The Easyriders Bike Show Tour for 2004 kicked some serious ass! The Centerfold Tour featured many master hike builders that you may have seen on The Discovery Channel's The Great Biker Build-Off series. When you attended an Easyriders Bike Show last year, you had the chance to hobnob with the likes of Indian Larry, Billy Lane, Paul Yaffe, Kendall Johnson, Eddie Trotta, Rick Fairless and Kirn Suter. These builders were always happy to autograph a poster or even female body parts if ladies were so inclined. The Tour was such a smash hit that the Bike Show's proud poppa, John Green, decided that you can never have too much fun and added five more shows to the schedule.
An entire Fall Easyriders Bike Show Tour was created in new cities including Philadelphia, Indianapolis, San Diego, Houston, and ending with the two-day Invitational show in Atlanta. Besides the usual Judged and Spectator classes, this show showcased the best of show bikes from the 2004 Tour including amazing custom bikes from all over the country.
The Atlanta Invitational took place in the beautiful and spacious Georgia International Convention Center on November 2()th and 21st. Locals braved the mostly wet weekend to show up and study some of the world's best customs. For this particular extravaganza. Billy Lane, Paul Yaffe. Kirn Suter and Kenclall Johnson were all on deck to help us party the weekend away.
Other famous builders in attendance included Jerry Covington, Russell Marlowe, Chip Miyler. Dawn and Butch from Stinger, Vince and the crew from Redneck Engineering and Pete G. All were ready to wake up Atlanta and party their butts off...and party we did.
Doors opened at 10 a.m. on Saturday to a massive hall packed with hundreds of wild rides, a slew of vendors, beer and food stands at the ready and the Purrfect Angelz ready to bump and grind their way into your heart. Saturday's bands included the DB Bryant Band, and one of our true favorites. Blackberry Smoke. Sunday's headliner was Satisfaction (a tribute to the Rolling Stones).
This was one difficult show to judge, I know, I was one of the judges. I don't think I've ever seen so many incredible custom bikes under one roof. And creating a show-winning ride is getting harder and harder to do. Builders keep raising the bar and a bike that would have easily been a Best of Show winner two years ago doesn't even get noticed today. When the smoke cleared on Sunday afternoon, Alyssa, our Ms. Easyriders 2004, Kai Raecke and myself took to the stage along with John Green to give out the cash, prizes and trophies to the lucky winners.
Best of Show winners included first place Spectator, Pete G's. Choppers; Judged class first place Butch Mitchell of Stinger Customs; and Invitational class winner Mike Dusold of Lewisville, Texas (the first custom he's ever built). One of our personal favorites was the cool gold bobber by David Covington.
Special thanks to our proud sponsors of the 2004 Easyriders Bike Show Tour. Carolina Custom Products, Performance Machine, Belt Drives Limited, Biker's Atlas, Avon Tires and Defiant Customs. We'll see you at the all-new Centerfold lour. Meet more master bike builders and other surprises as we rock 15 cities around the country (see ad in this issue for more details). — Dave Nichols |
