Last weekend Tuyen and I rode up to the Pinal County Fairgrounds, in Casa Grande, to check out what is touted as Arizona's largest Motorcycle Swap-meet. Not sure if it is the largest or not but there were quite a few vendors.
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Tuyen arrived at 8 am and wanted to check the air in his tires, so I broke out the air compressor.
The wife snapped a few pictures while we waited. Can you tell I'm axious to get on the road? That's good on the pictures honey! Extra points if you can find where she placed her coffee cup.
Finally! The two amigos are ready to hit the open road and look for adventure. Or at least the nearest McDonalds for breakfast.
We decided to skip the interstate and headed up highway 79, also known as the
Pinal Pioneer Parkway. The ride was enjoyable. At one point we passed a large group of cafe racers headed the other way. I would have liked to talk to a few of them. They looked like they were having a blast. We arrived at the fairgrounds around 11am.
Quite a few bikes in the parking lot, and there was a constant drone of loud Harley pipes up and down the main drag.
Price of admission was $5. Once inside it was pretty much what I was expecting. Tons of people looking through crates of old Harley parts, trying to find that one item that will help finish their project bikes.
There were a few whole bikes for sell as well.
Tuyen and I split up. I was poking through each and every crate seeing what people had. I was on the lookout for any old Triumph tank badges. Hard to find in a sea of Harley Davidson.
I thought this was a pretty original way to tote new purchases around.
The perfect starter bikes for that new project I was looking for.
Forget the project bike, just buy one that is ready to go.
These looked unique. Apparently you can get beer cans from specific years of the Sturgis Motorcycle rally. Time to start collecting.
I was trying to over-hear the conversation about this one. Apparently it's an amalgamation of a lot of different bike parts from what I could understand. The owner did start it up though, and it sounded ready to go.
Another fixer upper.
Parts, parts and more parts. There was an old Ohio motorcycle license plate from '86 in these bins for five bucks. I think I should have bought it.
This shot came out a little blurry.
Check out the brass knuckle starter on this one.
Oh by the way, watch your leg on that _saw blade_ air filter.
This poor guy's bike got stripped by local hoodlums while taking in the sights. Nah just kidding.
The owner of this KTM has a company in Tucson called
Adventure Motorcycle Rentals. They rent dual sport bikes with all the gear and accessories. He told me they will drop the bikes off anywhere you need them. I guess quite a few customers fly into the airport and have the bikes waiting for them at the terminal. Check them out if you're heading to this neck of the woods.
I made my way through the last few sections of the swap-meet and met Tuyen near the entrance. It was getting warm and he was ready to head back.
There were still quite a few bikes in the parking lot. I just had to get a shot of this trike.
We took the same route back to town and met the wife for lunch. She had the stuffed chiles. They looked so good I had to snap a picture.
Oh! I did make a purchase at the swap-meet. I found a single British bike vendor who had three sets of tank badges. I bought these for 30 bucks. I probably spent too much, but they seem to have character.
Overall I had a great time. Can't wait until next year!
