The Traveling Trophy

This is the tale of a rather swell feller, who I happened to meet in Baltimore this year at the Lowside Syndicate show at Timonium.  Ok, maybe not so much about the dude, the bike, or anything really, but just a fun story...

First off - have you SEEN this beautiful bike?? 

This is "Willow" - an absolutely stunning Honda CB360 and this is it's 3rd of 4th reincarnation...  I don't recall exactly, as I was too busy enjoying conversation with the owner - a feller named Troy...

So I stole these pics off the good ol' internet because I forgot to take my own...  No harm, no foul, just wanting to share this with you folks...

Now I had briefly talked with Troy in Baltimore, but at Mountain Fest a few weekends ago, I saw Troy ride into the show with this killer little ride...  Thats right, I said RIDE IN - not like those folks who unload the trailer at the Walmart parking lot and get all dressed up for the event and ride 4-5 miles, but actually RODE this sweet little buzzer all the way from his home to the show... 

I knew the bike was cool, but my love for the machine and the owner grew two-fold seeing that in person... 

Turns out, Troy is just like the rest of us.  A normal dude, with minimal tools, who just likes to make stuff.  A farmer always has a good set of wrenches, a welder, and a few hammers around, and Troy basically built this little ripper out of his barn...  I can dig it...

Now, whats all this got to do with a Trophy you ask?  Well, long story short - This bike placed "BEST OF SHOW" at MountainFest this year.  BEST OF MOTHER FREAKING SHOW!!!!  I couldn't have been any more excited.  You see, Troy and I had talked for a bit - and he mentioned following my work for the last 4-5 years or so.  I told him he builds a nicer bike than I ever thought of building -and it's true...  My sense of minimalism would keep me from building something as beautifully detailed and thought our as this machine...  I know when a bike has just killed it - which this one did...

Did I mention that this was the smallest bike at the event?  Both in stature, cc's, and probably cash too...  So yes, it won amidst a sea of HD Big Twins, Choppers, Bobbers, Cafe's and other professionally built bikes...  The competition was TOUGH - none of my bikes even placed...  That's how awesome it was to see him WIN this show... 

So in the end, Troy didn't have much space to haul his trophy back home with him...  This bike is not setup to haul around all that glory, just a humble and nimble little machine.  So we took it upon ourselves to take the trophy home for him, and later ship it to him...

A trophy hardly tells a story of just how fine a creation Troy's bike is, so we decided to give the trophy it's own story.... 

So we took the Trophy on a few excursions to earn it's keep... 

 

A little "illegal" camping - why not...  Brian has been hard up for a date lately

 Roy (owner of the Tennessee Rose XS650) took it hiking... 

I found a nice swimming hole on the way home, and couldn't help myself...  Some of you folks may wish for some "Eye Bleach" after seeing this...  Don't worry, it can't be unseen - hahahaha....

 Troy, that trophy started getting a little frisky, and wanted to see more...  Don't worry, we won't show those pics - unless we have to....

I'm not sure how in the world we found a Burger King crown, but we did manage to get the trophy down some class 3 rapids...  It wasn't much of a paddler, I can tell ya that much...

We made Bryan take it caving, he said there was snakes and spiders in there, but we didn't care, and the trophy don't take no lip' son... 

We stumbled upon these funky looking mushrooms, and while I wanted no part of it, the trophy just had to try em out...  Took us 2 days to revive it, must have been some good stuff!!

There are truely some beautiful sights in WV, the trophy led us to this sweet waterfall...

After a few hours, the trophy started feeling lucky, so we bought it a lottery ticket...  Good luck Troy, if you win a million bucks I expect your next bike to be sweet!

Rumor has it, that this bike stopped leaking oil after being told what's up by the trophy...  

 

We took the trophy out for some of Asheville's finest pizza, at Asheville Pizza and Brewery Company...  PS, it spits out the olives...

I'm terrified of heights, but just being around this drug crazed, pizza eating, gambling trophy can make you do some silly things...  PS - this is WAY up this mountain...

 Trophy is a terrible driver BTW, just ask that WV State Trooper....

Ever carried a trophy into an Adult Store? Well let me tell ya, you'll get some crazy looks....  And that's all I got to say bout' that...

Best of Show - Knows some good reading materials too.  Cycle Source Magazine - if you don't read it, you should...  Trophy says so...

Laying in the shade with a good cold Cheerwine Soda - an NC tradition...

 

So yeah, we had a blast with this Troy, and I hope you do too...  Sorry it took so long to get it back to ya, but you should find 1 lottery ticket, a North Carolina Mix a Six of good Brew, a Cheerwine and who knows what else in your box...  

What's all this got to do with Motorcycles?  Someone is bound to ask, and here it is...  Life is awesome, its about the journey and the ride, and the people you meet.  Take time to enjoy those around you, you never know where you might end up.  As for the HHB Crew - if it weren't for this trophy (that we didn't even earn) we may have never had such a good time coming home from West Virginia.  So stop, take some time out from the shop and go live life to the fullest.  And next time you have a chance, take a random object with ya and document it, you may find it to be a blast...

And if you see this man or this bike, make friends with him - he's a rad dude in our book, and builds a wicked ride... Congrats on the win Troy - Willow is a fantastic bike!