Bike Nights in the Pacific Northwest

Here, there, …and everywhere? 

If you own a motorcycle or even simply have an interest in them, you would probably enjoy a few hours milling about and looking at other people’s bikes.

As a way of bringing the community together, several bike nights exist in the Pacific Northwest. Some are focused on café racers and rat bikes, some on cruisers and some on vintage machines.

And while there are several that have been running for a while, each year we see new ones arise, and others go by the wayside.

It’s not always easy to know where they are, unless you’re dialed in with your community and you’re hip to the word of mouth.

But what if you wanted to venture outside of your own city and attend someone else’s event? How would you know where to go?

A look across various search engines turns up a lot of dead ends. Links to bike nights long ago, but not much in the way of current happenings.

A search across social media sites offers slightly better results.

But seriously, suppose your local bike night is wearing on you. ROAD TRIP. That’s right, find a bike night in some other town, pack your overnight bag and hit the road with a few friends.

The cool thing about bike nights is you get to see some cool bikes, mingle in the fabric of the community and there’s no cover charge. If it’s held at or near a restaurant, or gets a food vendor or two on site, you can always grab a bite to eat if you feel like it, but it’s never a mandatory thing.

Here’s a look at several bike meet-ups in the Pacific Northwest

Corvallis Bike Night, American Dream Pizza  - 1st Wednesdays - year-around All the fun begins at 6pm. Be sure to check their facebook page for updates.

Old Bike Night, Georgetown (Seattle) – 1^st Wednesdays – year-around The Vintage Motorcycle Enthusiasts have been hosting an Old Bike Bight in Seattle for decades. The location changes now and then, so it’s best to check their website before you go.

Grit City Motorcycle Night, Tacoma – 2^nd Wednesdays – May through September Since 2016, Grit City has become a good alternative for Tacoma area locals to meet up and forego the rush-hour travel to Seattle for a bike night there. The focus here is on rat, café, vintage, scooters and mopeds.

“Primer” PDX Moto Street Meet – 2^nd Sundays – May – September This meetup occurs Sunday morning from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. at See See Motor Coffee Company in the Northeast quadrant of Portland.

SUB Bike Night, Seattle – 2^nd Wednesdays – year-around Long-time PNW moto ambassador Dave Roosevelt opens up his shop for a monthly gathering along Aurora Ave. A food vendor is onsite and beverages can be had next door at The Fuse Box. Anything goes.

Backfire Moto @ The Shop – 3^rd Wednesdays – year-around 10 years ago, a trio of Cretins put together one of the largest bike nights in Seattle. This year they moved it to 6^th Ave S near Seattle’s stadium district. Food and beverage are available onsite.

For more details and links to the various sites, visit our calendar page at www.soundrider.com/calendar. Have you got a bike night, or event in general you would like to submit to the calendar? Click here.

Bend, Boise, BC, Everett, Issaquah, Kent, Medford, Spokane, Tri-Cities, Vancouver???

Suppose there is no bike night in your area, but you think there should be. Pick a location, post it to your riding friends across social media, posts signs at your local dealers, nurture it along with word of mouth and watch it grow. In fact, be sure to post it here to the Sound RIDER! calendar as well.

Need to make it worth your while to set this all up? Sell t-shirts at the event.

Once a month is the common pattern.

Wednesdays seem to be the preferred night to have the event, based on those that have been long-running. But there’s nothing like picking Tuesday and tying in together with your local Mexican restaurant or greasy spoon to offer taco specials.

Depending on location, you may only want to hold it during the warmer months, but several entities have managed to make it a year-around occurrence regardless of weather, holidays or daylight.

As said, these events come and go. Stay tuned to our calendar for listings. We’ll probably update this article every now and then as well.

SR!/May 2018