Carlisle Summer Bike Fest came to the Carlisle Fairgrounds this year July 22- 24. During the annual three day event, over 35,000 attendees rolled through the gates to partake in the motorcycle festivities.

And what festivities there were! Upon entering the show, each person received tickets that gave them a chance to win one of two bikes that were given away - a 2005 Ninja ZX-6R and a 2005 Harley FXST Softail Standard. The winner of the Ninja had attended as part of the Christian Motorcycle Association of Harrisburg and planned to sell the bike and donate the proceeds to the Association.

Master bike builders and celebrities Dave Perewitz, Donnie Smith, Ron Simms, Roger Bourget, Eddie Trotta and photojournalist Michael Lichter took part in the Custom Builder Roundtable where they had the opportunity to talk with audience members regarding the trends in the industry and their personal experiences in building.

Some of the contests that attendees partook in were the Best of Show in the Bike & Rider Judges Show, the burnout contest, and the Ms. Carlisle Summer Bike Fest 2005 beauty contest. Participants could also haul ass on the Teresi Dyno Drags, which tested their motorcycle’s horsepower, or test their power output through the dyno tester.

We had a booth at Bike Fest where the crew had a home base to come back to and relax. But we weren’t only promoting the magazine at this show - our Poker Run was quickly approaching at that time! Hooters was able to send some girls over to the show that walked around giving out flyers to gauking bikers.

Bike Fest was also an opportunity to get together with all of the builders that we meet throughout the year that were coming to our “hometown” area. Saturday evening we hosted a small reception at one of our local deck clubs and invited the staff from our favorite shops to join us. There was a brief rain interception, but at the end of the evening, everybody had a good time!

During the weekend, we shot some features on bikes that had caught our eye, and met some new builders that are producing the best bikes on the road. If there is anyone out there that wants a custom bike, there isn’t any reason that they need to settle for anything less. The new “smaller” builders in the industry have such a love of the motorcycle lifestyle that they are producing bikes that were just imaginative concepts on drawing boards a few years ago.

Make sure that you check out Bike Fest next year, July 21-23, 2006. For more info, visit www.carsatcarlisle.com.