Not only is Paulo Rosas the head honcho at the aesthetically pleasing moto gear brand Pagnol, but he is also a talented photographer that is always shooting away at every motorcycle show. Paulo is also a good friend of Pipeburn, so we hit him up for some photos of the Quail Gathering and were impressed when we saw the shots – he even wrote a few words to go with them. Enjoy…

This year, I was hired as the Quail Motorcycle Gathering (QMG) official photographer for the 2nd time in a row. This all started three years ago when Pagnol was a vendor there and I took some shots of the event for a Pagnol story that they loved and then one thing lead to another and here we are again.

This event is by far the “fancier” moto show in the USA, but it still has the relaxed atmosphere we all love about the motorcycle scene. It started on Friday with the “Quail Ride”, which is a 1.5 hour ride that begins at the Quail Lodge and ended at the iconic Laguna Seca Raceway – this was the opposite way from past years rides.

I had the option of riding a motorcycle, but to properly photograph the ride you have to stop ahead of all the riders to take some shots, then ride and pass them for another spot.  So from last years experience I knew that being in the support vehicle would be a much better option – I get to shoot as we move with a few stops as well.

The ride went towards Carmel Valley, which is a much smaller version of the actual Carmel town and is such a beautiful valley. After it, there is almost nothing but great windy roads, a river and green vegetation all around you (This time of year :), then as you come around to the inland side of the mountains, we had the first stop at a winery and just hang out for a bit.

From there, we headed over to Laguna Seca, which this year’s ride was on the track in the middle of a cars race weekend! All our riders got to ride the track and I was in one of the pace cars – which gave me a chance to study some lines for the next track day there.

The next day is showtime! The highlight for me was a neo board tracker build by car designer Niki Smart – just mind-blowing. One of the coolest things about this moto show, is the variety of ‘sections’ with different themes for each year; from the Italian, British, Customs, Racing and Vintage military. This year’s celebration of the Honda CB750, Brought Superior’s 100th anniversary and off-road classics as the featured classes.

Most years at the Quail Gathering the weather is overcast, but this time the sun was shining, just like the 355 bikes that were on display. Here’s a small selection of them…

 
       

Big thanks to Paulo from Pagnol | Instagram | Read more stories from Paulo here.