Does anyone have a bike that actually runs? Tyler from Lowbrow Customs in Ohio does, and this video proves it. I think it might still need a front wheel and a couple other bits, but he's closer than some...
Just a couple weeks to go boys and girls...
We get a lot of emails from people stoked on the idea of the EDR, but can't sack up and go because of work visas, perennial projects, felonies, sand in vagina issues, etc. Here's your chance to see many of the same characters, bikes, etc plus kick ass bands and a swap meet chock full of cool old shit.
The So Cal ChopMeet.
We just got confirmation that along with the Whitewalls, we are going to have Revolution Mother in the house. If you don't know these guys, you should. This will be a good place to see them, we are ponying up for the best sound engineers and equipment available so it is going to rock ass! Stay tuned for even more band info to follow in the next few days...
The guys at DicE do NOT mess around.
When they volunteered to do this year's trophies for the bike show, we knew they would do something good, but who knew how good? Until now. This is what the 1st place bike owner gets as a trophy. Done by Sonny at Road Dog Customs, it's unreal. With prizes for second and third being a custom belt by Baltazar and a skate deck painted by the world famous Harpoon, there are going to be some stoked riders this year!
The bike show by the way isn't really much of an official bike show. Basically a couple guys we nominate pick their favorites and at 4:00PM on Sunday in the Santa Isabel parking lot we'll announce the hard working winners and pass out the trophies. Don't forget there are also awards for Huevos Grande, a seat by Rich Phillips and the coveted La Cucaracha award which is another custom-crafted seat by Cycle Cosmetics.
Any bike that is ridden the whole way is eligible for the 1st through 3rd awards and there are no special classes or designations. No entry forms or runner's up, just ride your bike and if it's good enough you might just end up with one one of these historic trophies.
I'm looking forward to this run put on by our mate Sumo in the UK. Tipple Run. One word: Stone Henge. OK, that's two...
I poached these from Sisu, who posted these scans from a 1971 issue of Big Bike on the Jockey Journal this morning. Amazing how much has changed and how little. If you went on the first EDR with us, you'll recognize the Bahia hotel...
Every year a few gracious companies kick in to the backpacks we give to each award winner on the EDR. Sometimes they are sponsors and some times they are just companies who "get it" and want to be generous to guys who really earned it. 
Hoven Vision is one of those brands, and their care packages kick ass.
1st through 3rd in the unofficial bike show, as well as the recipients of the La Cucharacha and Huevos Grandes awards will get a box of Hoven swag that includes a sweet pair of sun glasses and a gift cert for another pair as well as a couple t-shirts and a handfull of stickers and patches. Gracias to Brian over at Hoven for the hook ups!
I've had a couple requests from riders coming in from out of state (and out of the country!) who are going to be laying over a few days before or after the EDR and are looking for some pointers on things to do. My advice? Get out of town! Temecula and neighboring Murrieta are mostly bedroom communities chocked full of family-oriented, strip mall hell. Not exactly on the vanguard of excitement, this place. Your best bet is to head southwest to the beach areas and soak up some good California vibes along the beach somewhere. The southern California coast is way too big and diverse for me to even try to offer advice on what to do and see. Your best bet is to google around within 100 miles or so of Temecula and see what you find. We found ourselves out here chasing the elusive "affordable" housing, good schools and what was once plentiful -- good dirt bike riding. If you find yourself marooned in our cultural vacuum that fronts like a town, here are a few moderately useful links, mostly centered around eating, drinking and finding parts for motorcycles. Temecula is better known for golf courses and winery tours, so points of interest for outlaws are pretty slim! One thing we do have in abundance is good, solid two-lane highways that are lightly traveled on weekdays that make for awesome year-round riding. I'll compile a couple of our favorite routes later in the week for those who want to log more miles than the EDR route will offer. For now, here's a few places to get bits for your bike and food for your belly...
The Swing Inn
My favorite breakfast by far. And they even have a website! Jeez, even biscuits and gravy are on the innnerweb these days. Don't give the staff any shit, these ladies don't mess around. The local hangout for local Axle Draggers CC, so you might get lucky and see a few high quality rods.
Texas Lil's
Mediocre food. Try the chili. Best looking waitresses for 50 miles in any direction. Cold beer. Local hangout of the "Check out my new Credit Glide™" set. A decent place to drink on the patio and people watch. If you like watching octogenarians scout for antiques.
ET's Sports Lounge
The biggest attraction is the gun store in the same strip mall. Good shuffleboard in the back. Just your run-of-the-mill gin joint, which we enjoy. The downside is I've never seen a female under 50 in there...
Fillipi's
Best Italian food in town. Very plain and hearty. Make sure to ask about the "feast".
Quaid HD
If you need an expensive lifestyle accessory, check with these guys!
Temecula Motorcycle Service
This is our Go-To shop. Bob and Jeff will take care of you. This is a great resource for you if you need something from a professionally-run, indy shop. Tell 'em the Biltwell Boys sent ya'. Or, maybe you shouldn't!
Hanks Hardware
Right across the street from Bob's shop. This is the best place in town to get hardware the old fashioned way. Fuck Lowes, buy from Hank! They are used to seeing at least one of us every day for $2.57 worth of stainless...
Cycle Gear
Sometimes you just need a bulb or some little retail bit. These guys might have it. Go across the street to Temecula Motorsports if you want to say "screw it" and just buy a new R1 and get it over with.
Hard Hats
Our local strip-mall watering hole. They are hosting the Bitlwell pre-EDR party so you'll pro'lly get enough of the place then. The beer is cold and the girls are hot and they don't wear much. Closest thing to a titty bar in town.
Genericans
This is one of those generic links that I don't usually find useful, but maybe you will.
