Ron Mousouris won the Jim Davis Best of Show Award at the 2005 Concours d'Elegance with his rare and superbly restored 1957 Honda Benly.

2005 Concours d'Elegance: Beauty and the beat of a vintage exhaust

Story by Lance Oliver
Photos by Bill Andrews

October 8, 2005 – Until around 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the circular driveway in front of the Hall of Fame Museum looked like a gearhead's dream sculpture garden.

Dozens of pre-1975 motorcycles, some expertly restored, others in original condition, lined the grounds for the invitation-only 2005 Concours d'Elegance, presented by XM Satellite Radio. But leave it to guys in the radio business to add an aural dimension to the show.

One of the new awards this year was the Motor Music Award sponsored by XM Satellite Radio for the best-sounding motorcycle in the show.

So around 2 p.m., owners started firing up those machines, filling the air with an exotic mix of sounds from the past — and, truth be told, a few puffs of oil smoke, too.

Swirling in the air were exhaust notes from multiple countries and multiple eras. The 1936 Indian that won Best in Show last year huffed away near the roar of an unmuffled 1964 Ducati Diana. A 1954 Vincent Black Shadow and a 1941 Harley-Davidson WLD chopper offered different takes on V-twin cadence. A 1960 BSA Spitfire Scrambler A10 burbled away and front tires juddered on old Nortons just as they've always done when old Nortons idle.

Duane "Digger" Carey (left in photo above), master of ceremonies at the Hall of Fame Induction, enjoys the sound of a Ducati.

Something else happened, too. The crowds scattered around the grounds regathered, focused again on the motorcycles. Smiles all around.

Looking at beautiful old motorcycles is great. A living, breathing, beautiful old motorcycle is even better.

The winner of the Motor Music award combined good looks and great sound. Dave Hartleip of Hartland, Wisconsin, rebuilt his 1965 Ducati Monza 250 (right) as a custom, including twin, underseat exhaust pipes that rise from beneath the engine in a sweeping curve. The same bike won Best of Show honors in the European class at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum Bike Show this summer at AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days.

The Concours d'Elegance, which precedes the annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony each year, always draws some of the best vintage bikes around. But while just about every motorcycle in the show has a story behind it, not many of those stories involve shrapnel. In the case of Anthony Paluch's 1942 BMW R75WH — a grey warhorse among shiny restorations — bullet holes were just part of the machine.

Paluch's R75 (left), complete with sidecar, leather military saddlebags and a hitch for pulling artillery, probably saw action with the German army against the Russians in World War II. It was abandoned in Czechoslovakia, with eight bullet holes in the tank, at the end of the war and later reassembled by a German man who brought it with him when he moved to Canada.

Paluch bought it on Ebay and finished the restoration.

"It's an everyday driver," he said. "No big thing for it to go on a 50-mile ride one or two times a week. It tops out at 63 or 64, but it will cruise at 50 mph, no problem."

At the afternoon's end, however, only one bike could claim the Jim Davis Best of Show award for 2005. And really, it wasn't a big surprise.

The exceedingly rare and exquisitely restored 1957 Honda Benly (right) that won Best of Show in the Japanese class at AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days also took top honors at the Concours d'Elegance. The Benly, a Japanese-only model never sold in the United States, was restored over three years by owner Ron Mousouris of Santa Barbara, California.

Mousouris took custody of the rotating Concours d'Elegance trophy for the next year. He promises to return for that competition with a 1953 Honda he's working now.

Since it won its award at VMD in July, the Benly has rested in Ohio, waiting for the Concours d'Elegance. So for the first time in months, Mousouris saw the jewel-like bike with fresh eyes.

"What I've been dealing with for three years was a collection of parts, not a motorcycle," he said. "I've been working on this fuel line, or polishing this part or that. When you do that, you lose a sense of what it's like as a whole.

"Now, I can sit here and enjoy the bike as a whole."

And so did the judges.

Click here for a complete list of 2005 award winners.

A Bultaco race bike.	British bikes were well represented.
Ducati style.	One entry in the Concours was a new triple-engine version of the Norton "Hogslayer" dragbike ridden by 2005 Hall of Fame inductee T.C. Christenson.
There's a reason the tach is not on zero. These show bikes run.	An all-American chopper with a 1941 Harley-Davidson WLD heart.
Not all the bikes worth looking at were entered in the Concours d'Elegance. This Vincent was ridden in for transportation, not to win prizes.
"Mr. Daytona" Scott Russell signs autographs during the Concours d'Elegance.	Three-time AMA motocross champ Doug Henry signs a poster for a fan.

© 2005, Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum