Sure, there are a few modern motorcycle badges with nods to the early days, but it’s hard to beat the number of emblems and logos of yesteryear that hold our attention. At the recent Cycle World Rolling Concours show during the Red Bull Indianapolis GP, we captured a mere sampling of creative branding and labeling found on the tins of old bikes.
Meet Doc Batsleer from New Smyrna Beach, FL and his 1934 Indian Bonneville Sport Scout. The day we ran across this bike in 2012, its 45 cubic inches motored Doc around the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course during AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days. With various bikes, he raced in the Pre-War, Class C Hand Shift and Vintage 50s classes.
If you haven’t made it to Milwaukee for Rockerbox, it’s here! This Saturday, August 3rd is the 10th anniversary of one of the coolest, most unique motorcycle gatherings in the country. See our photo feature from 2010 and our photo feature from 2012 to see why we dig this event to the utmost. Here are more reasons to go…
Tucked away off Highway 19, just north of Tipton, Indiana, is a concentrated slice of Americana called, “A Summer Place.” It was the location chosen by the Davis Brothers of Kokomo, to host the 2nd Annual Kokomoto Vintage Bike Show. We fired up the bikes, rode north through pretty farmland, a few small towns and dropped in on the nostalgic bike show (streetbikes, scooters, dirtbikes and even bicycles were welcome).
Relive the 2013 Mods vs. Rockers Chicago event taking place in Uptown Chicago at the Aragon Ballroom. The guys at Steel Toe Press throw a mean party, or in this case, the “largest urban vintage motorcycle rally in the United States.” We were there for the entire Saturday and captured this video-sampling of bikes, hot rods and rock n’ roll. There were top acts indoor and out, with a nice mix of rockabilly, psychobilly, roots rock and a little punk sprinkled in. If you missed this killer gathering of mods, rockers and rockabilly rebels, mark your calendar for next year: June 13th & 14th, 2014!
Soaking in a torrential downpour, we rode the Ural sidecar and BMW cafe racer toward a vintage motorcycle event about 45 minutes north. We were thinking the attendance may suffer due to the blackening sky and big fat drops of rain pooling in the low spots. But, we were committed to the ride, had donned the mostly-effective rain gear and set off…not knowing the event had been cancelled.