Gophers and Cheese

The 3rd Annual Spare Arts Bike Show was held on August 27th, 2016 down in Austin, MN.  It was organized by Andrew of Hold Fast Motors.  Austin is a cool little town but is probably best known as the home of Spam and the Spam Museum .  If you haven't been, you should definitely go.  The show took place 2 months after Moto Mania 2: The Big Deuce so it was a bit of a reunion of sorts for many who were there.  I drove down to the show with my son and brought the Evil Monkey (my Honda Z50).  After the show we stopped at Elko Speedway for Eve of Destruction featuring (besides regular racing) drifting, figure 8 school bus races, a jet car melting another car, and a transforming robot dinosaur that ate another car.  Needless to say, it was a great day.

I'll wrap up the inaugural Spare Arts Motorcycle Show with two Sportsters.  First up is this XL1200 with fantastic paint.  I'm not sure if Tony is the name of the owner or the girl on the tank.  Regardless, it's epic. This ironhead won Best in Show.  As far as I can tell, it's missing a few parts so it's not even a running bike, but that doesn't keep it from being awesome. What you should be asking yourself at this point is, "was that a handpainted sign featuring a manatee drinking a can of Duff beer?"  Yes, yes it was.  I regret not going in that bar. On the way home, I decided to do something I've wanted to do for years - see Eve of Destruction at Elko Speedway .  I kept the kids out late for a night of racing.  They loved it but both were really tired by the time we got home. At one point, three guys on motorcycles put on a stunt show.  This guy did a big burnout.  I'm sure they advertise the tire as producin...

A couple of guys I know made the trip down to Austin but I never ran across them, just their bikes. The Sushi Glide looks very similar to the way it did back in March.  I'm looking forward to seeing this bike done. Triumph and sidecar: While it wasn't a huge show (after all, it was the first year and it rained all morning), there was a good turnout and the bikes were really diverse. Two Sportsters remain...

Back in March, I attended the Build Art Bike Show ( click here for pics) hosted by Andy from Hold Fast Motors .  Andy organized a second show this year called the Spare Arts Motorcycle Show.  It was held August 23rd in Austin, MN.  Instead of riding to the show, I decided to drive and take my kids with me.  It was just as well as we hit rain most of the way down to Austin.  After taking the kids through the Spam Museum , the rain stopped so we headed to downtown Austin and found the show. Here's Andy's bike: I believe the trailer next to it was his too: Jason's Dyna and a pair of Sportsters: There were a few other neat vehicles at the show too including this VW camper... ..and this Harley-themed bicycle.  You can learn more about the bicycle here . More motorcycles up next!

Jordan's 1959 ironhead sportster is phenomenal and it was great to see it again.  It was his dad's bike.  The whole story of how he tracked it down and got it running again is worth a listen if you ever run into him.  Be sure to check out Donorcycles too as he posts a lot over there. Overall, I had a great time at the show and was treated to this beautiful sunset as I headed home.