Featured Old Choppers In Old Bisbee: The Prowl Chopper & Vintage Motorcycle Show

Each spring, hundreds of old choppers and other vintage motorcycles converge on the small southern Arizona town of Bisbee, Arizona for "The Prowl Chopper and Vintage Motorcycle Show". My hubby, Steve, and I have always wanted to attend this event but inevitably had other plans on the day of the show. Not this year! And we wound up there serendipitously. We like to get out of town on the bikes now and again for what we call "a MC overnighter". This time we chose to head down to Bisbee, a town we love that's only about a hundred miles from our doorstep.

I made reservations to stay over on a Friday night at a place we've stayed before called the Copper City Inn, a 3-bedroom inn right on Tombstone Canyon Road, Bisbee's main street. When I spoke to the proprietor directly a few days before our trip, he mentioned that Bisbee was going to be hopping. When I asked what was going on, he said he figured since we were coming down on motorcycles that we were planning on going to "this chopper show deal". I said, "You mean, The Prowl?" When he said yes, I was so excited! We were finally going to attend this event and we hadn't even planned it that way.

The event itself was Saturday and our checkout time on Saturday was noon. But riders had already started streaming into town when we arrived in Bisbee on Friday around noon. The actual show was scheduled to begin Saturday morning at 10:00 am but most all of the bikes in the show were already in place in Bisbee's "Brewery Gulch" area before 9:00am giving us plenty of time to soak in plenty of choppers and vintage bikes. It was great fun to be in Bisbee that Friday afternoon and evening and again on Saturday morning with motorcycles and bikers literally everywhere! So here, for your viewing pleasure, are some of the photos I took during our 24 hours in Bisbee the same weekend (finally!) as "The Prowl".



This photo below is from the 2023 event and was taken by a professional photographer named Michael Richter. He focuses primarily on motorcycles and motorcycle life. This particular shot shows the bikes in Brewery Gulch with the hillside houses in the background. Michael did a blog last year and if you'd like to see a real pro's pics along with great commentary, here's the link. https://www.denniskirk.com/blog/2024/03/15/on-the-prowl-in-bisbee/



That's Steve scoping out the choppers that were parked in front of The Prowl mural on Saturday morning during the show.



Here's the Copper City Inn where we stayed. We've stayed here before and it's our favorite losing in Bisbee. Those are our bikes on the right and the deck for our room is at the first two windows on the lower right. It's a terrific place so I'll share a few pics of the room, too. Plus it's not expensive at all. Bonus!







Here's the view off our deck. Bisbee is located in the Mule Mountains and the old part of Bisbee is extremely hilly. There's a 5K race each year that is called the 10,000 Steps Race because the route includes 1,000 steps all around town.



Part of Tombstone Canyon was closed because there had been a bad fire a few weeks prior. One historic building was complete destroyed and multiple businesses, even some nearby, had to close. Approximately two blocks were closed to both vehicles and pedestrians and everything was rerouted to nearby Subway Street.



part of Subway Street which echoed with the sounds of motorcycles all day (and night) long! All the little back streets of Bisbee are fascinating with murals and signs and one-off businesses. Did I say we love Bisbee?!



Continued....
More Bisbee and MORE MOTORCYCLES! in my next post

 

The Prowl Motorcycle Show and Bisbee, Arizona continued

After unpacking and settling into our room we ventured out to poke around Bisbee. There's usually more than enough to see in Bisbee, especially if we're only there a day, but this day there was even more to see because the motorcycles kept coming into town. This event is known for "riding whatcha brung" and NOT trailering in--and folks ride in from not only all over Arizona but also from California, Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico itself (only about 15 miles to the south. That bikes come from near and far is even more amazing since so many of the bikes that folks ride in on are old, rigid, small, and not exactly designed for the long haul!

This street in front of the Copper Queen Hotel was a popular spot to gather on Friday afternoon--a little show before the show. A clearly the No Parking rule was not in effect.





There were bikes everywhere and of all kinds! But choppers and vintages bikes were the bikes of the moment.







Yes, Bisbee does have terrific weather!



This was my favorite tank of the whole weekend.



All our strolling and gawking worked up an appetite. I'd made reservations for dinner at our favorite Bisbee restaurant, Cafe Roka. I'd made reservations well in advance of our trip which turned out to be a good thing with the MC event happening the next day!



Appetizers and a little liquid sustenance.



And dinner......



To be continued in my next post.

More nighttime fun on Friday and "The Prowl" on Saturday!

Stay tuned...gotta bring Ellie the Boxer to the vet for her annual appointment right now.

 

Sorry to interrupt, enjoying it, but while you are at the vets.
The tank paint is by a Guy called Gaetano Sole. It's Micacazzi style apparently.
You can check his work out on facebook under Sole Art Design.
https://www.facebook.com/soleartdesign/
Bloody nice they are too.

