L.A. Calendar Motorcycle Show 2010 Update

Today, I rode out to Long Beach for the L.A. Calendar Motorcycle Show.  The show had fewer bikes than last year, which had fewer than the year before.  The struggling economy is really taking its toll on these events.

The heat wasn't nearly as bad as it was on Friday.  As a matter of fact, it started out as a nice overcast day. It didn't really get hot until I headed back to the Inland Empire.

Although this year was smaller than the last two, it still had a bit to offer.  First of all, there were quite a few babes in attendance.  Second, there were still some bikes to gawk at.  Third, there were quite a few vendors to gain some valuable information. Last, I got meet Russell Mitchell of Exile Cycles and hear him give a seminar on bike building.

Here are some pictures that were taken on location:

Here's the assault weapon (they spelled it assalt weapon).

Here's a bike that was in the parking lot.  That big tire on the back reminds me of Batman's cycle from the new movie.

Here's a cool black bobber.

Someone really loves their chrome...

Here's an awesome blue bagger.

Another bobber.

Here's a brown Triumph bobber.  This one appears to have the modern Sportster rims.

Here's a very clean lowrider bike.  The bald guy in the back looked a lot like Goldberg, the wrestler, but I don't believe he was big enough to actually be Goldberg.

Here's a sports bike with some cool custom clown paint.

Here's a custom chopper that was in the show.

Here's a bike that appears to be used in salt flat races.

Here's a Harley Dyna modified by Exile Cylces.  This almost looks like a dual sport.  I like the way a lot of their bikes seem like they would be right out of a Mad Max movie.

A Harley Shovel was in the show and it looked great - old school meets new school.

This one's called Kamikaze and it was built by those beauties that you see in the background.  They represent AFT Custom Cycles.  On the back of the tank, you'll find the words "Do you have the stones?"

This is another bike built by the babes of AFT Custom Cycles.

Here's a nice Road King (I believe) that was found in the parking lot.

The Purrfect Angelz put on a dancing display.  I couldn't find any reason to complain.  This may have been the second time I've seen them put on a performance.

Here's a nice lowrider with springer frontend.  Check out those twisted fishtails!

Here's another bobber.

Can you believe it?  Another bobber...

Russell Mitchell is pictured below, leaning against his clean and modified Harley Softail.

This brown chopper was slammed and it really looked good.  I'm not sure how it would fare on the mountain roads where I dwell, though.  I tend to scrape my floorboards as it is. Maybe it has air suspension.

This is not something that you see everyday.  It's nice to take a break from the norm.

I believe that this originated as a Harley Fatboy.  A lot of time and, needless to say, money went into this one.

It's not often you see a sports bike with this much chrome.

Surprisingly, a lot of the choppers and bobbers on display were built on frames created by a Chassis Design Company.  It's not a very creative name, but their products were more than creative enough.

There was also a very attractive magician performing for the audience.  She was as entertaining as she was easy on the eyes.

Here are a few links where you can get more information on the products being hawked at the show.

Exile Cycles

Purrfect Angelz

AFT Custom Cycles

Chassis Design Company

L.A. Calendar Motorcycle Show 2010

Tomorrow is the Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, California.  It costs $25 and is more for those that appreciate the craftsmanship of some of the coolest bikes.  With the paid admission, you also get a ticket to board the Queen Mary and check out the old boat.

There are many cool bikes to ogle.  But along with the cool bikes, some of the celebrity bike builders are often in attendance.  One year I was fortunate enough to talk with Chica and get a photo with him - I love his bikes!

There are many custom built bikes, including some featured on the Biker Build-off Series.  Cooler than that are the ones built by your average Joe in his garage, shed, basement, or backyard.  There's some great mods that are done and I've taken quite a few pictures of some great ideas to borrow for a project of my own someday.

To find out more, you can check out the site here:

L.A. Calendar Motorcycle Show

Chica's Custom Cycles

Big Bear, yet again...

Today was a non-riding excursion with the family unit.

The little woman wanted to take the kids to Big Bear for a chili cook-off that was going on today. So, being the subservient husband that I am, I drove the cage up to Big Bear. This would be my 5th week in a row in that neck of the woods.

There were a few bikes present, but only managed to snap one pic of a very cool Big Bear Choppers bike. Witness it below.

