Gophers and Cheese

The 2013 Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Minneapolis did a nice job weaving custom bikes into the manufacturer displays.  The Triumph display was a great example. This Triumph from Klock Werks Kustom Cycles had fantastic paint.   However, what really surprised me... genuinely surprised me, was this 1966 Triumph Bonneville customized by Orange County Choppers , yes OCC of American Chopper fame.  I didn't know they could do something so... uh... nice.  I don't agree with all their choices but, overall, I was really impressed.  Another thing that was nice was that it wasn't roped off and you could sit on it. Paul Sr.'s shop was not the only one featured at the show.  The GEICO Armed Forces bike from Paul Jr. Designs (PJD) was there too. One more post from the show is left and I'll bet you won't even see the bikes in the photos.

The 2013 Progressive International Motorcycle Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center had a few older bikes on display too including many from the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club (VJMC). Here is a 1979 Honda CBX. There were a lot of bikes to check out including this little Kawasaki 75 mini bike. A very unusual bike was this 1975 Suzuki RE5 with rotary engine.  I didn't know such a thing existed. The Viking Chapter of the AMCA had a few bikes too including this 1942 Harley-Davidson FL knucklehead.  I'd bet the seat can tell some stories. If you think that seat looks ancient, look at what a fisherman caught!  It's a 1938 NSU 251-OSL that fell through the ice and sat at the bottom of a lake for 56 years until it was snagged by a guy fishing for carp. Trust me that the bikes in the next post are in much better condition.

The main draw of the 2013 Progressive International Motorcycle Show is the manufacturer displays and there were tons of them. Of course, I stopped by Harley-Davidson's display.  I was a little disappointed not to see anything really new.  In prior years at the show, I had seen the Nightster, Forty-Eight, and Seventy-Two before they went on sale.  However, there were a few nice "factory-customs" there including this Iron 883 and Street Bob. They also had a nice display showing all the layers of paint used to create the factory metal flake.  It's illustrated in detail on this Seventy-Two tank.  The process and results are a lot more professional than the rattlebomb on my Sporty.   You could find Harleys all over the show floor including this replica of Evel Knievel's 1972 XR750 Jump Bike.  It was even painted by Evel's painter.   By far, my favorite Harley at the show was this custom 1958 FLH 74" panhead.  I had seen it a...

Some of the first bikes I saw after walking into the 2013 Progressive International Motorcycle Show were these built by Donnie Smith .  It's a not-so-subtle reminder that the Donnie Smith Bike Show is just 2 months away and I'm definitely looking forward to it.     There were a lot of custom bikes at the show thanks to the J&P Cycles Ultimate Builder Competition.  This over-the-top bike is a 1995 Harley-Davidson softtail deluxe.  It had lots of detail including the beautifully tooled alligator seat and acid etched chrome pipes & air cleaner.   This heavily modified 2008 Yamaha Roadliner caught my attention with its other-worldly look.  I would classify this bike as alien-sport-bagger. Another example of a heavily modified Japanese custom was this 2012 Yamaha YZF-R1.  The bike is covered in brass, it has four working velocity stacks jutting out of the tank, and both the front and rear wheel had single-sided swingarms....

The 2013 Progressive International Motorcycle Show was held at the Minneapolis Convention Center January 11-13, 2013.  I spent nearly 6 hours there on Saturday January 12th.  It was my seventh consecutive year attending the show and it was as big and as busy as ever.  I took a ton of photos. In spite of this being a show that features the latest models from the top manufacturers, my favorite bikes were a 1966 Triumph Bonneville customized by O.C.C. (yes, that OCC and I'm actually serious), a 1958 panhead, and a 1935 Indian Chief.  More on those later. One of the first things I checked out in the morning was the stunt show put on by the XDL Championship Series .  I'm not a big sportbike guy, but stunting is cool and these guys were good.  Allegedly, they covered the surface in root beer and let it dry overnight to get some traction.  I believe the riders were Kyle Sliger (green) and Aaron Twite (red) but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong....