A Really Big Show

The Donnie Smith Bike Show, held on about the 28th of March every year (Donnie’s birthday), is the biggest motorcycle show that’s worth a damn, in the Midwest. The main hall at the River Center in St. Paul, MN gleams from one end to the other with bright paint and sparkling chrome. Between the bikes there are people of every age and description. From tough looking patch-holders, to Mom and Dad with the kids in a baby stroller. For two days it’s all about motorcycles, motorcycles and more motorcycles.

Turnout at this year’s Donnie Smith show was very good. Vendor spaces sold out completely, and the aisles were filled with bikers of every shape from start to finish.

Neil Ryan, the man who gets everything done, added a new twist this year, music on Saturday evening. Instead of leaving late in the afternoon, Jack Knife and the Sharps gave all of us a good reason to hang out for another couple of hours, enjoying each other’s company and some great rockabilly tunes.

While a show like Donnie’s is all about the bikes, it’s also a huge social occasion. Consider the fact that it’s March in Minnesota, we’re all missing those Sunday afternoon opportunities to talk with motorcycle friends at our favorite hang outs and watering holes. The Donnie show is catch-up time.

A longtime fixture on the Minneapolis/St. Paul music scene, Jack Knife and the Sharps make great rockabilly with only two guitarists, one drummer and an occasional female singer.

For me, the show is a chance to talk with friends like Jason from the Boar House; and Drew, formerly of St. Croix Harley-Davidson; along with my Godson Jonah, his brother Kaleb, and their father, Bill. And there are at least a hundred people there who I know in a business context, from House of Kolor founder, Jon Kosmoski; to extraordinary airbrush talent, Steve Driscoll; and “Leroy Thomson” who is actually a holy trinity of guys who can definitely think outside the box.

Finally, the Donnie Smith show is very good for motorcycling in our neck of the woods. It gets everyone’s blood pumping for those warm days when we can ride with friends and experience once again those favorite roads. It’s a reminder that now is the time to do the maintenance that we postponed last fall. And after looking at all those beautiful bikes, the show generates a lot of lust. In this case, it might not be lust for that certain member of the opposite sex. No, this is lust of another sort: for new paint jobs, new wheels, and maybe even a whole new motorcycle.

I don’t know what the newest, tallest, thirty inch front wheels do for handling or the trail dimension, but they certainly do make for interesting-looking motorcycles, some of which look like a Disney sketch come to life.

Take a Softail, turn it totally upside down and sideways, and this is what you might get. This radical and very ride-able bike will be available soon, either as components or a complete motorcycle. Behind it the three creators: (L to R) designer Steve Lewis; manager and financier, Bruce Hanusosky, and greasy hands-on motorsicle guy, Scott Webster.