Published: January 19, 2016, 4:10 PM
Updated: November 23, 2021, 2:51 PM
2016 North American International Motorcycle Supershow
Something for everyone at biggest bike show of all.
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The largest motorcycle show on the continent
The North American International Motorcycle Supershow, held in Toronto every January, bills itself as the largest motorcycle show on the continent, and it’s easy to see why. There are five display halls packed with bikes and people. Here are some of the best of the weekend.
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American Chopper host
The star of this year’s show was Paul Teutul Jr., the younger half of the father-son hosts of TV’s 'American Chopper'. Everyone wanted a photo with him, and a free autographed poster.
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Paul Teutul Jr.
“I get to shake hands and meet a lot of really loyal fans,” says Teutul. “The show was on for a decade and we have a fan base that really transcends age, gender and ethnic background. I get to meet them all at a bike show like this.”
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American Chopper custom
Teutul even brought along a couple of his custom bikes to display. This was the last bike built on American Chopper.
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Stunt display team
There was something for everyone, including a stunt display team that performed on each of the three days of the show.
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Not safe
“If you love motorcycles, you probably love them because they’re not safe,” says Nick Apexbrocha, of Las Vegas. “If your mom likes you for riding motorcycles, then your mom’s got problems.”
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Not on the street
“I don’t ride on the street as often as I used to. It’s hard to ride on the street when you can do whatever the hell you want on a motorcycle most of the time.”
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Gold Wing down
If the stunters dropped their motorcycles, which they didn’t, Kevin Welch of the Gold Wing Touring Association would be happy to show them how to pick them back up.
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Gold Wing up!
“This weighs 930 lb. It’s easy to pick up if you know how to do it properly. Just push with your feet against the bike, putting your buttocks on the seat itself, make sure it’s in gear so it doesn’t roll back, and just push back with your legs until it’s vertical. It’s not difficult.”
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1953 Vincent Black Shadow
Many bikes at the show were not what they seemed, like this 1953 Vincent Black Shadow, owned by organizer Bar Hodgson. It’s been modified with many high-performance parts.
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1974 Yamaha XS650
Not all the bikes were so big. This 1974 Yamaha XS650 looks like it’s been kicked over a few times.
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Rat bike
It’s a daily runner. “We just like to do different things with bikes, and that rat bike is different!” says Daniel Toscano, who built it at ResurrecXion Cycles in Acton, Ontario.
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Custom built bar-hopper
Most were much cleaner, of course, like this $43,000 custom-built bike, with a 127 cubic inch Ultima engine on a Midwest frame. “Basically, the guy wanted a pro-street-looking bike, long and low, with a big fat tire on the back,” says builder Quinn Camp of Quinn Custom Motorcycles in Welland. “They call them bar-hoppers.”
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Knucklehead
“My favourite bike right now is this knucklehead. There’s a lot special about it. It’s a one-off motor, Baker one-off transmission, one-off clutch – the whole bike is built from the ground up. It’s totally different from everybody else’s. I’m going by the customer’s guidelines on it – he’s in all the time to see how it’s coming on.”
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From the crankcases up
It began its restoration as a set of crankcases, but is now bored out to 1,300 cc with a Terry Prince big bore kit and stroker crank, straight-through glass-pack exhaust and upgraded suspension and brakes.
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Electric Victory Empulse
The new Victory Empulse is also unexpected – it’s a totally electric, $23,000 motorcycle, and salesperson Mike Magee of Peak Powersports in Oakville spent a lot of time talking about it with potential customers.
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In shape for the show
“You have to train for the show. Lower back, hamstrings. You’ve got to wear good shoes.”
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1/12 scale
At least Evan Jones got to sit down. “I’m a mechanical engineer as a profession, but I’m a motorcycle modeler as a hobby. I have more motorcycles than Jay Leno in my garage, but they’re all 1/12-scale.”
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Not for sale
“This one is a Suzuki Katana drag bike. I’ve stretched out the swingarm, it’s a rigid rear wheel, the front end’s been lowered, different handlebars, and the wheels are off a die-cast kit. I’ve probably got 60-70 hours in this, with all the modifications. I don’t sell them – they’re just for display.”
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But if the price is right...
“People often ask me at the show, can you build a model of my bike? The starting price is $300, and that’s just 20 hours of my labour, so I’ve never had anybody return my calls.”
