Gophers and Cheese

Here's my last round of photos from Frankensteiners Ball 16 .  I do love vans and was happy to see a few I hadn't seen before at other local shows.  Do you like airbrushed wizards & warriors, rolling bars, shag carpeting, Cragars, and side pipes?  If not, what the hell's wrong with you?  I still hope to buy or build my very own dream van one day.  If anyone knows of a solid blank canvas out there, let me know.

Here are some motorcycles that I spotted at Frankensteiners Ball 16 .  While a lot of people rode to the show (and it would've been easier to find parking if you did), there weren't a lot of bikes inside the show.  "Quality over quantity" I suppose.  The wooden mini bike was wild and I haven't seen it before.  I love the entry form for Year & Make filled out simply as "Can't Weld".  Look closely and you'll find a bike put together with wood, bolts, steel plate, and various plumbing parts... no welding anywhere.  Turn the forks and the headlight stays focused straight ahead like a old-tyme Road Glide.  It has a steampunk vibe even though it's clearly powered by gasoline.  It's awesome.

I went to the Frankensteiners Ball 16 on Saturday, October 9th at the Isanti County Fairgrounds in Princeton, MN.  It's been a few years since I attended the show and I haven't been since it moved from the Anoka County Fairgrounds to this much bigger location.  It's a great collection of classic cars, hot rods, and rat rods with a splash of bikes and vans too.  Lots of kids attend in costume as candy is left in front of cars for a little early trick-or-treating. I'll spread the photos I took into 3 parts: Cars, bikes, and vans.  This post will have the most photos and I'll lead in with a photo that I think sums up the show pretty well.  Enjoy!

I had a lot of fun at Motosota .  While I wasn't there all day, I was sure not to miss Red Desert and JRD & The Big Mistake .  Doom metal and outlaw country go together like peanut butter & jelly as far as I'm concerned. Motorcycles are just the bread holding that delicious sandwich together.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here are photos... but it was better with sound.

Do you like Red Desert ?  I like Red Desert.  Did you know Red Desert played Motosota on Saturday?  Well they did.  Here's proof... and a few bikes... but mostly Red Desert photos.

The 5th annual Motosota was held Saturday, October 2nd at Bauhaus Brew Labs in Minneapolis.  It's brought to you by the fine folks at The Moto Collective .  I attended Motosota 2 years ago but still haven't posted photos yet (maybe one day...).  Anyway, Saturday was wet... very wet.  That didn't stop the show, it didn't stop the bands, it didn't stop the beer from flowing, and it didn't stop lots of people from riding in the rain to/from the show.  I drove, but I had my wife and kids with me so that's my excuse.  In 2019, I brought the Evil Monkey (my '76 Z50) but I left it home this year due to the weather.  Enough rambling, on with the pics!!!

 Here's the last big batch of photos I took at Full Tilt Boogie on Saturday.  Enjoy!

The Full Tilt group ride ended at the show held at Nordic Brewing Co. in Monticello, MN.  It was a beautiful day and the weather was perfect for both the ride and the show.

Full Tilt Boogie is always my favorite show of the year and it was the only motorcycle show I attended this year.  It started as a chopper show and has evolved into a chopper, vintage motorcycle, and van show.  I'm still sitting on tons of photos from Full Tilt 2017-2019 that I need to sort through and post.  Maybe one day...  2020 was the only year I missed the show.  Rather than wait and (maybe) post photos years after the event, how about we jump into photos that I actually took yesterday!?!?  But wait, before I share photos of the show, I have to share photos of the group ride to the show.  While I didn't attend the pre-party Friday night or camping last night, I did wake up early on Saturday to join the organized ride to the show.  We met up at a small park just in northeast Minneapolis.  I rode my '04 Sportster.  It's coming up on 15 years of me owning this bike.  I really need to finish my chopper project so I can actually r...

I haven't been riding much this year, living my best hermit life, but I swung by Chariots of the Gods yesterday as it never disappoints.  Here are some photos to prove my point.

