Instead of the BMWBMW Picnic, I decided to go to the Clifton Vintage Rally. Though the turnout was lower than expected because of the possibility of rain, there still were over fifty bikes there. The theme this year was Italian Bikes.
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About half were not vintage and had to be parked across from the rally but they accepted us as well.
Of course BMW did have a few people show up, as well as several other brands.
There were a fair amount of vintage Japanese bikes, and a 1945 Harley "Rat Bike" with an incredibly long set of forks.
This guy was a real character, but make no mistake, he can ride this bike. I followed him for over 25 miles and he didn't slow us down. I was completely amazed. More so when I saw the serious dry rot on his front tire.
The ride took us through the Manassas Battlefield and surrounding areas. It was an incredible day for riding and the rain gods took pity on us and held back the much anticipated floods.
We even had a bit of clear sky briefly! It was a perfect day for a ride.
After about 50 miles we headed back to Clifton. If you have never been there, it's a great little old town nestled in the not so rural backwoods of northern VA just off Highway 123 and near the Fairfax County Parkway.
Overall it was a very cool experience. I finally got to put some miles on my new, to me, R1100RS and am really beginning to enjoy it.
Jim