The Rust Belts Celebration Of All Things Motorcycle

Once again, my day job at S&S Cycle had allowed me to attend an event I’ve been patiently waiting. Err, well, impatiently waiting to attend. Fuel Cleveland has been on my mind for as long as I’ve been following along with Lowbrow Customs - and I had never gotten the chance to attend.

I knew it was an invited builder show with a cool Rust Belt atmosphere, but

I had no idea how awesome it really was! Rolling into the show, after a long night of watching indoor flat track racing at the first Flat Out Friday in Cleveland just up the road, and a killer after party at Harbor Inn, you enter an area of Cleveland that’s all old brick buildings, with a hint of urban decay really setting the atmosphere. In one old building the Hamilton Collaborative, next to a scrapyard, lies the show itself. The lot filled up with all kinds of bikes, from crazy chops to club

Dynas, classic Knuckleheads, metric chops and stockers, and everything in between. The parking lot of this show

Article By: Savannah Rose @sscycle @themouseandthemoto

alone was a full show in and of itself that I could have wandered through for hours. I almost forgot that the real show was going on inside

As inside, you know that this is more than just a bike show, it’s art

and motorbikes and everything we love about this scene. There was spot incredible build after another then encompassed a truly eclectic collection. Motorcycles of all kinds filled the space. Just inside the door was Anna Lee and Alex’s long chop, next to Prism Supply’s gorgeous pink Evo. A few highlights for me, in particular, were Ian Smith’s Ameriaca Shovelhead Chopper, and Heather & Chris LaCour’s little Kawasaki 440 chopper, that they built together for Heather in their garage! Not to mention Stacey Hearn’s Sporty custom (but perhaps I’m biased, I have a thing for all-white bikes!) Kevin Dunworth’s S&S powered Sporty tracker, Christian Newman’s Sporty built for his girl Elizabeth, and Kyle Malinky’s race bike all caught my eye. Next to them were classic Knuckles, a vintage Indian, an XR900 racer, Led Sled’s newest offering, and so many more.

Inside, Lowbrow handed out balloons to the kids, and vendors sold wares of all sorts - from parts to stickers and patches, and everything in between. Out back, food trucks fed the hungry, and the Sailor Jerry girls kept everyone’s thirst at bay. Bear, of Old Bike Barn, gave away a trip with the Himalayan Heroes, and Mikey Revolt handed off a custom Ironhead to one lucky winner, along with some Lincoln Electric welders to lucky showgoers!

As if the motorcycle exhibit weren’t enough the walls were filled with motoart of types, including photography, paintings, helmet art and so much more. Revelry Tintype was even on hand capturing the cast of characters with a 100-year-old camera the way it was done when motorcycles were first invented.

Skidmark Garage, a community motorcycle shop, just so happened to be attached to the venue and had killer presentations throughout the day that included a couple of tig welding demonstration Welding demonstration by Austin Andrella, DD moto and the musical stylings of Lauren Lever and the Live Oaks.

The atmosphere of this show is very Midwest - no tough chopper guy acts, just genuinely nice folks, that share a passion for all things two wheeled and always willing to buy a round of drinks.

Don’t let the run-down warehouse fool you, inside lies more motorcycle gold than you could imagine!