No Love? Well I don’t want to blow Jesse’s bad boy cover, but I felt some love in the air today! Jesse even rides his beautiful better half, Sandra Bullock around on a cushy, red road king to keep her comfy. And you wouldn’t even know that it was Sandra and Jesse under those helmets and Ray Bans!
We got to West Coast Choppers before 9:00, as per the instructions. Pay up sucker! We paid our $50 toward a needy Long Beach charity, and then we were off. Didn’t know where to. It was like a scavenger hunt! We just followed the crowd, and hoped they knew where we were going. Especially since this crowd moves fast! This isn’t the Love Ride folks. Move over into the fast lane! In fact, zig zag into all of the lanes! It was a mad poker run, with cards and location maps at each destination.
First stop was Century Motorcycles in San Pedro.
Second stop was Sugar Bears. I had never been to Sugar Bears place before. It is full of his bad ass rakes and lots of old historical pictures of his life and builds. Sugar Bear and his wife Fuji are always together and a perfect couple. We have ridden together in Sturgis several times, and the man can ride those choppers like the wind. This year he led the “Legends Ride” with Steven Tyler. He is busy now building Fuji a bike of her own.
Third Stop was Bob’s Big Boy, and there were a lot of Hot Rods on the run as well as Bad Ass Bikes, and girls on bad ass bikes!
Fourth was Pistons Bar, and last was the Pike restaurant. Now, I’m not sure if these are Jesse’s regular hang outs, but I can tell you, they were all interesting and unique places! “Pistons” is a Gay bar that offered really interesting literature at the front door!
Back at West Coast Choppers they had a BBQ of hamburgers and hot dogs. The place sure has grown into a metropolis! I hadn’t been to West Coast Choppers since '97 when Jesse welded me a pair of saddle bag brackets. He claims I was his first customer! I have an uncle that likes to say Jesse James built my bike. I keep telling him, he just welded the saddle bag brackets. Hot Rods, Bad Ass Bikes, Hells Angels, sunshine and lastly they raffled off prizes.
Jesse took a real interest in my girlfriend Carlana Stone’s bike. Carlana was in a car accident when she was 17 that left her in a wheelchair. Just last year, her husband helped devise the Harley trike that Jesse awarded best of the Bad Ass Bikes, and gave her a vintage trophy. She told her story and was moved to tears for being recognized as a Bad Ass! She said she actually feels pretty bad ass when she rides her own Harley!
All in all, there was a lot of laughing, new friends, fast and furious riding, sun and fun. I wouldn’t call it No Love at all. We felt the Love!
