fairing, red grips and neon orange wheels. It was fast just sitting there. Our style. So here we are, 32 years later, invited by Cycle Source Magazine to be a part of their, first ever, In Motion Show. I’ve always been a little apprehensive about bike building contests. The winners are always accused of being the judge’s pal, and the losers feel jilted every time. “That bike doesn’t even run,” is the phrase of the day. I will never forget the look on my brother’s face at the 2005 Long Beach Show when Keith Ball said, “We are looking for paint and a lot of chrome.” If you know anything about Three Two Choppers, you know that is not us, and it never has been. We have always tried to stay true to what we think is cool. Our business motto is, “Contribute to the culture, don’t exploit it.” Meaning, bring something to the table and don’t copy other people’s ideas. The invite to the In Motion Show was a testament to that theory. To be a part of this show was truly an honor for my brother and I. We’ve always considered ourselves just a couple of douchebags trying to build cool shit in our little warehouse in East Fort Worth, and, just like in 1985, we still build bikes that look fast sitting still. That brings me to the main reason why we accepted the invitation to be included in the In Motion Show. The name says it all, “In Motion.” In other words, all the bikes in this show not only had to run, but they all had to complete the ride portion of the show. For me, that ride was the best part. The cast of characters invited to be a part of the show was a small who’s who in the motorcycle industry. Every one of these guys could have won the show, but on the ride, like in 1985, none of that seemed to matter. It’s not very often you see a dozen show quality scooters all riding together. We went up the Sea Wall, over the bridge, around Galveston Harbor and ended up at Sea Wolf Park. Then, back around and down the Strand. I stayed in back as much as possible to take in the view of all the incredible bikes in front of me. I love the sounds. At one point, we came across the final bridge just as the sun was starting to set. I know it sounds corny, but it was definitely one of those moments where all stress is gone, and you are one with the bike. Only this time, it was a bike that we built. The ride was way too short. The rest of the weekend was spent talking bikes, telling stories and making new friends. Congrats to Donny on the win. By the way, next time you see Austin Andrella from Austin Martin Originals, ask him about Cousin Cliff. I asked Jimmy Lee from Three Two Choppers to write a short peice for us to kick off our coverage of the first ever In Motion because I knew he would give an honest assessment of just how cool it was. Will Ramsey and I came up with the idea for In Motion one day as we talked about the sinking standards some of the
96 April ‘18
- CYCLE SOURCE MAGAZINE
