2023 - The Texas Fandango, Fredericksburg, TX, USA
Let’s start with the verdict for a change: what a great, terrific, unreal weekend in Texas! With a far out assembly of absolutely ass kicking classic and historic motorcycles from all around the globe, something for even the most jaded bike connoisseur. In short, everything we always connected with two wheels and an engine, riding and wrenching as a way of life: "What the hell, let’s just do it, man!"
Quick rewind back to the beginning: „The Texas Fandango“ was the reason we went all that long and dusty way from Arizona to Texas – we just hoped they were for real when they promised the "largest public exhibition of vintage and classic motorcycles in Texas".
This noble dictum came from none other but the Cherokee Chapter
of the AMCA (Antique Motorcycle Club of America) and they picked Fredericksburg, Tx. as the venue. Fredericksburg was founded way back when by German immigrant Freiherr von Meusebach, who cunningly named the place after the Prussian Prince Friedrich von Preußen, making it a focal point for even more German immigrants. Historically, the Fredericksburg citizens hold the only to this day unbroken treaty with the local Comanche tribe, and they also abhorred slavery, making them suffer from retribuition during the civil war. The town’s best known son probably is admiral Chester W. Nimitz, commander Pacific Fleet in the WW2. All very gripping stuff, but we came here for something else.
Even on Friday, when we were setting up our small stall, the swap meet
was getting underway and the AMCA show was in the last sages of preparation, we had an inkling, that our eyeballs were gonna dance these coming days of the "Texas Fandango". The Fandango being a dance of Spanish or perhaps Portuguese origin, sometimes deemed "obscene, voluptuous, indecent."
And to be honest, the sheer number and quality of the bikes assembled here in the heart of Texas was obscene; not just Harley-Davidsons from essentially all chapters of the long Harley history; no, there was virtually everything of legend status. Not just museum quality treasures, but also milestones of motorcycle dreaming: Benelli Sei, Moto Guzzis, Japanese classics, international two wheeled absurdities.
Saturday, the official chopper show day, was the really "voluptuous" day:
what a line up! They had wrenching culture galore, they had long fork chopper races on the flat track oval, they had the heavy wrenching banter. Add to that the swap meet and the Linkert seminar – a feast for life. In case you need some lubrication for your dried up wrenching muscles or some inspiration for your next "indecent" build, or just some general idea of what’s possible if you just do it for the hell of it, then you should bring your dancing shoes to the next Fredericksburg Fandango.