Highway 61 MC Bike Show & Swap Meet

I’VE BEEN a guest at the Highway 61 MC’s clubhouse on several occasions so when I got a call to cover their Bike Show & Swap Meet I knew straight away the venue was top notch. Add the fact that their events are well attended and I knew I was in for a great afternoon of all the good things that come with a Highway 61 MC bike show.

I arrived just after lunch and things were well under way so it was straight to work with the trusty Nikon; first a few shots of guys arriving on their bikes and some shots of the bikes out front.

Heading inside there were a lot of familiar faces and heaps of bikes. The first thing that caught my eye was a young lady perched on top of a bike in a bikini having her photo taken for a website. Ah yes, the bikes and babes thing is still alive at shows (even though it was a Jap bike so I didn’t take a photo of her).

It was now time to check out the swap meet. See, it’s about time I started a new bike project and a swap meet is a good place to get a feel for what’s about in the way of parts and the prices. The range was good and the prices were okay; some people went home with a bargain or two.

The bikes in the show were great, and after all the years I have been doing this, you would think I had just about seen it all. Luckily there are a lot of talented people out there building bikes and some of Brisbane’s best showed up with new and old school choppers, trikes, Triumphs, and the odd drag bike.

There was something for everybody to check out during the afternoon, and there was always the bar to catch up with old mates and bullshit to each other.

As always, the sun goes down and the elected official hands out trophies to all the winners and then it’s party time. Well that’s what happened here and everybody who won a trophy was quite pleased with himself and quite rightly so as the bikes were top notch.

The party was revving up and so was the God Squad MC with their S&S 124 challenge drag bike doing a burnout in the driveway before it was loaded to go home. It was an awesome display of the power of these bikes.

Beers, burning rubber, and a good laid back party—could it get any better? Yes! A great local band fired up and so did a bit of entertainment of the adult type with a long-legged blonde in black boots doing her best to put a smile on the boys’ faces.

The night was a pearler and the show was a great success. Bikes, babes and beer—what a great way to spend an afternoon in Bris Vegas.

words & pics by Keith Cole