More hot motorcycle news from Colorado, right here, right now. For those of us who could not get away to Daytona we were able to enjoy a little respite from the winter at the 23rd Annual Super Show in Colorado Springs. March 16th and 17th there were bikers and the luck of the Irish in Colorado Springs. Jim Wear at Pro Promotions puts on the show. Motorcycle competition, charity auction, tattoo contest, live music, guest celebrity, vendors, and lots of bikers made this a good show. Approximately 10,000 came out over the two days to take a look around and enjoy the atmosphere.
David Labrava who not only plays a biker, as “Happy” on Sons of Anarchy but is a true biker in his real life made a crowd-pleasing appearance at the show. Pictures with him and autographs had a line three abreast and around the hall. Not sure how many came out just to see David but this years show had a 10% increase in attendance over previous years. With the Sons of Silence providing some of the security, the joke around the show was that “the real Sons were guarding the TV Sons”.
An auction was held to raise funds for the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum. There has been a long-standing relationship between the Super Show and the museum. Jim Wear sits on the board and is an active member promoting the museum with hit his events. This auction brought in over $7,000 for the museum, which goes for facility upkeep and to advance the museum in its mission to preserve the motorcycle history and tradition. During the auction David Labrava interrupted the proceedings and brought out some cast member only items from Sons of Anarchy. His special items generated a little more interest and fetched a good price.
Contests are a big part of a bike show and this one had its share. The motorcycle contest was judged by nine judges, three teams of three. The bikes were judges on a point system with each judge awarding up to 100 points per bike. The results were tallied and winners announced. The judging teams were European, custom, and antique/classic. The 52 Vincent Black Lighting took the show with Best Engineered and Best of Show.
Carrie Foiche and her 2012 Suzuki Hyabusa took Best Display.
John Unger took 1st place in Mild Custom Class with his 07 H-D FXSTC
Troy Kyne’s Custom Chopper brought him first place in the Radical Custom class.
For Custom Classics Jim Fleck and his 54 H-D Panhead took 1st place.
The talented builders and restorers that showed their babies to the crowd earned many more awards.
For 21 years the Super Show has also hosted a tattoo contest. Uncle Bud Yates started the competition in 1992. It started as a way to promote tattoo art in a day when only sailors had them. Now it has grown to more of a norm in society and with more than 200 contestants this was quite a competition.
Although it was a little nippy the Jake Loggins band played some smooth blues and rock-n-roll for the group in the Beer Garden on Saturday. Then on Sunday Some People Kids came out and got the crowd going.
Until next time…. David Campbell