Who says that only bikers on the east and west coasts know what's going down? Sure there is Born-Free and the Brooklyn Invitational, but the Midwest has its fare share of happenings as well. Take for instance the Full Tilt show, which happens in the Twin Cities every year. Zach Doom and the boys from Heavy, the guys from 7th Street Tattoo, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and a bunch of other chopper heads put on this free show at Tavern on the Avenue in St. Paul on a sunny summer in July. There was a decidedly massive amount of real-deal choppers like all of these types of shows have now, but Full Tilt also had guest DJs, live metal bands such as Witchden, and a full-on burlesque show with some of the regions hottest pinup girls. There were burnouts and power slides, flowing liquor, and nothing but good old American fun happening, just as these photos allude to.

A year ago was technically the first annual Hood Bush BBQ. It wasn't a planned event, it was a handful of us hanging out in need of a BBQ looking to ride some dirt bikes and some choppers off road, so we headed out to local riding spot. Well, actually it's a series of dirt bike trails hidden in the cut of a local Milwaukee ghetto. Anyway, we loaded the van up with dirt bikes and a BBQ grill, hopped on the choppies, and we were on our way.

Since 1896 breaking land speed records at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats has been a yearly occurrence. It all started when W.D. Rishel acknowledged the expansive 40 square miles as a workable site for races other than the bicycle course he had originally conceived. A short while later, he convinced a local daredevil, Teddy Tezlaff, from his hometown to travel to Bonneville to race automobiles on it. After some years of improvement and assessment, Teddy drove his car to 141.73 mph. Since then both cars and bikes have been hitting triple-digit speeds with the first rider hitting 200 mph in 1956 and the fastest motorcycle hitting 376.363 mph in 2010. If you have never been to the salt flats, it is a site to be seen whether you are racing or not. The shear magnitude of the salt flats’ geography and its rich racing history envelops you completely. Currently there are two governing bodies that are in charge of holding speed trials on the salt. The first is The Southern California Timing Association, which handles both two- and four-wheeled racing and the other is the Bub Speed Trails, which is entirely motorcycle only.

For the fourth year in a row the Brooklyn Invitational fused bikes, art, and culture into one sweet lump sum. Located at Root Studios on the waterfront of New York City’s borough of Brooklyn, this stellar show saw more than 10,000 people show up for the one-day event.

For the fourth year in a row Born Loser’s Mike Davis and FMA’s Grant Peterson have put together the best traditional chopper show the world has ever seen. With more than 4,000 bikes riding in and 15,000 people spectating, this one-day event’s magnitude has been felt all over the globe. And it will for years to come. The event, which was held on June 30th at Oak Canyon Ranch in Southern California had great weather and an all-around great vibe with friends both old and new coming together for the sake of cycles.

Sweden smells so good. It reminds me of the mountains in California where there are Ppines, and you can smell the weeds and the brush strong as if you were holding them. The light never really goes out in the summer so my first night I woke up jetlagged at almost three in the morning and went for a skate. It was bright outside and I was thinking it was 8 a.m. No one was around; it was just me riding a friend’s skateboard and some felines wandering around. Seeing the cats hunting made me realize the trick that light plays on you here. I had to stop and sit by some small lake maybe 300 meters from Nickes’ house to catch my breath. In the area of the lake where I came from, the road was a huge rock that was smooth and sloped down fast to the shoreline making a cliff underwater. Saltsjo Boo is in isolated Stockholm on the shore of the ocean, so there is tons of wildlife. Saltsjo Boo is a great place to start a long journey.

This year in Daytona during bike week something went down on 1815 Ridgewood Avenue that forever changed the face of the DIY chopper as we know it.

For eight years now on the second weekend in December, the Ventura Fair Grounds has hosted the David Mann Chopperfest and it shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. Started by Dave “Huggie” Hanson, the event is equal parts tribute, party, show, and swap meet. Packed with everything a chopper junkie needs along with great “fair” food and weather, you now know why the place is packed to the gills every year.

There is nothing like the sheer magnificence of the Mooneyes show. Take 400 of the nicest Knucks, Pans, Shovels, and Ironheads on the planet, then combine them with another 200 of the most excellently constructed Japanese and British bikes and you have a recipe for the best indoor bike show the world has ever seen.

What do you get when you add one part art installation, one part bike show, and a mountain of alcohol? You get the Brooklyn Invitational. This bike show has come a long way from its humble beginnings of just three years ago. It started out humble enough with a few NYC bike builders and riders banding together in hopes to put on a show to showcase a few bikes they felt deserved to be on public display. The event has now evolved into the undisputed real-deal chopper show on the East Coast.

Welcome to Mods vs. Rockers, the 21st century version. All of the garage-built machinery, period garb, and estranged-from-traditional-society characters without the violence and police involvement of early ’60s English seaside. With much better weather, mind you.

