There are only four or five months of good riding weather in the American Midwest. The rest of the time, motorcyclists keep sane by wrenching. And nothing offers more inspiration than the annual Mama Tried motorcycle show in Milwaukee.
The sixth edition of the show happened just last weekend, shortly after the polar vortex was done ravaging the region. Visitors huddled away from the snow inside the Eagles Club?a ballroom and live music venue with a pseudo-psychedelic interior.

Inside, custom motorcycles of all shapes and sizes filled the upstairs ballroom, with various moto-centric vendors lining the many hallways. Mama Tried is an invitational, but there’s no set theme; we saw choppers, bobbers, flat trackers, land speeders, café racers and a number of undefinable oddities.
The show might happen in the chilly Midwest, but builders and visitors come from all over. It’s an eclectic smorgasbord of awesome machinery and interesting folks. And while you can circumnavigate the show’s square footage in a matter of minutes, it takes time to take it all in properly.
Here’s a brief look at our favorites from the show.

Gunn Designs’ 2018 BMW R nineT We featured Dan Riley’s R nineT flat tracker before, but now he’s reworked it to be even radder. The new version features a Hookie Co. R nineT body kit, matched up to a tailpiece of Dan’s own design, with a Saddlemen seat pad. Seeing this collaboration between two of the sharpest de...