All about the bikes

    Rick Bard of Bucyrus, Ohio, is one of the many exhibitors set up at this week’s Vintage Motor Bike Show held at Jay County Fairgrounds. The show began Wednesday and will go until July 12.

Photo Gallery

Vintage Motor Bike Show (7/12/2025)

  Bard is a member of the Cushman Club of America, serving as the east area representative. The purpose of the club is the dedication to the restoration and preservation of Cushman Motor Scooters.

    He has traveled to Portland to attend the Vintage Motor Bike Show for the past 25 years. In addition to Jay County’s show, he also attends bike shows in Amana, Iowa; Perry, Georgia; and Erwin, Tennessee; every year.

    Bard shared that when he traveled to Tennessee for this year’s show, the community was still facing the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which hit in September. While Bard’s Cushman Club was on a ride there, one of its members was involved in a traffic accident, leaving her injured and unable to finish the ride. A Tennessee local, who was just passing by, stopped to assist, calling for help and directing traffic around the injured woman while waiting for paramedics to arrive. After the situation had resolved, Bard learned the good samaritan had lost everything to the hurricane. “That’s just the kind of people they are down there,” he said, “always helping each other out.”

    One of Bard’s most prized items of his collection is this red 1950s Cushman Motorbike (above). It won Bard “Best of Show,” a people’s choice award, at the 2023 National Vintage Motorcycle Show in Kansas City, Missouri.

    Exhibitors attend shows for a variety of reasons. There are the “parts guys,” as Bard called them, who collect foreign and domestic parts for trading, “the restorers,” who enjoy getting their hands dirty and seeing the process from start to finish, and “the riders,” who are in it for the friends and the community. Bard does a little bit of it all, but his main interest is riding.

    “The parts guys are what keeps these events going,” said Bard.

    “Everyone has their interest,” he added. “Some people like fishing. Some people like antiques. We like bikes.” The Vintage Motor Bike Show includes a parade around the fairgrounds every night at 8 p.m., as well as separate rides outside of the grounds. On Tuesday, a group rode from the Jay County Fairgrounds to Celina, Ohio, for dinner and to see Grand Lake St. Mary’s.