Ventura, CA~Dec.14~ Holy crap! I wasn’t sure if it was the glare of the bright sunshine glancing off the tide of the Pacific Ocean or the flare outs of the sun dancing across the chrome of all those sexy bikes, but whatever it was, the shit was seriously hurting my eyes. Time to pull down my kool-daddy sunglasses and cruise the biker bling sprawled out along the turf at the Seaside Park Fairgrounds in Ventura, CA. From the regal antiques to the modern-day-made-to-look-old baggers, the array of bikes entered in the David Mann Chopper Fest bike show was a truly awesome sight. Even the Rat bikes were a work of art and the over 4,000 attendees at the show were treated to a rare and beautiful thing. The spirit of David Mann was everywhere.
Along the perimeter of the venue, over 200 vendors had laid out their wares as veteran shoppers cruised the isles with little wagons in tow, scooping up the precious parts needed to complete an individual’s build. One man’s junk is another man’s chopper, after all.
Tory DuVarney, the promoter of the Chopper Fest, said, “We really do our best to create a show that David Mann would be proud of and would have attended. We try and keep his vision of the chopper and the lifestyle around it alive. The swap meet is a big part of that because that truly is where all the parts were found to build these amazing machines.”
But the swap meet was but a part of the whole shin dig down on the beach. Ron Segal Fine Art put on a display of David Mann original paintings as Mann’s daughter, Tracy, greeted folks and sold Mann memorabilia near the stage where Charlie Brechtel and his band belted out biker ballads over the course of the day. Included in the performance was a David Mann tribute song, “Ghost Rider,” dedicated to the legendary biker artist who began painting centerfolds for Easyriders in the magazine’s infancy and passed away in 2004.
Jennifer Scott played Chopper Fest “hostess with the mostess,” in her strapless dress that showed off her spiffy tattoos. Completing the ensemble were the bright red Chuck Taylors that set off her calf tatts as she became a blurr across the stage, directing partiers and emceeing the activities in between belting out a set with Charlie.
Joining the crew on stage was Jennifer’s pal, Cody Marks from Sawgrass Records, who helped the troubadours perform an original rendition of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” Meanwhile, across the venue, the Ventura Derby Darlins crashed their way through a roller derby exhibition that had folks screaming their encouragement as the gals battled out a match.
While all this activity kept the masses entertained, the real “wow” of the show was the amazing motorcycles. Labors of love sat gleaming in all their glory, awaiting the nod from the judges, Easyrider’s Dave Nichols and Biker magazine’s Dean Shawler were but two of the officials, and the guys had their work cut out for them. By party’s end, a mere 35 of the 150 entries were bestowed with awards. Doug Dorr, a famous Kustom Kulture artist/pin stripper whose work was sponsored by Gary Bang H-D, made the top trophies, original works of art in their own right.
The David Mann Memorial award, a prize presented to the bike which best typifies the kind of bike that would have caught David’s discerning eye and would have fuelled the spirit of his work, was given to Phil Swanson for his 1943 Knucklehead Chopper built by Paul Wheeler.
The Chopperfest Show Winners
Best of Show was awarded to Robert for his 2005 Custom Indian.
1st Place Rat Bike Chopper, Chris Birkett
1st Place Metric Chopper, ATF Customs
2nd Place Rat Bike, Chopper, J.D. Samaver
2nd Place Metric Chopper, Duane Ballard
3rd Place Rat Bike, Chopper Godfrey
3rd Place Metric Chopper, Robert Olivarez
1st Koolest Paint, Kirk Taylor
1st Radical Design, Ron Mattson
2nd Koolest Paint, Joanne Flannin
2nd Radical Design, Larry Klobe
3rd Koolest Paint, KD Customs
3rd Radical Design, Larry Gladheart
1st Place Bagger, Ignacio Carrillo
1st Evo/Twin Cam, Road Dog Customs
2nd Place Bagger, Richard Salerno
2nd Evo/Twin Cam, Mike Stuart
3rd Place Bagger, Tom Colyer
3rd Evo/Twin Cam, Mike Dasse
1st Place Sportster, Ken Draper
1st Calif.Bobber, Bob Carrillo
2nd Place Sportster, Foundry Motorcycles
2nd Calif.Bobber, Victor Martino
3rd Place Sportster, Ken Draper
3rd Calif.Bobber, Rod Baca
1st Old School Scooter, Johnny Quintero
1st Place Antique, Don Whalen
2nd Old School Scooter, Kirk Taylor
2nd Place Antique, Roger Herbison
3rd Old School Scooter, Tony Ramirez
3rd Place Antique, Gary Stafford
1st Place Modern Bobber, Matt Smith
2nd Place Modern Bobber, Road Dog Customs
3rd Place Modern Bobber,JP of My Evil Twin Choppers
Changes for the next Chopper Fest include additional bands, a longer event, and a moving up of the date. August 30, 2009 will be the date for the 2009 David Mann Chopper Fest. Go to www.chopperfestival.com for updates and info.
