Wide Open's St. Louis Motorcycle Show
By Michael Mihalevich
St. Louis, Missouri-February 26 & 27, 2005-Ralph came
to town, kicked butt, and took names! Watch out, he's liable
to do it again!
Ralph Roades, founder and publisher of Wide Open Motorcycle
Magazine, hosted the first competitive motorcycle show that the
St. Louis region has seen in nearly twenty years. And what a
show it was! Two hundred scrumptious scoots from a dozen states
showed up to compete for the $1,000.00 Best of Show prize money
and bragging rights. Visitors to the Wide Open show also had
an opportunity to win a $1,000.00 shopping spree from Doc's Harley-Davidson
of St. Louis. During the weekend, more than twelve thousand motorcycle
enthusiasts crowded into the Wentzville Expo Center, thirty miles
west of downtown St. Louis, to join in all of the action. And
as a capper to the incredibly exciting weekend, Ralph made a
$21,100.00 charitable donation to the March of Dimes Ride (formerly
Bikers for Babies) of St .Louis!
There was just about anything you could want in a bike show-bikes,
trikes, choppers, V-8s, RVs, celebrities, beer, babes, live music,
and vendors. Luckily, the weather was quite pleasant for the
Missouri February weekend, because the lines to get into the
Expo Center sometimes stretched around two sides of the building!
Kettle corn was available in case you got the hungries before
you got inside, and K-SHE-95 was doing a live remote outside
and giving away freebies, as well. Once you made it inside, you
were usually shoulder-to-shoulder with other enthusiasts that
were viewing the two hundred great bikes on display that were
vying for one of the fifty awards and cash prizes to be handed
out at the grand finale.
The Orange County Custom built Dixie Chopper's chopper was
one of the more popular crowd-pleasing displays. This Orange
County Custom theme bike, valued at $2.2 million, was available
for fans to throw a leg over and have their picture taken astride
this 990cc Generac V-Twin powered machine. The Dixie Chopper
people were certainly keeping busy cranking out free 4"x6"
photos for everyone, and the photo printer didn't even melt down
despite all of the use. If you happen to be in the market for
"the world's fastest lawn mower", check out a Dixie
Chopper.
Master bike builders Donnie Smith of Donnie Smith Custom Cycle
in Blaine, Minnesota and Kim Suter of KC Creations out of Kansas
City were at the Wide Open St. Louis show displaying their exquisite
custom bikes and meeting with show goers. Cheryl and Kim Suter
of KC Creations from Kansas City arrived with a crop of their
latest superb two-wheeled creations. Unfortunately, if you missed
"The Joker", it will be shipped to a new owner in California
shortly after the show.
As an experienced motorcycle show producer, as well as bike
builder extraordinarie, Donnie Smith was extremely complimentary
regarding the inaugural show put together by Ralph Roades. Donnie
liked the layout, and thought the turnout was awesome. And it
didn't even take much to coerce him into having his picture taken
with Wide Open T-Shirt Techs, Val, Anne, Ashley, Melissa, and
Alaina. They were definitely a significant attraction during
the weekend. Donnie asked if I was sure that I didn't need to
take some more time to take some more pictures, since he was
having so much fun amongst the T-Shirt Techs.
Besides the Wide Open T-Shirt Techs, other delightful attractions
included the girls modeling the Pure Evil clothing line, and
Denice and Heidi wearing shirts proclaiming "Sluts R Cool",
which in reality stood for "Steel River Choppers".
Kimberly was the focus of a number of cameras and flashes as
she was sitting on the Biker's Paradise iron steeds that were
on display in the Expo Center. Tim Bodish's brother Bill was
on site displaying Tim's art that you have seen in the pages
of Wide Open Motorcycle Magazine. Jacquie Mann, widow of the
legendary biker lifestyle artist David Mann, and loyal friends
of David were in attendance at the David Mann Benefit booth,
so you could still collect some of his art. Multitudes of bike
builders from as far as Indiana, Texas, Colorado, and South Dakota
were exhibiting their outstanding custom cycles in the weekend
Wide Open show.
