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June means it's time to get ready for Born-Free 3. Seems like it's been along time coming, but not for long. I Photoshoped the girls onto the Born-Free knuckle after the first Garage Co. party, so I couldn't resist going all the way. I'm hoping this is how the day will end.

This Saturday....

I plan on going to the Garage Co. for Born-Free Bike Night........and I'll stop here on the wayI missed it last year. The art, cars, and bikes at Gasoline Gallery's annual show are always fun to see.It's really cool that they are the same day and the times are staggered enough to work out just fine. I love small informal free shows!

Knice Knuckle Kiyo!

I was really late getting to the Garage Co. unveiling of the Born-Free Knucklehead last Saturday. I hate going to bike events in a car, so earlier in the day I paid a visit to my friend Larry Settle's shop to drop off some parts and hopefully get a new battery for my bike. He had one. It had been a really long time since I'd been there, so I ended up hanging out until about 5 p.m. I then rushed home, dropped the battery in and took off.When I finally got to the Garage Co., guys were still hanging around mesmerized by the Knuck.The bike has good balance of chrome and black.A Knucklehead on a Knucklehead? I certainly hope not. Grant prodded me to try it on for size. It fits me well, and I even like the color.I've said it once and I'll say it again... you really can't improve upon the classic chop. While at first glance it might seem simple, there's a ton of hand made goodies on this bike.Kiyo making some post party adjustments.Some lucky soul is gonna win this bike. This could be you!

BF2 Part 1.3 Born-O-Rama

I don't know if your tired of seeing stuff from Born-Free 2, but here's the staff's point of view.

Born-Free 2 Part 1

For anyone (in So Cal), who's truly interested in vintage choppers, the show last, Saturday was a must attend event. For that matter, it drew people from all over the country and even Japan. Also, no one could make the excuse, they couldn't afford it, as everything including food and beer was FREE... unheard of in today's world! Here's some random shots from the show.The focal point in the closed off street was at Pacific Coast Cycle in Signal Hill Ca.Quite a few Triumphs came out and many were amongst the cleanest of the bikes in the show.I got so caught up in taking photos I missed the chance to really take in this sleek knuckle.This cool '35 VL took home best Bobber. You can blame me for that, I judged the category. Another really nice bike that I didn't eyeball enough. Anybody know if it won best Shovel? It must have been a contender.A Lovely line up from Jeremiah.I spotted this nice Panhead early in the day. It didn't stick around long enough to contend the Bobber class.Future Chopper Jockey. Lucky little fella, I wish I could have attended a show like this when I was his age.Best Panhead went to Mark Drew's period piece.Max's Knuckle. Is it just me or does the peeling chrome on the Roth air scoop look like a hand flipping the bird?Update: Dave Smits sent a photo. It is indeed the '"birdie" , it jogged my memory, I do now remember seeing it on Max's or some else's blog.This is one of the nicest unit Triumphs I've seen in awhile. Not too much stretch or gap in the hard tail section like many. Gives it a real vintage look. I believe it took a trophy home.I got to admit, I had some reservations about the show this year. With all the early promotion I was concerned that it would get too big, out of hand and would be shut down like some other events in the past. With many hundreds or thousands more in attendance than last year, all went very well and I didn't see or hear about any problems.It was truly an unusually cool event. They basically just threw a bike party and everyone was welcome. Again, a BIG THANKS! for having us all goes out to Mike, Grant, Harpoon, and their whole support team. More pics to come....