Gophers and Cheese

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!

I originally posted some photos from the 2009  Donnie Smith Bike Show  when I first started the blog in 2010  here but it was just a few and they were in black-and-white.  I decided to take a fresh look at all the photos I took that day and take a fresh pass at editing a larger amount of them.  They're not the best angles and I don't always get the full bike in the frame, but I was still new to motorcycle photography.  With those disclaimers out of the way, here we go!

I've been attending the Donnie Smith Bike Show  every year since 2008, 2 years before I even started this blog.  When I did start the blog, I posted all my photos in black-and-white.  In part, it was artsy, in part, it was different, and in part, my camera & software weren't very good and I could hide a lot more in black-and-white.  Eventually, when my daughter was born, I got a better camera and I've been posting in color ever since.  My photography and editing have also improved with time too.  Since I'm on a slideshow kick, I wanted to make slideshows for the Donnie Smith show and, before I did that, I figured I should re-work my black-and-white 2009 & 2010 show photos ( here and here ) and include never-before-posted 2008 photos.  So let's step WAAAYYYY back in time and relive 2008 starting with David Polgreen's "King Diamond" (and check out the vintage CoC shirt in the background).

Another throwback blogpost... I took these photos, edited these photos, and just never posted them for some reason.  I don't remember why.  Anyway, here's a bunch of photos from the Donnie Smith Bike Show  in 2017 and one photo from 2018.  2017 was the 30th anniversary of the show and 10th consecutive year that I attended.

Here's another big batch of photos from the 2025 Donnie Smith Show . 

The Donnie Smith Bike Show was this past weekend at the RiverCentre in St. Paul.  I've been going to show longer than I've been blogging about it and I have A LOT of blogposts covering the show over the years.  The bikes rarely repeat so there's always so much new to see and the giant swap meet is a bonus, though I didn't find anything I just had to have this year.  I got there right as they opened on Saturday and took a bunch of photos before it got super-busy, strolled through the swap meet, and then took a few more photos before heading out.  It's always nice running into some people I haven't seen in a while - it feels like emerging from winter hibernation.

In September 2024, Zac assembled a truly remarkable amount of his Heavy Clothing items that he has made and sold over the past 10+ years and hosted the Cult of Heavy Art Show at Neverest Studio in St Paul.  It lasted 2 days, September 6th & 7th.  I attended the night of the 6th.

The last Heavy Thursday  Summer Tour pop-up bike night of the year was held at the White Squirrel in St. Paul on August 8th.

On July 19th, 2024, the Full Tilt Boogie Pre-Party was held at the White Squirrel in St Paul.

I went to the 66th annual Gopher State Timing Association (GSTA) Rod and Custom Spectacular on Sunday, April 7th at the State Fairgrounds.  The show was both Saturday and Sunday but I took advantage of the nice weather on Saturday to work on my own projects.  With all the rain on Sunday, I certainly appreciated the show being indoors.  At least it wasn't snowing.

I went to the Donnie Smith Bike Show early on Saturday and waited in line for doors to officially to open at 9am.  I like to go early to have a chance to take photos before it gets really crowded.  A lot of people who attend early on Saturday head directly to the swap meet side anyway.  I've been attending since 2008 and the show always has a good variety of custom bikes and they always vary from year to year so it's never the same.  The timing of the show also means the riding season is typically right around the corner.  We just need this weekend's snow to melt and some rain to clean off the roads.

Looking back through my photo archives, there are still quite a few big events I never wrote blogposts about so let's start by jumping back nearly 5 years to the Donnie Smith Bike (and Car) Show , 2019.

As mentioned in my previous post, this one is a whole bunch of photos of just one bike that I saw at the 2023 GTSA Rod & Custom Spectacular , a custom 1973 Sportster survivor named Satana: Devil's Daughter.  This bike was absolutely amazing - the paint, the parts used, the molding, just the right amount of chrome, and even the matching helmets.  I loved it.  I kept walking back around to see it again and again.

I went to the GSTA (Gopher State Timing Association)'s Rod & Custom Show for the first time last year.  It's held inside the State Fair Coliseum in St Paul.  Weather can be hit or miss in Minnesota in early April so it's nice to have an indoor show to attend.  I'm breaking my coverage into 2 blogposts, not because I took too many pictures in total, but because I took way too many pictures of one particular bike.  I'm just going to make that its own post as I think it deserves it.

Last year's Donnie Smith Bike Show was held at the St Paul River Center, as usual.  I was there early on Saturday.  It can get pretty busy, so I like to get there before the big crowds.  This view from above is certainly the calm before the storm.

Wrapping up coverage from this year's Full Tilt Boogie Chopper & Van show.  10 days in a row of blogging!... am I OK?  "I'm alright, don't nobody worry 'bout me..."  

Here's another 50 or so chopper & van photos from Full Tilt Boogie 2023.

Coverage from Full Tilt Boogie 2023 continues. starting with more van photos.  There are bikes too.  Keep scrolling.

Just like last year, I brought my van out to Full Tilt Boogie Chopper and Van show and it was held in the same location, the Keg & Case market in St. Paul, home of Clutch Brewing .  Full Tilt has been held in a few different spots over the years but I really like Keg & Case as a venue for it.

Just like last year (see blog post ), the Full Tilt Pre-Party was at The White Squirrel Bar in St. Paul.  It's such a cool little place.