Owners of custom and crazy machines invited to enter Atlanticade's Coolest Bike in Town Contest

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BY ALAN COCHRANE
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF

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Local owners of custom-built and one-of-a-kind motorcycles will have their chance to show off their machines during next week's Atlanticade Motorcycle Festival in Moncton.

The Coolest Bike in Town Contest will run in tandem with the Northeastern Bike Building Championships, being held at the Atlanticade headquarters at the Tim Hortons 4-Ice Centre off Millennium Boulevard.

"We're looking for anything unique and strange and custom. It could be a race bike, a dirt bike, a scooter, a vintage bike or a real custom machine," Atlanticade chairman Dale Hicks said yesterday. "There are people who have some unique machines but they are kind of shy about showing them off, so we're saying bring it up to the 4-Ice centre and put it on display for three days."

One of the unique bikes on display will be a bright red Chinese military bike owned by David Phillips of Riverview, who purchased it a few years ago while he was working in Beijing.

Phillips says the bike has a unique history. It was designed as the T-31 by German builder BMW in 1938 and the design was used by both the Russians and the Chinese during and after the Second World War. They became the official motorcycle of the Chinese army in 1957 and remained in service until recently. Phillips says the bikes are popular with people in Beijing as cheap transportation and can be purchased for $1,500 to $5,000 depending on age and condition.

"I painted mine red and it's guaranteed to turn heads when you drive it around town."

Local bike owners have until Monday, June 22 at 5 p.m. to enter their machine by sending a photo of it to info@atlanticade.ca. About 20 local motorcycles will be chosen for display and judging by the public for a people's choice award.

The local bikes won't be competing with the professionally built choppers in the biker build off, but they will provide another attraction during the motorcycle festival, which begins next Wednesday, June 25 and continues through to Sunday, June 28.

While the festival events are geared for touring motorcycle riders, people who just like to look at the bikes are welcome to attend the show & shines, the Saturday night street party, the burnout competition and Sunday's motorcycle parade through Metro Moncton. Bike-watchers will be able to see lots of machines at the Highfield Square parking lot on Wednesday night, and on Thursday night in downtown Riverview when Mayor Clarence Sweetland hosts an Ice Cream Social with Biker TV's Heather Ireland on Thursday night.

The best place to see bikes will be the 4-Ice Centre, which will serve as headquarters for the festival. The public is invited to drop by the 4-Ice Centre to see custom machines entered in the bike-building championships and the Coolest Bike in Town contest. There will also be displays of vintage motorcycles and a trade show where vendors will be selling merchandise like helmets, jackets, riding gear and motorcycle accessories. The 4-Ice centre will be open to the public each day from Wednesday through Saturday and have local bands like The Watermen (Thursday night) and The Mustangs (Friday night) on the show stage.

Admission to the 4-Ice Centre to see will be $10 for adults and students. Children under 12 get in free.

The downtown street party will be held on Saturday night with Main Street being closed off for live entertainment and a showcase of motorcycles. Saturday afternoon's burnout competition at G. Bourque in Dieppe will feature motorcycles spinning their tires to the point where they explode from the heat in a cloud of smoke. Last year's event drew several thousand cheering fans.

Registration is free for motorcycle riders but there are also registration packages for $25 and $50. The $25 packages include a bracelet for admission to the various events and guided tours. The $50 package includes an Atlanticade T-shirt and a subscription to Motorcycle Mojo, a Canadian motorcycle magazine that is sponsoring the event.

The festival wraps up on June 28 with the awards breakfast, Parade of Iron Horses and a tribute to veterans at the Moncton Legion. The best place to watch the parade will be along the Gunningsville Bridge and Vaughan Harvey Boulevard near the YMCA. The parade will begin at noon at the 4-Ice Centre and travel past the Coliseum, along Edinburgh Drive to Salisbury Road, then across the Petitcodiac Causeway and up Findlay Boulevard, down Gunningsville Boulevard and then straight up Vaughan Harvey to the Legion next to the YMCA.