The Fiery Road to Las Vegas Bikefest 2019

Bikernet has supported and sponsored Las Vegas Bikefest for about a decade. Each year the boss or someone from the staff flew out to the desert to check it out and write about the action.

Once we sent two thugs on Dynas and they scored a young prostitute the first night on the strip. Between the drugs, the girl and the booze, they didn’t see the light of day until the event was nearly over.

The boss jammed out one year with a full load of 5-Ball leathers, books and bling. The brothers rode out through Pahrump and hit a famous whorehouse in the desert berg. We won’t report on who took park in the action, but it turned into a stir.

Bandit set up on the Bikefest lot adjacent to Freemont in downtown and manned the booth. The brothers were so moved by the girls in Pahrump they couldn’t sit still and chased broads and parties all weekend. They weren’t much help, and if you asked them to report they just looked at one-another, muttered, “Awesome!” and sought another cold beer.

The stories continued from year to year. And this year was no different. James “The Tileman” pulled the long straw and grabbed the Las Vegas Bikefest 2019 assignment. Out of long-standing respect for his lovely Japanese wife, he asked her to attend half-heartedly.

He kept up feeble attempts at getting her to ride out with him, although he itched to ride out by himself and slam into the Vegas Bikefest action unencumbered by his feisty, fight-prone wife. Thursday at 4:30 in the morning, he couldn’t sleep anymore. He slipped out of his bed like a cat burglar, donned his riding duds and quietly move his hot rod Dyna out of the garage. He fired it to life and peeled down the street, before she could call his cell or scream profanities out the window.

He was on his way to adult paradise, neon nirvana and metal flake mayhem in the desert. The weather was clear and traffic minimal as he jammed to the edge of the ever-spreading Los Angeles county border.

His ’07 FXD enjoyed 90 mph with its new cams and TT turner system tuned by Gene Thomason. He loved his new Barnett Clutch, Screamin’ Eagle pressure plate and performance exhaust system. He stopped for Breakfast just outside Barstow, and at State Line for gas. Even state line contained a rush of adrenaline. He jonesed for that magnificent 48-mile stretch of straight open highway into the city of glitter and action.

He checked into the Golden Nugget before the sun began to blaze pure desert heat. Riders started to roll in from all over the western states. That’s when his report started to get hazy. Maybe that first tropical refreshing drink had something to do with it.

We couldn’t reach him, but the girls of Las Vegas Bikefest augmented our communications as the Tileman sought his own nirvana at the fun fest in the desert.

“Thousands of Bikers Cruise into Sin City for the 19th Annual Vegas BikeFest, October 3-6, 2019,” said Mindi Cherry.

“Thousands of riders and motorcycle enthusiasts from the United States and 17 countries around the world cruised into Las Vegas for the nineteenth annual Vegas BikeFest at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center. The action packed, four-day rally delivered an abundance of activities and attractions.”

The hardworking event manager continued, “This year, through our partnership with John Oakes and Freeze Management, the rally was about bringing more experiences to our attendees and attracting new attendees. With the addition of the Hooligan Dirt Dash Flat Track Racing taking place at the Plaza Hotel and Casino’s Core Arena, the Bell Brawl at Red Rock Harley-Davidson, and the return of the Artistry In Iron custom bike show display, a new type of energy was felt throughout the entire rally.”

We didn’t catch up with the Tileman until the next day. He mentioned that Law Tigers was giving away a bike and Kuryakyn installed accessories at their booth. We had never heard him so happy before. He seemed to be floating on some kind of mystic pleasure cloud.

Vegas BikeFest 2019 offered attendees a variety of entertainment at the rally including Moonshine Bandits on Friday night and the always entertaining metal band Steel Panther on Saturday night. Carol Lyn’s Herstory of Rock kicked off the weekend on Thursday night. “Steel Panther was great,” The Tile man added in a slurred voice, “and the chicks on stage were amazing.”

Riders explored over 100 vendor booths filled with motorcycles, parts, accessories, apparel and more. Vegas BikeFest partnered with V-Twin Visionary and Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys to give away another custom Harley-Davidson Street Glide on Saturday night. Valerie W. from Fontana, CA, was the lucky recipient of the bike that included custom parts from Leading Edge, Saddlemen Seats, Bassani Xhaust, Klock Werks, and ThunderMax.

Vegas BikeFest gave away over $100,000 in prizes and cash, including $5,000 in BikeFest Bucks Shopping Sprees that was spent with vendors at the rally. The always popular Miss Vegas BikeFest did not disappoint along with other crowd favorites Best Facial Hair Contest, Bikini Contest, Tattoo Contest and Biker Bingo. Poker Walks, Poker Run, and Lady Luck Fun Run were big hits and mulligan sales raised $2,500 to benefit the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation.

We lost track of the Tileman late Friday Night and didn’t hear anything until Saturday morning. Something about the Golden Nugget room service and a Ribeye steak. Everything about the weekend seemed to delight James to no end.

Vegas BikeFest featured four different bike shows kicking it off on Thursday with Full Throttle Magazine’s Ride-In Bike Show featuring over 10 different categories. Best in Show went to Anthony Robinson with his 1966 Triumph T-100. On Friday, V-Twin Visionary Performance Bike Show debuted with Best of Show going to Ramjet Racing with the completely custom ’03 Dyna.

Saturday was the Vegas BikeFest Custom Bike Show sponsored by Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys; with over 15 categories. Brian Hendricks with his 2011 Harley-Davidson Road Glide won People’s Choice while Anthony Robinson’s 1966 Triumph T-100 took home Best in Show.

On Sunday, the Sick Chicks, No Dipsticks (All Female Bike Show) debuted at the rally, adding to the festivities with a great showing of all female owned bikes.

James had more fun than was humanely possible and of course he didn’t fill in all the blanks, just the G-rated ones, but we knew something was afoot or a thigh…

Hooligan Dirt Dash brought two nights of flat track racing to Vegas BikeFest with Mikey Virus taking first place on both nights of racing.

Sunday morning came way too soon. James the “Tileman,” was forced to suit up for the seriously hungover, 95-degree ride back into the city and back to his tortured reality in Los Angeles. He moseyed onto the freeway like a foot soldier force back to the front after a long weekend in Hong Kong.

James knew what he had to do, but a shining star or a few sparkled in his memory of the weekend: the action, the food, the fun, the girls and solid sparkling motorcycles, new products and resources for the open road. He chilled with the excitement of the weekend and the knowledge of the next rally and Bikefest next year.