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Our 2006 LA Calendar Motorcycle Best of Show Winner Russ Hess from CowboyCustomBikes.com all the way from Texas (in the cowboy hat obviously) joined at awards presentation by (l to r) host Ted Sands from title sponsor Performance Machine, Calendar Kittens Cora Skinner with Playboy Playmates Athena Lundburg and Tamara Witmer, Keith "Bandit" Ball from Bikernet.com, and editor Jessica Procup from magazine sponsor Tam Publications for American Iron and RoadBike magazines. Open Hi-Res
Russ Hess / Cowboy Custom Bikes "Art Attack" Chopper
Best of Show 2006 LA Calendar Motorcycle Show
2008 Iron & Lace Calendar Bike by
Jim Gianatsis
The Queen Mary, Long Beach, CA July 15-16th, 2006 - The 15th annual 2006 Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show Weekend presented by Performance Machine and produced by Jim Gianatsis of Giantsis Design Associates held annually every 3rd weekend in July at the Queen Mary Event Park in Long Beach / Los Angeles continued to kick out all the stops again this year despite the long summer heat wave and the current attendance slump at most other motorcycle events to uphold the Calendar Shows' well earn reputation as the biggest and most exciting Custom and Performance Street Motorcycle Show in America.
Many of America's top Pro and Amateur street bike builders were in attendance to compete in the Performance Machine Calendar Show Bike Building Championship with a bulging purse of $70,000 in cash and awards. There were10 Calendar Bike Building Championship Classes including the premier Radical Pro Builder Class sponsored by American Iron magazine with a $5,000 cash purse up for grabs with the coveted Performance Machine Best of Show Trophy.
Taking home top honors this year for Best of Show was 60 year old Russ Hess from Jacksboro, TX, who returned to custom bike building after taking a 21 year sabbatical. Back in the late 1960's and early '70's Russ had many of his custom built bikes and street rods grace the covers and center spreads of Street Chopper, Hot Rod and Rod & Custom magazines. Russ said he chose the LA Calendar Motorcycle Show, America's premier bike building contest to gauge just how good his first bike "Art Attack" from his new shop Cowboy Custom Bikes in Jacksboro, Texas would stack up against other top builders from across the country.
This extremely intricate chopper that Russ built is a one of a kind with his co-owner stepson, still in Iraq, Tommy Wallace who is currently serving as a contractor will be home soon to help beat and shape metal with the best of them. Art Attack took a full 7 months to build from scratch and features a western show horse saddle motif with intricate gold, silver and ruby overleaf designs, a hand tooled saddle, and a beautiful wood overlayed handlebar. Not just a show horse, "Art Attack" is powered by a thoroughbred 113 inch El Bruto 120hp engine mated to a 6 speed tranny. Russ currently has two other bikes under construction which he hopes to premier at other top bike events before the end of the year. Many of the original bolt-on accessory components found on his bike like the exhaust system, carburetor intake, wheels and engine covers are available for sale from his shop CowboyCustomBikes.com.
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