Now in its seventh year the Night of the Troglodytes vintage bike show hosted by Harley Carrara of Tradition Cycles and Mel Stultz founder and organizer of The Race of Gentlemen has grown to become one of our favorite events every year. It perfectly captures the aesthetic of a specific era of custom bikes shows long lost since the 1970s.
The finely curated show hosted over one hundred custom motorcycles inside the building, while outside, the parking lot filled up early and saw hundreds of show-worthy bikes arriving throughout the day.
The Gypsy Run has a longstanding reputation of being a pretty sucky motorcycle event. Year after year, one commonly heard description of the event is that, as always, the Gypsy Run still sucks. So, considering that it sucks so much, why did I decide to check out the Gypsy Run for the first time this year? Because I felt like the Gypsy Run's big secret was that it really doesn't suck at all.
A lot of motorcycle shows host pre-parties on the night before the show. While the Full Speed Ahead show is no different than most in that regard, where they do come out on top is in the choice of venue. Truth and his crew spend the day before the show prepping a battleship for the night's festivities. Yes, a battleship. Specifically, the USS Salem, which is docked at the United States Naval Shipbuilding Museum in Quincy, Massachusetts.
