The River City Bike Expo kicked off on Friday morning in downtown Owensboro as part of Kentucky Motorsports Week. The event started with a ribbon cutting with the Hayden family and other motorsports dignitaries from the area.
Inside, motorcycle enthusiasts were welcomed with an air-conditioned oasis filled with parts vendors, motorcycle apparel, helmets, tattoo artists, commemorative items and a specialty air brush booth.
“We’ve got about a hundred show bikes. We have a tattoo convention going on. On Saturday, we have a pizza eating contest at noon. We have a fashion show with the Harley dealership at 2pm. We’ve got a full day of events. On the river pier, we’ll have a sound show that you can’t imagine comes out of motorcycles,” said Mark Rhodes, the event promoter.
Evansville’s Kevin Hess airbrushes a commemorative police bike at the River City Bike Expo on Friday. (Blake Smith)
Kevin Hess, with Custom Creations in Evansville has a booth at the event. Hess does custom air-brushing out of his shop in Evansville. Hess currently has a bike from the television show “Count’s Customs” that he is currently painting. Here, Hess is custom painting a bike to commemorate a pair of fallen police officers in Indiana.
Rafeal Tipton takes a seat on his custom bike on display near the Rough River Metal Works Booth
Also at the show is McLean County based Rough River Metal Works. The family owned operation creates custom barrel staves, barrel heads and other barrel wood items. Before manufacturing these items, owner Rafeal Tipton built custom bikes. Tipton has a military-themed bike on display at the show in downtown Owensboro.
The show runs on Friday from 10am until 8pm. On Saturday, the show runs from 9am until 8pm. Saturday features a pizza eating contest, fashion show, live music, and a sound show. An adult weekend pass is $15, with ages 12 and under free.
For more information, visit rivercitybikeexpo.com.
-Blake Smith, host of Let’s Talk Racing.
