Posts Tagged ‘harley’

HOG (Harley Owners Group) Louisiana rally kicks off a busy rally season

// May 3rd, 2012 // No Comments » // Events, Travel HOG rally

[Lafayette, LA] — Louisiana’s state HOG rally (April 19-21 in Lafayette, LA) marked the start of a busy rally season for members of Harley Owners Group. More than 2,500 HOG members rode to Lafayette for the 3-day event, which featured guided rides (including one to the Tabasco sauce factory in Avery Island), food, music, and …read more…

Playboy and Harley-Davidson team up for the “Ultimate Playboy Giveaway Unlocked by Harley-Davidson”

// May 2nd, 2012 // 1 Comment » // Events, Travel Harley-Davidson Seventy-Two

Personally, I’ve only read Playboy for its excellent articles, and really, that was a LONG TIME AGO. I’ve heard there’s some excellent photography in the magazine as well, but I hadn’t noticed. So, uh, if my wife is reading this, that’s my story. However, as a public service to my readers, I thought I’d let …read more…

Morning at the Museum: A visit to Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee

// April 29th, 2012 // 4 Comments » // Travel "Serial Number 1" thought to be the first Harley-Davidson from 1903

[Milwaukee, WI] — A visit to the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee is a pilgrimage every Harley enthusiast should make. On a recent trip to the city, I spent a couple of hours browsing the museum’s exhibits, but could easily have stayed all day. The motorcycles and memorabilia tell the history of the Motor Company from …read more…

The Art of the Chainsaw – Hope, British Columbia, Canada

// April 16th, 2012 // 8 Comments » // Travel Hope, BC

[Hope, BC, Canada] — “Chainsaw” and “art” are words you don’t often find used together in the same sentence. Unless you happen to be a big fan of the 70s horror film “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” of course. If you haven’t been to the town of Hope, in Canada’s westernmost province of British Columbia, …read more…

Friday photo — Watch out for jackasses! (Red Rock Canyon, NV)

// April 5th, 2012 // 9 Comments » // Travel jackass

It’s always best to keep an eye out for jackasses in the roadway, whether you ride a motorcycle or drive a car. I found this sign on the road leading into Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, and there actually were some jackasses nearby — beside the road, not in it. If you’ve never been here, it’s …read more…

Daytona 2012 — Chillin’ at Willie’s Old School Chopper Show

// March 20th, 2012 // No Comments » // Events, Travel Willie's Tropical Tattoo

[Ormond Beach, FL] — You never know who you’ll run into at Willie’s Tropical Tattoo Old School Chopper Show at Daytona Bike Week.  From celebrities of the motorcycle world — Willie G. for example — to custom bike builders, to just plain folk, everyone makes the annual pilgrimage to Willie’s. Plaques and trophies are awarded …read more…

Daytona 2012 — Harley-Davidson’s Ride-In Custom Bike Show

// March 20th, 2012 // No Comments » // Events, Travel Harley Ride-In Show

[Daytona Beach, FL] — This year at Daytona Bike Week, Harley-Davidson partnered with American Iron Magazine for its Ride-In Custom Bike Show on Beach Street. The event took place on Wednesday, March 14 and attracted a wide variety of motorcycles entered in 11 different classes. In the evening, Harley sponsored a special concert for HOG …read more…

Daytona 2012: Main Street madness

// March 20th, 2012 // No Comments » // Events, Travel Um, maybe Elvis shouldn't have left the building...

[Daytona Beach, FL] — Daytona Bike Week’s 71st annual edition just wrapped up — the 10-day event ran from March 9 through 18 this year. As always, a cruise down Main Street is obligatory — it’s the place to see and be seen at Bike Week.  

Daytona 2012 — 40th Annual Rat’s Hole Custom Bike Show

// March 20th, 2012 // No Comments » // Events, Travel Rat's Hole

[Daytona Beach, FL] — If 2012 isn’t the Year of the Rat, it should be. One of the must-see events of Daytona Bike Week is the Rat’s Hole Custom Bike Show, now in its 40th year. Although “Big Daddy Rat” — the legendary Karl Smith — passed away in 2002, his son Ted continues the …read more…

Roadside kitsch: Gas Station Man, British Columbia, Canada

// February 25th, 2012 // 4 Comments » // Travel Gas Station Man

[British Columbia, Canada] — Regular readers of the Travelin’ Gringo are probably aware of my fondness for tacky roadside kitsch. To me, giant fiberglass “muffler men,” Sinclair Dinosaurs, or falling-down barns painted with “See Rock City” are irresistible. They speak to a bygone era in transportation — a time when gas was cheap and cars …read more…

A Somewhat “Reluctant” Look Back at 2011

// December 31st, 2011 // 15 Comments » // Travel Sunset over a Louisiana bayou

I’m not generally a big fan of retrospectives: e.g.  ”2011, the year in Review.” The year’s done, over, it’s time to get on with your life. And I’ve worked in journalism long enough to know that year-end retrospectives are usually a “prepared in advance” way to fill space (or airtime) at the end of the …read more…

Baddest Town in the Old West — Pioche, Nevada

// December 20th, 2011 // 7 Comments » // Travel Pioche, NV

[Pioche, NV] — You may not have heard of Pioche, Nevada, but in the last half of the nineteenth century, this silver-mining boomtown had established quite a reputation for itself. The town’s 1873 tax records list 78 saloons and 34 brothels, numbers probably more than sufficient for its 6,000 residents. Back then, disputes were settled …read more…

The Rat King of Flat Lick, Kentucky

// December 10th, 2011 // 2 Comments » // People, Travel Smitty

[Flat Lick, KY] — To some people, a Rat Bike may look like a two-wheeled, rolling junk pile, an ancient motorcycle with random, added-on bits and pieces in various stages of hanging — or falling — off. But as the cliche goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For Rat riders — a very …read more…

Mr. Bingle, Rolling Elvi, and the Krewe of Jingle — New Orleans’ Holiday Parade

// December 3rd, 2011 // 8 Comments » // Events, Travel Krewe of Jingle

[New Orleans, LA] — Probably only in New Orleans do they throw Mardi Gras beads from floats in the Christmas parade. A winter wonderland, it ain’t. Warm weather, no snow — that’s the way, uh huh, uh huh, I like it. Led by the historic Mr. Bingle – N’Awlins’ version of Frosty the Snowman — the fourth …read more…

It Must be Maine: Whoopie for Bean and Boats!

// December 2nd, 2011 // 5 Comments » // Food, Travel LL Bean

  [Maine seacoast] — In what may be my most confusing blog title ever, I’ve incorporated three disparate elements all found in the state of Maine: Whoopie Pies, LL Bean, and the Maine Maritime Museum. Lest you think there is some deeper meaning in this, there isn’t. I’ll give you the simple explanation — I’m …read more…

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