Las Vegas Bikefest 2014

With more vendors, more celebrity appearances, and more competitions than ever before—plus and an expanded sponsorship roster—the organizers of Las Vegas Bikefest have a lot to be proud of. The 2014 Bikefest was packed with things to do and people to see.

It started with a first-time kickoff party Thursday night at Container Park, a unique place to hang out anytime but made better with several hundred of your best biker friends. Rally Central at Cashman Center offered Indian and Victory demo rides, the Chop-In Block Road Show, the Jack Daniels Experience, Sin City Art Gallery, and tons of eye candy at the Artistry in Iron Builders corral. There were more parts vendors than ever before, including companies such as Vance & Hines, Mustang Seats and Kuryakyn who were ready and willing to install your parts right there – free, too! Events included poker runs and walks, best-of contests (burnouts, beards, bellies, tattoos, plus Mr. and Miss Bikefest), and ride-in bike shows on site each day. There were celeb appearances by Pawn Stars and Sons of Anarchy stars, and Kristy Swanson showed up to sign posters with artist David Uhl. Biker Battleground’s Len Edmondson and John Shope brought their bikes from the History Channel show, too. There was plenty of live music too including headliners Jasmine Cain, Craig Morgan and Kansas.

Cycle Source hosted a ride on Saturday and as you’d expect street parties commenced each night at Hogs and Heifers Saloon near Fremont Street downtown. Nobody needed to be reminded either that this was Las Vegas, the city of the perpetual party. That said, if you’ve never ventured out much from Las Vegas proper, you’d be surprised at the superior roads and landscape diversity on offer. The Hoover Dam is just 35 miles – quite a spectacle in itself. The Red Rocks area, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park are within a day’s ride.

The Artistry in Iron show is always a huge draw. (See separate image gallery.) As an invitational show it incorporates a limited number of builders who judge each other’s work to determine one winner. The selection of bikes and range of craftsmanship is always beyond stellar. Rick Bray of RKB Kustoms took the win for the second straight year. The People’s Choice award went to Chris Phillips of Doomtown Choppers.

Las Vegas Bikefest is in a growth phase and if the 2014 iteration is any indication of the future trajectory, it’s one rally that’s poised to make the leap from regional to national status. Take a look through our images from this year’s Bikefest and make a note: next year’s dates are October 1-4, 2015. We’ll be there! You want to be there, too!