[7] Long Beach Bmw Motorcycle Making Monthly Highlight

Booze and bikes don’t generally mix, but they will appear together at the upcoming Progressive International Motorcycle Show, where a collection of vintage motorcycles will share floor space with cases of Malbec and Merlot.

Both are part of the Doffo Winery display, the first time that a vintner has been part of this annual motorcycle gathering.

Wine and motorcycles are twin passions of the Doffo men, father and son, Marcello and Damian. They and other family members run the Temecula-based winery, and they’re bike nuts.

“Both my father and I ride, and we both race,” Damian said. “We’ve always been into motorcycles.”

The 20 MotoDoffo motorcycles on display — a group that includes a Gilera Saturno 500, a pair of Ducati Formula 3 race bikes and a very rare Yamaha TD2 — are a few of the 180 machines that Damian Doffo estimates are scattered around the winery.

Each has a history and many have deep personal connections to the family. The Gilera, for example, is a motorcycle that father Marcello knew from his hometown in rural Argentina when he was a little boy.

Many of the vintage Italian motorcycles in the MotoDoffo collection are housed in the winery’s barrel room. (Doffo Winery )

Fifty years after first seeing it, Damian said, his father went back to the little town, tracked the bike down and bought it.

“It’s the same one,” Damian said. “We have the original receipt of purchase.”

The MotoDoffo bikes represent the cream of small-sized motorcycles from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, when father Marcello first fell in love with riding.

“These are the bikes he could never have as a poor boy growing up,” Damian said.

Damian explained that his father, as a young man, shared a bedroom with two older relatives. One of them commuted to work on a motorcycle that, every night, was kept chained to a bed in the room.

“He went to bed staring at that motorcycle,” Damian said. “When [the relatives] went to town, he would fire it up inside the house.”

In Temecula, some motorcycles are displayed outside. Some are on racks inside. Others line the walls of the “MotoBarrel room.” Still others are hidden in Marcello’s private vault.

“My dad hoards them all for himself, especially the Ducatis,” Damian said.

The idea of bringing Doffo wheels and wines to the motorcycle trade show started with an email from one of the show’s organizers.

“It started with, ‘Can you bring five or six motorcycles,’ ” Damian said. “Then it was, like, ‘How about 12? how about 18?’ It’s an honor for us to be there, even though it’s costing us an arm and a leg to transport the bikes.”

The Doffo family will also have wines on display during the three-day Long Beach show, which starts Friday afternoon and ends Sunday evening.

1/13

BMW unveiled the new G 310 GS at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach. It’s powered by a 313 cc single cylinder engine making 34 horsepower. Pricing has not yet been announced.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 2/13

Urs Pedraita, 52, left, talks about his 57,000 mile, six continent trip in 72 days aboard the Victory Daytona One on display at the Victory exhibit during the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach. His trip began in Daytona on Mar 12, 2016 and finished in Daytona on July 10, 2016 before riding to Long Beach for the show with his bike.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 3/13

Honda revealed two Rebels: a 500 cc parallel twin engine, left, and a 300 cc single cylinder at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach. The Rebel 500 is tentatively priced at $5,999 and the Rebel 300 at $4,399.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 4/13

Jason Chinnock, CEO of Ducati North America, introduced the carbon fiber-framed, 215-horsepower Ducat 1299 Superleggera at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach. Only 500 of the $80,000 motorcycles will be made.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 5/13

Ducati unveiled the 113-horsepower Supersport S at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach. The S comes standard with (div)hlins suspension, quick shifter, tail cowling and the white silk paint.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 6/13

With the growing popularity of offroad and adventure riding, Ducati unveiled the Scrambler Desert Sled at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach. It’s priced at $11,395.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 7/13

The Suzuki GSX250R was unveiled at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 8/13

KTM unveiled the 177-horsepower 1290 Superduke R during the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 9/13

BMW unveiled the G 310 R, left, and the G 310 GS at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach. They’re both powered by a 313 cc single cylinder engine that makes 34 horsepower. Pricing for the R is $4,750. Pricing for the GS has not been announced.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 10/13

Yamaha showed a concept motorcycle based on their SCR 950 at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 11/13

A custom Honda Rebel 500 is displayed at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach. Honda and other manufacturers are unveiling a crop of small-displacement motorcycles.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 12/13

Kawasaki revealed the 2017 Z900 at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach. Base MSRP is $8,399.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 13/13

Indian Motorcycle announced its new flat track racing bike, the Scout FTR750 during the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Some of them are prizewinners. Some are quite expensive. At the winery, prices range up to $200 for a bottle of its 2008 Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.

But Damian said the family discourages drinking and driving, or riding, though few motorcyclists who visit the Moto Doffo collection are inclined that way.

“The people who visit the motorcycles, they usually come on their motorcycles,” he said. “That guy is not going to do a wine tasting, nor do we want to push that.”

The motorcycles and the wines are available for viewing and tasting, seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

There is no admission charge, though visitors may need to ask to have the “barrel room” opened to see the bikes stored there.

“There’s really no business plan for MotoDoffo,” Damins said. “Except, ‘These are our bikes. Come check them out.’ Media @misterfleming