Debut Rumford motorcycle show a success

RUMFORD — Motorcycle enthusiast Nick Brown’s idea to host a motorcycle show in Rumford paid off with a large turnout.

Fifty motorcycles were brought by riders to the inaugural Rumford Bike Show on Canal Street behind Kevin Kaulback’s Hotel Rumford sports bar.

“It was definitely a successful show,” Brown said. “So we’re gearing up for next year’s show and plan to hold a second one in Bethel.”

“We did good,” Jim Bennett of Bethel and the owner of Norsemen Cycles said of the show.

Brown said the winners of the motorcycle show included Dale Lavorgna of Mexico, who took Best of Show with a 1990 FJ 1200 Yamaha; Kim Cyr of Rumford who took Worst of Show with a Can Am reverse trike; and Travis Greenham, who won the People’s Choice award with a customized Road King.

Greenham’s bike was built by Winston Nickerson, owner of Grid Iron Motors in Mexico, Brown said. Nickerson brought three bikes that he built from scratch, including a beautiful gold and black custom Grid Iron he named “The Homewrecker.”

Nickerson said he tagged the bike with that name because in the two months it took him to build it, he lost his home and his fiancee. In addition to building custom motorcycles, Nickerson said he repairs and services motorcycles.

Bennett brought two motorcycles he built, including a green and gold custom DNA Specialties bike with a 113-inch Ultima motor, a 3-inch belt drive, and a six-speed transmission. He said he just finished making it.

The other three bikes were a custom 2003 Thunder Mountain bike with a 131-inch motor and 140 horsepower, a 1988 FXR Police Special and a Honda.

Brown said they also held a poker run and a 50/50 raffle. He said Norsemen and Grid Iron supported the show.

As motorcycle riders arrived on Canal Street from Route 108, they were parked two to a space lining the Androscoggin River canal, leaving the street open for emergency vehicles.

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