Sky Valley Motorcycle Show

On Sunday last, the entirety of 1st St in Snohomish was blocked off for a major spring event; the Sky Valley Motorcycle Show. Kind of like having a car show where everyone brings out their spiffy vehicle and finds food, drink, and friends but wearing different clothes and riding on two wheels instead of four.



The event is hosted by ABATE: A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments. This is an organization that promotes the rights of bike riders and, from what I can tell from the web site (and the name) seems to have strong libertarian leanings.

Lots of interesting bikes to be seen on the street. The big green on in the front is a three-wheeler that permits the front wheels to rotate a bit perpendicular to the plane of the wheels. This allows the bike to lean going around curves.

Some of the bikes were clearly not meant to be ridden any great distance. This one is so close to the ground, I'm not sure how it even got here (if not hauled in).

The chrome engine on the Indian cycle is very nice.

There were plenty of awards to be presented.

And one of my great burning questions has been answered. How do bike riders manage to tie the bandana on their heads? The answer: with velcro!

There were a few others like me at the event...wandering and looking and clearly not at all dressed to fit in.

The woman is using a 1920's pedal sewing machine to sew patches onto the leather jackets.

Most of the antique and decorating stores were closed...not quite the right clientele for them. But the bars and restaurants were going great guns. Several had blocked off a section of the street to allow the party and drinking to expand beyond their interior. All had large men, sometimes more than one, standing to check ID's and "bounce" anyone who shouldn't be there.

As you can see, some folks dressed more in keeping with the spirit of the event than others.