Jul 13, 2016

Born Free 8 Coverage & Video By: TC Bros.

Born-Free Motorcycle Show - Silverado, California

From the moment we walked through the gates, we knew Born-Free 8 was going to be an incredible weekend. Nestled in the Santiago Canyon, Oak Canyon Park provides the perfect venue for the Born-Free show. A short 15 mile trip from Santa Ana provides a refreshing escape from the busy California traffic. The twisting canyon roads provided a welcome change of scenery from the flat cornfields of Ohio we have become accustomed to.

Friday (pre-party)

Everyone kicked off the weekend Friday night at Cook's Corner for the Show Class Magazine People's Champ Pre-party. Cook's is a well known biker bar near the Born-Free Show.

Daril Borba took first place of Show Class Magazine People's Champ with his Panhead.

Saturday (first day)

Saturday was the first day of the show and it definitely exceeded our expectations. The amount of people that rolled in was amazing. The grass pass riders took advantage of the early entry and filled the show grounds with some pretty rad bikes. The amount of garage-built custom bikes in the parking lot was literally a show in itself. The invited builder show featured 30 mind blowing customs on display that you could spend all weekend looking at.

We met a ton of cool new people that swung by our booth to pick up some free swag and Vol. 3 of our print catalog. It was great to be able to put a "face to the name" of plenty of our current customers as well. We even had a chance to see some bikes that our customers rode in from all over the country. Seeing people enjoying our products and hearing what they think of them is always my favorite part of the show. Getting out of the shop and enjoying the SoCal weather was a lot of fun too.

Saturday concluded with the first of the bike give-a-way raffles.

Mason Burke was the lucky winner of the 1953 Panhead Built by Chopper Dave's. He was ecstatic to say the least...and rightfully so!

Sunday (last day)

Admittedly, I was expecting attendance to drop off Sunday at Born-Free. Most shows we attend are pretty tame on the last day. As we sat at the booth and watched all the grass pass riders cruise in, I knew it was going to be another incredible day. There were tons of new people at the show, and plenty of Saturday veterans recuperating after enjoying their fair amount of Saturday's beverages. The band started playing and quickly got everyone back in the groove.

We were setup next to the guys from Sweatshop Industries. As with years before, they brought in their carnival dunk tank. It was entertaining to say the least!

Sunday concluded with Pheenix Peterson winning the Give-a-way Knucklehead and Jocab Johnston winning the brand new Harley Lowrider S.

Pheenix Peterson winning the Give-a-way Knucklehead. Not bad for the cost of a $25 raffle ticket right? I can't imagine how exciting it was for her.

Jacob Johnston with his brand spankin new '16 Harley Lowrider S. Damn I am jealous now!

Once the show concluded, we packed up all of our stuff and hit the road. Overall, it was a huge success. It's incredible how passionate Grant, Mike, and Chris are about putting on this show. The popularity and growth of this event is a testament to the incredible amount of work they put in. It is something we hope to be a part of for many years to come.

Cheers,

-Tim Cobb