Well here’s another fine mess I’ve gotten into, eh Stanley? We were invited to the Mama Tried Show in Milwaukee Wisconsin the weekend of February 15 – 17. And since it is one of the top shows in the country we had to go.
Getting the bike in the venue, three stories up was a treat that involved taking all the bodywork off to fit it in an ancient freight elevator that let you watch the walls go by on either end. Once upstairs it was back down and then cart the bodywork up three flights of stairs to reassemble the beast.
After photos, it was time to go to the Flat Out Friday Races and help out as much as i could with Patrick and the nitro 100cc Honda and the CB-750 custom being raced on floor of the Panther Arena, basically a hockey rink sprayed with coke syrup. Due to various scoring snafus and computer glitches, the 100cc bike was only on the arena for one qualifier and didn’t make the main. The Devo costume, complete with a three tier red hat was a hit and Patrick wound up second or third, depending who you asked. It was then time to get over 300 bikes out of the basement of the arena and loaded up, yet another treat. There was some good racing and a packed house. This race is supposed to be televised on ABC Sports in March, but possibly on the internet somewhere before then.
Heading to my daughter’s apartment for accommodations I was treated to the abysmal snow removal of the City of Milwaukee and to add insult to injury had to ask permission to park on the street. It took four wheel drive to make myself a legal spot and then figure out how to avoid a $40 ticket using the city’s website. It was well after midnight by the time that mess was sorted.
Back to the show the next morning to see what had to happen next as far as setup of the bike and was pleasantly surprised by being in the same spot we were last year and carted up the display materials and finished the display. A steady crowd was viewing a wide assortment of bikes from when the show opened until nearly midnight. I got a chance to watch the movie “Oil in the Blood”, a film about the custom bike culture that has evidently sprung up without me having a clue. I just got an idea and built the idea, then usually raced it, not knowing there was anything social about it (this blog should be proof of that), and the culture doesn’t go back nearly 50 years, when I has started modifying and fiddling nearly everything I owned to make it better (or so I hoped). It was an interesting if somewhat long movie that could have been less interview and more technique. One thing I did see were the interviews with Maxwell Hazan, a phenomenal builder in the L.A. area. His interpretations of the platforms he uses are truly original. He is a big instagram guy (I just learned how to spell it) and we have been corresponding via email a bit about his techniques, the movie and his upcoming Motus land speed effort. I encourage you to look him up. Anthony Bourdain did a segment on his “Raw Craft” series with Maxwell.
Back to the apartment where i saw nobody else must have had enough of a trick and left me my parking spot. Packing up, it was starting to snow…….
Back to the show, it was a bit more sparse in attendance due to the weather and by the time we were ready to leave, there was three or four inches of snow on the ground. Back to the lot and digging out, along with four wheel drive and we were in business. There is nothing like sliding down the street, pushing a bike with essentially slick tires in the snow and contending with 96 other bikes going for the same elevator. Carrying bodywork and jockeying the bike in the trailer (thank you WJ) we got it tied down and then headed back to Madison, normally a hour and fifteen minute drive. Three hours later I backed the trailer in the driveway and shoveled out the area and parked. It was time to go home, a thoroughly tired puppy.
It was an event to remember as we got a chance to spread the salt gospel and connect with an amazing number of people who made the trip to the show. As you can see by the photos, it was an entertaining experience.
Now we will be finishing up getting the long bike back on its wheels and the motor together and the laborious process of reassembly.
All the best! Cheers!
Bill
The Bonneville Project 