Sturgis Motorcycle Rally - August 8-14, 2011

Each year, hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists head toward what many feel is the motorcycling mecca of the world, Sturgis, and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota takes place this year August 8-14.

Check out my article on this great motorcycle rally. See if you can see me waving in the picture when I attended the 1993 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. I really need to go back to this great rally. How about you?

MY AMERICAN MASTERPIECE

THIS IS JoAnn Bortles MASTER PIECE, entitled: ALL AMERICAN TRIBUTE FOR A SOLIDER

JoAnn has entered this work in a contest the general public votes on. At the link I have provided for you here, you can zip on over to see JoAnn's work as well as the efforts of the other artists who've entered. You judge!!!! Check out how the flag drapes then flows over the bike. The fluidity of movement she's captured causes your eye to flow from the front fender, back to the tanks and continues on back to the bags in one static movement, which captures the emotions we Americans feel when we see our National Banner displayed with such love and intensity.

See for yourselves, then vote. I think you'll vote for JoAnn's work too!

http://myamericanmasterpiece.com/mam/

KIEHL'S LIFERIDE 2011; DAY 1

All 21 LifeRiders were excited to see the new BMWs which would be ours for a week; 6-cylinder cruisers, four-cylinder sport and touring bikes, twin-cylinder enduros, even a single for lightweight fun.  Tricia Heifer leads the pack to see her GS.

The bikes were stored in a garage beneath the Rittenhouse hotel in Philadelphia, we had a game of 'who's bike is this' under the orange sodium lamps...

...while Paul Cox signs his life away on the release of liability form.

Stretching my boundaries a bit, I've chosen an S1000RR, certainly different than my usual ride; but if I'm going modern, I'm going all the way.

A few of us can't wait around for lunch, we want to try our bikes NOW!  So its over the Ben Franklin bridge into New Jersey...where the RR shows triple digits on its digital speedo for the first time...

Conrad Leach

Independence Hall, shrouded by scaffolding.  The day was a scorcher, 94 degrees and 90% humidity.

Justin Chatwin

The sticker says Tricia Helfer, and so it must be

Former Vogue cover girl turned actor still has her photo chops; this one is for Jérome...

Philadelphia isn't only about cream cheese...

Chris Salgardo, who purchased a 6-cylinder BMW and rode it to Philly...after stickering it up.

Jared Zaugg

The money shot.

Super models; Tyson Beckford and Tricia Helfer, a photo op for the assembled media...

...who did indeed assemble...

Philly's number one tourist attraction; the Rocky statue.  Random tourist joins group photo

Niki Thomas of amfAR fans the flames on a 1926 'J' Harley

Customizer Paul Cox immediately modifies his big twin

Not only was the day wickedly hot, we had GPS issues getting out of Philly, making many wrong turns and baking in the sun

A private tour of the Allentown collection of Mr. Bulgari, of the Italian luxo jewelry business.  Why Allentown?  That's where his restorer works...so he keeps 50 cars here, about the same in Rome, a few in New York, Paris, etc.

Each car takes about a year to restore, but many of the cars aren't restored at all.  Bulgari's fascination is with 'everyman' cars, and he doesn't collect Italian exotica, only American machinery.

Alain de Cadanet explains the steam-bent ash interior of a Ford Woodie

1910 Buick racer, undergoing repairs to a damaged engine block.  Still owned by Buick

Jason Lee; period correct

Temperatures dropped towards evening, and occasional rain/hail leavened the heat. 

Photographer and producer Timothy White

Conrad filthy and happy to be finished

As we rode into the night, a leaden sky flashed with bolts of illumination, revealing strange celestial landscapes, glimpse by glimpse.