The Super Bowl kicked off the month of February and Dallas’ own Greg Ingram was one of the featured bikers in the Mercedes-Benz commercial spoofing the classic film Easy Rider. Ingram is a well-known character actor in several films in the horror and motorcycle genres. He shared with me that when they shot it in December he had no idea that it was scheduled to run during the Super Bowl and how much he enjoyed working with the Coen Brothers who recognized him from his audition for True Grit. Keep watching this column because Ingram has several irons in the fire and I think you are about to start seeing a lot more of him… Coming off the heels of the Super Bowl commercial was the historic Texas Theater hosting a screening of the iconic film starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper and bikers took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to saddle up and enjoy the film. There was some jockeying for position because people love to sit in the theater seat that alleged JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was sitting in when he was arrested. And, yes, I do mean “alleged JFK assassin” because if you rode your bike over that infamous “X” in the middle of Elm Street and past the Grassy Knoll as frequently as I do every week since I live near it, you’d be calling him the alleged assassin also!… The crew at Mancuso H-D Central in Houston don’t need much of a reason to throw a party but they had a good one on February 11 to celebrate Mardi Gras and several hundred riders showed up throughout the event to enjoy tasty king cakes, red beans and rice, beer, and who can forget the beads!… Also on February 11 but out in El Paso at the world’s largest H-D dealership, the H.O.G. chapter for Barnett put together a Valentine’s Dinner which included a dash across the border to New Mexico for some fun at the Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino… And to continue the theme of February 11, H-D of Waco held a Milwaukee-Eight service workshop to familiarize old and new riders alike to this fantastic motor that has been released by the Motor Company… The Christian Motorcyclists Association held their fourth annual Chilly Chili Ride and Bon Fire on February 11 and all proceeds went to charity. The attendees had so much fun indulging in their love of chili with all the fixin’s. The event was blissfully free of any arguments regarding beans/no beans in the chilis!… Women’s land speed record holder Leslie Porterfield got married to award-winning tattoo artist Chris Clements in January and they have opened Inkling Studios just east of Downtown Dallas. The shop has four stations for tattoo artists and they have vintage motorcycles available for sale, however, there is one exception and that is the motorcycle that Leslie rode 232 mph to set the record at Bonneville and it has a place of pride at the front of the shop. She also plans to start hosting as many motorcycle-centric events as possible because even though you can’t tell it from the front, there is a huge parking lot in the back of the shop and she has some seriously big plans for that. Inkling is going to be a fresh new venue for the North Texas scene and there are few people to inspire women riders as much as Leslie Porterfield!… Keep the shiny side up and I’ll see you next month!
