Exercising the moral code of a Detroit hooker The Horse Magazineended its partnership with the Smoke Out Rally and then tried to convince theworld the event was not happening at all.It was a sucky situation but a Mark Twain quote comes to mind, “The rumorsof my death are greatly exaggerated.” This year’s Smoke Out was bigger, andmore importantly better in every way.The feeling of carefree fun seemed to return to the event with the exitof Mz Debo.

 

Years ago, Edge, the head cook and bottle washer of the Smoke OutRally tapped me to run the custom bike show. No one knew what to expect in terms of bikeentries or attendance this year.Obviously, I was blown away by the response of the biker community.I knew the Smoke Out would always have itsfans.However, this year’s bike show wasmore epic than I could have ever guessed.

 

A large white circus tent was erected with the garage-built bikesringing the tent. The tent was there to cool off the enthusiasts looking at thebikes. Under the tent it was as cool as Steve McQueen and the custom bikescircling the huge tent were even cooler but I am getting ahead of myself inthis story.

 

I had just about 25% of the show loaded when Edge strolled by andsaid that the set-up wasn’t his vision. I asked him what his vision was and heexplained that he wanted the bikes butt-up to the tent not four feet away as Ihad set up. Edge is true to his word so when he sez, “you’re not going to likethis, but…” you pretty much know you’re not going to like it.

 

 

So, I reset the 30 bikes in the 90 degree heat… and almost died.As I’m pushing them in place, bikes are arriving and it’s double-time for about45 minutes.

 

 

 

The thing about the Smoke Out, it’s about choppers. It’sabout builders, from professional builders like Bill Dodge and Jeff Cochran, tothose bloody-knuckled guys (and ladies) burning the midnight oil in an unheatedshed to build a chopper they can call their own.

 

At this bike show chops of all makes are featured includingAmerican, British, Metric… everything.

 

 

 

I especially liked Cindy Wing’s story. She rode in her hardtailedBSA from Joplin MS. To get ready for the ride, she rebuilt the bottom end onher kitchen table. She was also one of the winners and will receive a featurein an upcoming issue of Thunder Press.

 

 

Saturday afternoon we raffle off bike show prizes fromLeatherworks Inc., Simpson Helmets, J&P Cycles, Heavy Metal Art andAeromach MFG. At Smoke Out 19 we have 9 winners with each receiving a featurearticle from a magazine.

 

The winners with the writers and editors come on-stage for theawards. Each winner receives a bike feature from a magazine publication.

Winners include:

 

• Garrett Walker, 1982 Harley XLH Chopper – Steve Litawith American Iron Garage
• Sean Bast, 1974 Harley Chopper – Steve Lita with American Iron
• Jeff Cochran, Speed King, Custom Shovel – Mark Infiedl with FullThrottle
• Cindy Wing, ’66 BSA Hardtail – Pat Boylan of Thunder Press
• Ed Carrol, Sportster Chopper – Jesse Kisser of HOT BIKE
• Randall Shaffer, 98” 1941 Knucklehead – Mike Pullen of Bikernet
• James Millburn, ’83 Ironhead Choppa – Jack Calfano ofBarnett’s
• Kevin Combs, 1957 PAN/SHOVEL – George the Painter of Cycle SourceMagazine
• Jonathon Baggett, Custom Triumph Chopper – Mike Allenof Cycle Source Magazine

The Smoke Out is filled with action. One hour it’s the PaintedLady Contest with living canvases stripped down to their thongs with Picassosmaking their art come to life.

 

Then the next hour is 50’s style drag racing or a beard andmustache contest. A real crowd pleaser is the minibike race. Contestants dressup in super hero costumes and compete on a 6-turn track. The Fireman, the crossdressing Nurse Rachet and the Budman all looked as good as there racing style.

 

The mini-bike race was stacked with competitiveracers. Race winner Cameron Carter, 31, of Blews Creek, NC wore a red,white and blue top hat, an American flag shirt and had empty cases of PabstBlue Ribbon strapped to his legs as shin guards.

 

 

2nd place Chris Griffin of Monroe, NCfashioned a medieval helmet out of a case of Budweiser and flew a Confederateflag and a marijuana-leaf flag from his green bike. The two changed positionsmultiple times throughout the 8 lap race with Carter taking the win in theexciting competition.

 

 

 

At about 10PM on Saturday night the festivities had wound down andI was heading to the lodge for a little R&R. As soon as I hit the frontdoor, I went for the bar and after two double Stormy Jack Daniels I turnedto my left and noticed a Dog sitting on the barstool next to me.

 

I wondered, for just a moment, if I was trippin. It turns out hewas waiting there for a takeout order. His companion grabbed a salad and twoorders of fried mozzarella sticks. The dog hopped off the stool and led the wayout the door and back into their room.

 

 

 

Soon enough the core of the working Smoke Out team were back atthe lodge and they had brought the Canadian band The Creepshow that headlinedthe event with them. Their tradition is to sit in the lobby and catch up anddrink. So within a blink of an eye there were handles of bourbon, jars of whitelightening and bottles of something from an Eastern bloc country.

 

 

 

I’m a lite weight when it comes to adult beverages so I decided Ineeded to stop losing the drinking games and staggered out of the lobby aroundmidnight to take a shower. Somehow the room looked different but I thought itwas because it was spinning. I cracked the shower and set it at a favorablelukewarm temperature.

 

 

I started to lather up and felt something cold on my leg. I turnedaround and saw the dog from the bar in the walk-in shower. I made a noise likea little girl and heard him growl. So, I composed myself and slowly shuffledbackwards. Now I don’t normally shower with a dog — primarily because the stallisn’t that big and sharing it with a soggy 150-pound Labrador left very littleroom to maneuver. But he loved the shower and I started sobering up prettyquickly.

 

I also realized that I wasn’t in my own room so I quickly dressedand left him enjoying himself.A lot of general craziness ensued during the party in the lobbylike the night manager waking up with one biker sleeping next to him in his bed. Hestarted freaking out.The biker crackedan eye open and asked if he had been taken advantage of, which freaked out thenight manager even more.

 

The after party is just as epic as the 3-ring circus of the SmokeOut.

 

 

 

Don’t miss the grandest SmokeOut explosion of all, next year for the 20th Anniversary.