MTFCA Forum

The owner of the industrial complex behind our house held a custom bike show and block party yesterday. The proceeds all go to the Bonneville High School industrial arts program. Over a hundred bikes were competing for prizes. The owner builds and shows some of the most exotic bikes in the country.
An artist friend described our local car show folks as seeming like carnival people. The Bike Show crowd was many times more than that and I mean it in a complimentary way. As if dressing for Halloween they came with jackets, patches, tattoos, pierced body parts sprouting exotic jewelry and the most outrageous hairdos imaginable. To walk out my back gate into this fantasy world was a real treat.
Furthermore, they invite me to display my 1919 Harley in its unfinished condition with the exotic customs. I can easily push it there. A Rock band, food and drink, bounce house and bumper cars made it an event for the whole family.
Many enjoyed seeing the bike and photos of fabrication over the years. I installed the unrestored seat frame to indicate how the bike looked in 1973 when I acquired it. Like the T at our cars shows it was the only one like it and it hit a special cord for some people. It also encouraged me to make a few weeks progress on the bike which too often is overlooked.
Seeing the talents and enthusiasm the welders and students that helped put this show on was truly inspiring to me. People can be pretty great when we get to know them.
What a lucky guy I am to have great fun like this
Rich

Here are a couple of the Custom Bikes.

You are, of course, talking about how much fun you had in the bounce house, right ?

I'd bet I'm not the only one that likes your bike the best.
30 years ago I was at an auction looking at a parts tractor/project. There was a 20's motorcycle frame that said Harley-Davidson on the back. The license plate holder or somewhere. Started out at $50 and ended at $2600, I was appalled! A fella from California drove all the way here to get it.
Pretty cool how they treated you. Lots of good people in all styles/guises.
That old Harley is looking fine as wine!
Oh! Loved his green tee shirt!

That’s a pretty crazy looking front end on the green Panhead bobber.

Rich.
The paint on your bike is very close to the design that was on my cousin’s 29 J-D. Beautiful work !!

Green bikes are slowly making a bit of a comeback. For years, superstitious about green and the relationship of the military bikes was considered bad luck !!

Cousin Phil’s 29 during and after reassembly. He’s still working on it, but told me he got it started for his first time recently.

Phil’s 29 is looking good. I have had some of those later parts. It's fun to see them.
Some neat bikes were in the parking lot too. I always liked sidecars. It's always nice to see what those guys next door are building.

The future is not going to be kind to that drill-press frame. It may make an interesting show-bike but I'd think anyone who could spell "stress analysis" would be nervous taking it out on the road.

Antique motorcycles are good fun. I spend a lot of time just sitting and admiring my 1917 Indian.

Having them makes life pretty wonderful. I have enjoyed mine for nearly 50 years in one form or another. Its value increases much faster than my Model Ts.
Rich

Rich,

I know the feeling. I had antique BMW motorcycles long before I bought a Model T.
Top photo is my 1936 BMW R12 with a 1939 Juwel side car
second photo is my 1942 BMW R75 from WWII
The third is our 1915 touring with the 1925 BMW R32