GNRS Last Day...

We are out at the Grand National Roadster today in building 6. Stop by ansd get your BF5 poster/ticket and to the first 500 sold the screen printed Invited Builder poster. Online sales start (( Monday Feb 4th )) through Lowbrow customs.

LIVE FREE CYCLE SALES

Joe Lingley has been an invited builder for the past 2 years and this year he has become a Top Sponsor.He has lots of muscles and is a quality guy. He sells killer bikes and parts all over the world. He has this Survivor Panhead Chopper for sale right now.Check out his site or contact him@ righteouscycle@live.com  for your needs. This is the perfect bike to ride to BF5...Good deal too.

Born-Free 5 Invited Builder Bikes

We have some great guys this year and here's what they are building:: 
Alan Richards(Pre Unit Triumph)
Andy Carter*('52 Panhead)
Big Scott Stopnik*('46 Knucklehead)
Bill Mize*('48 Panhead)
Brandon Holstein(Brawny Sportster)
Caleb Owens*('49 Panhead)
Chopper Dave*(Sportster Street Tracker)
Dave Barker*('50 Panhead)
Dave Polgreen*('37 UL)
Domenic M.*('49 Panhead)
Dylan M.('66 Shovelhead)
Jasin Phares ('55 Panhead)
Jason Sheets*('31 VL)
Jeff Leighton ('FK Panhead)
Jeremiah Armenta ('48 UL)
Joey Cano*('47 Knucklehead)
Josh Conley*('47 Knucklehead)
Kevin Baas*('52 Panhead)
Kiyo*(CB 750)
Kouske* ('49 Panhead)
Larry Pierce ('47 Knucklehead)
Len Higa ( ?)
Masa*(Knucklehead)
Matt Olsen ('23 HD)
Mattias LeBeef ('60Panhead)
Max Schaaf*('67 Shovelhead)
Michael Barragan (?)
Scott T-Bone Jones ('52 Panhead)
Todd Asin*('54 PreUnit Triumph)
Atomic Trent (Gen Shovelhead)
Yaniv Evans('47 Knucklehead)
Wink Eller( Winks's American Flyer)
If they have a * next to there name they have committed to the bike promo and you can win their bike at the shOW !!!

Giveaway Bike Promo/ Info

Hey folks, we have waited a little longer this year to start the Bike giveaway promo than in years past. We have created several incredible pieces of art working with some very talented artists and tried to fine tune all the little things to make this year even better. A couple things you need to know this year...(( YOU MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN! )) We are going back to they way we did it in past shows.The fact that we are giving the winner the chance to choose ONE of  18 bikes( from the participating invited builders) should be a big incentive to come out to the show and support all of our Sponsors,Vendors and Builders...So again"YOU MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN!". If you can't make it to the show the posters & even the ticket itself should be worth the small donation of 25.00. We are going big this year with all the new elements we are adding to the show and need all the support we can get... The Poster w/ Free Ticket goes on sale Friday February 1st. online through Lowbrow Customs and ((Live)) in person next Friday - Sunday and the Grand National Roadster Show.We have a Born-Free booth in Building 6, so please stop by and get some. All the formalities will be announced early next week...there is something very cool that will be given to the first 500 people to buy their poster w/free ticket. We will keep you posted.   

Bike Promo Poster & Tickets Coming Soon...

Get ready it's coming....Win one of the 18 Invited Builder's bikes who have committed to the promo...Details soon!

Show Class People Champ ...VOTE NOW!!

The voting has begun to find the BF5 People's Champ! Vote for your favorite builder NOW... http://www.showclassmag.com/2013/01/peoples-champ-round-1.html

Atten Vendors (( Please Read ))

If you have paid for a vendor spot we now have the 2013 BF5 Vendor Agreement form on the blog. Download it,fill it out and send it back via email or mail. We need one from everyone who is vending at the show and the sooner the better. Send it to grant@bornfreeshow.com  Thanks

Carl's Cycle Supply Born free five bike

 Hi Everybody,  I am really honored to be a part of the builder invite segment of Born Free Five this year.
Last year at born free four, the bike that I built with the help of my dad, wife and a few friends helped me build.   The whole process of building the bike, traveling to born free four, winning best in show and then traveling to the mooneyes show in Japan was truly life changing and I am so thankful that I got to experience so much because of some bike that  I worked on.

A lot of people have told me that-- "You have to top the born free 4 bike now" or "how are you going to defend your crown?"  I never expected to have a crown or have to defend anything, just getting picked to build a bike for the show was more than enough for me.   I just wanted to build a bike that I really loved,  I am glad that other people dug it.   The bike that I am building for Born free Five is not going to top the last one,  there is no way that the bike could, because the bike that our small crew is building and prepping for the event is a 1923 Harley Davidson in a half mile keystone chassis. There is no cool way to mount the headlight, because there isn't one, I cant make a cool brake set up because the bike doesn't have brakes,  the bike wont have a neat set of mufflers, because the pipes will be 14 inches long,  well you get the idea...  there isn't a lot of normal parts on the bike because its a race bike.  With that being said, the bike will be simple, clean and finished perfectly as well as  built to go fast.

This is my wife's engagement ring.   I bought it for her after the 2011 Davenport meet from my friend Buzz K in Connecticut.  I thought about buying Brittney a ring,  but rings just don't appeal to me and thankfully they don't have much appeal to her, plus they are dangerous in and out of the shop.   I figured that she would get more enjoyment out of a motor that we could build her a bike around.  Ever since we started hanging out and spending time together she would tell me about her dreams of building a board track style excelsior or Harley and racing it at an AMCA Meet or doing exhibition runs with it.  I figured this would be a good start.  1923 is a good year to choose because the cylinders have a big base pattern and the cases are a little more narrow than later jds.  

