The 2023 One Motorcycle Show Is Cooler Than Ever

It usually rains a lot in Portland, Oregon, but it turns out Gore-Tex wasn’t needed at this year’s One Moto Show, which celebrated its 14th edition with balmy temps, blue skies, and a whole lot of sun. There were zero complaints about that turn of events, especially since Thor Drake and his merry crew at See See Motorcycles put on yet another rip-roaring motorcycle event in the vast, shadowy expanse of the Zidell Yards Barge Building in Portland’s South Waterfront.

Editor’s note: Check out more One Moto editorial in the The 2022 One Motorcycle Show Rolls Lucky 13, Favorite Custom Motorcycles From The 2019 One Moto Show, The 2019 One Motorcycle Show Ups The Ante, and 10 Wild Rides Of The One Motorcycle Show 2019 articles.

The one-time shipbuilding structure still serves up copious amounts of grit and grease, but has no actual boats in production (it stopped that in 2016). Which is fine, since gritty and greasy made a perfect backdrop for the hundreds of custom machines that were rolled out this year, and the show definitely didn’t disappoint in either the quantity or quality of the builds we scoped out. Thousands of stoked bike fans flocked through the giant metal doors to check out the renowned Pacific Northwest classic (sold out last year), which held court in the massive metal warehouse for the third year running. As it has consistently done over the last nearly decade and a half, the One Show shone a spotlight on every kind of expressive custom and concept motorcycles you could think of, serving up another epic weekend of art, music, bike demos, stunt shows, live music, and all things moto.

Related: The 2022 One Motorcycle Show Rolls Lucky 13

There were also smaller shows taking place within the larger event, including a dozen live bands, the annual 21 Helmets art showcase presented by Bell Helmets featuring 21 pieces of custom head protection decked out with wildly imaginative artwork, and the first-ever Direct Current Show put on by Ryvid, featuring a group of electric motorcycle customs from up-and-coming companies as well some of the more established ones.

But the show’s main focus and reason for being was still its enviable collection of more than 300 custom-built motorcycles on display; some of them weird, a few rare, a bunch of them stone-cold classics, and yet another group that felt completely unconventional.

“When we started 13-plus years ago we noticed there wasn’t a common place for ‘everyone else,’” founder Thor Drake says. “The garage tuner, the racers, the creatives, the weirdos, and the hyper-focused; an inclusive place for all types of people to share stories, learn from one another, and participate together. It was then we decided to host the first One Motorcycle Show, around the concept of ‘The Oneness’…however that interprets.”

“Thirteen years later it just keeps growing,” Drake says. “The one weird thing is that there’s now people that have come to the show as non-motorcyclists, become motorcyclists, and then become custom builders. It’s all start to finish!”

As is traditional after three days of nonstop energy, this year Drake once again presented custom-made trophies to winners of the various One Show awards. Some of those winners and some of our favorite bikes at the show are below.