We like to find motorcycle shops that hearken back to the good ol’ days where there’s a familial vibe in the air…and maybe a dusty jukebox in the corner. Shops that don’t have to adhere to corporate requirements are usually charming, in a concrete-floor and exposed-rafters kinda way. Even more unique is a shop whose owner is also the head mechanic. Chicago’s ACE Motorcycle & Scooter Co. is such a place.
Every Father’s Day weekend for the past seven years, Larry Fletcher and the Ton Up Club of Chicago have hosted one of the coolest motorcycle and scooter gatherings in the country. If you haven’t attended Chicago’s Mods vs Rockers, watch this video for a mere taste of what you’d experience on North Lincoln Ave and the surrounding areas.
There’s an artsy little neighborhood just north of downtown Milwaukee that annually welcomes an entertainingly diverse range of motorcycles. Riverwest has an unassuming vibe with its patinated random architecture and flip-flop clad residents who walk their dogs on buckled sidewalks.
Despite rain clouds rolling in over Illinois Street, bikes of all types rode into Indy for the 5th Annual Rocker’s Reunion. There were Beemers, Brit bikes, Italian motorcycles n’scoots, the Big Four and more. They were stock, chopped, cafe’d, mint, ratted, raked, old and new (see the pics and video below!).
For years, you’ve seen those cool emblems on vintage gas tanks consisting of just two or three consonants. Or maybe you’ve read about brands in recent magazines that look like a funky foreign word-mash.
In the early 1900s, pioneering motorcycle racers must’ve raised their eyebrows with a sly grin when looking upon the smoothly graded horse tracks at the local fairgrounds.
