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The Best West Coast Motorcycle Show Celebrates 15 Years

Getting high on motorcycle customs at the One Moto Show party.

May 1, 2024

Fifteen years on, The One Moto Show has become a spectacular celebration of moto-culture with three days of food, music, art, and jaw-dropping custom builds.Andrew Cherney

Man oh man, where does the time go? Seems like only yesterday we wandered into a decrepit old building on a gritty north Portland back street to gaze at a couple of insanely creative bike builds, surrounded by a small crowd of riders. Fifteen years on, The One Moto Show has blown up into a multimedia, multifaceted extravaganza and kicked off its annual bash under blue skies within the vastness of the massive Zidell Yards Barge Building in south Portland.

The rusty old building is equal parts grit and grease, which makes for a great staging environment for the hundreds of custom machines shown this year and the thousands of pumped bike enthusiasts streaming in through the gates were proof of that.

The renowned Pacific Northwest event unspooled in the giant open-air warehouse for the fourth year running, but this year Thor Drake and his crew partnered up with the Flat Track Friday outfit from Milwaukee, which ran a full slate of flat-track races at a separate venue in conjunction with The One Show. As always, there were entertainment options galore all weekend long, with hundreds of wildly fashioned custom motorcycles of every genre, along with art, music, stunt shows, live music, and all things moto percolating in the background.

Right up at the front of the building was Koh Sakaguchi’s can’t-miss 1981 Sportster-based build, a true work of shimmering moto art.Andrew Cherney

Smaller presentations could also be found within the larger event, including the annual 21 Helmets Show, as well as the Direct Current Show—featuring electric bikes—as well as separate demo rides from Ryvid, Indian, and Triumph. And if you were patient, you could also drop in for a quick flash tattoo from one of the vendors on the show floor.

Keith Young’s Honda CB550-powered “Holy Bike” was a crowd favorite, with folks stopping by all day to photograph themselves on the stretched-out contraption.Andrew Cherney

As the organizers tell it: “In 2010, we hosted the very first The One Motorcycle Show in an old abandoned warehouse. Since then, each year, we’ve crafted an event to celebrate the weird, rare, and unconventional bikes that we all love in a way that everyone can enjoy. We started out with no idea how we’d pull this off, let alone what might happen afterward. It’s hard to believe how this has all come together!”

Show regular Morto Olson brought yet another meticulous build this year, based on a 1949 Intrepid.Andrew Cherney

It is pretty amazing how much the now-three-day show has evolved since then, but it still places a strong emphasis on local businesses, showcasing Pacific Northwest brands like Leatherman, Danner Boots, and Icon Motosports. As is traditional, after three days of nonstop energy Drake once again presented custom-made trophies—in the form of axes—to winners of the various One Show awards. Our favorite category? The Ride Slow And Die Whenever trophy, won by Mike Fitzpatrick and his trio of vintage Honda Z50s.

Another beauty from Koh Sakaguchi and Suicide Customs Inc., straight from Japan. This one is called the Harman bike, and the level of detail is amazing.Andrew Cherney

The 21 Helmets show-within-a-show had its usual slot in the weekend’s run of events. This year’s funky theme seemed to be all about arty welding helmets.Andrew Cherney

Winston Yeh of Rough Crafts fabbed up this refined take on Royal Enfield’s Continental GT 650, dubbed “Midas Royale.”Andrew Cherney

More than a few Harley Dynas showed up, but this 2003 example from A Kennedy really shone.Andrew Cherney

Show sponsor Royal Enfield gathered a slew of customs from around the world in its area, and this build called “Kamala,” also based on the brand’s 650 platform, was rendered by master metal magician Cristian Sosa.Andrew Cherney

At the internal Direct Current Show, which featured primarily e-moto customs, this lit-up BMW “flying brick” drew a lot of eyeballs.Andrew Cherney

Racebikes can definitely qualify as custom creations, and this MotoAmerica-appearing MV Agusta F3RR from Andy DiBrino and the crew at EDR Performance is a prime example.Andrew Cherney

Then again there’s nothing like the sight of an old-school Bosozoku bike to get the blood pumping. This 1980 Kawasaki KZ550 from Mitsuaki Shinohara was definitely a crowd-pleaser.Andrew Cherney

Indian was also a show sponsor, and showed up with some of its just-launched 2025 Scouts, a few of them available for demo rides.Andrew Cherney

Al Hackel’s custom won the This Is A Bad Idea award for his scratch-built custom powered by a cast-off cylinder from a helicopter engine. “I originally wanted a Knucklehead, but they were too expensive,” he told Thor Drake as he accepted the award.Andrew Cherney

Jeff Gray’s wickedly raked ’51 chopper shows off a stretched-out girder fork.Andrew Cherney

Wicked graphics from Mad Vinyl Works on this 2012 BMW S 1000 RR.Andrew Cherney

Winner of the Ride Slow Die Whenever trophy was Mike Fitzpatrick with his trio of vintage Honda Z50s.Andrew Cherney

Another one of the hilarious awards given out at the close of the 2024 edition of The One Show.Andrew Cherney

Makoto Endo made an appearance as well, this year using his trademark painting with India ink and chopsticks to render the subject BSA.Andrew Cherney

A row of immaculately detailed choppers at the 2024 One Show.Andrew Cherney

Indian Motorcycle brought its late-1920s-era 101 Scout to display.Andrew Cherney

For the first time, The One Show organizers partnered up with Milwaukee’s Flat Out Friday crew to run the separate flat-track component of the event.@MikeyRevolt

There was also a separate car show going outside the confines of the hangar building. We dug this interesting V-Rod meets DeLorean pairing parked at the back.Andrew Cherney

Custom motorcycles, vintage cars, boutique coffee, rocking bands… If you were bored at this year’s show, you just weren’t opening your eyes.Andrew Cherney

Closing it out with the burly V-Max in all its purple glory.Andrew Cherney

Stunt pros the Seattle Cossacks doing their thing.@mrPixelhead