Remember this year's slogan? Low Standards & High Times! It is what you make it, so if you get stuck out here we hope you have fun one way or another. Riding routes later in the week, in the meantime, you can always check Pashnit for loads of routes and reviews.
-Bill
EDR sponsor, Gabe over at Afterhours is always busy! Check out his much-modded sporty and where it's at so far. Just a couple loose ends to button up, that's all. Uh, huh.
While digging around on Gabe's always entertaining site, trying not to be mesmerized by flying boobs, I caught one of his new products. This tiny brass tailight. I have a bad tailight fetish and this one fills all requirements! Super small, brass, uses an LED and doesn't have some delicate little wimpy mounting method. I don't even have a bike that needs a tailight but I think I'll have to score on of these for something down the road, or maybe replace the one on el Cheapo... Thanks Gabe, see you in Baja.
So we're organizing a deal that's a little easier to get to than the EDR, but should be fun with live music, a swap meet and great local camping and riding. If you are in So Cal in July, you've got NO excuse not to check it out. 
We're going to have several bands, and we'll post that info as soon as it's locked down. Kutty's band The Whitewalls has been in from day one. We'll secure the other bands over the next couple of weeks and let everyone know as soon as things are official.
The site is finally done and you can check it out here: Chop Meet.
Walt at Kickstart Cycles is a one-man army on a mission from God. His destiny: to bring as many dudes from Jersey and NYC to the EDR as he can fit on a flatbed. Yesterday Walt told us his battalion numbers 20. All of them will be recognized by their uniform:
You can support Walt's good cause by purchasing a Kickstart Cycles ECI t-shirt on this year's EDR. If you're not going on the ride, you can still front like a player by ordering a shirt here.
EDR sponsor, rock-n-roll insider and all-around good guy Walter Gemeinhardt is resurrecting the Gypsy Run this year. He's building steam for this great upstate NY/NJ motorcycle ride with a blog. Walt will spell out details regarding his new-and-improved Gypsy Run to interested parties on the EDR next month. Stay tuned for more info…
It's a DicE party on Saturday night followed by a pre-1960 ride out of EDR Sponsor Wes White's shop, Four Aces in Pacoima Beach, CA. Capped off with a little BBQ action back at Wes' once everyone is done puttin'. None of our bikes are running, so look for the Biltwell Team Van...
Oh yeah, me and several other idiots leave on the Long Way EDR in exactly thirty days. I changed my oil, bought some new tires and reserved a ferry ride but other than that I haven't really started preparing much. I think I'll just wait till the night before and leave with the clothes on my back and a few bungees and see what happens...
-Bill
Trent at Atomic Customs just got in a batch of cool, low-fi tee shirts, designed by the world famous Mitch Cotie.
$20 shipped in the US.. $30 outside of the US.
paypal to trent @ atomiccustom.com
BE SURE TO INCLUDE SIZE AND YOUR SHIPPING INFORMATION!
Rock on! We'll also have some in baja if you want to buy 'em there.
Shawn over at Pinstripe Lounge sent us this helmet to giveaway as a prize in the Circe de Muerte. Kids got skills with a brush, these lines are Great! Thanks Shawn, I'm sure someone will be stoked.
Bill, Chris and I have been talking about doing a single-day motorcycle event since last summer. When Wes White and I hung out at the Moon Eyes show in Yokohama last December, the wheels really started turning.
The SoCal Chop Meet & Custom Motorcycle Show was born from our collective desire to host a cool event at a recognized SoCal venue that embodies everything that makes the EDR so special--cool bikes, great people and awesome riding. Throw in a really good swap meet, awesome drinking and eating facilities and three great bands and you've got a recipe for good times.
At least that's what we hope the CHOP MEET will stand for when it debuts this summer.
The date for the 2008 CHOP MEET is July 19.
The place is Mountain High Ski Resort in the Angeles National Forest near Wrightwood, CA.
Bill, Chris, Wes White and I are throwing everything we've got at this event to make it the best of its kind in SoCal.
Kutty Notebloom has promised his band The Whitewalls will play at the CHOP MEET, and Bill is making sure two other bands will be on our list.
Wes White is the king of swappers, and he has graciously volunteered to spearhead all business relations with vendors for this event. Our prices for booth space are super reasonable, and we are offering three different booth sizes to accommodate retailers and junk sellers big and small.
Of course there will be a bike show at the CHOP MEET, and entry will be FREE for everyone who rides to the event. Parking for motorcycles will also be free, so the $30 ticket price for the all-day extravaganza is a great value.
When www.chopmeet.com is operational on or before March 15, you will be able to rent booth space, buy tickets and make reservations for camping or accommodations online. In the mean time, please visit the Jockey Journal for more info as it develops.
We tried getting a little ride together back in January and it seemed like as soon as I posted that blog it rained for a month straight. We're going to try again next Sunday, the 9th of March. We can meet up at 9:00AM at the Rolling Stop in Lake Elsinore. That's at the bottom of the East side of Ortega Highway. I've heard they have decent breakfast burritos, but unfortunately they don't open until 10:00 on Sundays so we'll have to find out some other time. I'd like to roll out at nine so be ready to rock. I've tried to put together a fun, twisty route that avoids congestion and freeways as much as possible which is kind of hard to do in So Cal! It looks like about 250 miles from point to point in Elsinore. The map and directions are here. There are no t-shirts, chase trucks or any of that nonsense, just consider it a good excuse to get out after such crappy weather and blow the carbon out. We'll probably hit the Roadhouse Tavern on the way back in. They serve ice-cold beer in giant mugs, are motorcycle friendly and only a mile or two south of the Ortega for anyone going back to the OC.
