I should have at least got a T-shirt with the above quotation for trekking the 60-mile round trip on L.A.’s notorious 405 Freeway to take in the Cycle World/Toyota International Motorcycle Show held at the Long Beach Convention Center (December 7-9, 2007). It wasn’t a fun ride. Thanks to the Holiday Season there was an extra dose of frenzied madness along with usual mindless herds of cell phone jabbering/DVD watching cage dwellers flinging their obese Nauseators and Exploitations down the potholed pavement apparently without any conscious awareness of a motorcycle in their path. But once reaching the relative sanctuary of Long Beach’s Shoreline Drive and a view of the smokestacks of the Queen Mary berthed permanently nearby, I came upon a sea-to-shining-sea of motorcycles overflowing the parking lot of the Convention Center. I often find that event parking lots can be just as interesting, if not more so, than what lies inside.
Case in point I had just got off my bike (“the Alienator”) when I heard, “Hey, cool bike.” The voice had the twang of Massachusetts and sure enough my fellow rider, George by name, was from that neck of the country. His bike was a 2002 Buell M2L Cyclone with all the upgrades, PM wheels, carbon fiber airbox, healthy aftermarket exhaust, all in all cherry for a 13,000 miler that George had ridden coast-to-coast a few times. It happened to be for sale, as he just bought a new touring bike. He was about to retire and planned exploring the planet.
It also happened that I had slavered after a Buell since they first appeared. So we swapped stories and he mentioned a price, which seemed reasonable for a cool Buell. Little did I know that upon entering the show I would discovered the new generation Buell, the 146 hp 1125R super bike, with a price tag hovering around the cost of the new Sportster Nightster.
Then there was the $60,000 restored 1953 Vincent Black Shadow up for grabs at less than a price of a ticket to the event. Decisions, decisions. In any case, George had already taken in the show and was boogeying north to go kayaking with some friends, and so off he rode. I headed toward the Convention Center entry gates.
A ticket cost $13 which seemed a superstitiously unsettling amount. But with something like 650 machines of all kinds inside to ogle, it comes out to about 2 cents a pop. The show’s sponsors included Cycle World Magazine (for the past 15 years), the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), Progressive Motorcycle Insurance and the Motorcycle Safety Foundation.
First rule of entering a Convention Center bike show, get the free plastic bag especially when it’s being offered by the I-shoulda-been-in-Baywatch girl with a side profile that coulda put your eye out. Next rule of entering a show is to check out the smaller “satellite” room first. Following my instincts I deterred a sharp left away from the main entrance hall and the new 2008 line-up of bikes and found myself staring at a smorgasbord of antique, vintage and classic motorcycles in the center of the room as well as clusters of wild custom bikes, many from the top builders “as seen on TV.”
Lo and behold the custom bike builders were there in person to meet and greet their fans. Cory Ness was there with several of his and his father Arlen’s creations. Matt Hotch had even brought a huge RV/diner thing while Roland Sands probably had the most bikes on display including his famous “Glory Stomper” and Biker Build Off champion “No Regrets,” among others.
Inside the main arena a record 19 “vehicle manufacturers” had set out their menu of 2008 motorcycles, ATVs, scooters and personal watercraft, part of the series 13-city tour presented by Toyota who by the way builds trucks to haul all that stuff if you’re looking for a connection. Makes you wonder why there’s no Toyota motorcycles. So here’s the list of manufacturers who showed off their wares, including some up and coming new kids on the block. In alphabetical order: Aprilia, BMW, Buell, Harley Davidson, Honda, Hyosung (from Korea), Kawasaki, Kymco (from Taiwan), Moto Guzzi, MV Agusta, Piaggio (with their radical MP3 400 three-wheeler) Suzuki, Ural (sidecar rigs from Russia), Victory and Yamaha/Star. There were a few bikes not on the big list but which got our attention including the American made 650cc V-twin Fischer starting at around $8k.
