Sacramento Autorama???????NOT THIS YEAR

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I have made a decision not to support the BIKE SHOW at Sacramento Autorama this year unless there is another promoter.This could be such a great show and has so much potential,but unfortunately the guy that promotes it isnt in the scene,doesnt build bikes,doesnt support our local shows around here and doesnt stock the bike parts we work with in his shop.
I am not the only one that feels this way after talking with some trophy winners from the past couple years. I am open minded and welcome any feed back PLEASE.If you have my number call or text,if you don't IM me and i will shoot you my number and we can talk it out and go on a ride.
 
Jay Dawg, as far as Autorama itself, is it truely the bike guys fault or is it the Autorama people. The people who run the bike show at the Detroit Autorama have had a few "speed bumps" thrown at them from the Autorama people over the years. Not saying this is the case out your way but it might be.

Your bike guy is supporting the custom scene just by sponsoring the event! Most bike shops make way more money off of the roadies, mountaneers and bmxers. He has to prioritize who he supports the most and custom bike builders usually do most of their own work. Also, for liability reasons he has to watch just how much he or his shop helps to promote a group of riders. And let's face it ALOT of the custom crowd likes to indulge in adult beverages!

Unless the bike guy can make enough money on custom parts, he's not gonna stock them .... bottom line. A lot of distributors require a certain amount (money or quantity) before they'll allow the dealer to place and order. Back orders are rampant amongst most of the so called custom parts that the dealers can get. You have to order early so you have enough time to re-group if neccessary.

Is there any club that could jump in and take things over or help the bike guy run the event? I know there's a ton of 'deros out that way.

For the sake of the hobby, I hope things can get worked out.
 
Chainsaw,
There is a worlwide bike club and a bike shop that would love to take on the responseability of the Autorama.And that is what we are shooting for.Someone needed to step up and make a post about whats going on so i did.We have a huge bike community here in Sacramento and had Cyclefest a few months back that drew bikes from all over California,there were over 100 sacramento bikes and that many more from out laying areas.I am trying to get ahold of someone from the Autorama to talk with them and see what we can do.Talking to bike people around here we are ready to enter our bikes in the Autorama if Terry steps down and accepts the fact that a sucsessful show take a community not just one guy taking all the credit and treating the guys that enter there bikes in the show like .....
I have been going to the AutoRama for years and is a great show,i think there is a bump in the road rite now that needs some TLC.It may take us boycoting The bike room for one year in order to make it a success.No one feels worse than me for having to do this,but in good conscience i cant and wont support what is going on with the promoter and his shop.It is very political and me typing these 2 posts involves me politically also.I hate getting involved politically,but this time i truly believe something needs to be done.
 
Jay, I wish you guys all the luck. Dealing with the Autorama guys is gonna be a very rough road at best. What you really need is some kind of council to represent the bike portion of the show. Maybe one made up of a few bike club representatives but also a couple of car guys that show regularly. If you could get the support of a couple of car clubs that attend the show, I think you'd stand a good chance of taking things to the next level. The Autorama guys are all about money and let's face it, the money just doesn't flow for the bike portion like it does for the cars.

One of the biggest problems when a specfic club runs a show is that they tend to be one sided when it comes to picking the winners. They might not intend for it to happen but at the same time they wanna see their members win. And let's face it, the more club members that win the more new club members. Every year since the FreakBike Militia started showing in Detroit our numbers have increased and a lot of the guys that have shown long before we arrived are now sporting FBM signs, stickers, shirts and other FBM/FBN paraphanalia. Great for our group but I think it could be a little intimidating to others.

It's sad to say but the other aspect that sometimes happens is that bicycle, motorcycle and car club take on a thug mentality and wanna portray a bad guy image. I'm not saying that this is the case but it can reflect on how much a sponsor is willing to put into an event and it definitely is watched by the Autorama people. Remember Autorama is a family event. Exhibitors need to watch their mouths and act appropriately when showing. Nothing's worse than taking your wife/girlfriend and kids to a show and then having to put up with a bunch of drunk high-ons standing around F-bombing every other word while grabbing their crothches in between syllables. Too much of this garbage and the bike show gets tossed! It's happened with some of the car guys in Detroit over the years.

