The Guardian's San Francisco Blog - Concours d'Vrrroooommm

While we shine a little frowny face upon fossil fuel burning for the sake of it, we're suckers for antique motos (and, occasionally, their riders). David Carini checked out the International Concours d'Elegance.

Classic motorcycles sprouted from the lawn of the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay on Saturday May 3 as enthusiasts, mostly old white men, drooled over immaculate bikes of almost every brand and decade.

At Legends of the Motorcycle (aka International Concours d’Elegance), an annual event in its third year, contestants enter their meticulously restored motorcycles into one of several categories, from early production models from the turn of the 19th century to modern custom bikes, and then each category is awarded prizes.

Every year, there has been a focus on a particular brand, this time honoring Italian manufacturer MV Augusta and British Norton. As judges toured the golf course-like lawn, these bikes had the chance to rumble alive as many 70+-year-old men stared like children at a new toy under the Christmas tree.

The foggy morning started in the Dainese (a motorcycle apparel and helmet manufacturer) Tent with the unveiling of new safety technology and a collaborative effort with AGV (an Italian helmet) to unveil a limited edition Giacomo Agostini helmet.

Vittorio Cafaggi, Head of Marketing for Dainese, and Agostini, a retired racer with the most Moto GP trophies in the world, started in their Englitalian by talking about a new air bag development for a racers neck.

“This protective gear inflates in 30 milliseconds,” Cafaggi told us. The air bag looks like a boomerang pillow for business-class air passengers, which inflates just under the helmet to completely protect the upper spinal column.

The “Ago” helmet revealed and signed underneath the tent later auctioned for $5,000, which was donated to charity.

Inside the hotel, there was a photo exhibit by Timothy White of actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s ride around the world on two BMW GS 1150’s. The trip took them 115 days, starting in London, heading east and ending in New York City. Some of the pictures were from small villages in the Himalayan Mountains, showing the actors and bikes covered in mud as local children surrounded them.

On the other side of the hotel, Bonham and Butterfield hosted an auction of about 75 rare bikes, some reaching close to $100,000, like a 1906 Indian, but others, as a ’76 Honda CB400, for a mere $4,000.

At around 5 p.m., this motorcyclist’s paradise started clearing out as giddy faces headed back to the hundreds of bikes parked outside the luxury hotel’s gates. Although many wished to ride away in a classic Ducati or Harley, they seemed happy to return to their loved bikes and head home on scenic Highway 1.