The Survivor

This series was supposed to be the last of the "Born Free or Bust" series, but I ran out of time...
In any case, that pre unit triumph that Eric is riding is what you might call a "barn find". Well, it wasn't so much a barn as it was the VA Hospital. Yeah, that's right, the veterans hospital! It had been sitting next to some beds under some blankets for something like 20 years. Untouched with some mystery oil in it...
So, as these stories go, Eric picked it up for less than some peoples bar tabs, took it home, replaced the fluids, tickled the carb, kicked the little bastard a couple of times...and wouldn't you know it...started right up!
And so much for that...

Born Free 3: part 8

Well folks, here it is...the last post in the series.
Hope you enjoyed the photos.
Huge thanks to Mike, Grant and Josh for putting on an epic event for all of us.
I need to move on with my life - that is to say - I need to go fix my bike...
So, I'll leave you with this last image, which also happens to be the very last frame I shot that day...
...and that, as they say, is that...

Born Free 3: part 7

So many great bikes made it to the show...it was truly awesome!
My situation was different. You see, I managed to seize my engine just before this shin-dig. So, I am now in the salvage business...
Below are just some more random pics. Bottom shot is of CRO doing a victory lap on his 1st place Panhead.

Born Free 3: part 6

This scoot belongs to Wes Lang. If you've seen the last DICE issue, then you know about it.
In any case, as I've already said, it was really hard to decide what to shoot with all the amazing bikes at the show, so I took the easy way out. I was hanging out with Paulo from Joe King Speedshop, and Wes's bike just sat there in front of me...with the perfect light coming in...all I had to do was walk up to it and pull the trigger...
Well, there you have it...

Born Free 3: part 5

After the awards, things where winding down. But I finally got my second wind and started shooting again.
Below are just some random shots...

Born Free 3: part 4

At 4pm awards where given out AND the Knucklehead built by Kiyo was given away... The moment we've all been waiting for was finally here!
The wait had been treacherous...
The second pic shows the winner - Paul from Las Vegas. Lucky bastard!

In any case, many other awards where handed out and I am super happy that some of my friends got the recognition they deserve.
Caleb won 1st prize for his Panhead, Jason Webber won 3rd for his dual carb Knuck, and Max got the people's choice award.
Nice going guys! WINNING!!!

Born Free 3: part 3

At 10am the gates opened to everyone. It was at this time that we all started to realize the shear madness of it all. Bikes just started showing up by the hundreds - it was relentless...
It still boggles the nerves to consider how many amazing vintage bikes made it to the show from all corners of the world.
The numbers where staggering and it all became a little confusing...where to turn, what to take a picture of...it was savage...
I actually had to put my cameras down for a few hours just to be able to figure it out...

Born Free 3: part 2

It was still early, before the gates opened for the general public, and some of the usual suspects where starting to filter in.
Cro Customs, Love Cycles, Pangea Speed, Falcon, Cycle Zombies, Max Schaaf, ATR (Worst dudes ever!), etc...
All the shiny show bikes where coming in, and polishing was in full swing.

Born Free 3: part 1

Well, I guess it makes the most sense to start with this series...
I pulled in to the site a day early. Took me 922 miles to get there - even though I only live 54 miles away...but that's another story and beyond the scope of this post.
The trip was brutal. Not a lot of sleep, 112 degrees thru the desert, not much food, too much Red Bull, exploding rear tires, etc...
By the time we got there, some of the invited builders and vendors where already in the midst of setting up for the next day.
At this point, none of us knew what we where in for...

Born Free 3

...just got my film back from the lab.
Here is the first evidence of this epic event.
More soon...

Born Free or Bust: Jesse Whaley

Born Free is the hot item this weekend, and people are doing what they can to get there. Jesse owns two vehicles: some sort of scooter and a 70's Ironhead - which is currently still a basket case.
Some might say it's completely crazy to ride to a vintage motorcycle show on a 50cc scooter; well...maybe so...but I say it's a wise move. You see, to win that knucklehead you have to be there in person.