Barber Vintage Festival - Birmingham, AL

I’m a bit behind in postings.  I took a trip to Birmingham to visit my daughter in October.  On the way down I stopped at the Space Center in Huntsville, AL and my daughter and I visited Vulcan Park in Birmingham.  While I was there Fred and Bud came over from Houston and we attended the Barber Vintage Motorcycle Festival.

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Ok, the Barber Vintage Festival was fantastic.  It was good to meet Bud and to catch  up with Fred again.  The posted attendance was 69,000 people over the course of the event.  The racing was good and just walking around the event was like a huge bike show.  We added the upgrade for the Ace Corner which was a nice place to watch the races and look at bikes.  The museum is a must see if you are into motorcycles (it is worth a trip on its own).   

Britton was the featured motorcycle which was very impressive.  We talked to his family and they said this was the first time they had seen 8 Britton’s in one place and 5 on the track doing hot laps (2 raced).   

The museum was unbelievable and they are building on another 80,000 sq ft.

The racing was fun to watch.  A lot of great bikes out on the track and it was pretty intense. 

Then you add the swap meet, bike builders, and artists.  We camped with a group of Kawasaki riders out of Florida.  So we meet some new riders and found some good food and a few new beers.  Definitely a good weekend.

As a side note I took a day trip to Florida to cross that off my list of states in my quest to ride in all 50 states.

RIP Rod Young

This week we lost one of the founders of our Wednesday night Bike Nights.  Rod Young passed away on Tuesday at his home.  I had run into Rod a couple of weeks ago at the Sun and Fun open house and he had updated me on his fight with cancer.  As always Rod was optimistic about his health and had a genuine interest about knowing what I had been doing.

All who knew Rod knew his passion for his family and for motorcycles.  Whenever I ran into him I knew it wasn't going to be a quick hello and be on your way.  We would catch up on our recent bike excursions and who was riding what.  I had the privilege  of going on several rides with Rod.  Most memorable being the 2009 fall Slimey Crud Run.  It was definitely slimey and cruddy but we had a great time. 

Rod Young RIP, you will be missed.

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2015 Motoblot 2 Chicago

With the beautiful weather Saturday I decided to ride to Chicago to go to the Motoblot Bike Show (formerly the Mods vs Rockers). It was about a 250 mile ride to the show which is on Fulton Street a couple of miles from downtown Chicago.  The show was on the about 3 blocks of street and a few parking lots about 4 or 5 blocks north of the United Center.  They crammed a lot of bikes and cars into 3 blocks.  People and bikes were coming and going all day long.

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Downtown Chicago in the background
Entry included showing your bike so I was in the "German area"

 

Tricked out scooters

And purpose built motorcycles

 



Best grilled cheese sandwich I've ever had.
3 cheeses chicken, bacon, hot sauce,
 and Sweet Ray's barbeque sauce.
  Coupled with a local brew was a great meal.

Julia Haltigan from Cafe Racer

  

Contestants in teh Pin-Up girl con

Interesting gear chec

A couple getting their wedding pictures with the cars/bikes in the show