Tag Archives: motorcycles

ACROSS THE POND

SUMMER IS COMING: IT’S TIME TO PREPARE YOUR VACATIONS IN FRANCE

Story and Photos by ITN European Reporter Herve’ Rebollo

Salut à toi American rider!

Have you ever been to … France / Paris my friend?  Do you know my country?  Maybe not … I even can suppose that you don’t always have a good opinion of my country and French people … I’ll only answer you: stop trusting TV /medias and come to see by yourself (It will be a pleasure for my family and I to help you to see which nice country France is). Continue reading SUMMER IS COMING: IT’S TIME TO PREPARE YOUR VACATIONS IN FRANCE →

Motorcycle People

OUR DESTINATION, STROKERS DALLAS, EVERY CITY NEEDS THIS KIND OF BIKER VENUE !

Post & Images by Jack McIntyre

2am Philadelphia. We have business in Dallas Texas all week, so we are on the BLOODSHOT eyes flight. We land in Dallas, way too early to check in so we do a little sightseeing. Now we are hitting 2pm and the Mothers day brunches are coming to an end, and the bikers begin to gather.

This is where is gets fun, they are all heading to Rick Fairless’ Strikers Dallas.

Now keep in mInd, it’s Sunday afternoon, Mothers day… you’d think it would be almost empty. So we pull up in our geeky rent a car only to find no parking, apparently Mothers day wasn’t a good enough reason to avoid Strokers.

From the amazingly detailed show room with all of it’s characters, custom motorcycles, and images to the exterior wall murals everywhere & statuettes, your brain just can’t take it all in.

Along with the outside entertainment, Rick has the Strokers Ice House serving amazing fun food, all types, all beers, all great.

LEFT, JOHNNY MAC, CENTER, RICK FAIRLESS, RIGHT, JACK MCINTYRE

Bottom line, don’t just think about going to Strokers Dallas, make it a goal. Sunday (today) was excellent fun, my next visit will be on a rockin’s Saturday and for that visit I will have a motorcycle under me.

ACROSS THE POND

THE 42nd CLASSIC BIKE RALLY PARIS-BOURGES

Story and Photos by ITN European Reporter Herve’ Rebollo

Salut à toi American rider,

Every year, during the week-end of Easter, I use to attend a very
sympathetic rally which takes place right in the center of France, in and
around the beautiful city of Bourges.

This rally of 3 days is organized by my friends of the ACETYLENE MOTO-CLUB.
A little local MC (County of BERRY) dedicated to old motorcycles. I’m lucky
enough to attend this event as their “official” photographer.

Of course during these 3 days, you can see / admire about 120 “old ladies”
from the thirties to the eighties.

The ambiance between the attendees is simply amazing. When you come to this
rally, you know you gonna have fun, technical talking, speak English (many
guys come from UK), see amazing and rare old bikes, have 3 beautiful rides
on the roads of France center and naturally have great food and wines.

For this 2019 edition I came with my friend Pierre-Louis and his rare INDIAN
Chieftain of 1947 (which has been the star of the rally). This motorcycle is
in an incredible perfect state.

Of course, attending such an event you must be prepare to see some things
you don’t use to encounter with you modern motorcycle.

As oil …

An unbelievable consumption of spark plugs …

Smoke as never …

Historical accessories …

Vintage bikers …

Local products …

Marvelous engines …

Many mechanical failures …

With their first level of intervention: to push strongly …

Their maintenance on the road …

And some original personal solutions …

All the generations of bikers …

Marvelous roads …

And typical villages of our French heartland …

At the rally PARIS-BOURGES, you will see many motorcycle brands SOYER, French …

INDIAN, American …

AJS, English …

MOTO GUZZI, Italian …

YAMAHA, Japanese …

ROYAL ENFIELD, Indian …

BMW, German …

And of course, many others …at least around twenty different motorcycle
brands.

You will meet female riders …

Lovers …

Kids …

And puppies …

Thus, you understand that this rally mixes all the ingredient to make it a
great moment of fun and give a real good time to the all attendees.

This is why I strongly recommend you come with me for the edition 2020.

We’re awaiting for you my American biker friend.

See ya soon on the road …who knows?

Hervé, your French biker friend.

Events & Rallies

Highlights of the 2019 Donnie Smith Bike & Car Show

Article by Daymon Woodruff, the Buffalo Chip.

If you love riding motorcycles, you probably agree that the best part about winter is when it’s over. And for those of us in the Midwest, there’s no better way to give Old Man Winter that final kick out the door than to hit up the Donnie Smith Bike and Car Show presented by Dennis Kirk at the Saint Paul RiverCentre.

As usual, the show was a lot to take in, with attendees roaming the exhibit halls like kids in a candy store. After watching everyone drool over the entries, find treasure at the parts swap and meet some of the biggest names in the industry, here were some of the bikes, cars and moments that stood out to us.

The Loss of a Legend

As soon as the show opened Saturday morning and attendees started to pour in, it didn’t take long for word to spread that the world of custom motorcycles had lost its king, Arlen Ness, just the night before.

To the Donnie Smith Show family, Arlen Ness was many things—a hard worker, a creative genius, and a fellow Hamster—but above all else, he was our dear friend.

Losing Arlen the night before an event in which he has been so engrained wasn’t easy, but in a strange sense, the show acted as a gathering that held his spirit. Spending two days surrounded by some of the people who knew him best allowed us to recount old stories, laugh, cry and celebrate his remarkable time on this earth.

Rest in peace, buddy.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS TERRIFIC ROUNDUP OF THE DONNIE SMITH SHOW.