The One Motorcycle Show - 2015

Last Saturday Troubadour and I woke up early and managed to get out of the house prior to 9 am headed to Portland to attend The One Motorcycle Show.

The last time we attended the show was two years ago.  We were going to attend last year, but over half a foot of snow put a stop to that idea.

The day started out foggy, but soon the sun was shining high.  Finding the show was a little tricky as the interweb listed two different locations.  We tried the first.  Not it. Luckily the other location was just a few blocks southwest of the first try.

The show runs Friday evening, all day Saturday, and all day Sunday.  It opened at 11 am on Saturday and we hoped that by being there shortly after opening we might beat the crowd.  Not even close.

Luckily we drove the Fiat so parking wasn't too hard to find a few blocks away.  As we walked towards the warehouse we saw a line-up out the door and all the way down the block.  Doh! Bikes were lining the streets even as we approached. I cheated and took this photo after we left the show so it doesn't show the line up.

(Site of the 2015 One Motorcycle Show)

We thought about leaving and trying later, but chose to stay since we were there, already found parking, and figured it wouldn't be any less busy later.  We also thought we'd have to deal with the drunks later on as beer is served.

We lined up in the queue and made our way inside.  The show was in an old warehouse and the bikes lined the perimeter and were also displayed randomly in the center.  Moto-inspired artwork hung on the walls and were for sale.

(Cool Scooter artwork)

We tried to get close enough to the show bikes to 'ooh' and 'aah' and get a few pictures, but it wasn't easy.

Here are a few of the pictures I was able to take. Normally they have a listing of bikes on their websites so I could share a little info about each bike.  Not this year, and I wasn't able to get close enough to see any of the identifying tags.  Luckily the interweb is a good source of information. I didn't identify all of them so you'll need to use your imagination on a few.   

(Super Rat's 2004 Yamaha WR450F)

(Super Rat's 2007 "Jigsaw" 998)

(Aaron Egging's 1923 Triumph T140)

(Lossa Engineering's 1977 Honda CB550)

(Front view of the CB550)

(Kick Start Garage's 1974 Honda CL 350 with skateboard)

(Huge metal press still in the warehouse)

We made one loop around, getting frustrated more and more by the minute.  We went outside into a fenced area and looked at the booths set up.  That is where we saw this cool bike and also this humongous rig.  Don't they look like they'd be fun?

(The Mercedes-Benz Unimog)

We decided to go back inside and make another loop to see if the crowd has dispersed a bit.  It seemed pretty much the same.  But with a little elbowing we managed to take a few more pics.

(Lance Forney's 1976 Yamaha RD400 named "The Belmont")

(Honda CB160)

All in all the show didn't seem as cool as it was two years ago.  To me the show seemed more crowded and the bikes were mostly raked out choppers rather than the inventive Icon Tiger 800 named  Dromedarii, the Ducati 998 named Menta, and other creative bikes from 2013.  Visit my post on the 2013 show HERE.

They did have custom painted helmets again this year.  One stood out to me among the others.

(Timebomb Kustoms' "Intergalactic" Helmet) 

Not sure if we will return next year.  I'm thinking not.

Back outside we decided to wander down the street a bit and check out the bikes ridden to the show.  

A few stood out.

From the show we headed to Back to Eden Bakery, an all vegan/gluten-free eatery. We don't normally eat gluten-free on a regular basis, but they have good treats and actual vegan soft-serve ice cream.  We purchased a few treats to go and a small ice cream cone each to hold us over until lunch.

In heavy early afternoon traffic, we made our way to the west side of Portland to Bob Lanphere's Beaverton Motorcycles and to Sweet Lemon Vegan Bistro for lunch.  Beaverton motorcycles sells several different makes of new bikes as well as used.  The upper portion of the walls on both floors are lined with Bob Lanphere's personal collection of restored vintage bikes.  More fun than the show and the bikes were cooler too. Did I mention it was less crowded?  Here is a sample....

(1984 Yamaha RZ350 - Kenny Roberts replica)

(1968 Honda Z-50 Mini Trail Roadster - Big Bore Engine)

Stay tuned, the rest of the vintage collection pics to come in a follow-up post next week.

- Au Revoir

" Instead of complaining that the rosebush is full of thorns, be happy that the thorn bush has roses." - Proverb

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