Skip Fordyce Harley Davidson Bike Night Update

Just got back from the event and took only a handful of pics due to batteries dying.

The event didn't appear to have the usual number of bikes in attendance, but there were probably over 50.  Some of the usual faces were there, including a few mugs from the local Harley Owners Group chapter.

We had a good time.  The kids won a couple of t-shirts from the KFROG booth.  They occupied themselves in the lounge area, watching T.V. and playing some good old fashioned pool.

The local H.O.G. chapter had a fundraiser, selling miscellaneous baked goods.  I made my donation in exchange for some cookies and chocolate covered pretzels.

Skip's provided some food in the form of lasagna, bread sticks, salad, and drinks.  The food was great.

The only downside to the whole event was the heat.  Today was just awful.  It started to cool down as it got dark, but after being in the sun all day, I was beat.

Here are a few pics that I was able to get prior to the batteries dying in the old Canon.

This old Harley is a '42.  It was totally cool.

I believe the owner stated that this Heritage is a '99.  I liked what he had done to it.

I really dig the gold leaf on this bike. Attention to detail was added with copper-colored pieces here and there.

Vincent Thomas Bridge

Well, it was time for the periodic oil change for the 'ol bike.  I scheduled an appointment at Harbor City Harley Davidson, some 90 miles away.  The reasons that I chose to go to this store instead of my local shops were to take advantage of the special oil change price of $17.76 and to ride over the Vincent Thomas Bridge.

It's been some time that I've been over that bridge and I've been wanting to go there for quite a while now.  Last time I recall going over it, there was still a toll to cross.  That's right, a toll.  This is no longer the case, as I understand it, the toll was used to repay the debt incurred to build the bridge.  Once paid off, the toll no longer exists.

Here are a couple of pics of the bridge:

While out there, I was fortunate enough to see a small Homeland Security convoy.  There were a couple of black S.U.V.s with flashing lights, and sandwiched between them was an armored vehicle of sorts.

I'm not sure how you guys feel about Homeland Security, but I am thankful they are there doing their jobs.

I sped past them a couple of times in order to get some pictures.  They could have easily thought I was some loon and taken me into custody.  If they did, perhaps it would have been confirmed that I am in fact some loon.

Here are couple of images of the Homeland Security detail:

After riding out to Harbor City in the blistering southern California heat today, I stopped at one of my favorite fast food restaraunts to get out of the heat and let the bike cool off a bit - Miguel's Jr in Grand Terrace.

After putting on around 200 miles today in the heat, this is about all that I have to show for it.

Skip Fordyce Harley Davidson Bike Night

Tomorrow night is Skip's monthly bike night.  I definitely encourage everyone to check this event out.  It's completely free (usually includes food and drink) and tons of cool bikes will be there.

Lot's of good down-to-earth people are there and if you don't already own a bike, you can talk to the riders, as well as the store associates, for information or suggestions.

I plan on being there tomorrow night, taking pictures and hanging out.

Skip Fordyce is in Riverside, CA.
You can check them out here...
Skip Fordyce Harley Davidson

Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show

Well, after today, I look forward to going to the Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show next weekend in Long Beach.  You can expect me to post some images of the event.

Venice Beach Vintage Motorcycle Show

Well, being a motorcycle enthusiast, I felt obligated to attend the Venice Beach Vintage Motorcycle Show today. I love Venice Beach and all that it has to offer - artists, freaks, cheap goods, etc. - and I love motorcycles.

I have to mention that I love Los Angeles. I felt myself get all giddy as we were driving through the L.A. area, as I always tend to do.  I know many people snub their noses at L.A., but I love it.  I can do without the traffic (fortunately, there wasn't much today - Sunday), but overall, it's a fun place to visit.

The show was great - much better than anticipated.  There were Harleys, Indians, BSAs, Hondas, BMWs, and more.  Most were cafe racer styles and bobbers - I love both.

There was live music, a few vendors, and tons of bikes.  There were a few babes, but I can't mention that too much as the wife wouldn't be too enthusiastic about it.

Perhaps it's time to post some pictures.  Without further ado, as they say, here's some images.

Here's probably the coolest bike out there.  It's a custom triumph.

Here's a BMW with mounted sidecar.  I love these old BMWs.

Here's a Bultaco cafe racer.  What a great bike!

