Still Rolling Along Biker Swap Meet Survives Fish Fry
Elisa Berkhoff spent 10 years riding on the back of her husband’s motorcycle.
But on Saturday, when she rumbled into town amid the throngs of leather-clad onlookers, it was her own motorcycle everyone was eyeing.
“I just got on this bike and I knew it was for me,” Berkhoff said, beaming at the 1940 Indian Sport Scout she nicknamed Spunky.
More than 150 motorcycle enthusiasts rolled into Cataldo Saturday for the seventh annual motorcycle swap meet and ride-in bike show.
They spent the day looking over each others’ Harleys, Triumphs, Indians and even a Honda.
The event was part business, part picnic and part memorial for the Fish Inn that burned to the ground in February.
Until this year, the bike show had always been held at the fish-shaped bar east of Coeur d’Alene. When the bar burned “we almost just dropped it completely,” said Glen Wessel, a biker and a carpenter from Coeur d’Alene. “It was a heartbreak.”
Wessel and his friend Stewart Donohoe, also of Coeur d’Alene, started the swap meet seven years ago. As motorcycle riders and collectors, they were always traveling to other states for bike shows.
“We were sitting at the Fish one night and we said, ‘Why don’t we have our own?”’ Wessel said.
When the Fish Inn burned down, they, along with Steve “Toad” Pedersen, decided to hold this year’s meet at Bodine’s Bar in Cataldo to help out the business hurt by floods earlier this year.
Most of the proceeds will go to the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, a national group that promotes the rights of motorcycle riders.
On Saturday, vendors hawked everything from jewelry to blow darts and plenty of leather - jackets, chaps and even black leather bras.
Others displayed piles of bike parts for sale or swap - chrome pipes and mufflers, handlebars, saddle bags and leather seats.
Jim Hauck of St. Maries figures he got $800 worth of equipment for only $60 in trade. He swapped an oil filter, kicker pedal and regulator for a carburetor, intake manifold and other items he needed for a drag bike.
Berkhoff entered her Indian in the bike show.
She got the bike last winter. “It was a basket case,” she said. “It was in a million little pieces.
She and her husband, Arty, spent months putting it together, finding parts for it from around the country.
They finally put the paint on it two days ago, just in time to ride to the swap meet through the rain.
“I just like the feeling, the freedom,” said Berkhoff, clad in her black leather jacket, black chaps and boots.
Most importantly, the bikers who attended the gathering Saturday, said the swap meet is a chance to get together with their fellow motorcycle lovers.
“In the winter time the bikes aren’t on the road,” said Cindy Lounsbury of St. Maries. “This is the first major swap meet after the snow is gone. We get to see all of our friends.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo