I haven't had much chance to even take a breath since Sturgis but as I exhale I wanted to tell you a little about our experience. I'll post pictures as soon as I can but they don't do justice to the experience. We drove for what felt like 600 hours to get there thinking the entire time, just keep driving, I’ll sleep once we arrive. Well you guessed it, no sleep for the wicked. I must have slept 3 or 4 hours a night for the next 2 weeks. Too much fucking fun and not enough time to have it in!
Ok, ok, enough about me (just for a second). For anyone that hasn’t been, let me tell you a little about the entire experience.
If you have ever thought, “Damn, I'd really like to go to the Sturgis Rally”, or if you have a friend that went and it sounded like it could be fun, or even if you have never thought about it but enjoy bikes, let me say this…… GO! Quit bitchin' about kids, money, your job, the fact that you have no friends, or you think your business will collapse once you leave, just fucking GO. Nike said it best, quit bitchin and “just fucking do it”, or something to that effect.
Back to me… yeah, I know.
Ray Ray tried to get me to go last year with "The Charlie Brechtel Band”, who he plays keyboards with, but I had too much baggage to hear what he was saying. He continually told me, “Once you get there, however you can get there, all the bullshit will fade into… OMG! This is the sickest, most off the hook party run I have ever been to!” Walk, hitch hike, bus, car, motorcycle or RV, JUST DO IT!! Sorry I missed it last year Ray Ray.
So this year when Charlie Brechtel, Pauline from Easyrider and In the Wind, the entire film crew from Sturgis Rider Live and The Bikers Inner Circle helped me pull together the financial backing I needed to make the whole thing come together, I knew I had to pull it together and do it! There are A LOT cheaper ways to travel and have a rockabilly good time that don't involve the entourage we take when we go on runs, but none are more exciting or fun. I would have loved to have rode all the way there and back, but with a motor home, trailer full of bikes and all the goodies it takes to pull this bitch off for two weeks, it takes a lot of driving on my part. Some day when I'm rich and famous I'll pay someone to drive so we can just ride, but that's not today.
So ya say, you kinda blew over the part about The Charlie Brechtel Band. Well, let me tell you a little about Charlie.
Charlie is an all time original. With the backing of his crazy fucking band and the love of his hottie wife Sabrina, it's no wonder he is so successful! Charlie writes, sings and plays what I like to call "Original Biker Music" You have never heard so much Blues in your Rock, or so much Bluegrass in your Blues! Think Lynyrd Skynyrd meets BB King, or, or , or Tina Turner has a kid with George Thorogood! YEP,
THAT'S WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT!
Damn, can you see these chill bumps on my arm? Well Charlie likes the bikes we build, so whenever he plays we put our bikes up on stage with him. He plays at all the big runs, Daytona, Sturgis, Redwood, Hollister, Love Ride and much, much more. It's cool having back stage passes and kicking it with such a huge band that digs bikes as much as we do.
Charlie plays the Buffalo Chip in Sturgis every year and packs the house. When Woody, the owner of the Buffalo Chip, hooked us up with camping spots with all the other bands backstage for the next two weeks we knew we were in for a hell of a ride! Woody pulls together the most outstanding line up of bands I've seen in many years. Our wrist bands put us in front of and backstage for the likes of ZZ Top, Poison, Ratt, Charlie Brechtel Band, Toby Keith, Seether, Papa Roach, Velvet Revolver and much, much more. Amazing! Thank you Woody!!
When you do go, I have to tell you The Buffalo Chip Camp Grounds is the ONLY place to stay. It’s a small city within itself. No really. On the drive up, my girl kept telling me she wanted to go through In and Out Burger one last time before we left California. We’ll I’m more passionate about Taco Bell. (Yeah I know, get off me) I’m thinking, wow, no Taco Bell for two weeks?? When we arrive at the Buffalo Chip, we get settled and head to the center of camp to find an entire city complete with a general store and you guessed it, A TACO BELL!! YESSSS!
It didn’t end there, not even close. A Best Buy complete with internet access, a tattoo shop, a Harley shop, several bars including one with a lagoon and of course, the huge main stage
Charlie started this new venture with Big 7 Productions and Pauline of Easyrider/In the Wind called "Sturgis Rider Live”. This is VERY cool. It's best described as cross between The Tonight Show, Playboy, Video Easyrider and Girls Gone Wild! I interviewed so many cool people as the host of the Sturgis show it was unreal. Not your average interviews. Because it's an internet adult show there was a lot of Shit, Fuck, Damn going on and because I like strippers we kinda interviewed more topless pole climbers than we should have. We also got up front and personal with Arlen Ness, Jesse Jurrins, Rick Fairless, Eddie Trotta, Matt Hotch and a whole HUGE hit list of other big names in the business.
Wait till the interview I did with Russell Mitchell of Exile Choppers goes live! OMG we had a crazy good time! He said he would talk about anything but motorcycles because of the week he had, so I started the interview by asking him how he got the black eye! Ohh shit we had fun that day!
We attended the Motorcycle Hall of fame inductee breakfast and took advantage of the opportunity to interview Chris Carr, the fastest man on 2 wheels and 7 time National Title holder. Oliver Shokouh, Owner of Glendale HD and the founder of the Love Ride. Al Nelson who was one of the five guys that started the Sturgis Run in 1938!! Robbie Knievel after he was inducted and again after his huge jump over an army tank at the Buffalo Chip.
Once back to The Buffalo Chip we caught Jacoby backstage, the lead singer of Papa Roach and got a killer interview with him. If you go to just one concert this year make it a Papa Roach concert. I've never seen anyone work a crowd like him since Guns and Roses! His disposition on life is off the hook and we caught it all on film. If you want to see photos of several of the interviews checkout this months In the Wind Magazine.
We took time to check out the “Top 50 Build Off” bike show at the Independent camp, hit Deadwood to interview and meet more interesting people, cruise downtown a couple of times and also checked out Rick Fairless and the Rat Hole Customs that had to be seen to be believed!
Ok, wanna be part of the fun? GO DAMN IT! Just do it!
Wanna experience a portion of what we did? Some of the interviews are being posted on Charlie Brechtel internet show called:
"Bikers Inner Circle" Start with the archive show from Sept 8 here …. http://www.big7productions.com/sponsors.htm
Then check out "Sturgis Rider Live" for the interviews, hot, hot women and behind the scenes photo shoots. When you see the photo shoots in Easyrider and In the Wind, come to Sturgis Rider Live to see all the behind the scene video of these naughty girls
http://www.sturgisriderlive.com
If you plan to attend Sturgis next year and want some tips, trust me, I can help make it a lot easier. You may find more seasoned veterans but I learned so much and I can help you with the hook up for internet access, trailers to stay in if you ride, sweet camping spots if you drive, and a kick ass route that saved us a lot of time. Same goes for Love Ride, Hollister, Street Vibrations, Vegas Bike Week etc. Email me here, call, or stop by the shop.
Check out www.MyEvilTwinChoppers.com for all the contact info Or www.myspace.com/myeviltwinchoppers
Tune in next month and we’ll discuss RIP’s bad ride.
Till then
Ride Hard, Ride Fast
JP
My Evil Twin Choppers
Lodi CA