Another interesting aspect of this show was the inclusion
of a number of trailer and RV displays. In addition to having
unique and diverse custom cycles available for purchase, you
could also purchase a trailer to transport your two-wheeled investment.
Trailers displayed could haul a single bike or you could move
up to a multiple bike, 35 foot enclosed trailer to take all of
your toys with you. If Ralph paid me what I was worth I could
afford one of those fifth wheel cargo carriers with living quarters.
Then I could just roll my Dyna Wide Glide into the back end of
the trailer and sleep with it in the luxurious living quarters.
But then Ralph would have to buy me a truck to haul the fifth
wheel. But then Ralph would have to buy me something more exotic
than a mere stock Harley. But then I'd have to keep writing stories
for Ralph until my fingers were bloody stumps. Guess I'll just
have to stick with my stock Harley Wide Glide and just ride it
from one place to another.
Meanwhile, back to the motorcycle show; live bands were playing
continuously for your listening entertainment. Sugar Bush came
in from Warsaw, Missouri, Skyline was here from St. Louis, and
Diamond Back was another musical group entertaining the crowds
at the Expo Center. Vendors of all sorts of other motorcycle
related accessories and products were doing a brisk business
throughout the weekend. You could pick up leather, T-shirts,
boots, helmets, eyewear, biker art, tattoos, and collectibles,
as well as custom bikes, trailers, RVs, and high performance
lawn mowers. Motorcycle club participation was highly visible
with displays set up by groups such as Bikers Against Child Abuse,
El Forastero, Galloping Goose, Hell's Angels Illinois, Nomads,
Vietnam Veterans, and others.
March of Dimes Volunteers were manning the doors and assisting
with other logistics at the show in exchange for a charitable
donation from Wide Open. During the Sunday afternoon awards was
when Ralph presented $21,100.00 to the March of Dimes as the
charitable donation in appreciation of the volunteers helping
out with the weekend show. I don't think anyone was expecting
the donation to the March of Dimes to end up being of that generous
magnitude!
Other big winners of the first ever Wide Open Motorcycle Show
in St. Louis included Jake Walter of Walter Brothers Customs
from New Berlin, Illinois. Jake walked away with the $1,000.00
Best of Show award for his sleek charcoal gray and metallic candy
apple red 2004 Walter Brothers Custom. His brother Jerrod contributed
about half the labor on Jake's personal bike, so I wonder if
Jake will contribute about half of the cash prize to Jerrod.
Second place Best of Show and $500.00 went to PC Custom Bikes
of Crystal City, Missouri. Phil Clifton and Doug Bruno collaborated
to create this wicked machine that Phil describes as "it
looks like a praying mantis". Phil did all the fabrication
starting with a Redneck frame, throwing in a 120" Merch
engine hooked up to a Baker 6 Speed transmission with a left
side drive, and ending with a 280 rear tire. Third place Best
of Show and $300.00 was scored by Steve Nash and Lee Ebrey of
Pyrotec Custom Cycles out of Alton, Illinois. Steve picked up
a wrecked '85 Harley Wide Glide, and after it set in his shop
a couple of years he turned it into a show winning scoot.
Donna Foley of Hazelwood, Missouri was the lucky winner of
the $1,000.00 shopping spree from Doc's Harley-Davidson of St.
Louis. Congratulations, Donna, your chrome and leather fantasy
just came true! If the rest of you were like me, and thought
for sure your name was the one that was going to be drawn, don't
give up. Ralph and the Wide Open Motorcycle Magazine Show at
the Wentzville, Missouri Expo Center near St. Louis will be back
again February25 and 26, 2006! However, if you faithfully check
into the upcoming issues of Wide Open Motorcycle Magazine, you
just might find out that Ralph has planned one of his stupendous,
kick-ass, bike shows in Kansas City or Wichita. Keep reading
Wide Open and check out www.wideopencycle.com so you don't miss
out on any of the great motorcycle action in the great Midwest
Coast!
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