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Iron Sirens
And it’s not just men at the show, either. “You have to be a woman to be a member of the Iron Sirens,” says Ann McCullough, who prefers to be called Ginger, “but we’re not about what kind of bike you ride, just as long as you ride. It’s the sisterhood, and the friendships you build.”
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In out of the cold
Tara Marcellin brought her two kids, Tyce and Vega, to show them all the bikes. She has a Ducati Monster at home, but she says the show is a way to forget about the cold Ontario weather for a while.
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Veteran dirt racer
There were plenty of kids – even a 12-year-old dirt racer there to show off his 85cc Kawasaki and his motocross trophies. “My dad started me out on a Suzuki 50 in 2006,” says Wyatt Kerr, of Cambridge, Ontario. “And then I moved up and I started loving the sport, and I started winning races and enjoying it more and more.”
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Sticking with the dirt
“I’m going to stay on the dirt – I’m not going to go on the road. Streetbiking, I find it dangerous, with all the traffic. The dirt is a lot softer and feels better, since I’ve been growing up on it.”
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Honda Ruckus dragster
This pint-sized Honda Ruckus dragster looks like a kid’s bike, but it’s anything but.
“You can have a regular Ruckus, or you can have this. It’s a $15,000 difference,” says builder Danny Haig of Toronto’s Champion Cycle. “This one will go about 110 km/h. It feels like death. I’ve done it myself. You can tell it’s not meant to go that fast.”
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Suzuki Hayabusa drag bike
It’s parked next to a drag bike based on a Suzuki Hayabusa, with its plastic fairing and seat removed to better see the mechanicals. It’ll cover a quarter-mile in 6.89 seconds at more than 320 km/h. “The only stock part from a Hayabusa is the engine cases,” says Haig. “All the internals, every last nut and bolt, is aftermarket.”
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End-all bike
“This is an end-all bike. There’s no shortage of jealous people in the world, and there’s a lot more rivalry than there used to be. So as soon as you get somebody who likes to talk too much, this is the bike we bring out just to say okay, you lost. Now disappear like the rest of them.”
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It's a thrill!
Ian Boddaert of Newmarket also likes crazy speed. These are mannequins of him on his bike and friend Greg Carrol hanging off the sidecar. “It’s a thrill – it’s so much fun! And it’s much safer than motorcycles and safer than cars.”
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Being the monkey
“There has to be trust that you’re both doing your job. I’m the driver and he’s the passenger because he would probably kill us otherwise. He has no fear at all. I’m built for driving, and he’s built for being the monkey.”
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Drift trikes
The drift trikes at the far end of the show were much slower, but still lots of hands-on fun. Builder Craig Lukianchuk is trying to organize a local racing series for them, similar to go-karts.
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Front-wheel-drive
“It’s a front-wheel-drive electric drift trike. There’s PVC sewer pipe on the rear tires to let them slide. If you remove the PVC, it’s just rubber. No oils, no noise, no emissions, no maintenance. Drive it around on your grass or hard-pan, but then throw the PVC on the rear and now you can slide around like a Big Wheel from the 1980s.”
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Safe riding awareness
The cops were there too, but they weren’t writing any tickets. “We’re here just to bring awareness of safe riding,” says Const. Karey St.-Clair of the Toronto Police Service. “In Toronto, we had seven riders die on our roads last year.”
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1945 Harley-Davidson Flatheads
Paul Anderson was visiting from the U.S., with a pair of 1945 Harley-Davidson Flatheads he’s restored at his Michigan home. “The WLA here is the military, the WLD is the civilian.”
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Good and evil
“I just love old bikes. I restored the WLA first, and then I just had this idea of making its evil twin, so I built this WLD as a Bobber-style. It’s kinda like good and evil – good son, bad son.”
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1924 Sunbeam Model 6
One of the oldest bikes at the show was this 1924 Sunbeam Model 6, on display among other bikes from the 1910s and ‘20s in the vintage hall.
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It's a thumper
“I like it because one kick and it starts and runs,” says owner Ernie Poole. “I’ve been riding it over 30 years. It’s a thumper. At idle in third gear, it’ll fire once every telephone pole.”
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Biker fashion
No bike show is complete without a fashion show, and there was plenty of biker gear to be found at the Supershow. You can never have too much leather with a motorcycle.
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For men as well as women
Fashion is as important for men as it is for women, and the theme was still leather.
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Hot at the bike show!
It might have been cold outside in Toronto, and most motorcycles might have been put away for the winter, but it was hot at the bike show!
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