Here's another BMW - nice looking bike!

One of the many cool bobbers on display.  My eyes say that I need one of these but my back says no.

There were a few Enfields on display.  Here's one of them.

Here's a cool old Harley.  I was once told that if you didn't have an oil leak on one of these old beauties, you would take it in to see what was wrong with it.

Here's a cafe racer of the Honda variety.

Here's a Husqvarna.  Beautiful!

Here's a cool Japanese Bobber.  Look at those leg-warmers!

Here's a motorcycle powered car/trike. I'm not sure the manufacturer, but it is cool.  Just look at that historical license plate.

Here's one of a handful of motorized bicycles on display.  I like the color scheme.

Here's a Norton.

Here's an old Ducati.

Here's another old Hog and a blacked-out Victory in the background.

Here's a rustic old Indian. There were a couple of these on display.  I'm not sure if they ran or not.

Check out this Triumph.  This thing was nicely finished.

Here is a Parilla.  I'm not sure that I've ever seen one of these before.

This is a Redneck Rocket chopper (I'm not making this stuff up).  It was a cool bike.  I was fortunate enough to talk with the owner for a few minutes.  He was a very cool guy.

Every once in a while, I have to post a non-motorcycle image.  Here it is.  Obviously it's a slammed VW Bug.  If you can believe it, I had one that was a tad bit lower than this one.

Just to display the variation in bike manufacturers and designs, here's a Trail-Breaker.  I've actually witnessed a guy who lives in the same mountain community that I do ride something similar in the snow.

Earlier, I showed you an image of a motorcycle-powered car.  Now I'm going to show you a car-powered motorcycle - well, it's a trike.  This thing has a blown V8.

Here's a VRod with ape hangers and suicide shift.  The shift nob, kind of hard to see in the image, is shaped like a mace (a spiked ball on the end of a stick). If you're not sure what that is, just search for "mace medieval weapon."

One last bobber to finish it up.

As you can see by the images above, there were many motorcycles on display.  They represented many manufacturers and styles, each with their own cool story.  I managed to take over 200 pictures of them - my wife actually didn't complain much, surprisingly.

Following the show, the organizers had a ride planned, followed by an after party.  We didn't stay for the events.  Instead, the wife and I took this opportunity away from the kids to enjoy a nice stroll along the beach - it is Venice after all!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the photos and descriptions.  I look forward to going again next year.

Big Bear Solo Ride

Well, I didn't feel like riding out to Corona and participating in the Apprenticeship Summer Poker Run.  That ride would take me to Cook's corner again.  It wouldn't have been a bad ride, but Big Bear's in my backyard.

I left before 8:30 am and, oddly enough, ran into a bit of sprinkling along the way.  I know, crazy, huh?  It's summer already!

I took a nice little ride around the lake and stopped here and there for photo opportunities. I found a nice little cafe that was still serving breakfast after 11. I felt like biscuits and gravy, so I stopped.

There were a lot of motorcyclists out there today.  It was definitely the right weather for it.

After eating and completing my trip around the lake, I made my way to Arrowhead.  I wanted to check out the Summer Concert Series calendar.  I haven't seen anything posted online about it this year, and my family and I like to check out a band or two each year.  Last year we caught Dead Man's Party, an Oingo Boingo tribute band and they were great.  Went there for Octoberfest as well and caught a decent little concert.

Anyway, Dead Man's Party isn't playing up there this year - a real shame. There were a couple of others that I'd be interested in, but can't remember who at this time.

Well, here's a few pictures taken today while traveling the winding mountain roads.

I hope you enjoy.


-Ed

Upcoming Events and Rides

Well, there are a few events this weekend, but I may only have time enough to attend one.

There's a poker run out of Corona, Ca this Saturday, Fullerton Harley is having a family event there on Sunday and I hear that their shop is very nice, and there is a classic motorcycle show in Venice on Sunday.

I like poker runs as much or more than the next guy, but I don't think I'll be able to make it this weekend.  I plan on attending the classic bike show on Sunday in Venice and hope to take the family unit along.  If possible, I'd like to swing by the Fullerton Harley dealership on the way home - a bit out of the way, but if time allows, I'll go.

I hope everyone else is going to enjoy some riding this weekend - or at least get outdoors.