Poser)	Jim Whitteveen 2004 Honda Custom