 My friend Mike L in Milwaukee has been building bikes since the seventies.  He has been into old board track racing bikes longer than I have been alive.  He makes all sorts of parts for them,  from forks, to frames to everything in between.   He already makes all of the castings for the frames and can put one together a lot quicker and cheaper than I can,  plus he has 10 different bikes to use as a pattern for making whatever type of chassis you'd want. We loaded up britt's motor and went to Milwaukee and tried out bikes,  here are some pics from the little vacation.Brittney said it was like getting a ring fit  lol.    Brittney is sitting on an original paint 1923 Harley Factory racer in this pic.  This is the chassis design that we ended up choosing to order.  It puts her in a slightly aggressive position, but she is still able to sit upright and in control .

With the frame getting built by Mike, we could move onto the wheels, and front end.  I wanted to use as much old stuff as possible, but knew we would have to make some successions for practicality and safety reasons.  This is the hub that my friend Matt W. sold us.  It is a 1915 harley hub.  This style of hub was used for a long time on race bikes.  The feature that makes this hub so cool is that the spoke flanges are very close together.   Since this hub is almost a 100 years old, it needed some minor work.   The biggest problem was the chunk missing out of one of the spoke flanges.  Brittney made a template of the missing piece and cut one out of steel.

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here is the piece that brittney cut out.   It is a little bit big, so it can be machined later on and be undetectable. 

here it is all welded up and machined flat and round.  the only thing left to do is to drill the spoke holes.

 This is the coolest fork of all time.  I have wanted one of these for over ten years.  I was lucky enough to get to buy it from my friend Gene at an AMCA meet in Nebraska last February.  It is an excelsior military fork,  this style of fork has extra trusses on the outside of the regular rails and is so damn cool.

 Here is the bottom.  It is really well crafted. I got it from Matt Smith at Antique motor works.
We will be doing a monthly update from now until June 29th.  Our frame should be done in February and we will be making a lot of progress on this bike in a short amount of time, since there are not too many parts to it and its all custom.  If you have any questions, please hit me up at amcayouthprogram@hotmail.com,  also please check out www.carlscyclesupply.com and www.oldbikesinsd.blogspot.com, and Brittney's new blog for the racing effort at www.brittneyolsen.blogspot.com   for more old bike content.

Important Vendor Info

Hey guys our early early bird special on BF5 vendor spaces is over. We have a new special until March 15 th. then it's full price. We will sell out as in previous years so please don't delay if your interested in vending.We hope to have our vendor link on the right side of the blog working by Monday and the Born-Free 5 vendor agreement form there as well to download. If you have any questions please email me or Grant mike@bornfreeshow.com or grant@bornfreeshow.com  Here is the info...

More From The Art Contest

Born-Free 5 Flyer Winner is...

We received so many great entries it was very difficult to select the winner but this art really captured the look and spirit of Born-Free. Zach(EZ)Nelson was the artist who created this awesome piece. We will being using several of the entries this year for stickers ,T shirts and other promotions so those of you who sent something in we really appreciate it and will give you the credit you deserve. I will be posting all the submissions in the coming days. Thanks Again to everyone that participated.

Sponsor Deadline

Hey guys the 1st. Born-Free 5 Top Sponsor deadline is this Wednesday the 9th. We will start printing postcards,flyers and promo goods. All logos must be in by Wednesday. We will continue to take sponsorships until March 1st but the logos will not make the first print run. Let's Go!!!.... if you are interested and we are flexible. Email me mike@bornfreeshow.com or grant@bornfreeshow.com for the details.

Today is the Last Day

We will pick the winner tomorrow! We have had some really cool stuff submitted in the last week so it will be pretty tough to pick a winner. There is so much good stuff that we will use a few for shirts and stickers.Thanks to everyone who sent something in.

Camping & Hotels

Hey folks don't delay in getting your campsite or hotel room for BF5. The campsites will go quick and the Show Class pre party Friday night is less than a mile from the camp ground.Oneil park is the main campground but we are working on more. La Quinta Inn off the 5 freeway it's close by and easy access to the show. We are going to talk with them about a BF5 discount and we will post it here as soon as they agree to it. Please note..THERE IS NO OVERNIGHT CAMPING AT THE BORN FREE GROUNDS...... stay tuned for more info.

A Few More for the Flyer Contest

Here's a few more before the weekend deadline....you still have a little time.

1st Builder Post

This year we going to have several updates on all the builders plus a video or two for each guy. Some of the guys you will know or have heard their names and some you won't know...that's what makes this international builder invite so cool and so much fun. Alan Richards a New Zealander living in Canada that emailed me last year about building a bike for BF4 but we were to far along in the process to hear his story. Late this summer he emailed again....the rest is history. Here is a taste of what Alan is about and what he is doing:

Vintage Triumphs have been my passion for 24 years. Over that period of time, I've always been fascinated with the '60's Triumph show bikes specifically. I love the clean lines and the bikes are well proportioned. To be actually building these bikes at this stage in my life is a dream come true. I love the process of continuous Learning of the skills required and to be able to have a finished period bike at Born Free 5 next to all of the other prestigious builders is an honor and a dream come true. It's like we're all getting the chance to live in the '60's for that one day at Born Free.                   

For the show, I'm building an early '60's Triumph show bike using a 1953 rigid frame. The motor is a 1959 TR6. The bike was fabricated and               assembled in my garage using the basics, grinders, files, welder, etc... I had some friends help me out with some lathe work and some of the trickier  welding. I take great pride in the detail and every part that goes into my build. 

A Few More Days

Left for the Flyer Contest....we are getting out sponsor logos together so we have a couple days to get more artwork. Send it in asap... mike@bornfreeshow.com   Here is a few...