Flathead Power @ Oley AMCA Meet. Featuring the Anders Nygren engine.

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Flathead Power/ S&S Cycle attended the AMCA National Swapment in Oley PA, hosted by the Perkiomen Chapter, April 27-29^th 2012.  AMCA events like the Perkiomen Swapmeet have long been a great place to network with fellow vintage enthusiasts as well as get the word out on new and existing S&S products under the Flathead Power Brand.  Flathead Power founder Anders Nygren used the same venues to display and sell his wares, and this year, following the recent release of an American Iron magazine article, Flathead Power debuted the Anders Nygren Signature Series 93” Knuckle Engine, and what better place to honor the man that got Flathead Power going, than a National AMCA Meet?

Flathead Power road crew members, Eric Wangen & Kayle Pauling left for Oley PA on Tuesday, April 24^th for the 2 day drive to East Central Pennsylvania.  A day before we left, we saw on the news that most of PA was hit by a late snow storm, depositing as much as 13 inches in some areas, but a day later when we went thru, just a trace amount of snow in the higher elevations was the only evidence to be seen.  Other than a near miss by a kamikaze turkey outside Boaz WI and an “over the cab” car hauler in western PA who suddenly felt he needed both lanes in a construction zone before he fully passed the our truck and trailer, the trip out was pretty uneventful.  On Wednesday we made a stop to visit S&S/Flathead Power Dealer Paul Friebus at American Cycle Fab in Bloomsburg PA to see some of the skunkworks that goes into Bonneville racing a flathead motorcycle, sorry we didn’t take any pics there, but trust me, Paul is a record setter for a reason! 

Thursday is considered a setup day at most all of the AMCA Swapmeets and is not open to the public, but there is still a lot of people for booth traffic as the other vendors take a chance to see what everyone has brought into the show in hopes they might find that hard sought after item they need or they think they can turn a bit of profit on.  We’ve found that if you can get to the meet as it opens on Thursday, dropping the trailer and setting up is way easier if you can get in long before your neighbors arrive.  With new display materials, we got setup in short order, and were busy most all day Thursday.

Now some may not know this, but S&S holds a strict policy that we won’t sell retail and compete with our dealers, so linking up with one of our dealers at these events allows us to bring along some select parts to sell thru the dealer in attendance, in this case we had WayBack Wheels from Portsmouth New Hampshire in the very next row.  We brought some seconds and blem parts to sell along with some select firsts.  Fully functional, seconds and blems can be pretty good deals if you don’t mind a bent or a small broken fin or other defect that inadvertently makes it thru the machining process but would not be a sellable item at MSRP.  We get people looking for mock up parts, parts they want to try some modification on or with a little work, repair the fin or other blem feature and run the parts.  We even had a guy that wanted to take a blem knuckle housing and make a beer tapper handle.  The only way to get in on these rare second and blem parts deals is by attending one of these meets where the flaws can be seen handled and explained face to face by our road crew.  (All blems and seconds are marked and are sold as is, and not under any kind of warranty)

Our UL/WLA Hybrid military display bike featured on our Facebook page was also a big hit for the people in attendance and the road crew who took it out for a spin around the grounds every couple of hours.  We didn’t keep count, but I bet it was one of the most photographed bikes at the meet.  Sporting our UL cylinders, heads, lifters and kicker cover, the bike was a great way to showcase parts and our commitment to the vintage market.

Friday was cold, overcast and extremely windy, at a few points in the day the guys were holding down the tents while talking to customers, almost like being in a day long bank hold up.  The cold and wind did'nt deter too many from venturing out to find their parts, attendance and booth traffic remained pretty steady.

Saturday weather was fully cooperative, and the booth traffic was very steady right up to the close of the show as most vendors pack up and leave Saturday night.  A side story about some of the pictures below, about mid afternoon Saturday, one of our neighbors was getting all packed up for his drive back, accidentally locked his key in his truck.  With his spare set at the other end of the state, he was ready to break his back window to gain entry.  Not wanting to see that happen, crew member Kayle Pauling stepped up and after about 20 minutes of work, was able to fish a coat hook in and bump the electric lock.   Now that’s customer service!

Our next show is at the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa Iowa, and we may be adding another AMCA meet in Wauseon in July, we’ll keep you posted, or check us out on Facebook for more Flathead Power road tour events.