100% Biker – August 2019

Not that all this wouldn’t have been enough to have a great time, but

there was one last ingredient and that was the Saturday afternoon racing

right beside the loading docks. Sponsored by RSD and Indian Motorcycles,

there were four classes including the ever so popular Super Hooligans, an

air-cooled vintage class, the GNC Pro Twins with a purse of $5000 as well

as a costumed Run What You Brung class. Super fun and super exciting! 

So, what about the bikes? Well, with the organisers’ devotion to

craftsmanship, ingenuity and creativity, they are open to bikes from

all pedigrees. BMW was there as a major sponsor, and also there for

the unveiling of a new bike from Alan Stulberg and his crew at Revival

Cycles, the second ground up custom (Custom Works Zon unveiled

the first one at Mooneyes in Japan just a few months ago) made from a

prototype huge boxer R1800 engine. The Birdcage, as it is known, achieved

exactly what Revival set out to do, which was ‘to appear as if it would not

function and to have an unencumbered view of the engine and drivetrain.’

Here is another example of BMW’s commitment to the custom world that

goes back to 2013 and its collaboration with Roland Sands on the RnineT

and many other custom builds since. 

Of course there was plenty for the V-twin

enthusiasts with Harleys like Cristian Sosa’s bare

metal 1950 Panhead that shows off his amazing

shaping skills; a split-rocker turbo Shovelhead from

Christian Newman; Matt Jackson’s 1952 Panhead

chopper; Tim Scates’ Root 66 1952 Pan chopper;

Josh Allison's Cry Baby Cycles’ King Nothing 1945

Knuckle; Mark Shell of Bonneville Customs’ El

Scorchio Shovelhead; an Evel Knievel-inspired Street

750 by Colin Cornberg of Montana; Bryce Schmidt’s

great turbo scrambler Sportster 1200; Cabana Dan

Rognsvoog’s 1928 Harley hillclimb peashooter... The

list of custom Harley-Davidsons goes on and on.

Then there were other customs, antiques and

unique bikes that would interest anyone. Indians,

Triumphs, an American-made Simplex, concept

bikes, incredibly shaped bikes and a number of

very cool funky bikes like Jay Shia’s custom 1957

Royal Enfield Indian bobber (from back when Royal

Enfields were imported and rebadged as Indians

after the Springfield factory closed in 1953.) 

Almost like a show within a show, there was an

extraordinary display of five bikes from the Haas

Moto Museum, a museum in Dallas that opened

less than two years ago but which has assembled a

collection of more than 200 motorcycles spanning

twelve decades. Despite not kick starting his first

motorcycle until he was 64, Robert B ‘Bobby’

Haas, one of the world’s most celebrated aerial

photographers, set about amassing a remarkable

array of bikes. You might wonder how he could

afford to do this on a photographer’s salary. Well,

Bobby, now 71, also heads up his own private

investment firm and made his name in the business

world by purchasing 7Up and Dr Pepper and turning

EVENT FEATURE THE HANDBUILT MOTORCYCLE SHOW

Romanian Alex Maslin built Franken Blast, his Buell Blast, in his

tiny apartment in Chicago over 11 months. It only took him so

long, he says, because he had to hide it from his landlord.

Cristian Sosa’s reworking of a BMW RnineT.

Some of the builders at the Q&A session. L-R:

Bryan Fuller (Fuller Moto), Don Cronin (Medaza

Cycles), Alan Stulberg (Revival Cycles).

Chris Newman’s turbocharged Harley Shovelhead.

Dustin Kott made his name building Honda CB café racers, but Exodus,

this 1978 BMW R80, represents a dramatic departure from his usual style.

102 | 100% Biker | issue 250 | http://www.100-biker.co.uk