It’s almost time for Milwaukeeans to throw the covers off their bikes and gear up for riding season…almost. Luckily, last weekend’s Mama Tried Motorcycle Show offered a brief respite from the biting cold.
Now in its fifth year, Mama Tried is an indoor ?invitational? that saw bikes from over 100 different builders crammed into the Eagles Club, a Milwaukee landmark. It’s also the grungiest bike show I’ve ever been to.

The custom world has its fair share of chopper shows and cafe racer shows, but Mama Tried throws everything together to create a glorious motorcycle jambalaya. Nowhere at the show did I see any categories listed, or any sort of clear order to how the bikes were arranged.

Flat trackers, choppers, cafe racers and machines defying any kind of label were all crammed into the colossal, high-ceilinged ballroom. And the people were just as diverse, with Midwestern hipsters rubbing shoulders with weathered chopper builders.
And I mean rubbing shoulders in the literal sense?despite the 25,000 square foot floor area of the famous Eagle Club ballroom. This year’s Mama Tried saw record attendance, with some moto-thusiasts waiting up to two hours to get into the sold-out venue.
We played it safe, and pulled in late on Saturday once the crowds had died down a bit.

Eagles Club (AKA The Rave) is a new venue for the show, and a pretty unique one too. Built in the 1920s, it has multiple levels, six big rooms, and décor that’s...