Big Bear Choppers Ride The Mountain

This is the biggest bike event on the mountain! Motorcycle Riders from all over the Country will be converging on the mountain as the Big Bear Choppers “Ride the Mountain” Bike Show, Concert and Poker Run returns to Snow Summit on Saturday June 11th. Starts with Poker Run at 7:00 AM at the Big Bear Choppers factory at 41922 Fox Farm Road ($35 per poker hand) and the main event at Snow Summit starts at 10 AM. $10 general admission and $20 if you plan to enter your bike into competition.

 For more information please go to website or call Big Bear Choppers at (909) 878-4340.

Gear Up For Motorcycle Safety Month

Big Bear, CA, May 3, 2011, noon – Gas prices and temperatures are climbing, and more motorcyclists are riding the roads.  The California Highway Patrol is reminding drivers and riders to safely share the road.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says approximately 80% of reported motorcycle crashes result in injury or death, while the figure for cars is about 20%.  Robert Gladden of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation says, “In addition to wearing the proper safety gear, especially a helmet that is certified….to meet Department of Transportation specifications, riders are encouraged to enroll in a training course.”  The California  Motorcyclist Safety Program offers basic rider courses in Hesperia and Colton, as well as other locations in the Inland Empire.  Registration is available by calling 877-RIDE-411 or online at ca-msp.org.  CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow says, “All motorists are reminded to be extra alert when on the road to help keep everyone safe.”  During May’s Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, Cal Trans will be displaying this message on highway signs:  Share the Road, Look Twice for Motorcyclists.

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Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is great racing and so much more!

The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach returns Friday April 15th through Sunday April 17th. This is a street race that draws over 170,000 fans to experience the Toyota Pro Celebrity on Saturday, The Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series on Saturday afternoon, The Firestone Indy Lights on Sunday along with team drifting and the Pirelli World Championship all wrapped around the magic of the IZOD Indycar Series on Sunday afternoon. The Indycar race is the third this year and when it arrives in Long Beach it will be the biggest race of the year next to the INDY 500. What makes this year’s race so special is that the field is very strong with champion Dario Franchitti, Ryan Hunter-Reay last year’s winner, Paul Tracy, Tony Kanaan, Will Power, Helio Castroneves and F1 driver and past champion Sabastien Bourdais. Take all these drivers and mix in a new restart rule that binds all cars closer together in a side by side restart making the thrill of turn one race start every time. The streets of Long Beach makes for a special race track because frankly it is a street track with little or no room for error. The best drivers in the world, the best street race in America and possibly better than racing the streets of Monaco because of greater track visibility. For auto fans there are a couple of things offered on the west coast that you must do. Every August is Auto week in Monterey and every April is the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. There is something in Long Beach for everyone from the energized track fans and car culturists to the person who just enjoys a robust and well-planed event. In fact Action Zip Lines of Big Bear has set up an indoor zip line at the lifestyle expo rounding out some of the off track weekend action.

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Big Bear, Ca March 11, 2011 12:30 pm –  A Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey paid a visit to the Big Bear City Airport today.  It is an American multi-mission, military, tiltrotor aircraft with both a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability, as described by Wikipedia. it is designed to combine the functionality of a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft.  The staff at the Big Bear City Airport would like to include a Marine Corps Osprey in next summers Big Bear Airfair which certainly would be a crowd pleaser.

Big Bear City, CA, August 20, 2010, 5:00 pm – Owner/Pilot Bob DeFord tells K-Bear that this Spitfire replica took 8 years to complete and that each part was made by hand consuming a great deal of time, energy and money, but he added it was a lot cheaper than buying the original WWII British fighter.  After his short visit to Big Bear he took off, winging  his way to Camarillo then Santa Maria for their annual air shows.  Every one wished him well and no doubt he was invited back to Big Bear for the next Big Bear City Airport Airfair.  We hope to see this fantastic plane here again.

The 2010 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

The 2010 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will pay tribute to all that is Alfa Romeo, celebrating the centennial of the Italian auto manufacturer founded as Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili. The Sunday, August 15 gathering along Carmel Bay will showcase vehicles ranging from a 1910 A.L.F.A. 24 HP to the just-unveiled Alfa Romeo Pandion show car created by Bertone to mark the centennial, and will include a display of rarely seen cars from the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo (the Alfa Romeo Museum) in Arese, Italy.

“Alfa Romeos have gained prominence in recent years and are treasured by enthusiasts and loved as true driving machines,” said Sandra Button, chairman of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. “We’re pleased to have assembled such a significant group of Alfas for this year’s Concours, amazing vehicles crafted by gifted engineers and designers that have helped shape 20th century automotive technology and racing history.”

Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

 

 

Long Beach in the spring and you can smell the race fuel and rubber in the air.  Tax time is behind us so shift gears to the streets of Long Beach just like Helio Castroneves did after beating tax evasion charges.  Open wheel cars are the main attraction during Grand Prix weekend April 16 17 and 18, with Indycar center stage Sunday the 18^th.  Indy lights on Sunday, American Le Mans Saturday afternoon and World Challenge racing late Sunday any one of these races alone would make a great weekend in Long Beach but combine that with Drifting, Celebrity racing, concerts, venders, expos and Southern California weather and you have a must do event.   It all began in the fall of 1975 with Brian Redman winning the race in a Formula 5000.  Over the years the big attraction has always been fast open wheel street track racing including Formula one, CART and now Indy cars.

This type of auto racing is more than just a gathering of fast cars, fast drivers.  Because street racecourses such as the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach stirs a

buzz of adrenalin into downtown that is real and hard to resist.  The list of racer’s include Briscoe, Dixon, Tagliani, Danica, Castroneves, Weldon, Sato, Franchitti, Kanaan, Power, Andretti and Rahal not to mention the rest of the field and teams.   This event is worth the price of the ticket because it’s great car racing, great people watching, great energy and a whole lot of top-notch fun, food and entertainment all wrapped up in a Monaco-Marina setting with yachts and the Queen Mary as the backdrop.  What can I tell you auto racing doesn’t get much better than this? 

Last year Dario Franchitti won at Long Beach and then the championship for Target Ganassi Racing. He is a very good at Long Beach along with teammate Scott Dixion. But remember 08’s winner Will Power along with his Team Penske teammates Ryan Brisco and Helio Castroneves can win there on any given day.  But the field is deep and with names like Andretti, Patrick, Kanaan, Tagliani, Weldon and so the competition will be tough and the racing anything but dull.

Porsche, Audi, Mazda, Cadillac, Corvette, Jaguar, Viper, Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, Ford, Panoz, Honda, Peugeot and Lola are names that evoke a passion for sports cars and you’ll find that passion boils over into the streets Long Beach, you can’t get away from it and when Sunday evening arrives and it’s time to go home just remember the Grand Prix is just a year away.

Daredevils, Pyrotechnicians and FX TV at Big Bear Choppers This Week

You may have seen some motorcycles ripping it up in front of Big Bear Choppers this week. As it turns out, special segments for the FX Network’s “DVD on TV” are being film in Big Bear Choppers’ parking lot on Fox Farm Road in Big Bear Lake. The special segments, which also include “DVD on TV” hosts Dave Holmes and Jennifer Lothrop, were filmed yesterday and will continue through this evening. The clips from Big Bear Choppers, which include two daredevil motorcyclists and pyrotechnicians today, will air when the FX Network broadcasts the Nicolas Cage movie “Ghost Rider,” the 2007 film about a stunt motorcyclist based on the Marvel Comics character. This segment will likely air on FX television later this month but, in the meantime, you can check out the action at Big Bear Choppers into this evening.

Sam Cabiglio of Big Bear City Recognized For His Porsche Expertise

Sam Cabiglio of Big Bear City, California is an expert on many thing’s that are related to automobiles, but what makes him very special is his connection and knowledge of Porsche and Porsche racing history.  Check out the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Porsche Video with Sam Cabiglio. Besides being a collector of  sports cars and collector cars he has developed a business finding special cars for car collector clients around the world.  With offices in Long Beach, California and now in the Monterey Bay  area of California he has found special cars for the likes of Jerry Seinfeld.  Some of Seinfeld’s collection of rare Porsches includes the 600 horsepower 1969 917 Porsche used and owned by Steve McQueen for the famous race movie “Le Mans” staring Steve McQueen.  And if that wasn’t enough, Seinfeld also owns the 1970 Porsche 908/03 named the “Giant Killer” because it’s compact agile size, light weight and ability to dominate races at Nurburging in Germany and Targo Florio in Italy.  It went on to help Porsche clinch the 1970

championship halfway through that race season.  Then the “Giant Killer” raced for much of he 1970′s with an astounding and hard to imagine, 1979 Le Mans finish of 2nd place overall.  Both cars were show at the Rolex Historic Races on Saturday August 15 and at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on Sunday August 16, 2009.  Of note is that the 908/03 won 2nd place in the racing Concours race category.  Congratulation Sam and Jerry for a great weekend in Monterey and showing off these beautiful cars.

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