Gophers and Cheese

I bought my first bike (2004 Sportster) in October 2006 and the first big motorcycle show I attended was the Progressive International Motorcycle Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center in February 2007.  This was 3 years before I started the blog.  I was pretty active on the xlforum at the time (trying to learn and contribute) and was excited to share photos of the debut of the Harley Davidson Nightster.  I think this was one of its first public appearances.

The 2008 Progressive International Motorcycle Show was held in Minneapolis at the Convention Center February 2, 2008 and it was the second year I attended the show.  Harley debuted the Cross Bones at this show.

We're back in the pre-blog days now... Here are never-before-posted photos of the 2009 Progressive International Motorcycle Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center.  I like how they had artwork in the background but wish I got down lower to take these photos.  My photography skills were not as good back then.  I was also taking photos with flash, which makes the photos feel even more dated.

I never posted photos from the first four years I attended the Progressive International Motorcycle Show (2007-2010) as they all occurred before I even started the blog.  I would go on to attend every year through 2020, which was the last time it was held in Minneapolis.  Here we go!

Before I get to posting YouTube slideshows , I like to go back through my photos and see if there are any early shows that I never posted or only posted black-and-white photos from.  The Progressive International Motorcycle Show was the first local event I started regularly attending, back in 2007, 3 years before I started the blog.  For the first year or two of the blog, I only posted photos in black-and-white so let's all time-travel back to 2011 and see what the show was like in full color with fresh edits.

After missing the early ones, I attended the final 4 years of Motosota (2019-2023) at Bauhaus Brew Labs in Minneapolis, MN.  All the photos I posted here on the blog are now also available in video slideshows on my YouTube channel .  Find them all in the Motosota playlist.  You can still find my original blogposts here .

I attended 4 of the 9 years of the Konawerks bike show (2013, 2014, 2017, & 2019).  Once again, I took all the photos I posted here on the blog and organized them into video slideshows on my YouTube channel .  You can find all 4 in the Konawerks playlist.

While I missed a year or two, I have attended most years of the Rockers Spring Social hosted by Ton-Up Minneapolis since it began in 2013.  I'll admit I'm not the best of capturing photos of what this show is really all about, the cafe racers. I'm often snapping photos of Harleys, mopeds, and any weird contraptions that ride into the event.   I even debuted my Stingray chopper bike at this show.  My father's Triumph and/or grandfather's Hondamatic would fit much better.  Like I've been doing with other local events, I've organized all the photos I've posted here into video slideshows on my YouTube channel .  You can find them in the Rockers Spring Social playlist .

You might be noticing a pattern... I attended Mama Tried six times (2015-2018 & 2024-2025) and 4 of those years I also attended Flat Out Friday .  I took all the photos from those two events as well as all the pre-parties, after-parties, and ice-riding events that I attended and put them into "ambient" (audio-free) photo slideshows you can find on  my YouTube channel .

Yep, I've dug back into the archives for another one.  I went to the Donnie Smith Bike Show in 2010, just a few days after starting this blog.  My early blogposts contained a lot fewer photos and I posted everything in black-and-white.  You can see my original coverage of the 2010 Donnie Smith show here .  Fast-forward 15 years and here we are.  I wanted to revisit some of these shows from the past, post color photos, and eventually put them in YouTube slideshows ... for reasons unclear to everyone including myself.  Enough back-story, let's start the new year by re-living 2010!