 

Thanks, @Iron! No interruption at all... I just looked at the link you provided. Bloody nice is right! Guy's work is gorgeous. I will have to do a bit of digging into this "Micacazzi style". Thanks! I'm going to post a bunch more photos of the bikes we saw on Saturday. It might be more appropriate for YOU to provide commentary on these next posts based on your expansive knowledge of the genre.

 

On "The Prowl" in Bisbee AZ

After our outstanding dinner we meandered along Tombstone Canyon Road a bit on our route back to our inn. We saw this entrance to a place called the Bisbee Social Club. We'd seen the place on past Bisbee visits but never ventured in. Tonight we did. The place was busy with bikers. I can only imagine how many there must have been the next night, the Saturday of the show.







One of the standout (to me anyway!) photos among the many photos lining the walls of the Bisbee Social Club. I'm guessing the "28" refers to 1928 from the looks of it. Nearly 100 years ago!



Back in at the lodge getting ready to hit the hay. Steve is always on the lookout for fun things to do on our motorcycle adventures.



And now, more MOTORCYCLE pictures!

The actual show / event was listed as going from 10:00am until 5:00pm. Since we had to be out of the inn by no later than noon--and in order to get in as many motorcycles as possible--we headed over to Brewery Gulch around 9:00am after having breakfast at the Bisbee Coffee Company.



To get into the show area in Brewery Gulch was $15--and well worth! A friend of ours who always has one old chopper or another rode down with a buddy last year. When we asked him what he thought of the event he said they didn't see it. What??!! He said his friend was so cheap that they turned around and rode home. Their loss for sure and after this year's event we told our friend so. Hopefully he will go back next year with us.



More registrants... It boggles my mind that someone can ride a bike like that one on the right!



I guess there's more than one way to get over a divorce! Everyone liked this guy's style.





Continued in my next post

 

On "The Prowl" in Bisbee AZ

At the show...more photos from me and less commentary at this point.



















Continued in my next post

 

On "The Prowl" in Bisbee AZ

These next 10 photos are all of some unique and creative--and fun--parts.

Suicide shifter knob



I wonder what's in this canister?



An unusual position for a rear view mirror!



If one ride bell is good, more must be better.



A very functional top box...for a picnic or a beer run! Or transporting body parts?



I thought this sissy bar was pretty cool.



A bicycle basket can come in handy on other two-wheeled vehicles as well.



Another suicide shifter knob...a bit on the creepy side.



Hmmm...



Love this front fender decor!



Even more Prowl pics to follow if you're still with me. Some cool bikes to come.

Continued in my next post... I'm off to bring Steve to get his motorcycle after its 10K service. I'll be back online either this evening or mañana.

 

On "The Prowl" in Bisbee, AZ

More show motos and photos








Some folks camped where they could...



And some wrenched where their bike stood





Hey, @Iron! Here's the bike that "my" seat is attached to.







This was (is) her bike. We watched her pull up, park it, and pull her helmet off and shake out all that hair!




Continued in my next post...

 

On "The Prowl" in Bisbee, AZ

In addition to drooling over the bikes, the people watching at The Prowl was interesting, too. And then there are always the snippets of Bisbee's quirkiness to be found.



After these guys and gals posed for me for this photo, I asked them if we could use the name for our group. If the shoe fits...



We've been to the Stinger Saloon in Sturgis, South Dakota both times that we went to the Sturgis rally. There is a story to the name "Bastard Bar" and the image of the bearded, cigar-smoking guy, but that's for another time if any of you are interested. I'll just say that Steve is in "the club".



Steve taking a break in front of one of Bisbee's many wall paintings/murals.



More local art and more stairs in a little alley off Brewery Gulch



This free standing wall (aka building remnants) is the other side of the wall painted "The Prowl 2024".



And, since this is after all, a Triumph forum, I always have to find some Triumphs to photograph.





I thought this seemed like a unique combination!



And this was DEFINITELY a unique sight! Spotted in a gallery window...



My next post will be a wrap-up of this thread.

 

On "The Prowl" in Bisbee, Arizona. Final thoughts and images...

We had to be out and gone from our lodging by noon but had planned accordingly before we went to the show earlier in the day and were mostly packed up when it was time to depart. I wish we'd been able to stay longer but I think we probably got to see pretty much all the bikes that were going to be there. And I'm just SO glad that our choice of destinations and weekends coincided with The Prowl! We'll definitely go back again next spring and bring some of our riding buddies with us.

As we were leaving many others were just arriving. In fact, Steve and I estimated that we saw 200-300 motorcycles heading to Bisbee as we were riding home from Bisbee!



We had our ace dog sitter, Marilyn, staying with Ellie for the 24 hours we were gone. Well, maybe more like 28 hours. I'm always amazed at how much can be packed into that short a time period and how much fun can be had! And the really great thing is how refreshing it is to just be out of town doing something completely different for really only a days time.

But even if only for 28 hours, we missed our dog! Almost bought this shirt on that account.



