About – Oregon Vintage Motorcyclists

Welcome to the OVM – Oregon Vintage Motorcyclists!

The club was founded in 1979 by several owners of vintage motorcycles who wanted to get together with like-minded individuals in Oregon to go for rides, put on shows & swap meets and other things that would allow us to use our old motorcycles the way were intended.

Our membership consists of people of all ages and all walks-of-life. Many of our members are old-timers of some note here in the Pacific Northwest and even nationwide.

The motorcycles owned by members of our club include early American and British bikes from the very beginnings of the motorcycle industry, up to relatively modern machines from manufacturers in Asia, Europe, Great Britain, and The United States.

Our premier event, which is open to the public is our annual spring Show & Swap-meet, which takes place in Corvallis, Oregon, at the Benton County Fairgrounds. Please check the events page for details. The show is on Sunday of the weekend before Memorial Day weekend and opens to the public at 10:00 AM. Admission is $5.00 per person with children under 12 free. You can expect to see over 100 examples of really nice vintage bikes on display. The display site is outdoors when the weather permits (we’ve only had to go indoors due to rain 3 times in 19 years) in a large field at the front of the fairgrounds.

Visitors to our show are encouraged to fill out a ‘People’s Choice’ ballot where you can vote for your favorite bike from each of seven categories: British, American, European, Asian, Competition, Cafe and Featured Marque. The club president also names his favorite and awards are given for President’s Choice and each of the four People’s Choice categories.

On the Saturday before our May show and swapmeet, we always have a vintage ride. See the photo gallery for an idea of the kinds of bike that take part in this. Anyone who wishes to participate in the ride is invited to meet us at the Benton County Fairgrounds west of Corvallis no later than 11:00am. The ride consists of about 60 – 70 miles of some of the Willamette Valley’s best backroads at a safe riding pace. Everyone is welcome.

Monthly Club meetings

If you are in the Portland area, be sure to come to our monthly meeting on the 2nd Saturday of each month at 12:00 noon at the Horse Brass Pub, 4534 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR 97215 Tel: 503 232-2202. All interested parties are welcome to attend.

If you are in or near Eugene, you can come to our 3rd Sunday, 11:00AM Eugene area non-official BS session. We’ve been holding them at The Sanctum Cafe in the old Lane Hotel building at the Northwest corner of 5th and Willamette, right across 5th Ave. from the old downtown post office.

There’s also a group that gathers there every Sunday morning, many of whom are OVM members, or at least interested in old bikes. The OVM meeting officially starts at 11:00, but people always begin arriving around 10:30 for any of the Sunday meets.

Rides

OVM encourages members to ride vintage bikes to sponsored events and rides, but vintage bikes are not a requirement in order to participate in regular rides. There are two vintage only events: the show at Corvallis and the show at Oaks Amusement Park near the Sellwood Bridge in SE Portland. Vintage motorcycles are on display at both shows. The annual Larch Mountain ride is always on the first Saturday in August with the Oaks Park show on the following day.

In addition, we have two or three club-sponsored rides each summer and we participate in a number of annual events put on by other groups. Look at our Events calendar for the details of forthcoming vintage bike events.

The OVM officers can be reached via e-mail at: info@oregonvintage.org