Episode 30 of the Brap Talk podcast is now out for your two-wheeled audio pleasure, and as always, it is packed with some interesting motorcycle discussions.
Every year the motorcycle industry comes to our backyard, as The One Motorcycle Show packs Portland, Oregon with two-wheeled enthusiasts.
One last entry from our wandering lens at The One Motorcycle Show, we bring you this BMW R1200GS from Roland Sands Design.
The machine gives a throwback to the rally machines we saw in the 1980s competing in the Dakar Rally, particularly those made by HPN-Motorradtechnik, which were based off the BMW R80 G/S
Another bike that caught our eye at The One Motorcycle Show, this tasty morsel is a 1982 Yamaha Virago 750 (XV 750) made by the hands at WKND.
Though not a terribly appealing motorcycle in its original form, and part of Yamaha’s first attempts at challenging Harley-Davidson in the cruiser space, the Yamaha XV750 has seen builders make some tasty customs off its old air-cooled v-twin platform – as we can see here.
The One Motorcycle Show was in Portland this weekend, meaning we didn’t have to travel very far at all to see the largest custom bike show in the United States.
Naturally, we feel compelled to share with you some of the best bikes we saw the show, and we will start things off right with one of our favorites from the expo.
To that end, it was a shame that the ABC 500 by A Bike Company wasn’t front and center when you came into the main bike hall, as the board tracker made by Niki Smart is a stunner and dripping in black.
A hometown favorite, a custom from Moto-Mucci caught our eye at this year’s One Motorcycle Show in Portland, and we thought you would like it too, so we snapped some photos of it.
The build starts off with a KTM 300 XC-W Six Days two-stroke dirt bike, and goes further by turning it into a rather fetching street tracker model.
Episode 8 of the Brap Talk podcast is out for your two-wheeled audio pleasure, and because of our hiatus, it is a super-long show.
This two-hour long installment covers three main topics. After getting up to speed on what we have been up to, we talk about the Ducati Hypermotard 950 international press launch, and what this giant supermotard is like on the street and the track.
From the African continent we move back to our hometown of Portland, Oregon, where The One Motorcycle Show took place, and once again solidified itself as one of the most important custom shows in the United States.
When it comes to attractive motorbikes, we have devoted some critical pixels towards the folks at Zero Motorcycles. Let’s be frank, the design side of the equation hasn’t historically been the brand’s strong suit. The company is making progress, however.
Now, when it comes to custom motorcycles, there has been a quiet resistance to using electric models as starting points for creation, though occasionally we see an electron-powered machine at a bike show that captures our attention.
Today though, we see the happy merger of those two thoughts, with this Zero FX custom supermoto by Huge Design, which debuted this weekend at the The One Motorcycle Show in Portland, Oregon, and was easily our favorite bike at the show.
Episode 73 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast is out, and it was worth the wait, as it’s a good one.
An omnibus of topics, we start out with some racing items from the MotoGP and Isle of Man TT paddocks, with a focus on newly crowned “MotoGP Legend” Randy Mamola, and a surprise announcement from John McGuinness.
We the turn our attention to Harley-Davidson’s bizarre brake fluid recall, and speculate what the Bar & Shield brand is up to. The iconic American brand was also present in Portland’s One Moto Show, which we discuss as well.
The conversation then shifts to the continually changes in the motorcycle media landscape, which has seen no shortage of movements in recent months.
The show concludes with a deep-dive into the issue of umbrella girls in racing, as the Formula One series has banned the practice from the 2018 season onward. We’re sure the conversation will stir some debate amongst the two-wheeled community.
You can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well.
We hope you will join the conversation, and leave us some audio comments at our new email address: twoenthusiasts@gmail.com.
Over 17,000 people flocked to the northern end of Portland this year, braving the cold interior of a vacant building with their plaid shirts, in order to drink PBR, listen to loud music, and look at the occasional motorcycle. Yes, it us that time of year for The One Motorcycle Show in Portland, Oregon.
More than just a much larger venue, The One Moto Show continues to gain traction with vendors and sponsors, all the while attracting more and more bike-curious attendees through its doors.
Main-lined into the zeitgeist that we recognize as two-wheeled hipsterdom, “mainstream” motorcyclists can roll their eyes while shuffling through the PDX masses, but you cannot deny the pulse the show keeps with younger motorcyclists.
As such, there were more than a few pillars of the motorcycle industry circulating in the show’s ranks – all incognito, of course – trying to understand how the next generation interacts not only with motorcycles, but also with each other.
Over 150 bikes were on display for those in attendance – I heard a figure as high as 170 motorcycles were hidden throughout the multiple rooms and floors of the show’s venue – and a couple trends struck me over the course of the show.
The One Show could be best described as equal parts lumberjack initiation party, bad tattoo exhibition, and 12-step program for the “I’m 18 and angry at my father” — it’s just that hipstertastic.
If you look past the Bialetti espresso cans, the very Portlandian motorcycle show brings the interesting premise that if you only had one motorcycle to fullfil your tw0-wheeled needs, what would it look like? The results to that question are as varied as the people who submit their work.
Taking place February 13-15th, in Portland, Oregon, it should be a good time out (we enjoyed last year’s snow-filled event)…especially considering the attached promo video.
By the time you read this, I will hopefully be on my way out of Portland, Oregon — having just attended The One Motorcycle Show. I say hopefully because the Polar Vortex dumped a bunch of cold fluffy white stuff on the ground on Friday, and the Portlandians have been calling it a snowmageddon ever since they slowly began littering the streets with stranded vehicles.
The weather may have been wreaking havoc on the highways and in town, Portland is after all where Volvo station wagons go to die, but it didn’t keep the hordes of motorcycle fans away from the show — in fact, some intrepid souls even road their way to the packed two-floor exhibit.
As one can expect from the Portland motorcycle scene, the atmosphere was hipster-chic, and laden with PBR cans, form fitting jeans, and epic beards.
Not exactly our cup of tea here at Asphalt & Rubber (I wore my best plaid shirt in an effort to blend with the natives, but was easily called out for my blasé attitude towards free-trade coffee), but that’s just fine — we like motorcycles just as much as the next guy or girl, and that’s what it is all about. Right?
For those who aren’t familiar with the concept behind The One Motorcycle Show, the idea is pretty simple and centers around the idea of that one motorcycle that fits all your tw0-wheeled needs and lusts.
It is about bikes that incorporate maybe the best aspects of all the other motorcycle you have ever owned, and represents everything about your two-wheeled life. Needless to say, the resulting builds had some interesting crossovers in style.