Our ride down to Bisbee was fairly rugged weather-wise. It rained off and on the whole time, was quite chilly, and the winds were howling. But they were howling so sporadically that you never knew when a big and very sharp gust would hit you...or from which direction. It literally felt like someone kept giving me a big shoves for different directions whenever i least expected it! But, as I said to Steve, we've been in worse. In fact, we just were in worse on our ride up to Las Vegas this past January for the Mecum Auction about which I posted a couple of months ago. However, my outlook on the weather has changed over the years. Now when the weather is bad during a ride (which, lucky for us, is pretty rarely), I just "get my Zen on". I laugh, but it works!

We'd planned to take the usual back roads both going and coming but stuck with the freeway on the ride to Bisbee in the interest of straight-line riding and getting there (and out of the crap weather) more quickly. This was our route from home to Bisbee on Friday. Fortunately for us, the weather cleared and it only sprinkled on us a bit once we were in Bisbee.



And our route home...



We had lovely weather for the ride home and stopped for gas midway. Only one gas stop on the whole trip (235 miles). That's one of the good things about a big touring bike. A big touring bike usually has a BIG gas tank!





A little data from my new TFT screen on my new Street Glide. This trip put me a wee bit over for my 1,000 mile initial service so my next ride on this bike was to the dealership. Our mileage over the two days was 235. Once we arrived in Bisbee we parked and then put on our walking shoes and didn't ride again until we left for home on Saturday. I was very pleased to see that my average gas mileage--even with very stout winds--was about 51 mpg!



Yep, give me my man, a martini, and a bunch of bikes and bikers and I'm one happy camper.

 

@Sandi T: Many thanks to your great report and the outstanding photos. I loved the details of some bikes. Most of them would never reach an European street, causing to their technical "standards". But I love to look at them!!!

 

Great write up Sandi! I have to say though, Choppers don't interest me at all, they're just not my bag but I admire the work, skill and art that goes into building some of them, "Rat" bikes excluded!
A bike show is a bike show however, then there's the grub, the "refreshments" and the craic of sharing a passion with friends and loved ones which is what makes life worth living.. Sandi T, you would absolutely LOVE the TT or the MGP. The racing is great but just a part of two great biking events with all the above in abundance. Ride safe.

 

Great write up and photos, thank you for taking the time to share @Sandi T

 

You're welcome, @Markus. Glad you enjoyed the writeup and pics. I agree about the details but also the "standards". I suspect many of the bikes might not meet U.S. standards, either! But, yes, they are a hoot to look at.

 

Thanks, @Pegscraper! I'm not big into choppers either but, like you, I definitely appreciate the labor, skill, and creativity that they embody. Yep, one of the best things about any bike show if sharing the motorcycle passion with like-minded folks and our friends and loved ones. The refreshments don't hurt, either.

I'm certain I'd love the TT! Re MotoGP, Steve and I had the good fortune to be gifted with tickets to the races in Austin, Texas at "Circuit of the Americas" back in 2018. It was a blast! Our friend who gave us the tickets was a GM of a Harley dealership there at the time so we got primo seats as well. What a spectacle! Here are a few pics. Looking back at these brought back fun memories!

 

The skill these people have to pull off their creations is on another level. Closest I ever came to building a chopper was an airfix model, and I can tell you, it didn't turn out anything like the above.

 

I can't remember when I last went to a bike GP but it was back in the 500 two stroke era so a while ago! I was disappointed in how far from the action the viewing areas were but then, if you have a VIP pass! Lucky you!

The MGP I mentioned in my post is actually the Manx Grand Prix which is an event run on the same course as the TT, usually in September and is for up and coming amateur racers and classic bikes. Some of those old classic British bikes sound awesome at full chat on the fastest parts of the course.

 

Sandi T / Steve.
Outstanding. You know it looked like a real western type town fabulous. The murals are out of this world. Don't know if you have heard of Bankse over not sure if that's how to spell his name but he is a well to me a novice compared and every body goes potty over his attempt's. Do love the green Yamaha in front of the no parking and the if the red light is on we are open. But they are all fantastic. Sandi T i feel so much better already. You are a real star. And our Steve really suits that moustache. Don't think I've seen him with one in previous pictures. But of course i am blind most of the time. Thanks for cheering me up. O'h if you ever come across try to see the north west 200 in Northern Ireland. It is the fastest race i think in Europe but the only down side is when riders come of they are seriously hurt or by stander get hurt. Joe

 

I'm with you, @Bikerman. The skill represented by all those bikes we saw was really amazing. They are not only machines but "works of art", too. I've never even come close to building ANY sort of bike so you've got me on that count!

 

Ahh, I assumed you meant MotoGP. I've never even hear of the Manx Grand Prix so will have to do a little research. Sounds really fun! I have to say, even with the VIP pass, we were still pretty far from the action and only had that one view of the track other than watching the jumbotron monitors. It would have been fun to be able to walk around the track to watch from different vantage points. We have some friends who used to go to Laguna Seca every year and knew the course well enough to figure out where to view from.