There are a ton of bike events every summer, sometimes two or three on any given weekend. A few of these events are well established, such as Daytona, Laconia, and Sturgis. Other events are new while still others have a shorter history. Born Free III is as the name implies, a few years old. Nevertheless this year was the best one-day bike event/show we have ever had the pleasure of attending. As with each of the first and second Born Free Shows, a new venue progressed from a parking lot for number one to a closed off street for number two to the huge, tree-shaded park for number three. As with any event that grows from year to year there are compromises to be dealt with. The Born Free III show handled it magnificently; the promoters worked tirelessly from the close of Born Free II to make it happen at the new site located at Oak Canyon Ranch in Irvine, California.

What do you call a day on a well-groomed track with 500 or so like-minded folks? Some might call it heaven, but on a sunny day in SoCal it was called Hell On Wheels and it brought together a collection of ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s machines, mini bikes, a couple of great bands and a dozen pinup girls.

When I got word last year that Bill and McGoo were going to resurrect the El Diablo Run for 2011, I made damn sure to clear my plate for the first week of May. Having missed all the others due to broken-down bikes and deadlines, I was not going to let history repeat itself this year.

New Zealand Sidecar racing. What is it you ask? A bunch of crazies racing sidecar bikes? Well, yes and no. New Zealand Sidecar racing is basically a three-wheel bike, a speedway-style bike with a third wheel in a somewhat unconventional position. They are normally powered by a 1,000cc superbike engine that can put out in excess of 180 bhp. With NO BRAKES. Yeah, two people on a bike that can exceed 100 mph in a heartbeat with no brakes. So it pretty much takes a special type, and in this case, a pair of people to ride these things.

Since Dave Mann’s passing in 2004 I think he’d be happy to see the old bikes roll into the Ventura County, California, Fairgrounds for the David Mann Chopper Fest each December to pay tribute to the most famous biker artist to date. Old machines of all makes are primed then kicked over before setting out for a chilly morning ride with a destination about an hour north of Los Angeles. Folks come from all over the Cali and some of its neighboring states to remember Dave Mann. There are original paintings on display, prints available to buy, a swap meet, vendors, bands, and food all nestled next to the Pacific Ocean. We won’t bore you with more jibber jabber about it; for info on past and future shows, visit www.chopperfestival.com and we’ll see ya there next year for sure. SC

As we slid into the All Nippon Airlines germ tube to Yokohama, Japan, we knew pretty much what to expecttons of great bikes that are well thought out and meticulously constructed. These concepts alone kept the 20-odd Americanskis on the plane gossiping like eighth-grade schoolgirls for the duration of the flight, but we had no clue as what would really be unleashed upon our eyes less than 24 hours later.

I have witnessed more biker rallies than I can stomach. At every one of these somnambulant soirees, pomposity, posturing, and machismo hump and grind through their horny mnage trois like drunken dwarves in green suits on St. Paddy’s Day. Strip away these forces and the totemistic affectations left behindunisex chaps, 40-inch-wide apehangers, and neon engine lighting, for instanceseem vainglorious to the extreme, don’t you think?

Things in the chopper world have been changing over the last few years, if you haven't noticed. People are ready for a change-a change for the better. Bikes are getting more advanced and traditional at the same time; gone are the fat-tire circus bikes, frayed Levis, and tough guy second-mortgage choppers. Dudes are putting together old machines in their garages, building a mix of new and old in a friend's shop, or pushing the limits in their own space.

When was the last time you went to a bike show with over 2,000 killer choppers, walked or rode in for nothing, grabbed some grub and a drink for nothing, and hung out with your friends from all over the world with the chance to take home a 1950 Panhead chopper? Quite preposterous, right? Why would anyone let over 5,000 people into a show for free? Could it be about the bikes and not the money? No way-or way?

I flung the Bravetown door wide open to a wall of beards and teeth all grinning over at me. Phil Lynott was belting out about being a cowboy, and there was a funky familiar smell wafting about the garage. I looked around the room to see all too familiar scenarios of last-minute packing, late-night heckling, and a lot of people standing around playing that game. Not a sad face in the pack; everybody pumped, excited to see each other, and hyped for what tomorrow was about to bring. Laughing and joking about last year's 15-man rolling sideshow parading around like a pack of two-wheeled degenerates, and swearing "I'm taking it easy this year, man." It was like a high school reunion of all the sleezeballs you've come to know and love over the last couple years. It was Chicago. It was Bravetown. It was The Country Mile.

This past weekend we headed out to the Los Angeles County Fair Grounds, in Pomona, California for the Grand National Roadster Show. Why are we reporting on a bunch of topless cars you say? Well, since the 50's the GNRS also crowns America's Most Beautiful Motorcycle alongside its automotive title America's Most beautiful Roadster.

From the Fall 2010 issue of Street Chopper Magazine

We spent the morning of day four shooting bikes before we headed on over to the Full Throttle Saloon. After filling up on what the FTS had in store of us, we then trucked on over to the Buffalo Chip campground where we first saw the Michael Lichter installation. There were some of the top builders showing their latest and greatest builds and a ton of Michael's photos were on hand to be seen and purchased for the right price. From there we ventured out and visited Violent Choppers, the boys from Brass Balls Bobbers and a few other killer chopper builders. After some food, we checkout the bros doing burnouts the babes with their boobs out, and we then settled in for a concert by Germany's own heavymetal movers and shakers; The Scorpions!