Back in 2017, Blue Cat Motorcycle hosted the Ignition Motorcycle T-Shirt Show where artists had designed a number of motorcycle-themed t-shirts for sale.  I still wear the shirt I bought (a red/orange print on a light blue t-shirt featuring a skeleton with a machete riding a motorcycle with the word "Minneapolis" under it) and still have beers out of the pint glass I got at the event.

The Blind Lizard Motorcycle Club Rally is (was?) a Fathers Day tradition on Nicollet Island near downtown Minneapolis.  I finally made it out to my first one in 2019.  While there, I overheard it was going to officially be the last one but have no idea is that's true.  It was a beautiful sunny day and had First Thursday at Dulono's Pizza vibes with a great mix of bikes lining the streets.  I rode my Sportster which, looking back, really needed a new rear tire.  Don't worry - I have since replaced it.  Father's Day is June 20, 2021.  Will there a Blind Lizard rally?  I don't know.

Nearly 4 years ago, X Games was in town with flat track racing at Mall of America .  I watched it from the stands with my kids.  I took a ton a photos but the fence, low light, distance, and fast action was a bad combo.  As a result I got a lot of photos of the fence in focus but very few decent ones of the riders.  Oh well, it was still fun to watch in person.  If you want the official results of the races, click this link .  If you want to see the small handful of photos that were salvageable from the hundreds I took, keep scrolling.

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.

The 8th Annual "Crazy" John Markwald Bike Show was held July 9th, 2017 at the Route 65 Pub & Grub in East Bethel, MN.  This was my first time attending the show.

5 years ago, the Rockers Spring Social was held at its former location, Club Jäger.  This was before the controversy and backlash that led to its staff quitting, the bar closing, and Ton-Up Minneapolis deciding to relocate its very fun cafe-racer-focused event to other venues.  Anyway, the moral of the story is, "don't be a racist."  Seriously, don't.  Before I made my way to show, I got some nice shots of my '04 XL1200C in a field so included a few at the end of this post.  This is back when I was running a swingarm-mounted rear fender.  It hugged the tire nice and tight but it eventually cracked from stress and I switched it up to the Crazy-Frank-inspired setup I have now.

Today I'm throwing it back to September 2019 for Heavy Thursday at The Joint / Cabooze .  The bike night expanded to include vans too.  Add in some live outdoor music and a view of the Minneapolis skyline and what's not to like?

The only motorcycle event I attended in 2020 was the Progressive International Motorcycle Show .  It's fun to see new models in person, including a prototype for the Pan America.  There's usually some custom and vintage bikes at the show too.  For 2021, the show converted to an outdoor event and is skipping Minneapolis this year.  Hopefully it'll be back next year as it's usually a fun indoor winter event.

I owned a van briefly (GMC Savana conversion) but it wasn't "the right van". I customized a few things but it was a mess mechanically so I eventually gave up and sold it.  I would love to own a van again but the hard part is trying to decide what kind (not to mention finding a decent one for sale).  I absolutely love 70s and 80s-style customs but I also like the practicality of having one that could haul a bike.  I think my dream van would be a mix of both, somehow mixing wood paneling and shag carpet while somehow having space for a motorcycle.  Of course, side pipes and Cragers would be a big plus.  If anyone is holding and looking for a good home for their van, let me know.  Anyway, here are some photos from Chariots of the Gods back in 2016 along with a few shots inside the Moto Collective .  This year's show is scheduled for August 14, 2021.

Another show from deep in the archives... 2016 was the 7th and last Rad's Extra Sharp Bike Show.  The following year, it was was held under another name.  "Rad" of course refers to Tom Rad who would typically hold not one but two bike shows per year, Ma Rad's Rumble and Extra Sharp.  I would often attend both but I loved Extra Sharp because it was smaller, low key, held at a cheese shop in Wisconsin, and my wife and kids would typically attend.  I would ride but they would follow me in the car.  My '04 Sportster has taken a few awards at the show over the years and in 2016 it took first place in the Sportster class... probably only because Brett showed up too late with The Gypsy.