In addition to the acres of bikes and vendors selling miles of leather and gallons of metal polish, there was a very cool display called The History of Speed put together by speedmerchant (40 years of chasing the land-speed record) Dennis Manning. You could get up close and personal with the BUB Streamliner “Seven” which with Chris Car at the controls set the 2006 World’s Fastest Motorcycle Record when it clocked 354.832 mph at Bonneville. In sharp and screamin’ yellow contrast was the H-D streamliner in which the legendary Joe Petrali set the mile record back on March 13, 1937 at 136.183 mph. Also on hand was the first bike to pass the 200 mph mark, Leo Payne’s ’57 Sportster aka “The Turnip Eater.” Also on hand was the Cal Rayborn piloted H-D Sportster based streamliner. 10 feet long and weighing 700 lb. it reached a record setting 265.492 mph in 1970.
Speaking of walking, talking and riding history, we met Grace McKean who at 73 years young, showed us her blue 1951 45 flathead Harley that she bought new at the age of 17. She worked two jobs, 80 hours a week, to pay the $31.41 monthly payment to her local bike shop about 40 miles from Chicago. She eventually went on to clock over 100,000 miles on the bike. In 2000 she bought herself a “new” bike, a 1947 Indian. Both are kick start. And she’ still kicking them over.
Fast forward to the science fiction bike section and the “talking” motorcycle. It was racing orange and had two “boom box” speakers morphed into its tail section plus a DVD screen hovering over the gas tank. A robotic voice “spoke” from the bike describing its components. “My Master went to the best. I have the newest LED kit, which is remote controlled which can be changed to seven sequences by the touch of one button. You can purchase these at the booth at the left of me.”
But if you want to get Beyond Battlestar Galactica, you gotta check out the Traverstson V-Rex. You could say it’s a time warp evolution of the H-D V-Rod since its powerplant is the V-Rod engine, but the styling goes way X-File-ish, so call it the X-Rod, a case of science fiction turning into fact. The story of V-Rex (not to be confused with the 3-wheeled T-Rex or any dinosaurs for that matter started in December of 2003 where artist Tim Cameron produced a computer generated image of his dream bike. The pictures eventually got published in several magazines around the world attracting the attention of Christian Travert, based in Florida, the guy that built, among other wild things, Jay Leno’s 200 mph Y2K rocket bike. Cutting to the chase Christian and Tim teamed up and their enterprise Travertson, Inc. began building the bikes in 2006 in Ft. Lauderdale. And as they say the rest is still making history. Price tag is $43,000, but believe it or not you can rent the bike either to use in a display or ride. And according to the 9-foot long bike’s owner, Jack Reynolds, it’s a breeze to ride except maybe for the crowds that constantly gather around it. The V-Rex is available here in the L.A. area via www.werentmotorcycles.com or call 1-888-849-4098.
Another radical machine and already in production via Can-Am/Bombardier is their tri-wheeler, the Spyder. Somewhere between a sports car, a slotcar and a motorcycle, the two-wheels up front design is powered, like the new Buell, by a Rotax engine, in this case the 60 cubic inch V-twin V990 good for 106 hp. It’s also got VSS, Vehicle Stability System with Roll-over Mitigation. And yes, it’s street legal. No doubt your local police department will be wondering what they’re seeing when these things get out of the corral. With a slew of options, they run about $18k, say a sportier alternative to a Goldwing or a less expensive alternative to a Porsche, somewhere in that world, and a fun one at that.
Back at the Harley display, the bike that caught my eye (the one not poked out by the plastic bag girl at the event entrance) was the 1200 cc fuel injected Nightster Sportster. Just cool nostalgia anyway you look at it. Maybe my favorite ever Sporty (next to the ’78 CR I had). But at around $12K it’s not exactly your budget Harley. That’s also the price of the new Buell 1125R. If you’re into clip-ons and what looks like a contender for the liter class, it’s the bee’s knees. I kinda like higher bars like on the earlier Buells and maybe a little lower seat height. Maybe that 2002 Cyclone back in the parking lot at $3900 is getting more tempting. At the moment I have $39 so I might have to wait a spell.
Well, I had 39, but I spent 20 on five raffle tickets that could win me that restored 1953 Vincent Black Shadow, one of my, and about everybody else’s, vintage dream machine. In any case, the money went to a good cause, the National Motorcycle Museum. Wish me luck.
