Here’s an event I’d love to attend, just for fun; the Spooky Tooth Bike Shop’s annual Death Race! Not an actual death race (as in the really bad movie with the same name) just a fun annual event which is pretty much just an excuse for a customers together to show off their wacked out motorized creations. And an opportunity for Spooky Tooth to say thank you to their customers, and for their vendors to show off some of their new stuff. But it looks like a total blast!
I stumbled across their website a while back whilst shopping for an electric motor for my bike, and have been getting their newsletters ever since. Spooky Tooth specializes in retrofit kits to add a gas motor to a standard bike; they also sell some pretty funky bikes, and of course they sell funky bikes with motors on them too. I’ve got an electric motor on my bike, but have considered a gas engine as well; they’re a bit louder, and you’ve got the exhaust smell to deal with, but what you’d gain in range might be worth the tradeoffs. Harlan’s Bike & Tour in Sioux Falls sells some bikes that are similar in design, and I’ve seen some motorized bikes running in & out of their parking lot, so I’m sure there would be some local help in getting things rolling.
But the ultimate cool would be one of the crazy fat-tired retro monstrosities you see on Spooky Tooth’s site. One of these days…