DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES – Alicia Elfving (aka MotoLady) had a party celebrating five years of her hugely successful female-motorcyclist-focused website, MotoLady, and invited me to show the Chromester in her first ever All Women’s Motorcycle show. I explained the bike wasn’t “custom,” rather customized, but she said she wanted to demonstrate different levels of what a rider can do to their motorcycle, so I thought, what the heck. The bike has never been “shown” before.
The Chromester, though, nearly thwarted my plans (thanks to my negligence, not her prowess). When I went to leave our place near Joshua Tree, the bike wouldn’t start. The battery started misbehaving last October, around Babes Ride Out time, but I’d neglected to deal with it. We gave her a quick boost of power, and BAM! off we went on our 130 mile ride. Sadly, the battery issue doesn’t end here. More on that in a minute.
Chromester and I had a blast on the ride in. She ran just fine. Even stopped for fuel and she started right up. We arrived. Alicia photographed the bike. Then I went to move her, and UGH… wouldn’t start again. Seriously??? How humiliating. Alicia had a ton of bikes to shoot. Light was going fast. And I was wedged into a spot I couldn’t get out of. Lordy be. Long story short, things got rearranged. Someone gave me a push. And into the Lucky Wheels garage we went for the shot.
Thankfully the shop had a charger, so the bike charged through the entire show, and I kept my finger’s crossed by night’s end she’d have enough power to start… more on that to come.
Since we had an hour to kill before the show start, Grease Girl, Jessi Combs, and I dashed out to grab a bite at the newly re-opened and legendary Clifton’s Cafe in DTLA. Totally worth the trip. Anyway…
Back to the Show.
The Chromester got lots of love. I’m never sure whether people will love or hate the chrome, but hey, it’s not about what other people think, right? Watching people’s reaction to the bike was a trip. I’m used to lots of attention with Bondorella, but this was a first with the motorcycle. I’ve gotta say, I enjoyed answering questions and chatting with people about the bike.
Instead of shooting photos as I’d planned, I mostly hung out and chatted. Here’s a few I did manage to take.
These two… such fun.
Night’s end. Time to head out. Rolled the Chromester out. Hit the starter. Nothing. Nada. Just a click. ARGH!! My pal Blondezilla girl tried zapping it with a booster. Nope. Still nothing. Then Jessi came to my rescue, bump started the bike, and away we went. YEE HAW! Many thanks for her total coolness.
And thanks to Alicia for getting me to crawl out of my cave.
Gotta say… Glad I went.
Until next time…
Later gators!