2009 Bike Show in the Books

A Big Thumbs up to the Ducati

Another year, another bike show. Last weekend, I attended my third annual International Bike show. Even though I don't know the final numbers, the attendance was pretty strong during this time of a recession. A few of the small dealers, like Ural, was not present but it was still a pretty good show.

Even though I am not in the market for a new bike, I was looking for a few accessories. I came home with some summer gloves, and a fleece neck warmer for the colder days. I also bought a subscription to Road Runner Magazine. They are focused more on touring where other bikes is just about the bike and the specs.

Nothing really exciting to report. Here are a few pics....

Showing some attitude on the 1198

The O.C.C. Craftsman Bike

A Cafe Racer would be a good project bike for me


Some random girls who wanted my attention

This is the couple that own Killboy.com They take pictures of various riders at the Deals Gap aka Tail of the Dragon

Here are the rest of the pictures from the show....

Austins IronHorse Round Up: The Show That Didn't Happen

As stated in a previous post, Austin's Bike show was canceled late Friday afternoon. Their permit was revoked after the Lake County sheriff received information that there might be a disturbance between the Hells Angles and Chicago's Outlaw motorcycle club.

As it turns out, the motorcycle community came together to show support today at Austins. I would hardly call it a show. With exception of a Budweiser beer wagon and Jagermeister on site, there were no vendors, no bike builders, no one selling anything. Just a bunch of riders hanging out in the parking lot conversing, gawking at bikes and girls for that matter. The bands played on in the Fuel Room including Vince Neil in the afternoon.

What I found humorous was that 95.1, Tom Keefe was broadcasting from the parking lot.
"The bike show is canceled but we are hanging out here at Austins in the parking lot..." The local police were everywhere but the crowd of a 1000 plus was pretty calm the during the time I was there. All in all, it's a shame the plug was pulled, but it was good to see people from all backgrounds to come out in support of the show. Here are some pics from todays event.

I saw this same patch on the back of someone's jacket. If you have any info on this club,please pass it along. I know some Village Officials who may be eligible to get in.

Grayslake Officials Pull Plug On Iron Horse RoundUp aka Austins Bike Show

Grayslake Police Department received information, late Friday afternoon that the guy above was heading in from Mianus Connecticut to the show. To stop the good people from going blind, Village officials revoked the permit for the show to take place.

In all seriousness, here is the press release from the Village of Grayslake web site on Friday at 4:40 PM:
Based upon law enforcement information obtained today, Grayslake officials have cancelled the permit for the Ironhorse Bike Show event that was to be held Sunday, May 4th at the Lake County Fairgrounds.
Based upon the information obtained, the Grayslake Police Department became concerned about circumstances which threaten the health and public safety of those attending the event and the people of Grayslake. In light of this new information, Grayslake officials felt that adequate protection could not be maintained and the cancelling of the permit for the event was in the best interests of the health and safety of the public.

Being an organizer for the Round Lake Fest, the last several years, and also being a fellow "biker", I don't want to jump conclusions. I have read many comments in locals news feeds. I think a lot of people are jumping to conclusions. Not that I am backing the Villages decisions to pull the plug but here are my points in no particular order:

- If the Village of Graylake really thought by having 20,000 plus riders (creating havoc) at the Fair Grounds, they never would have issued the permit.

-The local police knew well in advance what the plans were. Even the organizer of the event made that statement on his own site.

I was told by a source (reliable?) that the Hells Angels had some "issues" to deal with another rival biker club, the Outlaws. That the Hells Angles were on their way to the Show to be confrontational. I also read that in two different sites.

If you go back and read the press release, it states "Based upon law enforcement information obtained today.....". The last thing anyone Village Official wants to do is revoke a permit. I am glad I was not the one making the call but in the end, you need to keep the public, as well as the people in attendance at mind. Not that this is a family event but it is an all ages event. Do you really want your kids and family mixed in with 40,000 people (notice I didn't say bikers) when a potential riot may break out? Again, that last comment is all in speculation that the source may be true. I am sure the Police have a good explanation. I have a feeling this is not the end of the story.

Annual International Bike Show

The Ducati 848. It just feels fast sitting on it.

Well folks. Long time no type. It is dead of winter. Snowing every other day here. I have not felt like posting since there is not much bike stuff going on...until now.

Last Saturday, Bandit Brother Matt, his friend Rich, and Rich's friend Jerry, along with with I, went to the annual bike show. Now that I have been riding for a year, I was looking forward to this years show. I figured I would be like a kid in a candy shop as far as buying some new goodies for the bike. I came away a bit disappointed.

Overall, I liked the show. The display bikes were good to check out and sit on, until Rich dropped one by accident. (he he, I had to throw that one in there). I think he only hurt his pride.

As far as merchandise goes, I did walk away with a new pair riding pants. Leather chaps with the ass cut out. OK, I am kidding. I did buy some mesh pants with added protective plates. The other big item that I wanted was a new pair riding boots. Unfortunately, no one carried boots to put over my tree stumps. The boots will have to wait. Matt and I might be checking out some area bike shops in the near future.

Here are a few pics from the show......

Welcome to the SHOW!

Matt checkin out the new Busa..Weeeeee

OCC's latest creation

My Favorite Bike from the show