Carlisle Bike Fest 2007
Posted on July 23, 2007 11:51 AM
This weekend Angela, Taylor and I went to the Carlisle Bike Fest held at the Carlisle Fairgrounds. We walked around quite a bit and got to see a bunch of very cool looking bikes. When we first arrived, we were fairly clueless as to where to go or what to do. I had never been to Bike Fest so I had no idea what to look for. We eventually found our way (by chance) to a tent that had a booklet with event information and a map. I also snagged a FREE Pennsylvania road map and tourist info booklet. Woot! I was looking for a free iPhone but they either weren't offering those, or they were out.
There were more custom bikes around than you could shake a stick at. In one area of the fairgrounds there were manufacturers. Most of them were of course, companies that I hadn't heard of. There were also tents for the more mainstream manufacturers, like Triumph and Kawasaki. Early on we stopped at the Kawasaki tent and checked out some of the new models they had on display. For some time I have been looking at the Kawasaki Mean Streak, but upon seeing it in person I wasn't as impressed. It just seems to me that for a bike that beefy, the rear tire is too small. As I was looking the Mean Streak over, Angela said, "I like that one." She was talking about the Vulcan 900 Classic. This one was customized by Britt Motorsports, and I had to agree with her, it was a real sweet looking bike. If I had the $13,999 in cash on me, I may have persuaded the rep to let me take it home, but alas, we only took like $40 out of the ATM before we headed out. On the bright side, Taylor managed to snag a nifty Kawasaki bandana!
At some point, a stunt show started up at the grandstand. There were about 4 guys on sport bikes doing wheelies and stoppies and stuff like that, some of the time while they were sitting on their handlebars. Unfortunately we were too far away to get any good pictures. Instead I got a couple pictures of a guy doing the AMA Observed Trials. At one end of the fairgrounds, there was a pavilion full of show bikes. The bikes there were entered for competition. There were some sweet looking rides in there and there were some that I guess were vying for "Oddest Ride" designation if there was such an award. Many of the bikes had intricate custom paint as well as tricked out, chromed-to-the-max hardware. Taylor even found a nice ride that was just her size, although, to be honest, I don't think she could reach the pegs yet.
In another building they had a fair amount of Harley Davidson gear and accessories. We looked at some cute baby clothes, but since I don't have a Harley, it didn't seem to make much sense for Taylor to wear that stuff. In that building, or another one like it, they had that guy Rupert from the show Survivor doing autographs and apparently giving out hugs. That guy seemed like a decent bloke and I'm glad that things are working out for him.In one area they had a trailer set up for Dyno Drags. That's where two riders hook their bikes up side-by-side on dynos and they have a drag race. We could hear them doing those as we wandered about the fairgrounds so we decided to go over and take a look. Unfortunately, the races aren't all that interesting since the bikes are sitting still the whole time, so we stayed for one race and after that, we grabbed some delicious Hershey's Ice Cream.
Later on, we wandered about the "Swap Meet" area of the fairgrounds where people set up tents to market various items like used parts, gear, and apparel. At that point Taylor started getting cranky, so we headed for the car.
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