Dazzling Revival Of Hilltop Farm Show

SUFFIELD, CT – It was hot on the hilltop today as Hilltop Farm revived its vintage motorcycle show after a four-year sabbatical, and one old bike stood out in particular and required sunglasses to squint at. It was a brilliant all-chrome 1947 Indian Chief police edition with a Bonneville motor.

The Indian had spectators gawking and kept owner Michael Payack of Little Falls, NY answering endless questions. “I’ve never seen another one,” said Payack, who picked it up along with a red 1948 Indian Chief from a seller in Klamath Falls, OR. “I found it in ’88, but I didn’t own it until 2003.”

Payack knows a little of the bike’s history and is convinced it came all-chrome from the Indian factory in Springfield, MA. He bases his opinion on an old order form that lists all the chrome parts that could be requested when ordering a bike and on an old picture that he has of the bike. “I almost think it’s a factory photo,” he said.

As for it’s history, “it supposedly had ties to the Eisenhower presidency,” he said. Perhaps it was used in a motorcade. Payack uses it as his daily rider. He rides it “quite a bit. Right now it’s my one and only bike,” he added.

Not surprisingly, Payack’s Indian did well in the show, taking home plaques for Best Custom, Best Vintage Indian and Most Unique. Winning a plaque for Best Sport model was a 1973 Triumph Tiger 750 owned by Scott Dawick of New Hartford, CT. While technically not a sport bike, the Tiger was the closest in the category.

Dawick bought the Tiger new in 1973 and has ridden it off and on ever since, keeping it while other bikes have shuffled through. “This is the third rebuild,” he said. “It’s got a lot of sentimental value.”

While the show started slowly, it picked up once dozen of riders from Indian Motorcycle of Springfield’s “Come Home” rally arrived. Despite a plan to open the show up to all brands of bikes – between 2008 and 2012 the focus was on old Indians as Hilltop Farm was once owned by Indian co-founder George M. Hendee – the show continued to emphasize Indians. The brand was manufactured in Springfield between 1901 and 1953.

That’s not to say that there weren’t Harley-Davidsons, Hondas and the occasional BMW and Moto Guzzi at the “Vintage Motorcycle Rally & Hendee Day” event.

“I’m just ecstatic,” said Kacy Colston of the non-profit Friends of the Farm at Hilltop, which staged the event as a fund-raiser to make upgrades to the barn. “I would like to see a few more bikes competing. I think it’s a good basis for starting again with an annual event.”

It’s just a prediction, but many of the bikes at today’s show will likely be at the Indian Day celebration at the Springfield Museums in Springfield on Sunday. Payack plans to bring his all-chrome stunner.