The judges in Detroit are made up of custom bike guys, roadies, restored bike guys, car guys and people from all other walks of life.

If you are interested in finding out about some of the ins and outs of how the Autorama people think and what their looking for, try to contact BicycleDon. He's a member on this board as well as FBN. I can't say he has the answers that you may need but he's been around the Autorama bike show for quite awhile.
 
Thank you for your time,thats exactly what i am in need of.I am gona throw some of this stuff around to the locals and see what kind of support is there.Like I said and you reitterated is that it takes a community to pull something like this off.The bikes and bike builders are here,now we need to work on the other stuff.There are a couple bike clubs that I hope would be interested still.You are right about looking like thugs a little bit,but they dont know we actually are pretty much family guys and over all out for the good of the show.
 
I really think that you guys can pull things off and get it going in a better direction for everyone involved. Just please don't boycot the show and have it come back to bite you guys. Once the bike shows dies, it will be seemingly impossible to bring it back to life.

A couple of years ago we lost the whole Autorama show in Grand Rapids Michigan due to financial problems and bad decisions the Autorama people made. The event was held during the worst time of the year when snow and ice rules our roads, so attendance was never as good as it coulda been. The bike show part wasn't huge but it was gaining in popularity. Now it's gone completely with very little hope of ever returning. That whole side of our state lost a great event.

If you ever need questions answered or ideas, feel free to get ahold of me. I will try to find the answers that you seek. We ALL need to keep this great hobby rolling on!
Good Luck,
Chainy
 
I just happened to think .....
BR&K has some classifaction rules that they once tried to establish for the bike show community. Jim Wilson or John Brain may be able to help you guys set some foundations.
 
might try talking with mike at v.b.s. and your local nomad chopadero(aka kowalla/n.h.f.f.) they put some great events together and the chopaderos know how to get people out to the rides & shows as well....
 
Why don't you put in an independent entry? Check with the show producer and see if you can get a few spaces in the regular show space. With the current economic situation, most custom car shows are actively seeking new participants to fill out their floor.

You can easily display 10 bicycles in a standard 10x20 car space.
 
i love going to autorama and i wan honored with being able to help do the bike room. i totally agree that the turn out was never what we wanted it to be this was partly because it was a lot of cash for bike people to lay out and then there was the red tape and trying to get a straight answer from the guys over at autorama. i am not going to say one way or another where terry is he is all over and a busy dude i have my feelings on the whole thing and i am gonna have to be Switzerland on it. i guess if i were running that room i would personally like to see all the area shops that do kustom or vintage stuff involved as well as club areas. sacramento has grown so much in the kustom bike scene and we do need a nice more formal indoor show i just dont know where to start. time shall tell
 
Adam,If you were still involved I would enter a bike in a minute.And yes it needs to be about all the custom and vintage bike shops that are here in town.The local bike clubs would love to be involved with the show,but have not been welcomed and have actually been pushed away.
I am just one bike guy in a huge community
 
like i told ted i think shows like cyclefest and the shows behind the bars puts on will be the premier shows in nor cal. i tried with autorama working with terry and the organizers of autorama. but it has not worked out for me to be a part of it so i had to move on and just do my own thing. can we start our own indoor show i say maybe it is just that such a show costs a lot to put on. i say we just do the other shows that we already have the purty shows then there are the rides, then there is the rodeo don't forget. for those who have gotten together in the last few years to get the nor cal bike scene going we have done a lot and i look forwards to the future
 
How about a show at the Turlock fairgrounds?? They have 2 indoor buildings and a great outdoor area for cars and a swap meet. My dad actually used to throw a car show there called Graffiti Bash Nationals back in 1996. Mybae I can get the grounds again and throw an indoor show? The response for the show would have to be well worth it unless I go all out and get the whole grounds and throw a "rat rod" (which I HATE saying) show and swap meet? If I get enough people that will be there maybe I can swing it??Chime in gang???????
 

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