Ventura Chopperfest 2014
The 11th-annual Motorcycle Art and Culture event brings out wild customs
During the early morning hours of Sunday, December 14, while traveling north from L.A. on the 101 Freeway, you might’ve found yourself in the company of a flurry of bikes, primarily of the Harley chopper family, burbling and growling their way through the slower car traffic. What’s the buzz all about? Well, that would be the pilgrimage to the 11th Annual Chopperfest Motorcycle Art and Culture event, now held at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.
You can thank David “Huggie” Hansen, the honcho at The Shop, an iconic Ventura-located bike emporium since 1972, for coming up with the idea. It happened that in 2004 the much loved and respected artist David Mann, his work for years seen as the greatest expression of the biker lifestyle, passed away. To honor him, Huggie organized the first Chopperfest, a blend of motorcycle and art that still empowers the annual event.
This year drew several thousand fans who enjoyed a treasure trove of iron and art that spread across the spacious Fairgrounds. Attendees were able to shop for that particular bike part or Christmas gift thanks to some 200 vendors and swap-meet booths stretching as far as the eye could see. There was also a special exhibition of biker art in homage to David Mann. The ground vibrating with the sounds of hundreds of bikes rolling into the Fairground, accompanied by the rockin’ soundtrack for the day-long party provided by the Harlis Sweetwater Band and the Gilby Clarke Band.
Featured builders in the Bike Show competition included: Paul Cavallo of Spitfire Motorcycle, Dalton Walker of S.I.K., Duane Ballard, Russel Mitchell of Exile fame, Caleb Owens of Cro Customs, Taber Nash of Nash Motorcycle, Mike Tomas of Kiwi Indian, Kurto Morrow of Ventura Motorworks, Rick Bray of RKB Kustom Speed, Michael Barragan of Evil Performance Motorcycles, David Zemla of Burly Brand, Dan Collins of Old Gold Garage, Jim Giuffa of AFT Customs, Aki Sakamoto of Hog Killers (Japan), Paul Ponkow of Bone Legacy, Lock Baker of Eastern Fabrications, Will Ramsey of Faith Forgotten Choppers and Scott T-Bone Jones of Noise Cycle Mfg. Among them were a slew of home garage builders who brought a wild and woolie spectrum of bikes spanning 49cc to 5000cc’s … highly polished works of rolling art to “patina rich” ratsters.
While the judges and public picked their favorites, naturally I had to conduct my own survey and come up with Paul’s Pix/Picks. As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so here goes mine …
More by Paul Garson
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