This year's BikeFest was every bit as big and fun as last year's. Folks were cruising up and down the Strip, Cashman Center hosted the Artistry in Iron show and a slew of vendors, and Fremont Street held its bike show and provided great free concerts by .38 Special and some other cool bands. If that isn't enough for you, naturally Vegas had plenty more to offer. There was a $100,000 poker run, the Miss Las Vegas Contest, Jell-O wrestling, and several other events.
Having said all that, it felt to us like something was missing. We were too busy winning money at Texas Hold 'Em at the Sahara on Friday afternoon to put a finger on it, and also a bit distracted trying to shoot photos that night to give serious thought as to what was lacking. It wasn't until we stopped by the Count's Customs exhibit at Cashman that it hit us. The Count had a really cool display that was set up like a Gothic graveyard, complete with a hearse and an iron gate; it was one of the coolest vendor setups we've seen at a show and we told him so.
"Hey, it's my hometown," he replied. "We've got to go all out."
That's when the gears clicked into place. Here was a guy who'd gone all out trying to live up to his hometown's rep as party central. Up until this point, we'd seen plenty of the kinds of events we'd come to expect at any sizable rally but nothing really beyond that. Vegas is a city of big dreams and huge exhibitions but BikeFest felt almost understated, as if it were a child trying to fill its father's shoes.
We say this out of love, however. This rally combines two things we truly care about: motorcycles and Las Vegas. When we go to Vegas we want to have as much fun as possible, so maybe we're just being greedy. BikeFest is a young event, and naturally it takes time for any rally to reach epic proportions. The folks that run BikeFest do a good job of holding a custom bike event; they've got a vendor area, a custom bike show, a main event in the form of the Artistry show with its heavy-hitting builders, and a group of side events like poker runs and so forth to keep folks entertained. But this is Vegas. VEEGGAASSS, BAY-BEE. Sin City. It's big and wild and with a little more ambition Bike Fest could become to the West what Sturgis and Daytona are to the Midwest and the East.
Both Sturgis and Daytona started off humbly as well but they were centered around riding which is what drew people to them in the first place - Daytona with the beach races (which were later moved to the racetrack) and Sturgis with its early street race (not to mention the beautiful surrounding countryside which is great for riding). And that's what Vegas BikeFest needs - a fun riding event. Whether it's drag racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, stunt riding, or desert racing on dirt machines, BikeFest could be expanded to include a big event that's centered around riding. Between the JIMS AHDRA West Coast drag races, various motocross events that are held in town, and the assorted sport bike stunt teams that call the city home, we're kind of surprised this sort of expansion hasn't happened already. And it's not as if the city's too small to handle the crowds. Unlike Sturgis or Daytona where there is minimal hotel space for legions of people, Las Vegas is full of hotels, most of which are a very short ride from the main events. Vegas' strip clubs and restaurants could easily handle what a huge rally would throw at them, unlike most of those at the other two events which get completely overstocked.
Again, we're not trying to bust anyone's sack about BikeFest. It was every bit as fun as it was last year, and the hard work that the Artistry in Iron builders put into their creations was fully evident by the beauty of said machines. It just feels like this rally has finished its childhood and it's time to fill daddy's shoes by growing into the mega-event of the West Coast over the next decade.